Outlanders

Chapter 4: A Rumble in Textile Town

Zoltána and Kurjak gaped at the intruders. The author of the voice was a lupine- the first one Textile Town had seen in years. He stood almost as tall as Zoltána did, with ears that added a few inches. He wore only a simple loincloth and a few belts with pouches, exposing his broad chest, which was evenly covered in light grey fur. His long arms were heavily warped by the contours of his tendons and bones, and his limber fingers held a spear with a shaft nearly as long as he was tall. His heterochromatic gaze broadcasted sincerity, while his pointed ears stood straight up, parallel and pitched forward. He held his bushy white tail high.

Beside him, where the doorknob had been, a sickly teenage boy knelt, his brow creased and his mouth set in a vacant frown. The boy held his right palm in front of him and faced it forward, its fingers splayed, while his left hand braced it from behind, as if to catch something heavy. In his blue eyes was a look of deep-seated bitterness.

"Who are you two?" demanded Kurjak. "Mercenaries?"

"We're no mercenaries," declared the lupine. "We heard that Zoltána here has a score to settle, and we're here to make sure she comes out on top."

Kurjak looked venomously to Zoltána, who tried not to let her complexion betray that she had no idea who these two people were.

"I don't want to hurt anyone, Kurjak," said the lupine, "but if you tangle with her, you tangle with us."

While Kurjak stared at the audacious lupine, Zoltána edged around behind him.

"One more step and I shoot!" he sputtered, training his pistol on her.

"You empty that gun and you're a dead man," Zoltána shot back.

"How much to make this go away?"

"Five thousand."

"Wait, what?" said the canine.

As soon as the boss turned to open his drawer, Zoltána lunged and snatched the gun from his hand.

"You idiot," she spat. "You never had a family, did you?"

"Wh-what is it to you?"

"If you had, then you would have known that I can't be bought."

With a ragged crack, Zoltána discharged the gun into the base of Kurjak's neck. The boss fell from his chair and kicked and flailed on the floor, gurgling desperately.

"Aren't you going to finish him?" said the canine, his ears parting with horror.

"No."

The three stood in silence, watching for the better part of a minute as Kurjak bled out, then finally went limp. The teenage boy shook his head quietly.

"Who are you two?" asked Zoltána, looking back to the canine.

"My name's Leif. I'm from the northern mountains. This boy here is from a bit to the northwest, and his name is..."

Leif stopped, looking to his companion.

"... actually, you haven't told me your name yet."

The boy thought for a moment.

"Vladimir," he said.

"Why are you two here?" asked Zoltána. "We've never even met."

"I asked everyone within miles where there was injustice," said Leif, "and they all pointed to these cities that they called 'factory towns.' This one was the nearest. When we got here, someone pointed us to you."

"Thank you, then. But if you intend to stop all of the injustice that happens in this town, you'll be here until you die."

"This one problem seems... solved."