“Alright you animals, I brought you out here today to learn about aiming.” Logan addressed Team Bootknife, in the same spot out in the woods where he had given them the name. The morning was bright and serene, the dew still glistening on the grass.

  “Oh thank the Masque!” Buster fell to his hands and knees, “I don’t think I’m ready to try and take more cigars!”

  The two witches watched curiously from the overturned tree. Mavis wouldn’t miss an opportunity to see how the shooting was done, and even Elise found herself interested in the lesson. Another topic of curiosity for Elise was the boy who none of her sisters would choose. She studied Calvin from her spot on the log. He looked fairly normal, had a nice face, nothing repulsive. It must have been something about his magic that put them off. She had heard the Witch Premier tell the boy he was marked. She couldn’t help but wonder what was so bad about him, that none of the lonely girlies would consider a pact with him. They had little other options for boys, there must have been something seriously wrong with him.

  Calvin noticed her staring, shooting her a quizzical look. He wondered what she had to say. His opinion of the witches had changed a bit after visiting the Coven. The wonder and awe of them he had cultivated took a major hit. He still admired them, even if the feeling wasn’t mutual, but he was no longer going to treat them with reverence.

  Logan continued, “So the first thing we should learn is how to create and maintain your Stall. Everybody go Rez and watch.”

  Buster shot up and all three of the boys entered a Resolute State. Elise watched as their eyes began to glow, feeling the shift on the magical current around them. It was different than the effortless magical control she and Mavis had come into in their time with the Coven, the Guns had to turn it on like a switch. But when they did, it affected the magic around them. Resolve had a gravity to it which her magic did not. She was told that they did this, but she had never seen it in action before the Summer Solstice. As a young practitioner of magic, Elise never believed that these men, who had never undergone a transformational ritual in their lives, could actually be a magical threat. With one exception, she had previously regarded them as amateur sorcerers. However, she had been educated on the Solstice, after witnessing the overwhelming intensity of Logan Denton’s Resolve.

  “Now watch closely.” Logan breathed out and generated a field of Resolve around him. It manifested as a sphere of solid energy. Reds and greens swirled within his Resolve Stall, depicting the shifting intentions of their teacher.

  “Whoa..” Calvin marveled at it, “What’s that?”

  Logan nodded, “A Resolve Stall. The Resolve field is maintained within your brain. To create the Stall, you must visualize that field and expand it, inflating it to just beyond your body. That’s the best way to put it. You are laying claim to the space around you along the magical currents of the world. Go ahead and try to generate your Stalls”

  John closed his eyes, trying to visualize the swirling Resolve in his brain. In his Resolute State, he could feel all the grass and trees around him, all generating that gentle, colorful magic. He felt a little distracted by the presence of the witches, who’s complicated magical fields cast bright purple beacons in the greens, reds, and oranges of the world around them.

  “I know it’s harder with the ladies here, but you’ll have to get used to having them around.” Logan knew they would have trouble with this at first. “This is why you see a lot of high-level Guns without their partner witches during particularly dangerous encounters where perfect concentration is necessary.”

  “You saying we’re a hindrance?” Elise huffed, unwilling to take the disrespect quietly. “You should be lucky you have us with you!”

  Logan raised an eyebrow. He had seen how she talked to John, but he didn’t think she would treat an elder Gun the same way. He chuckled, amused at himself for believing he deserved regard. It was unlike Logan to put weight on things like seniority, but here he had just caught himself thinking like one of the schmucks who licked Deadeye Rand’s boots.

  “I can see how it came off that way, Elise. My bad.” He snickered, “That’s not what I meant. You ladies have stark magical signatures which can be distracting to some Guns who are trying to manage minute changes to the energy around them.”

  “I think you’re a hindrance, for sure.” remarked John, now wrapped in his bright Resolve Stall.

  “Well nobody’s asking you!” Elise glared, “You’re just too bedazzled by my beauty.” She ran a hand through her hair as if to show off its sheen.

  Mavis had to giggle at that. She found Elise’s hot-headedness too comical. When the girls were preparing for the Solstice, Elise had told them all that she would be the boss in her pact. Mavis could see she hadn’t made any empty promises.

  John was already tired of her attitude. The past night, she demanded that they get to know each other. He didn’t care to talk about his famous family or his older brothers, but she insisted he share. Elise had made it clear to him that she wasn’t some floating, teetering girly who was there just for him. If anything, he was there for her; this was her attitude. John was beginning to regret his choices.

  “Settle down.” Logan butt back in. “I’m trying to teach here. I take back what I said, you specifically are a distraction.”

  This earned further laughter from both Mavis and Buster, who themselves were on the same wavelength. Buster did not find himself too distracted by Mavis and was now sitting within his own blue Stall. Elise crossed her arms, a dour look on her face. She did, however, remain silent.

  “And you animals be quiet.” Logan turned to the boys.

  Calvin hadn’t spoken the entire time, watching on a little forlornly. He did find himself a little bedazzled by Elise’s beauty, as she put it, and did not find her strong attitude off putting. He thought she was cool, large and in charge. He didn’t understand what made John so frustrated.

  Logan took note of his student’s Stalls. “Excellent, you’re all naturals.”

  “This isn’t so bad,” John nodded, looking between his teammates. “I’m surprised, I thought it would be harder.”

  “Normally, it is fairly difficult.” Logan waved a hand, “But you guys already demonstrated you can use Resolve to hunt, during our test. I don’t want you to forget, or you.” He looked to the witches for a moment, “This team is absolutely stacked with potential. John you are a Calhoun, as much as you hate to admit it. Your family goes all the way back to Grady’s original hunting party. The trials and successes of your ancestors belong to you. It is no surprise to me how much control you have.”

  Elise blinked a bit. John had definitely downplayed his family history to her. She didn’t realize he had such pedigree. She knew she would choose right, this only confirmed it to her.

  Logan continued. “Calvin, your father came from nothing. You should know this. You are not from a long line of Guns. Billy Baird was born to Plaidshirts. But he learned Resolve himself, didn’t have a great teacher like me either. Baird never stopped improving. I hate the guy, I really do, but I won’t deny that he is a powerhouse. So I’m not surprised you have good control either.”

  Cal hadn’t considered his heritage beyond his father at all. He didn’t know anything about him, besides what people said. It was news to him that he had come from the Plaids.

  “And you, Buster” Logan waved a hand, “The fact that I even have to say it is ridiculous. But I will inform our ladies. The Rodeo Clowns belong to a storied order of jesters and harlequins. They have rites and practices developed over centuries. Of course a Clown is decent with magic. Rodeo Clowns spend their entire lives learning and helping each other become stronger.”

  Mavis blushed, eyes set upon the stupid grin on Buster’s face. As soon as she had picked this interesting young man with the dapper face paint, she had to know more. Others in the coven told her about the Rodeo Clowns. She had learned about their nomadic clan, their practice of Comedy, and their close ties to Grady’s Posse.

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  Research was Mavis’ specialty, taking care to learn all the information available about a topic before diving in. In a letter to Logan, who was now effectively her caretaker, Mavis’ mother explained her daughter’s tendencies. Logan saw this as a major advantage to having her around.

  “All that said, you won’t survive on potential alone.” Logan’s eyes took on a fierce quality, “You may have talent, but when you face down a real threat, all that talent better come with some practice. There’s a lot of graves out behind the Sanctuary, a ton of potential buried underneath. That’s the way of the world.”

  “I get it.” Calvin nodded sternly, “We aren’t gonna join them.”

  John shot him a look, having noted a pronounced change in the way Calvin carried himself.

  Calvin continued, eyes set in a stoney gaze. “We are fortunate to have a good head start, but I’m gonna work hard. I am going to face down everything you throw at us, Logan. I’m a survivor, like you said.”

  Logan couldn’t stifle a smirk. He didn’t think much of Calvin when they met, but he was starting to see the resilience this kid was packing.

  “Alright shut your trap. Let’s continue.” He let out a chuckle, “The Stall is the basis of any spell that uses Resolve. It originates there and extends from it. I will now teach you the basic Resolve technique all Six-Guns have to learn before studying any other magic. I will teach you how to aim.”

  Buster raised an eyebrow. “Aiming is a Resolve Technique? I thought you just lined up the sight picture.”

  Logan nodded, “That’s how everyone else aims. But Six-Guns aim using Resolve. It’s how we can hit a target without bringing the pistol level. To do this we have to generate a Shooting Lane. Watch me, guys.”

  They could see Logan standing within his Stall. Logan’s red Resolve energy shot out from the Stall like a shadow along the ground, a tendril darting past the boys. Turning, Calvin could see it connect to a glass bottle which had been set on a stump several feet behind him.

  “The Shooting Lane extends from your Resolve Stall and reaches a target.” Logan breathed out. “It looks like a column of Resolve. You can see my Lane here is much bigger than the bottle, but the Bottle is within it. My whole body, and all of my Resolve, is focused on the area within the Stall. When I resolve to shoot, the bullet will take a path within the Lane. Now you can see the problem. I may not hit the bottle, but I definitely won’t hit any of you.”

  John marveled at it. His brothers told him about Shooting Lanes, but he had never properly seen the technique before.

  “So what we do is focus in on a more singular area, shrink the Shooting Lane.” Logan squinted and his lane deflated. It became much smaller, now connected with the middle of the bottle only. “Now you see, I have a guaranteed hit on this bottle. Once I establish the Shooting Lane, it actually takes very minimal effort to maintain.”

  Logan stepped to his left. His Lane stayed snapped to the bottle, following him. Eventually, the Lane was interrupted by John’s Resolve Stall. This broke the contact.

  “As you can see, Resolve Stalls can interrupt Shooting Lanes, So managing your Stall is important when working together. Now, I am actually aiming at John, though my Lane isn’t pointed at his body. I will have to refine my aim and ‘catch’ a good Lane. But since our Resolve Stalls are connected via this lane, this is very easy to do.”

  Logan’s shooting lane darted quickly to John’s forehead, shrinking such that he would ensure the headshot.

  “Catching a Lane on anything with a significant magical field, particularly other Resolve Stalls, is much easier than trying to set up a Lane with something inanimate like a bottle, or something with very little magic like a flower.”

  Calvin blinked, “Will we ever need to shoot other Six-Guns, Teacher?”

  Logan looked between them. He was silent, letting the sounds of the forest take charge again. After a long moment of contemplation, he answered.

  “Yes.”

  A chill ran down Calvin’s back. He hadn’t considered this before. “I thought that members Grady’s Posse took an oath to protect each other.”

  “They do.” Logan’s words were cold, “But not every Gun keeps his oath. Now is not the time for this discussion, and trust me there will be a time, but I will tell you this: We live in a bad time for the Posse. There’s many Guns who broke their oaths and used all the skills we taught them to hurt people. We call them Oathbreakers, and we take responsibility for this by tracking them down and killing them. You are young Guns, you’ll be doing a lot of low-danger jobs to help people out and break curses. There’s no reason for you to come across an Oathbreaker, but if you do, you should be able to defend yourselves long enough for somebody to show up and handle shit. That’s all the lecturing I have the patience for. I want you boys to practice your Stalls and Lanes for a while. Get used to making them. I’m gonna sit right here on this rock and let you guys practice.”

  John walked up to Calvin and Buster, looking between them. “Alright, we got this. I’m pretty impressed with all our Stalls.”

  Buster nodded, “You’re looking great John Boy, Wanna try to aim at the bottle?”

  “Good idea. You down, Cal?” John looked to him.

  Calvin was still thinking about the Oathbreakers. The beginnings of a sinister thought had crept into his mind. He wondered if his own father had broken his oath. Louey spoke highly of him, but Logan called him an asshole. He had never been able to reconcile the reason why his dad hadn’t come to meet him. Calvin wondered if that was why. Maybe he was an Oathbreaker.

  “Calvin? You here?” Buster waved a hand over his face. “I think we lost him.”

  “Oh sorry, I was zoned out.” Cal laughed a bit. “Yeah, yeah I heard you. Let’s aim at the bottle.”

  The morning passed as the boys practiced making their Shooting Lanes. Elise and Mavis floated over after some time, bored with watching from their spot. Mavis came up behind Buster, careful not to disturb his focus. She watched in curiosity as he made sloppy Lanes connecting loosely to the bottle.

  “Hey Mavis, what do you think? Nuts huh?” Buster chuckled, eyes still fixed on the bottle.

  “I did always wonder how you guys shoot things. Last year, my dad took me to see a few of the fancy Guns do some tricks. It was really exciting. I could see what was going on, kind of, but nobody explained it to me. There’s no books on it back at the Lake.”

  “They kinda tell us about it, back home.” Buster nodded, “But they don’t teach the ins and outs. It’s pretty fun!”

  Mavis looked over to her sister witch, who was lounging on John’s shoulder.

  “Elise! He’s trying to focus!” She placed a hand on her mouth.

  “He’ll be fine. He’s a show pony, isn’t that right?” She poked John on the ear, “You got pedigree papers?”

  John was unbothered by her teasing, focusing on his technique. His Lane was clean and tight. He felt like he could definitely hit the bottle dead on. He looked over to Calvin, who’s Shooting Lane was similarly very sharp.

  “You wanna see who can catch a tighter Lane, Cal?” He asked, batting at Elise’s finger.

  Cal put on a smirk, “Sure thing. Loser buys the winner a sour stick? I know you got some money on you.”

  Elise studied Calvin a moment, “That’s a great idea!” She felt like instigating.

  “Matter of fact,” She giggled, “I think the loser should have to shine the winner’s boots. Seems fair.”

  Both boys looked to her. Calvin felt his competitive edge sharpened by the attention from the pretty girl. John knew this was her plan, but he couldn’t deny he felt a little more competitive himself.

  Calvin breathed in deep and generated his Stall. Following suit, John focused on making a Shooting Lane. Their Lanes shot over to the bottle at the same time, shrinking to quarter sized points. Calvin strained a bit, breathing out. He kept his hand at his hip, as if ready to draw the Gellerite pistol next to his thumb. He could feel Resolve fatigue setting in, but as he watched John carefully he knew he had to keep up. John had been Resolute as long as he had, but he looked unphased. The reality of the Calhoun’s Resolve was setting in for Calvin. This boy, the same age as him, had a much deeper pool of Resolve to draw from. Generations of Sorcerer-Gunslingers conferred this to him through their genes. This was something that Calvin simply didn’t have.

  Regardless, Calvin honed in his Lane, trying hard to shrink it smaller than a quarter. John was struggling to do the same. At this point, both Buster and Mavis had to watch.

  “This is pretty great!” Buster laughed, “You guys look awesome!”

  Calvin coughed, his eyes now red. Blood trickled out of his nose, and he broke his Resolute State. The world became blurry for him, tumbling over until his back hit the ground.

  For a moment he lay there, focus broken. He looked up at the green tree branches above him. The mountain breeze tossed the leaves around gently. Birds flicked back and forth between them. Louey Cobb was an avid bird watcher, he had tried to teach Cal about all the little birds he could find around the Sanctuary. Calvin hadn’t listened, infinitely more interested in the idea of toting a pistol and performing magic with the pretty witches. He let out another cough.

  “This is what cockiness gets you.” Logan was standing over him now, cigar in his lips, “You go down for the count.”

  Buster frowned, “Used up too much Resolve.”

  “That’s right. You boys act this way in the Field, you will lose your life. Simple as that.”

  Calvin looked to John weakly. He faced him, a cold look in his eyes. Cal could feel the pity coming off of him. He really didn’t like this feeling. His view improved significantly as Elise knelt down beside him. She placed a hand on his head, gently loading magic into his brain.

  “Oh, I can see now.” Her voice was soft, “You have a little extra something down in there. It’s…” she searched for the words, “It’s different.”

  Calvin couldn’t keep a goofy smile off his face, looking into those deep violet eyes. The close look revealed infinite patterns of energy, tumbling and refracting. She was like a big cat, a jaguar, fierce and noble. Dangerous. Calvin’s chest tightened as he stared. His headache diffused as she pushed more energy into healing the microscopic tears in his brain matter.

  “Alright, I think you’re gonna be fine.” Elise stood up. “You got some weird, gross magic.”

  Logan watched her carefully. He was surprised she would go from instigating to repairing so fast. Women like her could be trouble, difficult to predict. He let out a smoky chuckle. She reminded him of the fiery woman with whom he once shared a pact.

  “Take a rest, you filthy apes.” He looked between his students, “You done good, all three. Keep practicing and you’ll be killers in no time.”