"Are you sure this is where Marshall Jones was last seen?"

  This came from the man leading the group, who was the leader. He had a confident presence around him that commanded attention and respect. On his chest was the star of a US Marshall. Ten men were bundled up for the changing weather but not in as heavy clothing as they would in the winter.

  "Yes, Marshall MacLeod. This is where Mr. Turner and Marshall Jones parted company. He was quite adamant before he left town and moved back east that this was where he last saw him." This came from a slightly portly man to his right. All the men were still sitting on their horses, and none had dismounted.

  Marshall MacLeod looked intently at the gates. I could tell from his squint that he was not just eyeing them up as a possible ambush point but also wondering what such a place was doing here. I had come to fear smart lawmen as they were some of the most dangerous people I'd yet encountered.

  "Very well, Mr Myers, we will take a look inside together."

  Myers? Could this be the man who had been causing trouble to Herbert and had arranged the recent land deal that allowed me to buy nearly the entire forest around me? This was my first look at the man, and he screamed bully. He was slightly overweight, and I expected he was going bald under his hat.

  "But Marshall MacLeod, you only asked to find out where Marshall Jones was last seen," the man replied, but I heard a slight whine in his tone. He seemed happy to bring Marshall to my door but did not go any further.

  "Mr. Myers, I said no such thing. In your telegram, you strongly suggested that the local Driver family might have had something to do with Marshall Jones's disappearance and possibly the Pilgrim gang. Our records clearly show that several Marshalls have disappeared over the last fifteen years in these parts, and I'm here to find out why." He had turned to speak to Myers, and the other man shrunk slightly under his scrutiny.

  Marshall MacLeod looked back to the gates for a few seconds and then over to his men. "All right, gentlemen, tie up the horses here. We're going to investigate this place first, and then we're going to head to the Driver's residence."

  I checked the sun's position and knew it was still early in the morning. Even though it was autumn, it was a clear and sunny day. There was a chill in the air as most of the men produced puffs of vapour as they worked and spoke to each other.

  "Is not good."

  I had many questions about how Myers had been able to manipulate information in such a way as to bring the Marshall service here with such force. As I just overheard, he had been doing serious rumourmongering and truth manipulation. It was mostly actually correct, but that didn't mean he knew that. I watched the men tide up their horses and pull their rifles from the saddle bags. They were all armed with repeating rifles, and I counted several with Colts and other firearms strapped to their hips in clear view. I knew that all ten were going to be heavily armed. I had five hunters, but one of them was not going to be able to get involved in this one.

  It took less than five minutes to prepare everyone. In time, I noticed that Myers and another man had no badges. The other eight all had martial badges on their chests. As they got closer, I read Deputy Marshall on all but Macleod's. The other man was now shadowing Myers; I suspect he was some former bodyguard.

  They crossed the gates into the courtyard, and MacLeod stopped at the plinth and read the inscription. He then looked up and across the graveyard, and I could see his mind analysing everything and not coming up with any solutions or answers he was happy with. It was a strange echo of how Marshall Jones had acted when he arrived in the Dungeon.

  "Take the northern path," he ordered, and his men quickly moved. Myers and his bodyguard tried to trail behind but were placed in the centre of the formation." Stay alert. Even if this is a place for the dead, we might find some unpleasant living haunting the area."

  The way these men moved at his instruction and how they carried themselves indicated they were no mere rabble or quickly rounded-up posse but experienced lawmen. My concern only grew as I took this all in. This was not going to be some easy ambush and scattering. There was a good chance that my hunters might end up dying in this fight, and I knew Roberson was the most vulnerable of them all.

  [Alert! Intruders are not recognised as Challengers.]

  As soon as the message appeared, I connected to all my Hunters.

  "Ten lawmen, all heavily armed. Heading north."

  Myers and his bodyguard weren't lawmen, but I wouldn't take any chances with them. I would treat them all as if they were some of the most dangerous people I had ever encountered. Until this point, they probably were. The only group that would be more dangerous was when Pilgrim and his mob showed up, but that was more due to the sheer weight of numbers. During that time, I had allies amongst them, which allowed me to emerge as the ultimate victor. Here, I did not.

  I sent my hunters moving from their lairs. I would have to take a more direct role in controlling them here, as I knew that their natures would prevent them from working together unless I instructed them. But I had a dilemma about how I was going to do this.

  Could I ambush them? From the way they were moving, that would have been difficult. Unless I gave permission to use firearms. Now, that was an option I might have to consider.

  "Make sure you also have your rifles when you come."

  This slowed the hunters, as most had to return to pick up their rifles, but I was content. Roberson and the hateful spirit were the closest. The spirit was out of this one, so I ignored her presence. Roberson was the only one who did not go back for his rifle, so I suspected he was already armed with it.

  I could allow them to go to the church as they were deep in the dungeon then and use…..

  "Tell me, Mr Myers, when was this place constructed?" Marshall MacLeod spoke and distracted me from my line of thinking.

  "To be honest, Sir, I'm not sure I know that this place has been here for many years before I arrived to set up my businesses here," Myers replied.

  "Interesting. I ask because this place is far too large and appears too old for such a community at Crossway." MacLeod continued. As he spoke, he looked around like all of his men, but he paid more attention to the architecture and the apparent age of my Dungeon. Again, I was getting deja vu from when Marshall Jones came here, as he had said many similar things.

  Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

  "As I said, Marshall, it was here before I arrived, so I cannot tell you much more beyond that." Myers wasn't lying, but I suspected MacLeod knew he wasn't telling him the truth.

  "I also find it interesting that as I came to town on the train, we passed the local graveyard. I wonder why the population of the town do not come here to bury their dead." MacLeod continued speaking.

  "All I know, Marshall, of this place is it has an ill reputation amongst the earlier settlers of the area. That is why they have chosen not to bury their dead here."

  "That is very interesting, Mr Myers, and it brings me back to my first question about who built this place. Look around you. The construction here would involve dozens, if not hundreds, of workers and cost a pretty penny. Yet, in my travels of the western territories, I have never heard of such a place or anyone with the resources to build such a place. Yet here we are, and that Sir is concerning me most."

  Myers continued to State that he had no knowledge of the graveyard or who constructed it, only that it was here before he arrived. Marshall MacLeod kept probing with different questions, clearly unsatisfied with what he had been told.

  I turned my attention back to my hunters and how I would deal with this group.

  "If you find them, shadow them. We're going to let them get close to the church. Before they enter it, you were going to ambush them using your rifles."

  I knew where the ambush was going to have to take place, but it was apparently close to the church. They could possibly make it there in the middle of the battle, but that was the risk I had to take. If I were lucky, I would be able to have this drag out to later this evening or even night, when I could use the hateful spirit to go in and finish them off.

  They continued to navigate my Dungeon maze, making many wrong turns, but they quickly realised this, and one or two men scouted ahead. When they discovered the dead end, they returned to the main group and took the other route. Slowly but surely, they were making their way through the northern pass, and we were on our way to the church. As they progressed, my concern was growing, as this was going to be something I had never done before.

  My hunters knew where the ambush point was and quickly set themselves up. I ensured they were split between both sides of the path and not in each other's firing angles. That was one thing I remembered, though I had to make sure of it as I did not want the Hunters accidentally shooting at each other.

  Thinking of my plan, I wanted to drive them into the church. From there, my hunters would lay siege to it. The only problem was the arsenal under it would give them a marked improvement in firepower volume. I explained my plan to the hunters and made sure that they knew their roles in it and that we needed to hold them within the church until it was dark enough for me to send in the hateful spirit. I sensed their unease at the mention of the spirit as she was one of the few things that seemed to actually disturb them, and I understood why, but this was the best I had come up with.

  Eventually, the group arrived at the ambush point and were none the wiser. I noticed that they had become slightly more relaxed. Although the journey had not even hinted at any danger, that does not mean they were lax by any means.

  "Fire."

  I gave the order, and four shots quickly rang out. Three men were hit and went down. The intruders reacted promptly, took up defensive positions, and began returning fire when they believed they saw a target. Myers was dragged by his bodyguards into what cover they could find behind some gravestones. As I was not in my physical form, I could get up close and study what had happened. Two were dead, and one was wounded. Two bullets had hit one man, and I mentally kicked myself for not getting the hunters to mark their targets better.

  McLeod quickly assessed the situation and began organising his men. The wounded were dragged into what cover they could find, and the others were now returning fire with more confidence. MacLeod was no fool and realised that they were in a bad position and needed to shift to a stronger one: the church.

  He split his men into two groups, one moving and one covering with rifle fire. The hunters continued to shoot back, but they were now at a disadvantage as they were being forced to duck and hide themselves from return fire. They did, however, manage to clip and wound two more of MacLeod's party before they reached the church. As they approached, I shifted inside as I needed to find out what they were going to do.

  "Reginald, cover the doors. Albert, help the wounded." MacLeod was quickly barking orders, scanning the room as they entered, ready for any trouble. "What in God's name, Myers, have we walked into?"

  "M-M-Marshall, I have no idea. I'm as shocked as you are." His reaction could not be faked, as he had actually pissed himself in fear when the shooting started.

  "Michael, check the rest of the building," MacLeod ordered. Michael was one of the walking wounded and set off as soon as he was bandaged as a bullet had grazed his arm.

  Turning it back to the doors, he spoke to the man using one as a cover. "What do you see, Reginald?"

  "The four shooters are still out there, but they're not advancing on the building. I don't know if that's a good or bad sign."

  "I agree we got here too easily." MacLeod agreed with him. He joined him at the doors, and both were taking glances out, trying to understand where my Hunters were.

  After a few attempts to see what was outside, he turned his attention back to the room. "Albert, how are the wounded?"

  "George and Oscar can fight. Isaac is in a bad way." Albert did not look up from doing his best to treat the wounded man who was first shot.

  "All but Reginald, take a window and seek out our assailants. Open fire on them if you get a target." MacLeod ordered the group. Even Myers's bodyguard took a position at a window.

  There were several tense minutes as they looked out across the graveyard. My hunters had been ordered to get them in here, surround the building, and then take up a position in case anyone tried to get out. Each hunter was at a cardinal point around the building, watching for escape attempts.

  "Marshall MacLeod, you need to see this." Michael had returned to the main hall from exploring the rest of the building.

  "What is it, Michael?" McLeod asked, not gazing from the window he was looking out of.

  "This church has a crypt…. And I found….. I found….. So you need to come and see it."

  "Speak plainly, man!"

  "Sir. I found gold, silver and a great deal of guns."

  His words drew the attention of everyone in the hall, and I clearly saw the hungry look on Myers' face. Whatever McLeod expected Michael to say, he was not this. He quickly stood and went to the other man. He also saw the look on Myers' face as he walked. Myers was making the stand to go with him.

  "You, Sir, stay here," McLeod ordered in a tone that broke no refusal. Myers sat back down again if he was struck.

  Michael took Marshall MacLeod downstairs into the crypts. There were wooden torches on the walls, and he had lit one to illuminate the area. He quickly showed his superior the money on the guns. MacLeod knelt and picked up one of the gold bullion bars. He inspected the markings on the bar and grunted in recognition of something.

  "What is it, Sir?" Michael asked.

  "These bars are from one of the heists that Adam Pilgrim committed five years ago. I wouldn't be surprised that the silver was as well. I think Deputy Marshall, we have stumbled across where Pilgrim has been hiding his ill-gotten gains." MacLeod put the bar back and looked around the room as he spoke.

  "You reckon it's several of his gang members outside then?"

  "Very possible. Adam Pilgrim was not the man to leave his money unguarded. The question is, where are he and the rest of them?" MacLeod now stood and headed back up the stairs.

  "Sir, what about the gold?" Michael was confused by his superior's actions.

  "Leave it, Deputy Marshall. It will be no use to us in the coming hours."

  I was a little impressed, as I knew human greed would demand that they take as much of it as they could with them. MacLeod Was smart enough to know that it was a fool's errand to try to take it with them, as they needed it to survive. The precious metals would only slow them down, and speed was their best chance of surviving.

  "What's down there, Marshall McLeod?" Myers demanded as greed was giving him back his courage.

  "Mr Myers, that is no concern of yours. I suspect we are facing part of the Pilgrim gang. Keep your wits about you, men. We're in for one hell of a fight."

  I monitored them over the next few hours and ensured they were not making a break for it. The wounded man did not survive and died less than an hour into the siege. Marshall MacLeod took his badge off him and prayed over his body. The rest were grim, but we were keeping watch in case they were attacked.

  I was concerned for my wealth, but my primary concern was holding him here as the sun slowly passed across the sky and prepared to set.

  "The time has come to bring the hateful spirit."