Blazing West, chapter 1

Act One

The vast Agelta Drylands are littered with the remains of various civilizations. In the huge, expansive desert, many ancient tribes that differ wildly from one another have thrived in this harsh environment, passing on their own cultures from generation to generation.

This story is about one of these thousands of tribes.

One hot afternoon, a large group of villains and sand hunters from Los Pecados charged toward the tribe's village on carefully modified Sand Hunter trucks and riding Dinozards. They quickly surrounded the village and gathered everyone together using the force of their weapons.

A man with a lame right leg slowly got out of his truck that was surrounded by his thugs. His face was pale, as if he hadn't seen the sun for a year. The man swept his eyes across the tribal people gathered together before him. In a raised voice, he demanded:

"Call out your leader! I have a few words to say!"

This gloomy looking guy was called Blandy, the most hated character in Los Pecados. His uncle was the famous Waldo Kane, the city's biggest evil leader.

"Is there anything I can help you with, guests from afar?" A middle-aged man slowly walked out from the group of tribesmen. He was the leader of this tribe. His name was Thasgard. Even though he had some misgivings about these rude people, he still maintained the greatest courtesy and respect. This had been the tribe's tradition for many years.

"Hey, it's you guys' lucky day." Blandy snapped his fingers as he spoke. When the thugs behind him saw the instruction, they immediately took a few heavy bags off a sand hunter truck and placed them in front of Thasgard.

"Look, there's 50,000 Kane gold coins in these bags." He kicked the bag with his lame leg as he spoke.

Then, Blandy raised his voice and pointed to the mountain behind the village and said loudly: "My uncle, the benevolent godfather has taken a fancy to this mountain behind your tribal village. If you move away from here and help make things easy for him, then you may receive this most generous gift."

Although the people in the tribe never dealt with the people in Los Pecados, they had heard from passing merchants that 50,000 Kane gold coins was an amazing amount of money there. The tribesmen began lots of discussions, wondering why this land they had lived on for generations held such charm.

"Please help us thank the godfather for his kind offer, but our tribe has been living on this land for hundreds of years, and I don't think anyone will want to leave." Thasgard's answer cut off the discussions of the crowd, and also interrupted the triumphant Blandy.

In Blandy's mind, Waldo Kane's name was like a gold card on this land. No one had ever dared to defy Kane's wishes in this way.

Blandy, who had always had an aggressive streak, was angered. He narrowed his eyes and turned to look at Thasgard.

"So, you're just not going to accept this kind and generous offer?"

"I'm sorry, but we can't leave this land. This is our..." Before Thasgard could finish, Blandy suddenly struck Thasgard to the ground with the butt of his rifle.

He spat savagely and ordered some of his thugs to punch and kick Thasgard, while the others pointed their weapons firmly at the tribesmen, preventing them from coming forward.

Thasgard was quickly knocked unconscious from the beating. Blandy kicked the unconscious Thasgard with his lame leg and smiled with satisfaction.

Afterwards, he took a sweeping look around the group and said viciously: "Out of kindness, I will give you some time to reconsider."

"Either you do what you're told and leave this place, or...be completely erased along with it!"

Act Two

After leaving his vicious warning, Blandy and his thugs strode away, leaving the injured and unconscious leader Thasgard and the natives stood where they were not knowing what to do.

What the kind-hearted tribesmen hadn't realized was that some of these thugs were "guests" of the tribe a dozen or so days before. A group of sand hunters hunting down giant desert beasts had lost their way in the winds and sands of the desert, and ended up trapped soon after.

As food and water supplies diminished day by day, hope gradually faded. As night fell, there was not only the violent wind of the vast desert, but also the low roaring of various unfamiliar animals – enough to scare the bravest of sand hunters.

The Eschackans in the west believed that death was the beginning of reincarnation, so they carefully "stored" the body in a unique way and waited for a new reincarnation. A burial in the belly of a beast was tantamount to an interruption in the reincarnation process, which made them feel more desperate than if they were facing any other way of dying.

The fragile-willed young men couldn't bear this fear and began to weep, which made for an even stranger scene in the pitch-dark desert. Time passed slowly. This was just about the longest night of their lives. Everyone stopped struggling and sat quietly where they were, waiting for their strength to be completely exhausted, whereupon they would eventually become the dinner of these giant beasts that were once supposed to be their prey.

Each breath sounded particularly heavy, as if death was approaching step by step. But just when the last person who still held on to some hope closed his eyes, passing tribesmen found this group of pitiful, hungry and cold people. Not only did they rescue these poor sand hunters, they also warmly invited them to their own village as guests.

The sand hunters, having cheated death, received warm hospitality in the village. Not only did they get enough rest and supplies, they also got a detailed map telling them how to return to Los Pecados.

When they left, they rightfully shed tears of gratitude and solemnly vowed to the tribesmen:

"You will be rewarded, kind people!"

However, during their time receiving this hospitality, experienced sand hunters saw right away that this seemingly ordinary tribal village had a huge gold mine hidden in the mountain behind it. As long as they could take this place for themselves, it was enough for these people who lived hand to mouth to receive the reward of eating and drinking comfortably for the rest of their lives.

The sand hunters, dazzled by the prospect of riches, had long forgotten their promise and gratitude. After returning to Los Pecados, they immediately reported the news to Waldo Kane. Soon after, a large army of soldiers and cavalry headed by Blandy came to the village.

The villagers gathered together, looked at the unconscious Thasgard, and talked for a while.

"These sand hunters come from Los Pecados. They come and go like wind in groups. No one dares to offend them."

"But if we leave here, where can we go?"

"So what can we do? Our leader has been beaten. Are we just going to wait for our deaths?"

The discussion continued, and the will of more and more people began to waver. In the face of suddenly appearing enemies, the simple tribesmen had exposed their weakness.

"No, we must not compromise!" A crisp and tender voice interrupted the discussions. The crowd turned around and found that it was Mathilda, the daughter of their leader Thasgard.

"My father often tells me that no matter what becomes of the world, we cannot give up our insistence on justice. So we must take up arms and defend our homeland!"

However, looking at the immature Mathilda and their comatose leader, the originally shaken crowd was even more shaken. They would not believe that this young girl had the ability to lead the tribe in a fight against the well-equipped sand hunters. The crowd began to disperse, and they went home silently to pack up, or figure out where to move.

As night fell, only Mathilda was left in the center of the tribe. She looked silently at the sacred mountain the tribe had guarded for generations, and clenched her fists.

Act Three

Clint rode his old partner all the way eastward in the scorching sun. This was the 32nd day since he'd left his town. Clint was originally going to go to Los Pecados alone to find Waldo Kane and settle the score between them, but was held up all along the way there because of his proclivity for putting his nose into affairs when it wasn't needed, and he was already running out of money.

Thinking of what had happened to him and what he had seen in the recent past, Clint intensified his determination to eradicate Los Pecados and its thugs. He slapped his horse on the back and speeded up his journey to his next destination – Thunder Roar.

In the little town Thunder Roar, little Mathilda was confronting a group of thuggish kids at the entrance to a bar. A few days prior, thugs from Los Pecados had charged into Mathilda's tribal village, wounded Mathilda's father Thasgard, and threatened everyone to move out of the area they had lived in for generations. If they didn't move away, the village was to be razed to the ground.

Right when everyone was wavering and giving up, Mathilda's grandma told her that the sacred mountain behind the village not only symbolized the sacred nature of tradition, but also contained mysterious power that was waiting for someone who could inherit it. As long as there was a glimmer of hope, the sacred mountain could not be given up.

On the grandmother's request, Mathilda left the village and set off alone. She wandered small town after small town, searching for heroes with a sense of justice to help her resist the thugs of Los Pecados.

After this, Mathilda sought out many famous bounty hunters. They either offered an exorbitant price that nobody would ever accept, or made some excuse to not do it. In fact, as the reputation of Los Pecados and the "Iceberg Sand Hunters" had spread far and wide, not many people were willing to risk offending Kane to help the weak Mathilda and her tribesmen.

And when she came to Thunder Roar, Mathilda encountered a lot of trouble. Some uneducated and unskilled young people in the town had found admiration for the prestigious Kane, and tried their best to imitate the behavior of his thugs by running amok in the town. To avoid having their lives affected, the residents, who had always been quiet and obedient, could only choose to swallow their breath.

But in Mathilda's view, this kind of tolerance would only encourage their evil thoughts and turn these kids into real thugs. So, right when they were carrying out their evil deeds, Mathilda stood bravely and angrily denounced their stupid behavior. Feeling insulted and looked-down-upon by this unscrupulous young girl from their own town, they surrounded Mathilda and threatened to teach this foolish girl a good lesson.

Just as Mathilda was gritting her teeth and about to deal with them once and for all, a burst of rapid gunfire sounded off and the young thugs were taken aback. They turned around and saw their hats had been shot to the ground, whereupon they fled into the wilderness.

The wind and the sand cleared. Mathilda looked behind her, and an old cowboy with a stubbled face was standing there, wiping the muzzle of his gun.

"Are you having some trouble, young lady? Sheriff Clint at your service!" There was a hint of banter in the old cowboy's tone, but when Mathilda saw the confidence and bravery flashing in Clint's eyes, she believed she had found someone who could help her defend her home.

Act Four

Time passed quickly, and the day of the handover of the land soon came. Blandy promised his beloved uncle: Every last one of those tribesmen will definitely be gone. Before long, a gold mine was to be constructed that would bring them a steady stream of wealth.

Accompanied by a retinue of his thugs, Blandy rode arrogantly in a black-smoke spewing sand hunting truck to Mathilda's village.

Blandy was extremely satisfied with everything in front of him: the tribesmen seemed to have submitted to his "good will" and moved away from the land completely. The whole tribe seemed quiet and depressed, as if no one had been around for many days.

Without carefully investigating, Blandy and his men could not wait to break their ranks and go their own way. They entered the village to enjoy the fruits of their victory, and did everything possible to search for valuables that could be taken away.

Right as the mob was satiating itself with loot, a bullet flew out from a place unknown, and the thugs collapsed with their treasures still in their arms. Immediately afterwards, a burst of rapid gunfire sounded off. Bullets shot from seemingly all directions. The unsuspecting Blandy and his thugs descended into chaos. They were falling to the ground shot here and there, screaming and wailing as they went down.

"Hide up, now! Idiots!" Blandy cursed angrily while directing his thugs to find the source of the ambush. He couldn't have even dreamt that these bumpkins, who had given them a promise not long ago, would set a trap for him. But even more unexpected for him was that it was none other than his old enemy Clint who had come to help the tribesmen.

In Thunder Roar, Mathilda, who was looking for a helper, was rescued by Clint. After listening to Mathilda's story, Clint promised without hesitation that he would help Mathilda and went with her back to her village.

Clint's quick shooting speed and precise marksmanship soon won over the villagers. They began to believe that this rough-looking old cowboy had what it took to protect them. Every family took out the guns they normally used for hunting. Others went to the nearest town to buy weapons and ammunition.

In order to deal with Blandy and the others who were soon to arrive, Clint formulated a meticulous battle plan. He divided the tribesmen into three groups. One group was to be on the periphery observing and guarding. As soon as Blandy and his men would arrive, the entire tribe would hide up and wait for them to take the bait; the second group were to set up various traps inside and outside the village to cut off the enemy path; and the last group was composed of young and strong adults in the tribe, most of whom had hunting experience and could meet Blandy in the main battle and hold their own.

The plan went well. Clint's group, who was waiting for the enemy to tire themselves out, met the arrogant Blandy head-on. Blandy's thugs were wiped out in an instant. Apart from those who were shot to death and those who luckily managed to flee, the rest of the enemy was captured alive, tied up and thrown before Clint.

At this time, Blandy no longer had the arrogance he had had before. He lowered his head, thinking about how to escape with his life and wait for an opportunity to retaliate, but then his eyes looked at Clint viciously.

"So it's you again, huh, hillbilly! I should have burnt your town to the ground last time!" said Blandy.

Clint looked at Blandy coldly, showing an expression of disdain.

"Leave. Go back and tell Kane I've taken over this place."

"I can't believe you've got the gall to let me go. I'm coming back for revenge." Blandy said as an empty threat.

"Go. Come back again if you've got the guts. I'll be right here waiting for you, ready to break your other leg!"

Although he was very resentful of his broken leg, there was a hint of joy in Blandy's eyes when he heard Clint say he was willing to let him go.

"No matter how many times you come back, we will never give up our homeland!" Mathilda said from the side.

Amidst the cheering tribesmen, the thugs helped up the injured Blandy and fled the town with their tails between their legs. The sun gradually set, bathing the sacred mountain in its afterglow, from which it emitted a sacred light.

A pleasant evening arrived, and everyone gathered in the center of the village, singing and dancing, and celebrating the defeat of a powerful enemy. But Clint knew that this was not the end of the matter, and that bigger troubles were on the horizon.

Chapter 2