The Ironslinger

He pointed two guns at them as they walked in. He looked six foot something, a pillar of a man. His leather trench coat was brown and extended down to his ankles. Two holsters on each hip with two slots each. Two large grips occupied half the slots, and the other half were empty as, presumably, the man held the two pistols that usually occupied them. He leaned in shadow.

"Who are you and what do you want?" His voice was curt and straight to the point.

"David sent us. Said you were going after those bandits and that we should come here if we want to help."

"I didn't see you two in the inn, and you don't look the types to be caring for the whelps. By the gear you carry, I guess your travellers?" She nodded and he holstered the two pistols. "Well isn't that nice. A couple of good Samaritans eh. You wouldn't see this in the South. Not God's country like Kuza." He looked them up and down. "Names." It wasn't a question

"Aria and Derick."

"Izaak. How do you fight?"

"Sword I guess."

He looked at the Devil "Don't talk much does he. I like that" His gaze shifted to hers. "He's got one, but what about you?"

"We share."

He shook his head. "That's no good. This isn't a joke y'know. Large Man's bandits are tough and mean. But if you want to get yourself killed that's fine by me. Just stay out of my way and try to be useful. If your helping me out, There's two things you got to know. If I ask you a yes no question you nod or shake your head. Understand." She nodded. "And if you get hurt and such, I'm not gonna help you out. I'm here for myself." She nodded. "Is anyone else in the village coming." She shook her head. "Thought not. I gave them a chance to help me out, but I guess they'd rather hide. Shame, I could've use the distraction."
He stopped leaning on the wall and stepped into the light. His skin was tanner than she'd ever seen, and his hair was jet black. A wide moustache clung to his upper lip, and his hair was long and tied into a bun at the back of his head. "Well, best be off. Try not to lag behind." The Ironslinger left the shed and they soon followed.

He began down the path back towards the village, and they kept a reasonable distance behind.

"Why are we doing this." the Devil whispered, out of earshot from the Ironslinger.

"Because its a nice thing to do."

"Is that the reason?"

"Well, if someone didn't convince me to rob a monk, maybe I wouldn't be feeling so guilty right now."

"So you are doing this to feel better about yourself."

"No, I'm doing it because it's a nice things to do."

"Its not going to be so nice when your bleeding out on the floor and he leaves you there." She said nothing to that. "What help are we even going to be anyway? I may be stronger than the average skeleton, but I'm still barley able to hold the sword. And it's not like you can do much with... " they gestured to her whole body, "this."

"What do you mean this? You just pointed to my whole body. And anyway, I have the power I gave you."

They scoffed with annoyance. "I have told you again and again that I gave you no..."

"And I know your lying." she cut them off. "I know you're lying because you always get so weird about it. Why won't you tell me? It's in your best interest to defeat the Knights too y'know. Then you'll be free of this weird sword bond and you can go back to causing human suffering or whatever it is you do. So why won't you help me?"

"Because you're not supposed to win the deal! I'm supposed to win the deal! I've never lost the deal! I'm supposed to give you what you want but corrupt you in the process so you can have a miserable life down the line."

"How nice."

"Well you're all sinners looking for help from the Devil, So I don't feel bad about it. But you're not supposed to win!"

"So, I do have powers?" She could feel excitement start to swell up inside her.

They sighed. "Hold up your arm, point your index finger out and tense it."

She did as they said and she felt an incredible surge of energy run through her arm. It was like some divine river flowing in her blood, screaming to be let out into the world. But nothing happened. She put her arm down. "Was something supposed to happen?"

"No, not unless you say the word 'Sorrow', out loud. When we see a bandit, do that while pointing at them and the power will do the rest."

"Can't you tell me what's gonna happen."

They grinned evilly. "I rather enjoy the anticipation."

"I hate you."

"I hate you more."

They reached the village, and the Ironslinger turned down a path. Different from the one they came up on, but it still ran down to the woods. She could see a river through the trees. No words were spoken, only the sound of their boots hitting the gravel path. Scorch marks and hoof prints littered it, so she guessed this is where they had taken the sheep.
Of course, that didn't interest her. She was more focused on the pistols the Ironslinger carried. Four! Four! She'd never heard of such a thing. The Ironslingers of the Bullet Guild in the stories her Dad would tell her only ever carried one, and only the villain Baron Za Shen ever carried two. Four was insane. David said the village had six guns, which was impressive for such a small village even in Kuza. But those were shotguns and hunting rifle's, not pistols. She'd never even seen one in person, only the drawings in those children's books. 'The Adventures of Arthor the Ironslinger', they were called. The fear had managed to keep her composed in the shed, but now she was almost giggling with joy. Luckily the Devil snapped her out of it.

"So, what is with the guns?"

"Huh?"

"The guns that everyone is carrying. I don't see any factories nearby. Do you buy them from other regions?"

"What the hell's a factory."

"A place where you can make guns."

"You can't make guns, idiot. Blacksmiths can make bullets, but not guns"

"What? of course you can. How else can you get them."

"From Bloody Gariel. Shouldn't you know this. He's like, your guy right?

"Gariel. That does sound familiar. Yes, I think I remember. He wanted some power so he and his army could take over some world. Was it really Havios."

"Well obviously it was. Don't you pay attention to that sort of thing." They shrugged. "Well the story goes that Bloody Gariel and his seven commanders appeared in Kuza one day with an army. They'd been sent by you, I guess, to corrupt our world. The Knights of Haven led the resistance and fierce fighting broke out across the whole world, but mostly Kuza. Gariel's army used strange and powerful weapons that they called guns that could spit death wherever you pointed them. Bu the Knights were too strong, and one day it was all over. Gariel and his commanders were dead, and his army collapsed. Haven claimed many of the guns won, but they allowed the common people who fought in the resistance keep some of what they took. That's why in, in Kuza especially, you see villages with shotguns and rifles. It's the rewards their ancestors claimed two centuries ago."

"You say it's common, yet you are in awe by the pistols." She blushed, realizing they'd noticed. "Pistols are rarer though. Only Gariel's spies or bodyguards used them, so you don't see them in the country."

"How does he have so many then?"

"The Ironslingers are the vigilantes of the South, specifically from the desert of Lu Mon. They got their name from their fascination of pistols, and how they use them as their main weapons. Still, even for an Ironslinger, four is incredible. Especially two of that size." She pointed at the large grips on each hip.

The Ironslinger stopped in his tracks. Aria worried he'd heard her gossiping about him for a second, but those worries were replaced by new ones when he snatched his two smaller pistols from his holster suddenly, and fired into the bushes by some trees. He fired ten shots, five from each gun. They sounded like the drums of war. She heard shouts of alarm and of pain coming from the bushes, and suddenly a return volley of shotgun and rifles bullets began to fly from near the bushes, trying to avenge their friends.
The Ironslinger quickly dived behind the large trunk of a tree and returned fire. Aria grabbed the Devil suddenly and tried to get them behind a different tree, but before they could someone popped out behind it, shotgun in hand. She turned to find another spot of cover, but it was no use. Bandits popped up left and right, from behind bushes, trees and rocks, all armed to the teeth.

The fight was on.