Executioner

Quinton arrived at the sheriff's office and walked to his desk to fetch the bell. He stormed to the town's center, rang the bell angrily, and yelled:

"Turning has begun, head to the canyon"

When the villagers stopped him and inquired, he answered by ringing the bell. Along with her spouse, Monica emerged from the bar and dashed down the short stairs, holding her dress to prevent it from dragging or being trodden on.

Monica yelled "Quin Quin" as she dashed toward him and tenderly held him.

"Hey Mr. and Mrs. Clinton, how can I help?" Quinton said in a sorrowful, almost pitying voice.

With a stern tone that caused Mrs. Clinton to burst into tears, she remarked, "Our daughter left with that boy from the slums, do what nots in the canyons."

Mr. Clinton gave Quinton a quick glance and nodded before continuing to console his wife at this particular time.

Quinton inhaled deeply and comfortingly replied, "It's going to be fine; Sheriff is currently there." Hearing those words, Monica brushed away her tears and gave Quinton a vile glare.

"Sorry I didn't quite hear, what did you just say?" Monica inquired as she walked slowly toward Quinton, malevolent purpose stamped in her eyes, and her hair began to move and twist like a snake.

When he saw this, Mr. Clinton attempted to tell his wife, "Honey, please calm down! You and I know Crawford is capable of rescuing our daughter."

"Nobody else can keep her safe but us, Richard," yelled Monica, directing her fury towards Richard.

Richard dragged his wife into a hug without yelling back; she attempted to resist but was unable. Her wild hair slowed down like soothing river water, Quinton gave the two room and lampooned 'Sheriff, stay safe, they are counting on'

***

10h39 Near the crack

Crawford pondered to what type and rank the monster belonged to, aiming his pistols at it.

"Black ooze and feathers, harpy-like in appearance." I can't say that about it, though. Crawford grinned, "Harpy can't shapeshift, let's shot again then."

James says with a smile, "Sheriff, you're the most incredible person I've ever met. It's funny, because I've never encountered another human being like you."

"So you are a child learning to walk?" Crawford laughed.

"I have the intelligence to do things from birth," James remarked in a deep, steady voice.

Crawford questioned, "The intellect to do what?" out of interest.

James smiled as his wounds closed, "To hunt the prey."

James changed into a hideous creature out of nowhere; a black slime and feathers sprouted from his body and covered him completely.

A humanoid monster with two wings in place of arms and a short black beak emerged as the goo spread. The creature had pointed body armor coated in feathers, piercing eyes like black rocks, and bird-like features as it cawed.

"Predator with twisted dread rank six. Impressive, but slow" Crawford pointed a gun at the creature's abdomen as he stated this:

BANG!

Crawford immediately pocketed some sand as he dodged into the destroyed Gnome hat for cover. He instantly took out his ammunition and attempted to reload, but this was a mistake.

"So, when have I slowed down, Human?" questioned the creature, stretching his neck and patching on the Hat.

Crawford growled, "Fuck," and fired with his other gun:

Bang! Bang!

James deftly sidestepped the bullets, making them seem insignificant, and then swiftly used his wings to strike Crawford as he hurtled toward the cliffs. Crawford automatically blocked part of the attack force with his hands and rifle.

Crawford groaned, 'Damn that hurts,' as he landed with his hands and quickly assumed a running position to strengthen his next strike.

He used his other gun to shoot at the Dread monster, then dropped it and stopped moving. Grabbing one of the bullets, he clamped it between his teeth.

***

11h00 Near the canyon

Holding firearms and various items used for daily tasks like gardening, Quinton and a group of townspeople approached the canyon. The bartender, Beth, was holding a spear that appeared to be a covert mop. Rolling pins were held by Herald Senior, Junior, and Jackie, his wife.

Quinton led this crowd through the scorching morning, holding a bell and ringing it every time a mile threshold was met. Monica approached Quinton and said:

"I am sorry for my behavior back then; I just can't live with myself if Melissa gets hurt or dies"

"Water under the bridge, ma'am, we will find her," Quinton moaned somewhat. Actually, I'm positive the sheriff located her."

After saying so, Monica's hair nearly shot up, but she collected herself and turned to face her husband, who had daughters. Winnie, Georgina, Alison, Susan, and lastly, she motioned for her spouse to speak with Quinton.

Grinning and nodding in agreement, Richard went to take his wife's position while she took care of their girls.

Richard gently touched Quinton's shoulder.

"Hey man, I apologize for Monica's earlier outburst. However, might I ask you a question regarding Crawford?"

Quinton inhaled deeply. "I trust the Sheriff when it comes to situations like this"

Like his wife, Richard had long questioned why Crawford, who lacked the gifts and danger of the heretics, was so highly trusted by the locals.

They questioned why a human would be tasked with defending the strong if the town contained heretics who coexisted peacefully with humans and possessed special talents.

Richard was about to inquire about Crawford when Quinton interrupted him, saying instead:

"Crawford is not our protector, he is more of our executioner"

Confused, Richard enquired "What do you mean our executioner?"

"You do realize that heretics or witches occasionally find it difficult to restrain themselves at night or on any other day?" Quinton replied, glancing at the group of people who had followed him:

"Crawford's task, is to either kill us or save us."

"Why is that?" Richard enquired, turning to Quinton for a response.

After a brief period of being stunned, Quinton responded with a menacing grin on his face:

"Because it is his job"

****

James took off and glanced at Crawford with an expression of hunger:

"Time to eat, I guess," as he dove toward Crawford at a high speed. Crawford was running toward James with the intention of shooting at the monster.

Seeing this, Crawford grinned and remarked, "The first rule of a fight kid is to know your opponent's move before it is made."

Crawford held his hand open and blew at the pocketed sand just in front of James's eye, just as the creature was about to assault his entire being.

James immediately closed his eyes, but that was a mistake on his part. Crawford jumped at the high of the monster's reach and opened his palm to grab the face, once he did this, he slammed James to the ground.

James cawed in pain as Crawford proceeded to use his fist to punch his face, torso, arms and chest. Crawford pointed his pistol to the forehead asked:

"So, what have you learnt from this experience?"

Monster James was confused, maybe due to him being a baby monster wise. But how had he lost to the human in the first place, he suddenly recalled something during the attacks.

He smiled "You pocketed some sand when you were dodging me"

"Correct now shall we finish this?" asked Crawford as he pulled the trigger, but nothing happened. 

'Damn I used the empty one, did I drop the one with bullets' he silently muttered as he looked at James with a smile that shown bits of sweat.

James gave Crawford a sinister smirk as he realized the error the human had made, then used his might to push him upward. James instantly flew toward the human and kicked him in the torso as Crawford shot skyward with increased vigor.

Crawford clung to his stomach, vomiting violently as blood spurted from his mouth.

"I can toy with this food for a while and after I am done with him," James muttered, laughing as he noticed this. I'll grab the girl'

'He didn't push me toward the gun huh? I'm going to be pushed down by gravity soon enough,' Crawford thought to himself as his mind raced. 'I need to taunt him somehow'

Crawford drew his hands away from the wounded place and gave James the finger while grinning sarcastically. This caused James's thinking to become confused.

When James saw this, he became a little alarmed by the move made toward him. He wanted to make his wings vanish, transform them into hands, and suffocate the person. Though he regarded himself as an infant who yearned to learn, he believed he should toy with the human some more, even though he understood it was a trick and could have simply ignored it and murdered the person.

However, that was an error on his part. Crawford smiled as he saw James was now falling below him, allowing him to simply watch him fall. He reached into his back pocket and pulled out a bullet, the same one he had previously held between his teeth.

James was unfazed by this in the least, declaring, "A human being is nothing without his tools; you cannot use that."

He slipped the bullet between his fingers and ready to fired it, sensing that James was not phased. Crawford looked James, who was making fun of him based entirely on appearances, after managing to get the bullet between his fingers due to gravity and his impending death.

"I am the judge and executioner; I hereby sentence you to death," he thought as he pointed and exclaimed, "Goodbye Elf" out loud.