Alex called the cast iron pan to his hand, catching it deftly and holding onto it with a smile. The one thing he liked about his curse was how it could weaponize anything metal. Not that he always had the strength to do it. He reached up and rubbed the blood from his nose as the migraine ran further up his scalp. He closed his gate, and the pressure lessened somewhat, but recovering would still take time.


    "Now, what to do with you?" he asked as he approached the deputy.


    A dark bruise was already forming on the man''s face. Alex rifled through Silvertooth''s pockets, pulling out the deputy''s gun and placing it in his duster''s pocket before he tossed the whip into the nearest fire. He stopped when he pulled a black stone out of Silvertooth''s pocket. It felt odd as he rolled it between his index finger and thumb. Something was missing from the stone, and Alex could sense that he needed to put something in for it to work. He slid it into his pants pocket. He would work on that later.


    Alex reached down and picked up the deputy, carrying him over his shoulder as he made his way around the burning orchard and back toward the barn. The fire burned across the farmhouse, a roaring blaze that would not be stopped with a few buckets of water.


    Alex grimaced as he lay the deputy''s body next to the open barn door. Sam stood next to the open door, her hands on Winny''s reins. Her eyes were locked on the burning farmhouse and orchard behind him. Alex didn''t know what to say. He walked over to Sam and stood with her as the fires lit up the night sky.


    "Sorry," he said as the fires burned.


    He reached into his duster pocket, pulling out Silvertooth''s loaded gun. It was a side-load revolver, and the silver reflected the flames as the house burned to the ground. Alex frowned and flipped the gun so the butt of it was pointing away from him. He handed it over to Sam, holding it out until she looked at him and locked eyes with him.


    "The way I see it, you get to decide what happens to Silvertooth. I can''t take him and turn him in to the authorities. I don''t know what the townsfolk will do, and I don''t have a stake in what happens to him. You know what he''s done better than most people, so decide what happens to him."


    Sam reached out and grabbed hold of the gun. It didn''t shake in her hand the slightest bit. She looked it over momentarily before walking over to Silvertooth''s prone form. The deputy lay splayed out on the ground, his now bruised face facing the sky. Sam pointed the gun down at the deputy.


    Click.


    The gun''s hammer drew back with a deafening click. Alex held his breath. The air stilled, and the flames froze in their dance. Alex didn''t dare move. This was a decision she had to make.


    Bang!


    Smoke burst out from the chamber as the gunshot ripped through the night. Sam dropped the gun, and it clattered across the ground. Alex made his way forward, the ringing in his ears muffling the sound of Sam sobbing as she dropped to her knees. He looked down at Silvertooth and noted the divot in the dirt next to his head.


    "I couldn''t do it," Sam said, tears flowing down her face. "He hurt so many people. He killed so many people. He took my brother, but I can''t do it."


    Alex nodded, picking up the gun and sliding it back into his duster pocket. After securing it, he knelt beside her and put his hand on her shoulder.


    "Sometimes," he said, "it''s harder to show mercy. I wouldn''t have. Knowing what he''s done, knowing what he might do, I couldn''t live with that. You''re stronger than I am, Sam."


    She cried where she stood, and Alex stood up and looked around. He would need rope, in the least. He didn''t have any place to put the deputy, and if what he said about the Military Police coming was true, he didn''t have time to waste. His mind ran through the possibilities as he weighed his options. As he searched around, he noticed several orange lights approaching in the distance.


    There were about twenty of them in total. Alex opened up his gate, but the mist obscured his senses. He couldn''t sense what they had on them, but he knew it wasn''t the deputy. He called his staff to his hand and got ready for another fight.


    "Over there!"


    "The farm''s on fire. We need to hurry!"


    "Does she have a well?"


    Alex let his staff down as the crowd came closer. There wasn''t going to be a fight. He let a smirk crack his face as he kept looking for rope. It didn''t take him long to find it in the barn, and he set about tying up Silvertooth in it. As he did so, the remaining people of Dry Gulch arrived in the yard. They didn''t waste time asking questions. They went to work immediately.


    You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.


    Men sat up a fire line, dunking the few buckets on the farm into the well and handing them in a chain to throw on the house. They couldn''t put the fire out, but it wouldn''t spread to the barn, at least. A woman in a red dress came over to Sam, wrapping her arms around the girl and comforting her.


    Alex didn''t worry about that. Instead, he picked the one face he recognized in the crowd, the one who had been shot in the shoulder if the bandages were any indication. He picked up Silvertooth by the ropes that bound him and took the man off to the side.


    "I''ve got the deputy bound up. I''m going down to the mines for Goldfist. Can you keep him tied up until you can get in contact with Portsmouth?"


    "We can. We got a jail in town."


    "You''ll need to keep more than one person on watch with him at all times, armed. He has a curse that lets him duplicate himself. Keep him gagged, too, if you can. He says ''split'' every time he activates his powers. The more precautions you can take, the better."


    He nodded as Alex patted him on the shoulder and dumped the deputy on the ground. Alex turned to leave, but the man reached out a hand to stop him. Alex turned back, raising his eyebrows.


    "Wait. I''m Joel, stranger. Who are you?"


    "Alex Ortega. Better known as ''Tin Man'' Ortega."


    "You some kind of outlaw?"


    "I am." Alex nodded. "Not the kind that robs people or goes around murdering for the fun of it. I just have a goal that requires me to make some hard decisions. Those decisions put me on the wrong side of the law, more often than not."


    "So you ain''t just going to beat Goldfist and take over the town after?"


    "Hah." Alex smiled wide. "I''m bigger than this small town, no offense."


    Joel looked like he would take offense, but Alex waved it off. He pointed roughly east of the farm with his staff.


    "Would you say the mine is in that direction?"


    "Roughly." Joel squinted into the distance. "You can''t miss it. Some of the old drills are broken down outside. If it wasn''t for the mist, you could see it on a clear day from the water tower."


    Alex didn''t add that you couldn''t look anywhere from the water tower in town anymore.


    "Make sure Sam''s okay," Alex said as he started to walk off again.


    "Yes, sir."


    Alex started into the night, setting his pace at a walk while he let his body recover. He left his gate closed and decided to rely on his eyes and ears to keep out of reach of the mistwalkers. It would take time, but he didn''t have the time to wait. With the Military Police coming, he had a countdown to get done and get out of town. He wanted to be far away when the Military Police came running.


    He had barely gotten out of the firelight when he heard hooves trotting behind him. Alex stopped and waited. He didn''t have to guess who it was, and he didn''t disapprove. Sam was proving herself to have more grit than most of the people he had ever met.


    "Let me guess," Alex said as the trot slowed, and Sam jumped from Winny behind him. "You won''t let me go to the mines alone."


    "How''d you guess?" Sam asked, stepping up beside him.


    "In just two days, I''ve gotten to know you.” Alex reached into his pocket and pulled out Silvertooth''s gun. "Take it. If you''re coming with me, you might need it. I''m not saying you need to shoot anyone, but just in case."


    Sam took the gun and tucked it through a loop in her overalls. It was too big for her pockets, but it would stay in the loop if she kept a hand on the butt of the gun. She gave Alex a nod as she went back to mount Winny.


    "Leave Winny in the stable," Alex said, an idea creeping into the back of his head. "If you''re coming with me, we''re heading to town first. You gave me an idea."


    Sam didn''t protest, taking Winny back and running back to join him. Alex knelt and held his staff behind his back. Sam looked down at him questioningly, but Alex just shook his head. His idea needed speed. He wouldn''t be walking on the first half of the trip anymore.


    "I''m faster than you are," Alex said. "Sit on the staff and grab onto my shoulders. I''m going to run us to town, and I don''t want you falling off. Keep the gun from moving around too much, too. I don''t want it going off and hitting my leg or anything."


    Sam did as he asked, planting her legs between his arms and the staff and grabbing hold of his shoulders as he stood up. Alex grunted under the new weight, but after a few steps, he adjusted to it.


    "I''m not too heavy?"


    "Light as a feather," Alex said through gritted teeth.


    He didn''t go into an all-out sprint. He needed to conserve his strength. Instead, he sped up step by step until he hit a steady trot. Sam bounced around on his back with every other step, but she held on with all her strength.


    All in all, it took him about an hour at that pace to make it to town. Sweat covered his entire body and soaked through his shirt, but that was just a minor inconvenience. He took a long drag of water from a house''s water barrel as he caught his breath at the town entrance. Sam waited patiently, her hand on the butt of the gun as she looked around the road. All around them, the mist clung to every building like a black ooze. Alex could hear shuffling down each alley, but they had time before the mistwalkers were a problem.


    "Why''d we come to town?" Sam asked as Alex dunked his head in the water and came back up moments later to fling it all over his back.


    "Simple," Alex said, walking down the street and picking his way toward Sloan''s store. "We''re going to pay a visit to the shopkeeper. I left him tied up earlier, and being tied up in the mist isn''t good for your health."


    "That''s it?" Sam asked as she ran up behind him. "If you left him inside, that could wait for the morning."


    "Oh, this can''t wait.” Alex felt a smile creep across his face despite his fatigue. "You see, we need to borrow something from him."


    "What?"


    Alex spotted the store and ran over. With a slight opening of his gate and a twitch of magnetism, he undid the lock on the door and opened it. He could hear shuffling and footsteps down the street, but it didn''t matter. He motioned for Sam to come inside. Once she was in, he closed the door and locked it behind them.


    "You see," Alex said as he led Sam to the tunnel. "Sloan here has a slipship."