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<blockquote data-quote="Silver Moon" data-source="post: 4810634" data-attributes="member: 8530"><p><strong>Chapter Twenty-eight, “ I don't want any bloodshed here...", September 3rd, 1882, 4:30 P.M.</strong></p><p></p><p>Webb turns his head away from Hardin and looks towards his men......Alvin is sloshing in the mud, having just reached where Horace sank......Murphy and O'Brien are both soundly sleeping in their saddles.....David is lying on the ground, covered in mud, unconscious and with a broken arm......and the other three are still inside the barn looking for Hardin there. </p><p></p><p>So he was alone, and realizes the slim chance of his survival taking on Hardin one-on-one. He then looks again at loaded shotgun that Solomon has pointed towards him and the revolver in the hand of the little gnome, and concludes that neither of those men would even allow a one-on-one fight between only him and Hardin. So he lets out a sigh and says, "Fine, we'll leave. But this isn't over between us Hardin." </p><p></p><p>At Webb's pronouncement, Hardin's demeanor instantly changes and most of the tension drops away from his rigid frame. The ghost of his crooked smile crease his face. "I am glad to hear that first part, Henry, 'cause I don't want anyone getting hurt..." he steals a quick glance at the man getting pulled out of the mud, "...really hurt...tonight."</p><p>He steps closer to Webb, stopping right before him. His voice lowers and softens and he looks the angry brother of the man he killed straight in the eyes.</p><p></p><p>"As for the second part, I am mighty sorry to hear that. There hasn't been a day that's gone by over the last five years that I haven't deeply regretted what happened to Charlie. You may not buy this...but I came out of prison a changed man and I mean to walk the straight path. I don't want the blood of you, your kin or any of your hired gun hands on my head. In fact, if I never have to shoot another man in anger again, that's fine by me..."</p><p></p><p>His voice trails off for a moment, then he continues with earnest force. "But now I know that you are after me and plan to do me harm, which presents a most touchy dilemma. Sure as the stars are up in the night sky, I don't want to kill you...but if I see you in these parts...especially with a posse...I will assume the worst. So where does that leave us? I don't expect we will part tonight as friends, but I would hate to have to shoot you on sight if our paths cross again." Hardin stops and cocks his head for a moment and then his hand flashes, dipping to his belt and pulling one of the heavy colts, which he flips around and offers to Webb butt first. His lock onto the other man's eyes. "So what's it gonna be..." </p><p></p><p>Back in the mud, Fish tosses Alvin one end of the rope, "Tie this under his arms, ya' varmint!" Lawrence grabs hold of the near end of the rope and gets ready to pull the man out. Henry Webb looks to the side, seeing that Alvin, with the assistance of the two men who James ordered to help, are getting Horace out of the mud. Alvin looks up and says, "He ain't breathing Mr. Webb." </p><p></p><p>Henry turns back to Hardin and says, "Excuse me, I have men to help." He quickly walks down the stairs and on the dry ground around the muddy area. He gestures to have them set Horace down beside his the man with the broken arm. Webb removes his suit jacket, taking out a statue from an inside pocket. It is around ten-inches long, three inches wide and an inch deep. It looks to be made of either a dark stone or petrified wood, carved with indentations resembling a person with an oversized head. Webb leans Horace onto his side, kneeling behind him, and placing his left hand over Horace's chest. He then holds the statue up high in his right hand and calls out loudly "Hear me Itzamna". </p><p></p><p>He then begins an incantation. Those present who know the Elvish language can make out an occasional word, although most of the language is unknown. He then calls out the name "Tezcatlipoca" as the statue begins to glow, first an amber-yellow and then shifting to a bright orange. Those watching need to avert the eyes somewhat from the brightness. Inside the building lobby Alsoomse says loud enough for those nearby "Those are wood elvan deities of South America. Tezcatlipoca is the son god, the holy symbol draws the power and color from the sun itself. Itzamna is his offspring, the god of medicine. The incantation is in an ancient tongue of the wood elves." </p><p></p><p>Webb's left hand begins to glow as the orange color flows into the chest of the man beside him. A minute passes, then a second. Water and mud then pour from the man's mouth and he then coughs. Webb keeps his hand a short while longer as the man regains consciousness as the golden aura around his chest begins to fade. Web then turns, his left hand still glowing orange, and places his hand over the broken arm of the other man. The orange color flows once more, running up the man's arm. Another minute passes and that man too begins to gain consciousness as Webb releases him. Henry Web then stands and says in English "Thank you for your blessing ancient ones, I am again in your debt." Web himself now looks exhausted but one final burst of light shoots out from the raised statue and flows down over the man, which has the effect of revitalizing him. </p><p></p><p>While this has been going on the three men at the barn have apparently completed their search and are now riding back. When they are within 100 feet of the porch the man in the Confederate uniform yells out to Webb, "Henry, Hardin ain't there, no tan stallion either. The river's north and them Pinkertons were watchin' west and south, so he musta ridden east. If we hurry we...." </p><p></p><p>The Confederate then stops abruptly, having now spotted Hardin standing on the porch. His two companions also now notice Hardin as well, but continue riding forward. The Confederate and cowboy with the lasso both look unsure of what do next, but the man who had identified himself earlier as Charlie Webb's son immediately reaches down to draw his revolver. Inside, Abby says quietly to anyone who can hear her, "Pinkertons? If these men have more people to back them up, we could be in serious trouble." </p><p></p><p>Feeling foolish, heroic, or sporting a death wish, Fish rushes the leading men with arms raised. "Holster that cannon, you doofus!" he shouts at the Webb boy, "You'll get us all killed with that foolishness!" Hardin, flips the Colt back around and holsters it as soon as Henry starts moving away. He watches with fascination as the magic display takes effect. Fish's shout snaps him back and he takes in the on-rushing trouble in the space of a breath. He drops into crouch, turns is body toward the on-rushing rider to present the smallest silhouette possible and prepares. "Don't do it, boy..." he whispers to himself.</p><p></p><p>Every fiber of Hardin’s being screams to draw and fire, but he waits...and offers a silent prayer that the boy's aim is worse than his judgement. Raising his voice he calls out to Henry. "Please call him off, Henry, I don't want any bloodshed here..." Nanuet moves out to the porch and casts a Sanctuary spell on Hardin. "I hope this isn't too late" he says as he makes his move. </p><p></p><p>The young man rides forward as he draws his revolver. Henry Webb yells to "Stop, don't shoot," but his nephew either doesn't hear him or chooses to ignore the older man. The man in the Confederate uniform and the other cowboy do remain still in response to Webb's command. The man takes a shot in Hardin's direction. It misses by a good four feet, striking one of the round porch pillars. This is good for everyone, as a six-inch diameter section of the wooden pillar explodes inward where the bullet strikes, showering splinter down near Ruby. It was clearly far more explosive force than a normal bullet and would certainly have been fatal had it struck a person. </p><p></p><p>Hardin leaps aside out of surprise as he is showered with wood splinters. His hands seem to brush across his chest as he moves and come up with the Colt Lightenings. "Damnation, boy...you keep that up and someone's gonna get hurt..." The young man now slows his horse and takes steadier aim for a second shot just as Fish reaches the front of the animal. </p><p></p><p>"Gods damn it!" Lawrence yells as he hits the dirt. "Are you trying to get yourself killed?" Roy moves so that he's still standing between Hardin and the young man and takes a shot at the boy. Ruby shakes the splinters out of her hair. "Well, I've had about enough of this nonsense! Someone could have gotten HURT." Her gun still in her hand, she takes aim at the man and if Roy's shot misses she also shoots, attempting to shoot the gun from his hand or disable his arm. Simultaneously, Hardin draws and extends both of his pistols...</p><p></p><p>Roy's shot grazes the young man across the leg for a minimal wound. Ruby's shot is more accurate, hitting the young man's gun arm, incapacitating the arm and causing him to drop the gun. With an amazing demonstration of acrobatics Fish vaults forward and catches the falling gun before it can strike the ground and discharge. Fish then does a backflip, landing beside the horse's reins and taking control of the animal with one hand while simultaneously drawing the man's own weapon onto the rider and ordering his surrender. Hardin's guns are now out but he sees the situation looks to be finally in hand.</p><p></p><p>George was about to turn and head downstairs to help sort out the aftermath, but paused and stayed on the porch. After Ruby's previous issues with the Pinkertons, he decided to keep an eye on them until he saw them leave. Both of the snipers continue to remain lying on and under their blankets with the rifles still pointed towards the front porch. The cowboys who are preparing to leave keep wandering across the direct line-of-sight between these snipers and where Hardin is standing.</p><p></p><p>Below, Ruby takes a few steps forward. "Is there anyone ELSE that wants to have words with Mr. Hardin? Because I don't really want to stand out here all day pretending like any of us are going to be nice anymore." Hardin breathes a visible sigh of relief and eases off his hair triggers...fighting down the dark voice calling for blood. Too damn close...Without looking behind him, Hardin comments. "Fine shot there, Ms. Ruby...you OK?" Hardin gaze sweeps the scene, looking for any other signs of overt hostile moves before sliding the Lightenings into their vest holsters. "Mr. Parker, can we get the young man some medical attention?"</p><p></p><p>Finally, his eyes settle on Henry Web. "So what about it, Henry? This could have gone pretty badly tonight..." he pauses and looks around, "...mostly for your men, I'm thinking. We gonna keep doing this dance 'til we all end up with a bullet in the gut?" Webb says, "No, we're done here....Deputy. Parker here has apparently bought your way into the good graces of this State's Governor as well as that of Texas. I'm going over to my nephew now and patch up his arm, then we'll all be leaving." Why, thank you!" says Fish snarkily.</p><p></p><p>Sol follows Henry Webb as he walks the forty feet to his nephew. Webb tells the man in the Confederate uniform "Get those horses out of the mud and prepare to move out." The younger Webb dismounts and removes his coat and shirt to expose the wound. </p><p></p><p>Henry Webb again holds the statue up in the air while making an incantation in the language of the South American elves. It glows orange again and the same color flows from Webb's hand over the younger man's wound. The blood dripping down the man's arm turns the same orange color and then reverses direction, flowing back into the body. At the completion of the spell the wound is sealed over and the bullet which was in the nephew's arm is now in the palm of Henry Webb's hand. While the elder Webb is busy attending to the boy, Fish palms the ammunition from the pistol.</p><p></p><p>Hardin tries to catch Fish's attention while holding up a bullet briefly and nodding at the younger Webb's gun. He watches the magical play again and half turns to James. "That looks awfully handy...can you do things like that?" Keeping his voice low James replies, "Do you mean the healing or the bullet? Either way, the answer is that I personally can do neither. But Luiz can do a vast number of healing spells in addition to his surgery skills. </p><p></p><p>As for the bullet, I have seen those used before. They are a magical item known as a 'Cannonball Bullet'. In addition to being able to improve the accuracy of the shooter by ten-percent they strike the target as though they were a twenty-pound cannonball. Those items are rather hard to get, quite costly, and illegal in the United States. Apparently either young Mr. Webb or his Uncle felt that obtaining one or more of them was worth the effort. Thankfully for us the boy's shooting skills were not adequate for the task at hand." </p><p></p><p>Ruby lifted up her skirts on one side and placed her gun back into its normal resting-place on her thigh. She let the skirt drop and smoothed it down. "There, that's better." She walked down the couple of steps but stays at the bottom, not wanting to spook someone into shooting again. "I do apologize for shooting up your nephew Mr. Webb, however you do understand I can't let someone saunter in here and shoot up my friends. Your misguided thoughts on this matter could have gotten you and all your friends here killed." </p><p></p><p>Henry Webb completes the healing spell on his nephew. He turns towards Ruby and replies to her comment, "The only person with misguided thoughts here is Parker, he thinks that juries should be ignored and that stinking murderers shouldn't have to serve their time in prison."</p><p></p><p>Webb then turns to Fish and says, "That Colt Peacemaker that you're holding belonged to my deceased brother, I would like it back please. I won't return it to the boy until we're well away from this area." The other men have pulled the horses from the mud and the two sleeping men have been woken up. The two recently healed men are assisted up onto their horses by the one called Alvin, who then mounts up himself. All seven of these men keep their hands well clear of their weapons. Lawrence relaxes as the men saddle up. He lowers his gun, but remains wary of them. </p><p></p><p>Fish nods, sets the pistol on the ground while Webb finishes attending to his nephew, and walks into the house. He ducks behind the bar and stows the ammunition. He fills several tumblers with ice, pours a pitcher of lemonade, arranges everything on a serving platter, and steps onto the porch. "Tell me, Miss West, are ya' thirsty?"</p><p></p><p>Henry Webb very carefully picks up the Colt, making it clear that he isn't going to fire it, and shoves it into his belt beside his other gun. The man's nephew begins to protest their departure until the older man tells him "Shut up boy, we lost." They both mount up and ride over towards the others, with Henry instructing the man in the Confederate uniform to lead them out. That man rides off at a trot, with the six cowboys following behind in pairs and the two Webbs taking up the rear, the younger man glaring at Hardin with a look on his face of pure hatred. </p><p></p><p>The lead rider is a little more than one hundred feet from the porch and the Webbs well behind at twenty feet when the sound of a rifle firing fills the air. Up in the balcony, George also hears what appears to be a single shot but sees two simultaneous flashes from the sniper rifles, indicating that both men fired exactly in unison. They then both cock their rifles for another shot and remain as they were, continuing to point both rifles at the porch.</p><p></p><p>John Wesley Hardin does not appear to have been the target, perhaps due to the Sanctuary spell that Nanuet cast upon him, as both bullets slam into James A. Parker's chest. One strikes an inch above his navel, the other in the center of his right ribcage. The force of the impact is so strong that he is lifted off his feet and is flung back five feet, impacting with the house wall to the right of the doorframe. He falls, still conscious, to the porch, with blood pouring from the upper wound. </p><p></p><p>Nanuet moves quickly from Hardin to James. He immediately removes the necklace of round stones from his neck and takes a stone from the necklace, places it on James' chest and began chanting in Apache. George swears. The Pinkertons appeared to be playing the Webb family for fools since they were here for a different target all along.</p><p>George runs back inside the house and down the stairs to lend his healing skills to James. </p><p></p><p>Ruby watched James fall next to her. Anger filled her and she had only one thought, that she wished she had her rifle and a horse. She pulled out her gun again obviously she wasn't done using it, then looked around quickly to see how close any horse might be. If she doesn't see one in the very near vicinity she can jump onto on. </p><p></p><p>Following the rifle shot the Confederate yells out "They're shooting at us, scatter!" He and the six cowboys behind him spur their mounts to move faster as they gallop away in varying directions to the north, northwest and west. </p><p>As soon as the rifle fired both Webbs stopped their horses. Based upon the expression on his face, Henry Webb is either a phenomenal actor or as surprised by this turn of events as anybody else. He quickly takes in what has transpired and turns his horse to the west in the direction of the snipers. He starts off again yelling, "Stop you idiots." </p><p></p><p>The true idiocy however appears to be with his next generation, as the younger Webb continues to stare at Hardin while he reaches behind him for the shotgun in the saddle holster. Hardin's face twists in a mask of anger..."Fish, gimme those cannon-bullets..." Fish hands over the bullets and then runs at an accelerated rate upstairs, grabs two smoke grenades from his room, dashes back downstairs, and intends to set one off directly below the porch stairs, obscuring James and those attending him from the snipers.</p><p></p><p>Thomas looks out towards the snipers, barely controlled rage in his eyes, commenting, "I believe some animals need to be put down." Hardin kneels down, pulling a Lightening with his left and a Peacemaker from his belt-rig with his right. With expert quickness, he half cocks the pistol, flicks open the load-guard and empties a chamber one-handed. He also levels the Lightening and prepares to fire...</p><p></p><p>Upon hearing the gunshots, and seeing Parker hit, Thomas rushes to his side, arriving just after Fish, interposing himself twixt the snipers and Parker, the smoke billowing all around them. "I think I will make a slightly better wall than you, Fish. Do not concern yourself with what you should or should not have done. We need to get Parker out of here now, however. Nanuet, can I move him into the house without aggravating his injuries?" Nanuet has begun the healing spell on James and the bullet begins to push itself up and out of the wound. </p><p></p><p>Lawrence starts in surprise. He regains his composure and scrambles for the house. "James! Nanuet, how is he? Has everyone gone loco? As Nanuet gets closer he notices that the wounds are not as serious as he thought. He uses a smaller stone and then scans the porch to see whose nearby. "Let's try and get him inside before someone else gets hurt." George is now coming down the stairs. The seven cowboys are now further away and Henry Webb is now one-third of the way towards the snipers, continuing to yell for them to stop. </p><p></p><p>Ruby sees that the closest horse is twenty feet away, the one with the young Mr. Webb who is staring at Hardin and reaching for his shotgun. Hardin too sees the young man begin to pull the shotgun out of its holder. "Hardin, shoot him!" Ruby screams as she keeps running towards that horse, hoping its rider will be incapacitated by the time she gets to the horse and can jump on. She's too busy running to see her grandmother has been shot, but she is already assuming the "Pinkertons" are really there about the old business of the papers. Her gun is out as she runs and she is prepared to shoot the young Mr. Webb on it if necessary. </p><p></p><p>Mina lost all her thoughts as James went down. She knew he had some protections but even magic was not infallible. She ran to his side, then pulled him the few feet to inside the house. Once Mina is fully out onto the porch both of the snipers fire again, this time not quite in unison. One bullet goes though her right side just above the thigh for a clean but minor wound. The other far more serious shot strikes her where the shoulder reaches the neck just above the collarbone and blood pours from the wound as she collapses unconscious on the porch. Lawrence has turned around and is heading towards the porch and sees her fall.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Silver Moon, post: 4810634, member: 8530"] [B]Chapter Twenty-eight, “ I don't want any bloodshed here...", September 3rd, 1882, 4:30 P.M.[/B] Webb turns his head away from Hardin and looks towards his men......Alvin is sloshing in the mud, having just reached where Horace sank......Murphy and O'Brien are both soundly sleeping in their saddles.....David is lying on the ground, covered in mud, unconscious and with a broken arm......and the other three are still inside the barn looking for Hardin there. So he was alone, and realizes the slim chance of his survival taking on Hardin one-on-one. He then looks again at loaded shotgun that Solomon has pointed towards him and the revolver in the hand of the little gnome, and concludes that neither of those men would even allow a one-on-one fight between only him and Hardin. So he lets out a sigh and says, "Fine, we'll leave. But this isn't over between us Hardin." At Webb's pronouncement, Hardin's demeanor instantly changes and most of the tension drops away from his rigid frame. The ghost of his crooked smile crease his face. "I am glad to hear that first part, Henry, 'cause I don't want anyone getting hurt..." he steals a quick glance at the man getting pulled out of the mud, "...really hurt...tonight." He steps closer to Webb, stopping right before him. His voice lowers and softens and he looks the angry brother of the man he killed straight in the eyes. "As for the second part, I am mighty sorry to hear that. There hasn't been a day that's gone by over the last five years that I haven't deeply regretted what happened to Charlie. You may not buy this...but I came out of prison a changed man and I mean to walk the straight path. I don't want the blood of you, your kin or any of your hired gun hands on my head. In fact, if I never have to shoot another man in anger again, that's fine by me..." His voice trails off for a moment, then he continues with earnest force. "But now I know that you are after me and plan to do me harm, which presents a most touchy dilemma. Sure as the stars are up in the night sky, I don't want to kill you...but if I see you in these parts...especially with a posse...I will assume the worst. So where does that leave us? I don't expect we will part tonight as friends, but I would hate to have to shoot you on sight if our paths cross again." Hardin stops and cocks his head for a moment and then his hand flashes, dipping to his belt and pulling one of the heavy colts, which he flips around and offers to Webb butt first. His lock onto the other man's eyes. "So what's it gonna be..." Back in the mud, Fish tosses Alvin one end of the rope, "Tie this under his arms, ya' varmint!" Lawrence grabs hold of the near end of the rope and gets ready to pull the man out. Henry Webb looks to the side, seeing that Alvin, with the assistance of the two men who James ordered to help, are getting Horace out of the mud. Alvin looks up and says, "He ain't breathing Mr. Webb." Henry turns back to Hardin and says, "Excuse me, I have men to help." He quickly walks down the stairs and on the dry ground around the muddy area. He gestures to have them set Horace down beside his the man with the broken arm. Webb removes his suit jacket, taking out a statue from an inside pocket. It is around ten-inches long, three inches wide and an inch deep. It looks to be made of either a dark stone or petrified wood, carved with indentations resembling a person with an oversized head. Webb leans Horace onto his side, kneeling behind him, and placing his left hand over Horace's chest. He then holds the statue up high in his right hand and calls out loudly "Hear me Itzamna". He then begins an incantation. Those present who know the Elvish language can make out an occasional word, although most of the language is unknown. He then calls out the name "Tezcatlipoca" as the statue begins to glow, first an amber-yellow and then shifting to a bright orange. Those watching need to avert the eyes somewhat from the brightness. Inside the building lobby Alsoomse says loud enough for those nearby "Those are wood elvan deities of South America. Tezcatlipoca is the son god, the holy symbol draws the power and color from the sun itself. Itzamna is his offspring, the god of medicine. The incantation is in an ancient tongue of the wood elves." Webb's left hand begins to glow as the orange color flows into the chest of the man beside him. A minute passes, then a second. Water and mud then pour from the man's mouth and he then coughs. Webb keeps his hand a short while longer as the man regains consciousness as the golden aura around his chest begins to fade. Web then turns, his left hand still glowing orange, and places his hand over the broken arm of the other man. The orange color flows once more, running up the man's arm. Another minute passes and that man too begins to gain consciousness as Webb releases him. Henry Web then stands and says in English "Thank you for your blessing ancient ones, I am again in your debt." Web himself now looks exhausted but one final burst of light shoots out from the raised statue and flows down over the man, which has the effect of revitalizing him. While this has been going on the three men at the barn have apparently completed their search and are now riding back. When they are within 100 feet of the porch the man in the Confederate uniform yells out to Webb, "Henry, Hardin ain't there, no tan stallion either. The river's north and them Pinkertons were watchin' west and south, so he musta ridden east. If we hurry we...." The Confederate then stops abruptly, having now spotted Hardin standing on the porch. His two companions also now notice Hardin as well, but continue riding forward. The Confederate and cowboy with the lasso both look unsure of what do next, but the man who had identified himself earlier as Charlie Webb's son immediately reaches down to draw his revolver. Inside, Abby says quietly to anyone who can hear her, "Pinkertons? If these men have more people to back them up, we could be in serious trouble." Feeling foolish, heroic, or sporting a death wish, Fish rushes the leading men with arms raised. "Holster that cannon, you doofus!" he shouts at the Webb boy, "You'll get us all killed with that foolishness!" Hardin, flips the Colt back around and holsters it as soon as Henry starts moving away. He watches with fascination as the magic display takes effect. Fish's shout snaps him back and he takes in the on-rushing trouble in the space of a breath. He drops into crouch, turns is body toward the on-rushing rider to present the smallest silhouette possible and prepares. "Don't do it, boy..." he whispers to himself. Every fiber of Hardin’s being screams to draw and fire, but he waits...and offers a silent prayer that the boy's aim is worse than his judgement. Raising his voice he calls out to Henry. "Please call him off, Henry, I don't want any bloodshed here..." Nanuet moves out to the porch and casts a Sanctuary spell on Hardin. "I hope this isn't too late" he says as he makes his move. The young man rides forward as he draws his revolver. Henry Webb yells to "Stop, don't shoot," but his nephew either doesn't hear him or chooses to ignore the older man. The man in the Confederate uniform and the other cowboy do remain still in response to Webb's command. The man takes a shot in Hardin's direction. It misses by a good four feet, striking one of the round porch pillars. This is good for everyone, as a six-inch diameter section of the wooden pillar explodes inward where the bullet strikes, showering splinter down near Ruby. It was clearly far more explosive force than a normal bullet and would certainly have been fatal had it struck a person. Hardin leaps aside out of surprise as he is showered with wood splinters. His hands seem to brush across his chest as he moves and come up with the Colt Lightenings. "Damnation, boy...you keep that up and someone's gonna get hurt..." The young man now slows his horse and takes steadier aim for a second shot just as Fish reaches the front of the animal. "Gods damn it!" Lawrence yells as he hits the dirt. "Are you trying to get yourself killed?" Roy moves so that he's still standing between Hardin and the young man and takes a shot at the boy. Ruby shakes the splinters out of her hair. "Well, I've had about enough of this nonsense! Someone could have gotten HURT." Her gun still in her hand, she takes aim at the man and if Roy's shot misses she also shoots, attempting to shoot the gun from his hand or disable his arm. Simultaneously, Hardin draws and extends both of his pistols... Roy's shot grazes the young man across the leg for a minimal wound. Ruby's shot is more accurate, hitting the young man's gun arm, incapacitating the arm and causing him to drop the gun. With an amazing demonstration of acrobatics Fish vaults forward and catches the falling gun before it can strike the ground and discharge. Fish then does a backflip, landing beside the horse's reins and taking control of the animal with one hand while simultaneously drawing the man's own weapon onto the rider and ordering his surrender. Hardin's guns are now out but he sees the situation looks to be finally in hand. George was about to turn and head downstairs to help sort out the aftermath, but paused and stayed on the porch. After Ruby's previous issues with the Pinkertons, he decided to keep an eye on them until he saw them leave. Both of the snipers continue to remain lying on and under their blankets with the rifles still pointed towards the front porch. The cowboys who are preparing to leave keep wandering across the direct line-of-sight between these snipers and where Hardin is standing. Below, Ruby takes a few steps forward. "Is there anyone ELSE that wants to have words with Mr. Hardin? Because I don't really want to stand out here all day pretending like any of us are going to be nice anymore." Hardin breathes a visible sigh of relief and eases off his hair triggers...fighting down the dark voice calling for blood. Too damn close...Without looking behind him, Hardin comments. "Fine shot there, Ms. Ruby...you OK?" Hardin gaze sweeps the scene, looking for any other signs of overt hostile moves before sliding the Lightenings into their vest holsters. "Mr. Parker, can we get the young man some medical attention?" Finally, his eyes settle on Henry Web. "So what about it, Henry? This could have gone pretty badly tonight..." he pauses and looks around, "...mostly for your men, I'm thinking. We gonna keep doing this dance 'til we all end up with a bullet in the gut?" Webb says, "No, we're done here....Deputy. Parker here has apparently bought your way into the good graces of this State's Governor as well as that of Texas. I'm going over to my nephew now and patch up his arm, then we'll all be leaving." Why, thank you!" says Fish snarkily. Sol follows Henry Webb as he walks the forty feet to his nephew. Webb tells the man in the Confederate uniform "Get those horses out of the mud and prepare to move out." The younger Webb dismounts and removes his coat and shirt to expose the wound. Henry Webb again holds the statue up in the air while making an incantation in the language of the South American elves. It glows orange again and the same color flows from Webb's hand over the younger man's wound. The blood dripping down the man's arm turns the same orange color and then reverses direction, flowing back into the body. At the completion of the spell the wound is sealed over and the bullet which was in the nephew's arm is now in the palm of Henry Webb's hand. While the elder Webb is busy attending to the boy, Fish palms the ammunition from the pistol. Hardin tries to catch Fish's attention while holding up a bullet briefly and nodding at the younger Webb's gun. He watches the magical play again and half turns to James. "That looks awfully handy...can you do things like that?" Keeping his voice low James replies, "Do you mean the healing or the bullet? Either way, the answer is that I personally can do neither. But Luiz can do a vast number of healing spells in addition to his surgery skills. As for the bullet, I have seen those used before. They are a magical item known as a 'Cannonball Bullet'. In addition to being able to improve the accuracy of the shooter by ten-percent they strike the target as though they were a twenty-pound cannonball. Those items are rather hard to get, quite costly, and illegal in the United States. Apparently either young Mr. Webb or his Uncle felt that obtaining one or more of them was worth the effort. Thankfully for us the boy's shooting skills were not adequate for the task at hand." Ruby lifted up her skirts on one side and placed her gun back into its normal resting-place on her thigh. She let the skirt drop and smoothed it down. "There, that's better." She walked down the couple of steps but stays at the bottom, not wanting to spook someone into shooting again. "I do apologize for shooting up your nephew Mr. Webb, however you do understand I can't let someone saunter in here and shoot up my friends. Your misguided thoughts on this matter could have gotten you and all your friends here killed." Henry Webb completes the healing spell on his nephew. He turns towards Ruby and replies to her comment, "The only person with misguided thoughts here is Parker, he thinks that juries should be ignored and that stinking murderers shouldn't have to serve their time in prison." Webb then turns to Fish and says, "That Colt Peacemaker that you're holding belonged to my deceased brother, I would like it back please. I won't return it to the boy until we're well away from this area." The other men have pulled the horses from the mud and the two sleeping men have been woken up. The two recently healed men are assisted up onto their horses by the one called Alvin, who then mounts up himself. All seven of these men keep their hands well clear of their weapons. Lawrence relaxes as the men saddle up. He lowers his gun, but remains wary of them. Fish nods, sets the pistol on the ground while Webb finishes attending to his nephew, and walks into the house. He ducks behind the bar and stows the ammunition. He fills several tumblers with ice, pours a pitcher of lemonade, arranges everything on a serving platter, and steps onto the porch. "Tell me, Miss West, are ya' thirsty?" Henry Webb very carefully picks up the Colt, making it clear that he isn't going to fire it, and shoves it into his belt beside his other gun. The man's nephew begins to protest their departure until the older man tells him "Shut up boy, we lost." They both mount up and ride over towards the others, with Henry instructing the man in the Confederate uniform to lead them out. That man rides off at a trot, with the six cowboys following behind in pairs and the two Webbs taking up the rear, the younger man glaring at Hardin with a look on his face of pure hatred. The lead rider is a little more than one hundred feet from the porch and the Webbs well behind at twenty feet when the sound of a rifle firing fills the air. Up in the balcony, George also hears what appears to be a single shot but sees two simultaneous flashes from the sniper rifles, indicating that both men fired exactly in unison. They then both cock their rifles for another shot and remain as they were, continuing to point both rifles at the porch. John Wesley Hardin does not appear to have been the target, perhaps due to the Sanctuary spell that Nanuet cast upon him, as both bullets slam into James A. Parker's chest. One strikes an inch above his navel, the other in the center of his right ribcage. The force of the impact is so strong that he is lifted off his feet and is flung back five feet, impacting with the house wall to the right of the doorframe. He falls, still conscious, to the porch, with blood pouring from the upper wound. Nanuet moves quickly from Hardin to James. He immediately removes the necklace of round stones from his neck and takes a stone from the necklace, places it on James' chest and began chanting in Apache. George swears. The Pinkertons appeared to be playing the Webb family for fools since they were here for a different target all along. George runs back inside the house and down the stairs to lend his healing skills to James. Ruby watched James fall next to her. Anger filled her and she had only one thought, that she wished she had her rifle and a horse. She pulled out her gun again obviously she wasn't done using it, then looked around quickly to see how close any horse might be. If she doesn't see one in the very near vicinity she can jump onto on. Following the rifle shot the Confederate yells out "They're shooting at us, scatter!" He and the six cowboys behind him spur their mounts to move faster as they gallop away in varying directions to the north, northwest and west. As soon as the rifle fired both Webbs stopped their horses. Based upon the expression on his face, Henry Webb is either a phenomenal actor or as surprised by this turn of events as anybody else. He quickly takes in what has transpired and turns his horse to the west in the direction of the snipers. He starts off again yelling, "Stop you idiots." The true idiocy however appears to be with his next generation, as the younger Webb continues to stare at Hardin while he reaches behind him for the shotgun in the saddle holster. Hardin's face twists in a mask of anger..."Fish, gimme those cannon-bullets..." Fish hands over the bullets and then runs at an accelerated rate upstairs, grabs two smoke grenades from his room, dashes back downstairs, and intends to set one off directly below the porch stairs, obscuring James and those attending him from the snipers. Thomas looks out towards the snipers, barely controlled rage in his eyes, commenting, "I believe some animals need to be put down." Hardin kneels down, pulling a Lightening with his left and a Peacemaker from his belt-rig with his right. With expert quickness, he half cocks the pistol, flicks open the load-guard and empties a chamber one-handed. He also levels the Lightening and prepares to fire... Upon hearing the gunshots, and seeing Parker hit, Thomas rushes to his side, arriving just after Fish, interposing himself twixt the snipers and Parker, the smoke billowing all around them. "I think I will make a slightly better wall than you, Fish. Do not concern yourself with what you should or should not have done. We need to get Parker out of here now, however. Nanuet, can I move him into the house without aggravating his injuries?" Nanuet has begun the healing spell on James and the bullet begins to push itself up and out of the wound. Lawrence starts in surprise. He regains his composure and scrambles for the house. "James! Nanuet, how is he? Has everyone gone loco? As Nanuet gets closer he notices that the wounds are not as serious as he thought. He uses a smaller stone and then scans the porch to see whose nearby. "Let's try and get him inside before someone else gets hurt." George is now coming down the stairs. The seven cowboys are now further away and Henry Webb is now one-third of the way towards the snipers, continuing to yell for them to stop. Ruby sees that the closest horse is twenty feet away, the one with the young Mr. Webb who is staring at Hardin and reaching for his shotgun. Hardin too sees the young man begin to pull the shotgun out of its holder. "Hardin, shoot him!" Ruby screams as she keeps running towards that horse, hoping its rider will be incapacitated by the time she gets to the horse and can jump on. She's too busy running to see her grandmother has been shot, but she is already assuming the "Pinkertons" are really there about the old business of the papers. Her gun is out as she runs and she is prepared to shoot the young Mr. Webb on it if necessary. Mina lost all her thoughts as James went down. She knew he had some protections but even magic was not infallible. She ran to his side, then pulled him the few feet to inside the house. Once Mina is fully out onto the porch both of the snipers fire again, this time not quite in unison. One bullet goes though her right side just above the thigh for a clean but minor wound. The other far more serious shot strikes her where the shoulder reaches the neck just above the collarbone and blood pours from the wound as she collapses unconscious on the porch. Lawrence has turned around and is heading towards the porch and sees her fall. [/QUOTE]
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AGELESS Campaign Episode 2 - Temple of the Cat-Goddess
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