First Case, Part 1

First Case, Part 2

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First Case, Part 3: Introductions and a breath of change

The bellowing orc charged down the street like a runaway carriage. Though wounded by the stun round, sheer rage and the desire to cause damage kept Rorg awake. To the orc, the actions of him and his two companions had caused the Sheriff to be set upon them. Rorg desired to cause as much pain to the goblin shop owner as possible. Thoughts of revenge kept his legs moving, and he panted and cursed as he ran belligerently on.

As he entered the town, one citizen of InTween tried to distract him by waving his arms and running towards the orc. Rorg literally ran over him, knocking him out of the way with a swat from his meaty arm. The man fell over limply, like a puppet with its strings cut, and other people that saw the blow scrambled to get out of the orc’s way.

“I’m gonna kill you!” Rorg howled. Thick ropes of drool fell from his open jaws, eyes wide and red from hate. “You stinkin’ goblin! If I gotta go to jail, I might as well make it for somethin’ real!”

Tila heard the orc before he came into view. Shaking from fear and anger, she stepped into the street, hefting the giant wooden paddle she used to move her pies in the ovens. It was almost as long as she was tall, but she held it with practiced ease, shaking it to find the balance.

“Letty, you stay inside young lady,” she said sharply to the small girl behind her. “Mama’s got this.”

When Rorg stomped into view, she pointed the paddle at him. “Oi! You want me? Come and get me! Tila IronHand ain’t afraid of anyone, and this is your only warning.”

The orc ran on, lost in his rage and completely ignored the warning.

“Alright, don’t say I didn’t warn you,” Tila hissed, and swung the paddle over her shoulder, grippingthe handle in both hands.

When Tila was a young girl and still living in the clan warrens, she had seen a runaway bull grub. An accidental collision had freed it from its restraints, and it tried to escape down a pedestrian tunnel. The thing was as big as the rail cars it towed, weighing hundreds of times more than a goblin and completely dwarfing them in height and width. Tila had frozen in the tunnel, eyes wide staring at the oncoming monster. She was too afraid and too weak to do anything then, and she never forgot the feeling of immense terror as something gargantuan came bearing down on her.

This time Tila was much older, and she had someone to protect behind her. With narrowed eyes she tightened her grip and swung with the paddle.

A flare of purple light burst from the orc’s shoulder, showering him in violet sparks. His legs and arms went rigid, eyes wide with terror and confusion. The orc’s forward momentum kept him moving even after his legs stopped.

Tila and the heavy paddle connected solidly with Rorg’s jaw. A hollow thunk of wood striking bone and flesh echoed and Rorg fell over senseless. The blow knocked him sideways and he fell like a tree, slamming into the ground with a muffled groan.

Tila looked down at the fallen thug with her jaws wide open. She had intended to hit him, but she had not aimed for his head. Admittedly, it was usually difficult for someone as short as she to hit a much taller person in the head, if not for his inexplicable fall.

Tentatively, she reached out with the paddle and poked the orc, gratified to hear another muffled moan.

“Whew, that was quite a hit! If I ever need a hitter for a scrimball game, I’m gonna ask for you to be on my team.”

Tila looked up, astonished to see Sheriff Edwin walking up to her. He was out of breath, panting hard and shaking his right hand. A whisper of smoke wafted up from his palm, a smear of ash smoldered from the center of it.

“Sheriff? What are you doing here?” Tila said.

“Chasin’ this one,” he replied, stopping next to the inert orc. He nudged the fallen figure with his foot, then knelt to roll him over face up. The thug’s body was stiff at first, but slowly he went limp. The violet sparkles disappeared, fading into the sunlight. The more they did, the limper the orc became.

Realization came to Tila. “That was a spell, wasn’t it? What made him stop running.”

“That’s right,” Edwin replied, rubbing his hand as if it had been stung. “Earlier I put a quick-tracking glyph on big guy here.” He pointed at the smoldering patch on Rorg’s tunic. “That’s how I figured out where they were hidin’. Also how I knew where he was runnin’ to. I tried to rewrite the glyph on my hand into a holding type instead of a tracking type. ‘Course, the mana you need for holding is way different, and I had to pump some extra juice in, but it sorta worked. Glad you helped finish the job,” he finished with a wink.

The goblin woman watched as Edwin borrowed a length of rope and a sack from a nearby ranch hand, and remained silent as Edwin tied Rorg’s hands and legs together before rolling him onto the sack.

“You have a gun,” she said flatly.

“Sure do. Wouldn’t be much of a Sheriff if I didn’t.”

“Why didn’t you just shoot him?”

Edwin’s eyes directly methers. “What if I missed him? I would’ve shot you by mistake. Or your store. Or Gods forbid it, your daughter. What kind of a Sheriff would I be shootin’ my folk like that?”

Tila looked at him wonderingly. “You actually mean that don’t you?”

“Like I said ma’am, I take my job very seriously.” He smiled softly. “Sorry I let this goon get real close to your store; I’ll make sure it don’t happen again.” With a grunt he started to walk down the street, dragging the orc behind him with the rope.

“Well hell, Sheriff,” the ranch hand remarked as he walked by. “If I knew that’s why you needed the sack and the rope I’d let you borrow Bessie here to haul that boy to the jail.”

Tila watched the Sheriff and the ranch hand bicker amicably as they tied the rope to the horse’s saddle until they left her sight completely. She shook her head before she turned around to hug her daughter close.

A few days later, Sheriff Edwin patrolled down Main Street. He made it a regular exercise: a few times a day he would walk up and down the streets, making a slow circuit and greeting any who would give him the time of day. Now though, people seemed to treat him far kinder than when he arrived. Many had witnessed the altercation in front of the pie shop and all who hadn’t had heard the tale in some fashion.

“Well, hello there Sheriff.” Tila was sweeping outside her store but stopped when she spied him. “You seem quite chipper.”

“Well, I finally had a mornin’ without threats or whinin’. The train left with our would-be gang boys back to where they will be prosecuted and punished properly.” Edwin stretched his shoulders, as if a great weight had been relieved. “Nice and peaceful.”

After a slight awkward pause Edwin smiled and started to walk on.

“Do you know why this town is called InTween?”

Edwin stopped and turned to face Tila. “Not really, wasn’t part of my info packet before coming here.”

Tila set the broom against the building. “Way back when Kelgor and Toranus were at war, before this town existed, there were a group of people who met not too far from here. They were folk from either country, refugees tired of the war tearing the lands apart. They wanted to escape the fighting, didn’t see each other as a source of pain but as fellow victims. So, they traveled together and came to the narrow pass to the north. They didn’t know which way to go: down on range into one country or down the other. They couldn’t escape deeper into either of the two. Half of the folk would be considered traitors and the other as invaders.”

Edwin nodded slowly. “Hard decision to make.”

“After some time bickering and food and water running low, one of them said, ‘Hell, screw either place. Let’s just go intween the two!’ So, that’s what they did. They climbed the narrow pass and found themselves here. A natural spring saved them from thirst, and they built the town around it. Hence why your shiny badge has that water drop on it. The reason why people settled here.” Tila gestured to the town around them. “All the natural residents of this town have ancestors from one of the two countries. But they turned into something else all these years. Looks like the two countries want to deal with the InTween after forgetting about it for so long.”

“Well, looks like this town is a new way to reach the sea, an easy halfway point,” Edwin replied slowly. “Plus, with some space for expansion and the like, not to mention how easy it is to build railways these days, guess they were happy to have a town already here instead of squabblin’ with each other over other stops. Which is why they’re letting InTween keep some sovereignty.”

“Which is good. People made the InTween to escape Kelgor and Toranus. They wouldn’t suffer to let either of them be in charge.” Tila crossed her arms and stared levelly at Edwin. “I won’t lie Sheriff, lots of folk might not trust you. Before the countries poked their nose here, there have been all sorts who thought they could be the law around here. Same thing always happened. They either came corrupt or became corrupt. For long spells the town didn’t have a Sheriff.”

She sighed and rubbed her chin thoughtfully before continuing. “So when they said they were sending us a Sheriff that wasn’t even from the InTween, well, let’s just say lots of folk didn’t like it. Many will be suspicious. Are you one of Kelgor’s or are you a Tornaus? Whose side will you stand for when push comes to shove?”

“I may have been trained by them and worked on both sides of the border, but I ain’t theirs.” The smile slid off Edwin’s face and a glint of steel appeared in his eyes. “I was hired by the InTween and for as long as I am, the folk here will be mine.”

Another long pause grew between them before Tila nodded. “Well, I think I can believe that. And in time I think the others will, too.”

“Well, thank you kindly. I’ll aim to do the best that I can.” Edwin’s cheeks reddened a little. “So, uh, any more of those pork pies left?”

“None for you.” Tila smirked at his crestfallen look. “It’s not even noon yet, Sheriff, and those are ones I bake for lunch and after. I do have some bacon ones left and some veggie filled. How about one of each?”

“Sounds delicious to me.” When she handed him the sack, he held out a silver piece.

“Only need a copper, Sheriff.”

“What about that Law Tax?”

It was Tila’s turn to blush. “Well, since nothing happened to the store, I don’t need the tax anymore.”

Edwin chuckled and gave her the silver piece. “Why don’t you take it still. Start an account for me, if ever I come by without my wallet.” He bit into one of the pies, fanning his mouth afterwards from the unexpected heat. “I’m sure I’ll be spending it all soon enough.”

With a nod he continued his patrol with a shoulders back, hands full, and a new smile on his lips.