By incredible luck BEZ and Seb avoided the bandits and the creatures of the night, and arrived safely at the town of Amia. It was quite a trek across the Desert of Amia (or the “Scorched Desert” to some, the “Shifting Sands” to others and “Certain Death” to the unlucky few), passing many travelling merchants and convoys along the way, so it was well and truly the dulcet, purple tones of night before the brothers found any signs of civilization.

  “Meet me in the Blasted Tavern,” Bez instructed once they were on solid, cobbled sandstone. “Save me a seat in the corner. You know the one I like.”

  Seb brushed sand from his light shirt, wincing at the gashes in his right shoulder. “Where are you going?”

  “To drop this off.” He held out the small diamond drill bit, making sure nobody nearby was watching or eavesdropping. “Don’t ask me to come along. I’ve had enough of your pathetic groveling for one day.”

  “Oh … okay. I’ll see you–”

  Bez didn’t hang around to hear the end of Seb’s farewell. He kept his head low and his ears alert as he sped through the twilight paths of Amia. No house was taller than eight feet, and no building – apart from the local tavern – was wide enough to stretch your arms and legs. Though the foundations of the town were all built on solid sandstone, it was too risky to build any housing with more than one floor in case the local tremors caused the sandstone to crack and collapse.

  Bez felt the air shift and the ground hiss. He turned to his left, where a man emerged from in between two of the yellowy-brown houses.

  “Well, look who it is,” the man said. He was older than Bez, perhaps forty, and missing a good chunk of his hair as well as his left eye. He walked with a serious limp which kicked cobbles from their indents. “If it isn’t Bez Teneki, up to no good.”

  “Shouldn’t you be in bed at this hour, Yori?”

  “Shouldn’t you be babysitting your little brother?”

  Bez frowned, squirming in the sand. “I’m not up to no good. You’re imagining things. I’m just out for an evening stroll.”

  “An evening stroll, huh?” Yori smirked and spat on the ground. “Sure. And I’m an Ice Mage.”

  “Hardy-ha. If you were an Ice Mage, this place wouldn’t be so soddin’ hot all the time. Or maybe you’re just selfish with your made-up powers.”

  “Maybe, maybe.”

  Bez eyed Yori’s waist. He was thinly dressed, in tattered linens and jigsaw boots, and his toolbelt was empty. Odd.

  “It takes a brave man to wander the streets of Amia at night without a weapon,” Bez noted. “Maybe you are an Ice Mage after all.”

  “I wish.” Yori frowned; it was his turn to squirm in discomfort. “My commander wouldn’t let me leave the outpost with my weapons. Said I had to leave them in a locker.”

  Outpost? Commander? Surely he doesn’t mean …

  The truth hit Bez like a Golem’s fist. “You crazy son of a bitch. You signed up to fight in the war, didn’t you? Are you insane?” Bez shook his head. “Which side? Where’s the outpost? Have they set one up near the town?”

  “Insane?” Yori scoffed. “It’s better coin than being a mercenary, that’s for damn sure. I signed up at one of the Azulons’ recruitment fairs … but I can’t tell you where their outpost is. They’ve just started setting it up nice and proper. I’m not supposed to be telling anyone about it, truth be told. You’re welcome.”

  “Does … does that mean the war’s gonna come to Amia some time soon? The Azulons or the Zarkonians are gonna invade and take over?”

  “Maybe. Who’s to say?” Yori walked closer and rested a hand on Bez’s shoulder, father-like. The likeness made Bez shudder – he shook the friendly hand off. “War’s on our doorstep, Bez. You can either die for it or die because of it. I made my choice.”

  Bez thought of his parents, his younger brother, his mercenary routine, the loose coin rattling in his pocket, the hunger in his heart for change, to make the Continent a better place, to actually be somebody for once.

  He stepped away from Yori. “You’re fighting in the wrong war, Yori. All the Zarkonians and the Azulons want is death and despair. They’ll keep invading and burning down towns until there’s nothing left. There must be a better way to save this Continent. There must be.”

  Yori chuckled. It was the kind of condescending, know-it-all guffaw which a senior gave their junior. “Have a think about it, Bez. I could probably convince the Azulons to let your brother sign up, too, if that’s what he wants. A two for one deal. You’d both be able to live like normal men – not some criminals scrounging for coin. It’s the certainty of a roof over your heads and some food in your belly. Think about it. I’ll be in Amia for a couple of days if you want to talk.”

  Yori retreated back into the alleyway, back into shadow. Bez paused, tapping his foot on the ground and frapping his fingers against his plasma weaponry.

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  I want to make a difference. Hell, I NEED to. I’m fed up of doing petty crimes and fulfilling unfair contracts for rich clients who don’t give a damn about me. I need to change the world – my way. I need the respect which is so long overdue. I need to make mother and father proud.

  Seb is holding me back. Either he needs to start pulling his weight, or … or I need to stop catching him. Next time, I need to let him fall.

  * * *

  Most of the clients Bez took jobs from were people he knew fairly well, building up a trust and rapport during his and Seb’s long stint in Amia. They would move onto another town one day, he was sure, when the coin finally dried up as it had done in previous towns and cities, but the connections here kept paying so there was no reason to leave yet. An imminent war on their doorstep, however, seemed as good a reason as any. He’d have to think about his future over the coming days – whether Seb was a part of that future he didn’t yet know.

  He knew most of the potential clients in Amia … but not Kimia. When she and Bez had met for the first time the day before, it became abundantly clear that she was new to town. Her confidence was reckless and her plans were ill-advised – nobody had been brave enough to infiltrate the mining fields until she came along. She had insider intel, however: she knew the movements of the guards and when they would be at their thinnest, and she had connections on the inside who couldn’t covertly steal the drill bits for themselves but could lead other workers away from the scene. And, most importantly to Bez, she paid well. She offered more coin than the last three jobs put together. Though the job was risky, it was a risk worth taking. One that ultimately paid off.

  And now Bez was here to collect.

  He walked into her “home”, one of many buildings she was said to own in town. He walked through a beaded curtain and caught a whiff of the intoxicating spices and scented candles. A dark-skinned bodyguard stopped him at first with a burly hand, but let him through once recognising him. Kimia sat on a soft chair, smoking a pipe through a slitted gap in the wall. Her pet lemur lounged angelically on her lap, possibly asleep – although Bez didn’t want to get close enough to find out.

  “Bez. I’m glad to see you’re still alive.”

  Kimia shooed the lemur from her lap. It shot up and climbed a nearby pole, nestling on a tiny perch in the top corner of the room. Her skin was as dark as the bodyguard’s.

  She must come from a place hotter than Amia. I shudder to think of such a climate …

  “Just about,” he replied, wafting the fumes and smoke away from his nostrils. “I hope your drill bit is worth the singe of plasma bolts down the back of my neck.”

  She leant forwards. “So you have it, then? The diamond?”

  “Coin first.”

  “Mr. Teneki, you are in no position to make demands.”

  The bodyguard behind him stepped closer, intimidatingly, deliberately. Bez stifled a curse. He eyed the window slit – it was too narrow an opening to escape. He was in the beast’s den and at its mercy.

  In the end, he conceded. He retrieved the small diamond drill bit from his pocket, regarding its brilliant sparkle one final time before handing it over. He hesitated before dropping it onto Kimia’s outstretched palm. She held a magnifying glass to her face; her eye expanded tenfold, which Bez found amusing. With a minute nod, she set the drill bit aside and turned her attention to her mercenary guest.

  “This is a genuine diamond. Good. Deceiving me would have gone poorly.”

  “I’m no liar. Just a man whose pockets could be heavier.”

  She reached under her chair for a pouch of coins. Bez could sense the golden, decadent aura within the soft brown fabric. She pulled out two coins from the pouch and tossed them over. Bez caught them with a frown.

  “You said five gold,” he said. He did not wish to sound forthright, but he allowed a hint of discontent to bleed into his voice. “I don’t know if the maths is different where you’re from, but you’ve only given me two. Less than half.”

  Kimia shrugged. “Five gold was for a covert, clean operation. In and out with the diamond in hand.”

  “It was. We got out and we have the diamond. What more do you want?”

  “You were careless. The mining field’s guards arrested two mercenaries on suspicion of theft.”

  Bez glanced around incredulously, eyeing his feet up to his hands. “Well, I’m standing here in front of you, aren’t I? We weren’t the ones who got arrested. It was Beetle and Birch – a couple of soddin’ morons who caught wind of the job. It’s not my fault they got themselves nabbed.”

  “That may be, but now the entire mining field is on high alert. They checked all of the mining rigs for the drill bits and noticed one was missing. It won’t take long for them to connect the dots back to me. To the outsider who was asking too many questions.”

  “Not my problem. You knew the risks. I lived through them. I’m not leaving here without my five gold.”

  Bez heard the unmistakable buzz of a plasma sword activating behind him. He felt its searing warmth pulsating through the sweat on his back. He didn’t dare turn around. He gulped, suddenly fearful, but did not let his unease show.

  “I told Beetle and Birch of the job, you know,” she revealed, standing to feed her pet lemur a dry cracker. “I wanted them to steal their own diamond drill bit in the confusion. Perhaps I got greedy. Oh well – the past is the past. Beetle and Birch will pay for their clumsiness. You, on the other hand, were mildly successful. I will show you mercy.” She turned and stared him dead in the eyes. “But will you and your brother accept my mercy, Bez Teneki?”

  Bez grimaced. Don’t you dare. Don’t you dare touch him. His pain is my privilege and mine alone.

  “... Fine,” he replied at last. “Two gold it is.”

  A plasma sword deactivated behind him. The chill left in its place was euphoric.

  “A wise choice,” Kimia said, sitting and smoking her pipe once more. “You were never here.”

  The bodyguard allowed Bez to leave. Before he swung under the beads, he turned and asked, “Kimia?”

  “Yes?”

  “Skipping town would be a very good idea.”

  He left, stuffing the two gold coins into his pocket. It wasn’t enough. It was never enough.