Tyrant's Stars: Parts Three and Four by Hideyuki Kikuchi

mountains. It was said there were surprisingly few bones, but instead large holes beyond number gaping in the ground. The holes were said to be all that was left when fire dragons approaching death used the last of their strength to turn themselves red hot and bury themselves deep in the earth. One theory had it that the holes ran all the way to the planet’s core, and that’s why there were so many volcanoes in that region.
    Naturally, the Fire Dragon Hunters who tackled these supernatural creatures possessed sharp minds and powerful bodies, but more than a few of them also visited black-market doctors in the Capital to have their bodies mechanically augmented—to be turned into cyborgs. When they were done with work they ran wild at local watering holes, frequently getting into fights, causing bloodshed, and even murdering people. The chances of finding a moderate and sensible individual among men of that temperament were about as good as those of locating a given leaf in the middle of a forest.
    You could say that Sue’s husband was the epitome of his profession. Every time he came back to the village he got into brawls with other men and caused major fights by making passes at other people’s wives and daughters, and those villagers that he beat half to death streamed out of the community. They’d made the petition to the Capital when the village was no longer able to put up with him. And now he was coming back. His heart would be boiling with rage directed toward his wife and the villagers.
    “Men from the village are prepared to go out and fight him off, but he’s more than half cyborg parts. Sure, the Capital’s sheriff’s office was able to take him into custody, but out here, it’d be like striking a brick wall with spitballs. Let’s hit the road.”
    “Yeah, I guess that’ll work,” Matthew replied, but the situation had changed so drastically that his response was halfhearted. If she was going to ask him to run off with her, why’d she say anything
    about introducing him to her husband? There were too many things about this young woman that Matthew couldn’t fathom.
    “I didn’t think you’d recover from your burns so fast, but it looks like you’re gonna be all right. I suppose the first thing he’ll do is come right out here to kill me. Well, let’s take off.”
    “You—you mean right now?”
    “Of course. I said he’s coming back tomorrow. That means we should go tonight. We could stay here, but folks in the village know you’re staying at my house. There’s no telling what they might say.”
    “Hey, you’re threatening me!”
    “It’s not like I’ve got much choice. What’s it gonna be?”
    “We’ll go.” There was no way he’d give any other answer.
    Less than an hour later, a pair of figures on cyborg horses hastily fled the slumbering village.
    The Frontier by night was an unholy world. They carried weapons for that reason, and Matthew gripped a flamethrower with hands that still bothered him. The tank of oil was on his back.
    Once they reached the highway that ran out of town, Matthew learned that all Sue’s work had been for nothing. When he told her the location of the fortress, Sue said, “That’d be this way,” and pointed to one end of the white ribbon of a road, but then she suddenly froze. Matthew followed her finger, and then he too was left immobilized.
    By the light of the moon, a figure on a cyborg horse was slowly approaching.
    “Your husband?”
    “Yeah,” Sue replied absent-mindedly. Riding up beside the boy, she leaned over and told him, “As soon as he comes into range, blast him.”
    “But that’s—”
    “Do you wanna die? It’s kill or be killed!”
    How he wished the other Sue were here.
    The horse stopped. The figure on its back raised one hand to eye level. Matthew noticed he wore a heavy helm and goggles. From the neck down he was covered in armor. Cold sweat ran down the boy’s cheeks.
    “Over there—is that Sue I see?” the man