Glowing gateway

A loud bang reverberated throughout the canyon, indicating Quinton to disperse the crowd and direct Beth and Baker to follow him. They got to the statue after rushing through the dragging sand.

Debris was all over the ground, and the statue with the gnome hat had been destroyed. As they grew slightly blinding, a cradle of feathers fell from the sky like rain, and Monica appeared and inquired:

"Where is my daughter Deputy?"

Quinton was not surprised by Monica's appearance; he simply sighed and said:

"I think someone turned into a marked and has been killed"

Monica dashed toward the destroyed Gnome hat statue, shouting with deep emotion, "Melissa Melissa! "Where are you?"

Monica exclaimed, as Quinton glanced at the dropping feather with a chilly and sad expression: "A dread category monster from the prey rank, what a twist indeed." "I wonder who turned this time; knowing Sheriff, he handled it."

Beth took one of the falling feathers and looked at it with wonderful eyes as her pupil glistered a golden light and she sighed "James is dead"

Baker asked, "If he's dead, where is his body?"

Beth looked at the feather again and remarked, "Near the crack, let's head there."

She dropped the feather and went to crack with Quinton, shouting Monica and Baker, and after a while they noticed pandemonium raining again.

The ground was retitled with feathers as if the sand had transformed, and Crawford was holding a small child by the hand while guiding her with his other hand covering her face. He spotted the others and smiled; he approached the horrified persons and stated, "A murder of crows passed by"

As they heard this, they nodded their heads accepting the answer they tried to ask in their minds. Monica grabbed Melissa as she looked at Crawford with a stern look, Crawford just looked at her with a pained and yet chilling expression.

Crawford let go of Melissa and signaled for Baker to go back with the mother. Baker nodded and escorted Monica and Melissa, covering her eyes so she wouldn't see the feathers.

Crawford sighed and replied, "Good morning again Beth, how have you been?" Beth grinned and responded:

"I am good, and you?"

"Pained, I did something I have to show you," Crawford remarked.

Crawford appeared injured and worn, as his jacket sprawled on the ground alongside his hat and glasses. He wore his jacket and put his glasses in his pocket; noticing his, Quinton inquired:

"What happened with your guns?" 

"Buried them," Crawford responded.

"Why did you do that?" asked Beth.

Crawford then removed his glasses, put them on, and said with a severe yet mournful expression:

"As a monument to Elf"

"Elf, who is elf?" inquired Beth.

Quinton looked at Beth and replied, "It's James' nickname; the Sheriff calls him that."

When Crawford arrived at the crack, it was situated on a huge boulder and had a wide, steeply angled crack. The gap was surrounded by an artwork depicting individuals entering and exiting as the crack appeared to sparkle with a weird light.

A tiny, tall stone with several feathers on top of the accumulated sand was next to the fissure. The feathers finally ceased, as if the rain had left the earth, and Quinton turned to face the sky.

"Why is up with the feathers?" Beth inquired, startled. After hearing it, Crawford turned to face Quiton, but he shook his head.

"It is the after-effect which the surrounding air implement to display that thing that is attacking; it is not needed; it is called a heretic gene energy interference," Crawford explained, taking a breath.

It is more like a monster's final gasp and is produced by a dying monster or a heretic dying while becoming a monster."

Beth questioned, sounding a little uncomfortable, "Is it dangerous?"

Crawford knelt at James's grave and replied, "No."

There was stillness for a moment then Crawford grinned and appeared to be crying a little "James, you were a smart, passionate, troublemaking little guy when you were only eight years old."

You once told me that you could use melted plastic to seal off some holes on a bucket without needing a match. I challenged you to do it, and you took my glasses and used them as a magnifying glass to ignite the plastic.

I ended up with burned brows after putting on the glasses. "Ha ha ha ha ha we laughed together." 

Crawford groaned and said, "We stopped laughing after Susie died."

Beth was going to inquire about what they had, perplexed by the way the two were presented as being related. However, she was cut off by a sizable fissure in the rocks that was emitting a strange, silvery-blue light with a hint of sacred art.

Startled and perplexed by this situation, the three made a quick battle alliance. When Quiton stared at the crack with emotionless eyes, Beth's hands shone with a brilliant radiance.

Crawford rose from his kneeling position, adjusted his hat slightly, pulled out his pistol, twirled it to his left hand, and gestured toward the crevice.

After some while, a body appeared as though it had been thrown toward the unsettling gate from beyond.

This was a human, dried like a grape or date fruit, with long, silky hair that hid their face. appeared parched and sunburned, with swollen, pus-filled feet and labored breathing that gave off an exhausted appearance.

Beth bowed her head and sent her golden-hued energy toward the woman, finally parting her hair to reveal a strikingly beautiful face.

"She is a woman," Quiton murmured, lowering his defenses to assist the others tending to her while the golden energy enveloped her.

She emerged into another coma or conscious condition after slowly opening her eyes and uttering the words "They know" in a faint but discernible voice.

Startled by the woman's statement, Crawford turned to watch the fissure gradually fade into what had originally appeared to be a split rock scar.

"Looks like we have a new tenant to damn town after the other one died, argg what a day," Crawford observed, tipping his hat in a composed yet humorous manner.