The men were now close enough for me to get a good look at them and to start to hear their conversation. Both men were dressed for the outdoors and were covered in dust, indicating they had been travelling hard and far.

  "What is this place, Albert?" The first said.

  "I do not know Samuel. It was not here when I passed through these woods three years ago."

  Albert and Samuel, their horses tethered to a nearby tree, stood at the gates of my Dungeon. Their rifles, a clear sign of their preparedness, were held firmly in their hands. On their hips were Colt pistols, fully loaded, I would wager. Both men looked like they had used both types of weapons often.

  "Are you sure he came this way and has not gone another?" Samuel asked.

  "Yes, the trail was clear even after we found the horse wandering. The trail we followed to get here is freshly cut with the tracks matching his footprints from the Johnson farm."

  Johnson! I knew it; they were tracking Rigger!

  "It's getting dark. Do we go in? He might be waiting for us, lurking in the shadows, ready to ambush. His vile character would lean to have him do such things." Samuel was now standing at the gates, peering in, his voice barely a whisper, but Albert heard him.

  "In decency's name, we need to. We cannot let him get away and avoid us again, especially now he has those poor women." Alberts's tone was firm, and his face set. "Can you look at another aftermath of his vile deeds?"

  Samuel paled and looked like he was going to throw up. "No, God forgive me, but I cannot see another."

  "Then we must enter and seek a reckoning."

  The gates were opened, and both men entered with their weapons raised. I reached out and connected to my Hunter.

  "Rigger! We have company two men tracking you from the Johnson farm. Heavily armed, it looks like they know how to use them." I sensed his panic and rushed to get prepared. I had stopped calling him John both out of frustration and as a means to separate myself from him if he died.

  "What do you make of this, Albert?"

  They had reached the plinth with the inscription. Both read it and looked confused.

  "I know not, Samuel. Let us not linger as there is something not natural or Godly about this place. Let us find him and be done with him and this place."

  They chose not to follow the path but continued to walk straight in.

  [Alert! Intruders are not recognised as Challengers.]

  This means I can help John defend the Dungeon. Firearms are a big no-no. Not discarding them before entering lists you as an intruder, not a Challenger, and the gloves come off. My Hunters could use firearms, but they and I did not receive a kill for it.

  "Look, a chapel in the distance; he will most likely be there." Albert points to my Core resting place. They begin heading that way. That was logical as the mausoleums were too small for habitation to their way of thinking.

  "Rigger, they are heading to the church. Use guns as a last resort."

  I sensed he was now out of his lair and finding an ambush point. The growing darkness would help him with this. The sun setting behind the mountains and walls spread darkness across the graveyard even faster.

  Samuel and Albert were moving together, side by side. Each pointed their weapons in different directions. Their rifles were braced against their shoulders, fingers on the triggers ready to fire.

  "We will be there soon. Be ready. He might know we are here. For all of his vileness, he is cunning." Albert was older and had the experience. Samuel was younger but was listening to his words.

  "I need to separate these two if Rigger has a chance of winning without shooting them."

  They had now come close to the church and his hiding spot. They had not seen him in the growing darkness as he had hidden himself well. If I could distract them, he might have a chance.

  "I am going to try to distract them. Use it if it works. The older one is the more dangerous."

  I looked around for an option, but he made no reply.

  There, a stone! Inspiration struck.

  Concentrating, I summoned my avatar, crouching to avoid being seen; I lifted a stone and threw it.

  The clatter caused both to turn and face north. I felt extreme mental exhaustion, and my vision blurred momentarily. That was all I could do. I had been using my avatar earlier and had not fully recovered. I dismissed it.

  They walked several steps in the direction I threw the stone, getting separated by gravestones. Rigger took the opening. He got up from the ground where he was lying and moved up behind them with his bowie knife drawn. He moves with surprising silence.

  He is behind Albert. Something warns the man of the danger behind him, and he turns; Rigger gets into range as he does. The blade slices into his side and goes deep, ignoring the layers he is wearing. It is angled into his chest and slices at least one lung and may have even reached his heart. Albert coughs up blood instead of whatever he is about to say. This still alerts Samuel.

  Samuel turns to see his companion standing with Rigger just behind him. The look of horror on his face tells me all I need to know as he sees the other man dying. Lifting the rifle, he is shaking too badly to aim properly but fires anyway.

  Rigger twists the body on his knife to act as a shield, but not fast enough. The bullet clips Alberts's body and grazes Rigger's left arm. He grunts with pain from the wound.

  Not wasting time, Riger pulls the blade free and lets the body drop.

  [A Hunter has made a Kill]

  He charges the short distance, throwing off any chance to reload the rifle and closing with Samuel. I am impressed he got one off. He jumped and brought down the younger man. The fast and numerous strikes with the blade brought about his end. He tried to scream but coughed up blood instead.

  [A Hunter has made a Kill]

  "Well, that ended faster than I expected."

  Rigger rose from the second messier kill, breathing hard. He was covered in blood and took a few more rapid breaths before inspecting his arm. The bullet had ripped through the clothing, and a nasty scar had been carved through his flesh, but I did not see bone.

  "You will not die from that and will be healed soon."

  "Reckon ya right." He was still looking at the injury.

  "Recognise these two?"

  He looked down at them both. He walked back over to Alberts's body, leaned over, and ripped open his jacket. On his chest was a silver star with the word Marshall imprinted on it. He began searching his pockets.

  "Well, that is not welcome."

  Dead lawmen were never a thing you wanted when you were just starting out as a murder/death Dungeon. Rigger stood up, holding a piece of paper. Opening the single sheet, the word reward was printed in bold letters. There was an artist's impression of Rigger, his name and a long list of crimes. The picture does not do him justice.

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  "Three hundred dollars reward. Is that a bit low for what this claims you have done?"

  "They don't know most of me fun." He was smiling, remembering his past misdeeds.

  "Let us move on. Collect the gear from the horses and let them go. Bring it all and their personal possessions to the church. You can bury the bodies tomorrow."

  Rigger nods and gets to work. I return to the church and await him. This gives me time to think about the first four kills in my Dungeon. The violent deaths should have affected me, and I could make out the disgust and horror at them, but it was so far away and distant that I was more like an observer on the far side of a ravine trying to listen to them calling over in high winds. I knew they were there but could not understand what they were saying.

  I knew I had been changed or restricted in many ways. This was just another sign of it. I suspect that it was to make sure that I could perform the role of a Dungeon Keeper without having a complete mental breakdown.

  I was still mulling this over when Rigger brought all the loot to the chapel and placed it in front of the altar.

  "Needed a horse to bring it all."

  "That's fine. Go release it, and I will look over everything."

  He left and returned about thirty minutes later. This gave me a good idea of what was here.

  "Place the money, watches and jewellery in the urn to the right. The badges go to the left. Guns and ammunition will go into the tomb to the north. Take what you desire and place what's left with the guns."

  It did not take long, and the loot was separated. Rigger took no food but alcohol and tobacco, along with a few shirts. He placed the identified items in each urn and moved the rest.

  By the time he had finished, night had indeed fallen. The night sky was brilliant, and I enjoyed looking at it without the light pollution I was used to when I was alive—well, alive as a human, that is.

  Shifting position to the bubble's top, I looked across the land around me. In the distance, I could see the soft glow of the community there. Rigger was placing the last of the loot away.

  "Rigger, what is the name of the community over the rise to the northeast?"

  "That will be Crossway."

  "Crossway? What sort of a name is that for a town?"

  "It's where the trails and river crossing meet. So, named it Crossway."

  "What a lousy name."

  He made no reply, but I sensed him closing the door to the loot pile and heading back to his lair. I asked him no more questions. He opened the door and left my senses as I disconnected from him.

  [Hunter: John Rigger will be healed in 06:00:00.]

  "Well, that's good to know. Six hours is pretty quick."

  I looked around, and when I looked at his lair, a countdown ticked away above it. That was a handy feature.

  I floated about there for the rest of the night and watched the world wake up again with the dawn. Nightlife slipped away, replaced by those who moved in the light of the sun.

  Over the night, I wondered if living in America now makes me American. It was a long night, and not much else happened. There was some singing, but only a little.

  The countdown had long vanished, and Rigger was up and about. He buried the bodies as instructed. He spent a few hours on the path leading to the main road, but I allowed him to retire early. I checked and found the dead men's names listed on the gravestones above their graves.

  "Interesting feature that."

  At least I now had a way to keep track of time if I lost track of it.

  The next few days went as follows: Rigger worked on the trail and then retired. There were primarily sunny days but a few rainy ones. Today, we had a nasty storm blowing through the area. Thunder, lightning, and heavy rain, which had been no stop for most of the day. It had come down from the mountains. I had given Rigger the day off, but he had not emerged from his lair.

  He had cleared enough foliage to allow me a partial view of the road or, should I say, track, which was all mud now. It was two miles from my gates to the road. The path had a kink in it that blocked a direct view up the path to the Dungeon. This was due to a much larger tree holding that patch of ground.

  "Hello, what is that."

  I perked up at seeing a team of horses pulling a canvas-covered wagon through the mud. The wagon was one of the classic ones used by settlers going west in all the films and series I had watched. It turned and began heading up the trail to my Dungeon. Behind it came a second. Each was heavily loaded and had two figures bundled up on the driver seat and riding shotgun.

  "Not what I was expecting? Are they lost?"

  The wagons covering were patched, and additional containers were strapped to the sides. They looked worn and heavily used.

  They rode up to the gates. I had Rigger clear space to the left of the gates and the wagons parked up. Due to the storm, I could not hear what was being said, but their body language indicated that they were lost. Two figures of men walked up to the gates and looked inside. I noticed the faces of women and children glancing out of the backs of the wagons.

  "Pioneers from out east probably."

  They did not expect me to be here; they hoped I would be in a cabin or a small collection of houses, maybe even Crossway.

  "If I were them, I would wait out the storm, go back to the main track, and keep on going."

  Looking around the sky, I could see the storm breaking soon, maybe an hour or two. The night would be close behind. They would never reach the town over the rise. For the wagons, it was nearly a day away in the muddy conditions.

  As predicted, the rain continued for nearly two hours and then suddenly disappeared. The setting sun cut through the clouds, and the two families set up a basic camp as far from the gates as the clearing allowed.

  I could not blame them.

  There are two adult men and women, four teenagers, three males and one female, and four more children, three females and one male. The youngest boy was about eight, while the youngest girl was about four.

  "Please don't come in. Just camp out tonight and leave in the morning."

  The kills would put me over the threshold for my next level, but the idea was revolting enough to get me through to even my logical side. My rational side had already calculated that they could overwhelm Rigger with numbers anyway. The men and teenagers had all now produced rifles and were eyeing my gates. I was happy to leave them be as long as they stayed outside.

  The night rolled in, and they retired to the wagons to sleep.

  Just past midnight, I spotted movement. The oldest teenage male emerged from the closet wagon and walked around, stretching his legs. Shortly after the eldest teenage female emerged, she smiled at the young man waiting for her.

  "Lover's tryst? Just do not come in."

  I watched them meet up a reasonable distance from the wagons. They had leaned in close and were whispering. The male was glancing at the gates.

  The cloud mainly had blown through, and the half-moon was high in the sky. It provided a respectable amount of silvery light to illuminate the area. I did not need it, as I still could see everything clearly in the Dungeon, but outside, the dark restricted me as a normal person. The problem was that I could see with terrible clarity what was going to happen.

  "Don't, boy, keep her safe and stay out!"

  After a few minutes, he convinced her and they walked through the partially open gates.

  "Shit!"

  They stopped at the plinth, and the girl read the words aloud.

  "What do you think this strange verse means, Henry?" Her confusion is apparent in her features and tone.

  "I do not know, Susan. Let us walk a little further before we need to go back. I have things we need to speak on."

  "I do not think we should. Something is queer about this place, and it unsettles me." She pulls her shawl tighter around her as she looks across the graveyard.

  "Frett, not Susan, I wish to speak of tomorrow."

  He took her hand, and she allowed herself to be led. They took the southern path as they continued talking.

  [Two Challengers have entered your Dungeon.]

  "Well, we are committed now." I could sense Rigger becoming aware of the two interlopers. I turned my attention back to the couple. Passing the plinth and stepping onto one of the paths was the last thing needed to trigger the Dungeon.

  "It is true I plan to ask your father for the privilege of courting you tomorrow."

  "Oh, Henry, that is splendid news. I think our parents will approve of such a match."

  No, you will not, I thought to myself. As recognised Challengers, my options had become very limited, and I was now regulated to observe. This was not going to go well; Henry was not armed but had a small knife in his belt. Against Rigger, he would not last long. I did not even count the girl, as she had no visible weapons. She might surprise me, but I doubted it.

  Rigger was moving and would find them soon. They strolled along the southern pathway, following the curve of the wall. They chatted about the future and were blissfully unaware of death stalking them. Rigger was now closing in on them, having just spotted the figures walking. They were consciously or unconsciously following the path to the church.

  He was letting them get deeper into the Dungeon before striking. It would be as soon as he was slowly closing in with them. They were too wrapped up in each other to notice. He positioned himself behind a tree.

  He became still blending with the darkness.

  They walked past him.

  He waited for them to go a little further and then moved.

  He quickly covered the distance between them, making some sound. This altered Henry, who turned to see what was coming. Rigger's knife sliced across his throat in an upward cut. He grabbed for his neck, choking on his blood. Susan was stunned at first but then realised what had happened and tried to scream. Rigger's hand clamped on her opening mouth, smothering the scream. His blade slid into her chest and dreams as her life ended there.

  [A Hunter has made a Kill]

  [A Hunter has made a Kill]

  It was done.

  [New Midian, Level up! Hunter: John Rigger, Level up!]

  There was a golden + symbol at the bottom right of my vision. We had to accept them, but it was not the time. There was work to do.

  "Do not level up yet! Hide the boy in the church. Do you want the girl?"

  "Ya, never have enuff wives."

  "As soon as you have, head back to your lair and then level up. I will be as well. Expect trouble as soon as they understand they are missing. There could be up to five males with guns."

  He made no reply but got to work. He was close to the church and moved the body quickly. He returned, collected the girl, and returned as fast as possible to his lair. After he closed his door, I cleared my mind.

  More rain was coming in again as the sky clouded over. The first drops were starting to fall.

  "Let's do this."