Nightsea Outlaw

Silvertooth fell over, gasping for air as he crumbled to the ground from his chair. The body he had jumped to had been resting. Even his copies would get tired after a while. He pushed himself up from the ground, looking around the room and catching sight of some of his other copies playing cards. They snapped to attention and stood at his thought, coming over to him and helping him stand back up.

"Good job, boys," Silvertooth said, adjusting his hat. "Where's the Sheriff? We have a problem."

His copy pointed him down the tunnel. Their base of operation was made of several hollowed-out tunnels close to the entrance to the mines. He was currently in one of the gathering rooms, where his clones could take a break when they were operating independently of himself. Goldfist would be in his room, where his copy had pointed him down the tunnels. Silvertooth left his men behind.

He could make copies of himself made out of light if he had to describe his curse. Each one got a copy of whatever he had on himself, and they could act independently within certain degrees of behavior. When they were close to Silvertooth, he could control them directly and coordinate them with his mind. When they were further away, they could follow simple orders and act like he would in given situations. 'Tin Man' Ortega had been right in his assessment of Silvertooth's curse. His copies were fragile. They could hit others but could be shattered easily. The body he inhabited with his conscious mind was sturdy since it wasn't made out of light, and he could transfer between bodies with a little focus.

There were other limitations. The range and number he could maintain wasn't infinite. Between Dry Gulch and the mines was about the limit of the distance he could maintain, and he could have about fifty duplicates at any one time. Most of them were committed to maintaining security at the mines and watching over the slaves. That gave him about twenty he could use safely.

There was one last real limitation or weakness. If a person hurt his occupied body, knocked it unconscious, or killed it, the same would happen to all the other copies. As the Appleton girl had taken advantage of during her escape, every one of his bodies had felt that kick.

"That brat'll get what's coming to her," Silvertooth said as he approached the circular door to Goldfist's room. "After I warn the boss."

Ortega was a threat not only to Goldfist's operation but also to Silvertooth's mission. The second that Goldfist found what he was looking for, Silvertooth had to call in the cavalry. If Ortega interfered or shut down the operation, his bosses would be very displeased with him.

Knock. Knock.

"Boss, I've got bad news."

Slam!

"And I've got great news!"

The door practically jumped open, and Goldfist ducked through the entryway, stepping out into the larger tunnel with a smile and stretching his beard. Silvertooth barely had time to jump back from the door as it hit the wall. Hinges creaked, and the wood of the door cracked along its edge.

"They found it!" Goldfist enveloped Silvertooth's shoulder with his left hand, and Silvertooth was thankful it hadn't been the right hand. "Follow me."

Silvertooth didn't get a chance to interrupt as Goldfist practically ran off down the tunnel. Dust and dirt fell from the beams above that held the tunnel stable, but Goldfist didn't seem to care. He was like a child who had just got a new toy- a giant child who could crush a train like a tin of beans with one punch. Silvertooth followed him carefully until Goldfist made it to the oversized lift at the end of one of the forking tunnel paths.

"I'm happy for you, boss," Silvertooth said as he stepped onto the platform, and Goldfist pulled a lever. "But there's something I have to tell you."

Steam hissed below them as motors started up and the platform lowered into darkness.

"What could be more important than this?" Goldfist gestured down below, but they weren't at the bottom yet, so it lost some of the effect. "Just wait."

"There's a problem in town."

"We won't need the town for much longer. Once we figure out how to get in..."

Goldfist trailed off, and Silvertooth sighed. Goldfist's obsession with power was unquenchable, as was his obsession with money. That was why Silvertooth had been assigned here. Goldfist was searching for an island core. If he found it, the Military Police would be very interested in acquiring it for themselves without having to do any of the work.

The lift lurched to a halt on the bottom floor of the mine. The deepest they had dug was probably around fifty meters deep, and that was with the help of natural caves underneath the island's surface. Goldfist had brought some heavy equipment when he first came to town, but maintaining it over the years had proven difficult with his imposed lockdown. This was especially true after they had broken the mist barrier beneath the island.

Goldfist walked out and down a tunnel, and Silvertooth followed after him. After the man had told him about the discovery, Silvertooth could tell Goldfist the bad news. They walked for a time until Goldfist walked out into a wider area, another natural cave the slaves had found.

"Here it is," Goldfist said, rising to his full height as he stepped out into the cavern. "We found it at last."

Silvertooth stepped out of Goldfist's shadow, tilting up his hat as he looked around the room. The normal torches that illuminated the tunnel weren't needed here. Glowing stones across the dome's roof bathed the area in a dim blue-green light. Stone eroded by water formed a dais in the center of the room, surrounded by a black pond of liquid. On the dais were two stone pillars supporting a third stone beam. The center was empty, but Silvertooth recognized it immediately. It was an inactive portal and island core. Stepping through it would take a person to the island's anchor, the very thing that allowed the island to exist in the nightsea.

Silvertooth released a low whistle that echoed through the cavern and up the tunnel. "You try it yet, boss?"

"Sent slaves in, but they dissolved in the liquid around it." Goldfist shook his head. "I'm going to have them build a bridge across and die trying tomorrow."

Ever a practical man, Goldfist's solutions never disappointed Silvertooth. While Silvertooth didn't disagree that sacrifices were necessary to achieve a goal, sometimes Goldfist took things even further than he would. That he had sent more than one of their slaves in was in line with that problem.

"While we're figuring that out," he said. "I still have some bad news. There's an outlaw in town."

"Someone made it to town? Through the mist and the desert?"

"It's that kid from the train."

"That brat?" Goldfist laughed. "So you're telling me the problem's solved then. You took him in or killed him?"

"Boss..."

"You didn't? You losing your edge deputy?"

"He's 'Tin Man' Ortega," Silvertooth crossed his arms. "Even if he's lying, he was able to take ten of me in a fight. He's cursed, same as me."

Goldfist stopped laughing, a frown creasing his face as he looked down at Silvertooth. Silvertooth saw him weighing the situation. He was thinking over whether Silvertooth was worth keeping around if he lost a fight to one man.

"He's cursed, eh?"

"Can move stuff with his mind." Silvertooth grimaced. "He dropped a water tower on me, boss."

"The town's water tower?" Goldfist raised his eyebrows.

"Yeah, boss."

"I see." Goldfist turned away from the cave and started walking back toward the lift. "I'll give you all the coyotes, and I'll take over watching for the slaves. You think you can handle him if you have seventy to back you up?"

Silvertooth frowned, but he understood. This was a test. Goldfist wasn't going to leave the cave now that the portal had been discovered. Silvertooth would either prove himself or die trying, just like the slaves who would build the bridge across the pond. If he couldn't take out Ortega, he was weak, and the weak didn't belong in Goldfist's operation.

"I can," Silvertooth said. "Heck, boss, that might even be overkill just for one man."

"See that you do," Goldfist said. "We'll go gather the slaves and supplies now and bring them all down here. I was going to give them until tomorrow, but this will speed up my plans. I'll have them build the bridge tonight, and I'll have the core in my hands before the night is over. I don't care how many of them have to die!"

They rode up together, and Silvertooth coordinated his copies to help Goldfist take all the slaves down. Once the orders were out and things were in motion, he stepped off to the side and exited the tunnel. Beyond Goldfist's operation, he had a report to make.

He couldn't make it in the mine. Instead, he walked out of the entrance, ostensibly to gather together the coyotes from the kennels. Once he was there, he walked over to the fence line that held the coyotes and took a black stone out of his pocket. He opened his gate a little and breathed aether into it as he brought it up to his mouth. With the imbued aether, it reached across the nightsea to his real boss. A woman's voice came from his hand, and Silvertooth suppressed his instinct to salute.

"Report."

"Lieutenant, this is Agent Five. Goldfist has found the core. All is ready on Tombstone."

"Excellent. How quickly will you need support."

"He's going for the portal tonight, but I don't think he will solve it immediately," Silvertooth said, looking behind him. "However, there is an additional complication."

"Go on."

"There's an outlaw looking to disrupt the operation." Silvertooth felt sweat trickling down his spine even as he spoke. "He says he's 'Tin Man' Ortega."

The silence on the other end of the line was deafening.

"Repeat."

"I said he's claiming to be 'Tin Man' Ortega."

Another long pause. Silvertooth held his breath as he waited. The lieutenant normally would have ended the call with final instructions already. She was a direct and uncomplicated woman. The fact that there was this much hesitation didn't bode well for him.

"Agent Five, we need you to capture or delay Ortega as long as you can. This mission takes priority over securing the core."

Silvertooth's eyes widened. That wasn't what he expected.

"Ma'am," Silvertooth said. "I'll do what I can, but he's just one man. The havoc Goldfist could wreak here with access to the core..."

"Agent Five!"

Silvertooth stopped talking immediately. The only time the lieutenant ever yelled was when something was life-threatening. He waited, practically holding his breath until she came on again.

"Ortega is a more grave threat. If he has figured out what Goldfist is after, he'll go after the core himself. While Tombstone is not under our jurisdiction, we don't want another Burning August."

"Burning August," Silvertooth whispered.

"Ortega's responsible for that. He's the reason the Twelve Kingdoms might as well be renamed the Eleven. Under no circumstances are you to let him anywhere near the core. Goldfist might access it while you take him in, but that's a lesser risk. Better in the hands of an outlaw than a terrorist."

"I'll take him in," Silvertooth said, his voice shaking. "How long will it take for backup to get here."

"I'll get the Captain on it. We'll get a squad on the fastest slipship we have. With any luck, we'll be breaking the dome by tomorrow morning. You'll have to hold out until then."

"Thank you, ma'am."

"Scions protect you, Agent Five."

Silvertooth put away the stone, drawing the aether back from it and into his body. He had a day to go and take down Ortega, assuming the man wasn't already coming for the mine. Why else had such a ruthless outlaw, no, terrorist, taken an interest in Dry Gulch? He wasn't just out for revenge against Goldfist and himself. Silvertooth was sure Ortega wanted to do the same to Tombstone as August.

He transferred himself down to Goldfist and updated the boss on his plans to take on Ortega. Goldfist already had the slaves corralled and was taking them down the lift with supplies in tow. Once Silvertooth got the confirmation, he let go of all his current copies and made his way toward the kennel. He would go to town and track down Ortega, even if he had to burn everything down to draw the terrorist out.