by Shiraya's grace
Blaster fire fizzed through the air. Dirt and rubble from the errant blasts erupted behind the scattering townsfolk. A mother held her children close as they hid behind the market stall. Beside them, the dead shopkeeper that had stood up to the attackers.
Chaos that was quiet. People, suppressing their sobs, ran. They hid. But they stifled their cries for fear that they would be the next to die.
"When next we find ourselves in your lovely...little...township..." The voice was booming, scratchy and dripping in derision. "...we fully expect to be gifted the supplies we seek."
No reply came.
Stained teeth were revealed amidst an unkempt beard as the speaker offered a callous grin.
"That's what I thought," he said, while tugging on the reins of his mount - a large bipedal creature with an attitude as foul as the man's dentistry.
A half dozen others rode in from various quarters of the small township. One of the riders, a large, armoured Gen'dai warrior, approached the speaker. "They only had twenty barrels," he said. His stolid tone added to his already intimidating visage.
"Twenty barrels? Next time we take some of them as collateral," came the boisterous reply.
The Gen'dai shifted uneasily in his seat. The burly, bearded man glared at him as if to silence the unspoken complaint. "We ride."
——~——~——~——
"Sometimes you just have to follow your gut," Brandyn said, as his fathier lumbered along. The creature was thirsty. That made two of them.
Alongside him rode Brandyn's new padawan. Another inherited apprentice with a cargo ship's worth of baggage. So long as Ochi worked out better than the last two, Brandyn might be able to shake his growing reputation.
The backwater world they had come to had lived up to its nickname. Dryland in name, and in features. If it had not been for the moisture farmers they had bartered with the day before, they would have had to turn back. Thankfully, they had enough water for the remainder of their journey. Those at the destination would have to assist in providing necessities for the return journey.
Republic legislation was working slowly on the fringes of their realm. Previous governments had restricted repulsor and prop based aircraft to only designated landing zones, and within those areas small cities had sprung up. It had originally been all about preserving the native avian reptile species, but now that their numbers had grown to sustainable levels, and poaching had been outlawed, residents in distant regions wanted the restrictions lifted. Businesses in the cities that relied on heavy ship traffic did not agree.
And so, with a few large reptiles flying overhead, Brandyn and Ochi rode towards the settlement that had just come into view.
"This is the exact sort of place that I would expect Filch to be hiding," Brandyn said, speaking of an old contact from the days undercover, "but why he needs help...that remains to be seen."
He looked across the harsh, barren terrain towards the rocky outcroppings that served as shelters from Dryland's intense storms. He could feel eyes on them already. Eyes that were weary. Brandyn moved to pull his bandana back over his mouth. "Keep sharp, Ochi. There is a lot of fear in this town."
