He did not aim for the head. He did not shoot to kill, but every shot was terrifyingly precise. One man was hit in the shoulder. His gun flying away. Another took a bullet to the leg, collapsing into the snow.
"Spread out!" the leader shouted. A mistake. in a narrow pass. Splitting up meant being taken down one by one. In just a few minutes, all of them were down. No one was dead, but no one could stand anymore.
The last man gasped for air, his eyes filled with panic as he watched the gunslinger walk closer. "Why? Why did you not kill us?" The gunslinger stood there, gun still in hand. A second of silence.
"Because then I would be just like you." He turned away. No double-check. No hesitation. Far ahead, the two girls were still waiting.
When they saw him step out of the snow, no blood, no panic, just a man walking forward in silence, their eyes changed completely. No longer gratitude, but absolute trust. And for the first time, they understood that this man had not only saved them from death, he was leading them out of a world they once believed they could never escape. As the curtain of snow slowly thinned, thin columns of smoke appeared in the distance, a sign of life. A patchy territory, the two girls almost broke into a run.
Even though their bodies still ached, their eyes lit up, not from safety, but from finally coming home. But the moment they crossed the line of stones marking the boundary, arrows struck the ground right in front of their feet, dozens of Apache warriors emerged from all directions, bows drawn, their eyes cold and unyielding. The nameless gunslinger stopped. He did not draw his weapon. He did not move.
"Kneel," one warrior shouted. The two girls immediately stepped forward. "Stop!" one of them cried out in her native tongue. The air froze. The looks around them shifted from hostility to shock.
The crowd parted. An older man stepped forward. His posture commanding. His eyes deep like ancient stone. the chief. His gaze rested on the two girls, then moved to the gunslinger.
His first emotion was not relief. It was anger. "Who did this to you?" His voice dropped. The stronger girl clenched her hand.
"Men from the town. From Corven Hail.", the tension snapped tight instantly. A wave of fury spread through the warriors and him. The chief pointed directly at the gunslinger. "He is the one who bought us."
Arrows immediately shifted toward him, but she continued. "And also the one who saved us." Silence. A heavy crushing silence. The chief stepped closer, his eyes locked onto the gunslinger as if trying to see through the cloak.
Through the man himself. "You could have brought them back for gold." No reaction. "Or to avoid trouble." No reaction.
"Then why are you still here?" Aua. The gunslinger glanced around arrows aimed at him. eyes still filled with doubt. Then he answered, his voice low and simple "Because this is not over." At that exact moment, the sound of horse hooves echoed from afar.