Shame

"Put it down, or your little goat-faggot dies."

Ruiz could feel the sharp beak of the gryphon prodding into his crown. His sharp claws dug into his wrist, and he could feel the pressure against his good horn. His slingshot had been knocked from his hoof and now lay in the middle of the floor. As the gryphon spoke, his grip tightened around Ruiz' leg, and he knew that there was no chance of him overpowering the beast.

Jed didn't know what to do. He could fire a shot at the gryphon and hope that it killed him before he had time to snap Ruiz' neck. On the other hoof, if he were to lower his weapon, he might save Ruiz, but what then would this gryphon do to him? His house? His family? Would he even refrain from killing Ruiz?

The entire room was under immense strain. In the end, it was Ruiz that snapped. His slingshot may have been sitting in the middle of the floor, but the tension was so palpable, he could cut it with his knife. Using his free hoof, he pulled it slowly from his belt, gripped it tight, then wildly stabbed it over the back of his head, where he thought the Gryphon may be.

The first lunge landed in his naris, causing immense pain. The second lodged itself in the gryphon's eye socket, plunging into his brain and killing him instantly.

The gryphon collapsed on top of Ruiz, who had to work to stand up. The claws gripping his arm had gone deeper than he had thought, and had slashed his skin open. The first stab had also caused the gryphon to tense up, and that sudden compression was something Ruiz could still feel in his neck and shoulders.

"Are you alright?" asked Jed, rushing to help him up.

"They have dynamite out there!" barked Ruiz. "Come on, there's two left!"

As soon as Ruiz was back on his hooves, he grabbed his slingshot and followed Jed out the backdoor. The moon was as bright as ever, and it was no trouble at all seeing the two gryphons mucking about near the corners of the barn. With little coaxing from Ruiz, the two of them ducked into the corn so as not to be spotted.

"Can you still shoot?" whispered Jed, knowing to keep his voice down. "That damage on your leg looks really bad."

"I'll be okay, señor," he replied, "focus. How do you want to do this?"

Jed looked at the scene before him closely. "The one on the right; our right, has the plunger that activates it sitting next to him, and it looks like it's already primed. If we go out there and reveal ourselves, he could stomp on it suddenly, and the damage is done. But then he'd be killing himself, and I don't think he's that dumb."

"I beg to differ, señor. I'm pretty sure they're both that dumb, and the one in the house said that they would die if they fucked this up. I don't think we can count on scaring them off."

Jed shook his head. "I guess we have to deal with them permanently. You're the better shot; you take the one with the plunger out. I'll take the one on the left. Fire when ready, and I'll follow your lead."

Ruiz took aim at the gryphon on the right, but as soon as he pulled back, his hoof started shaking. He couldn't keep his shot lined up. The damage to his leg had destabilised his aim.

"I can't line up my shot good enough from here, señor. Stick to the plan. I'm going to move up."

In order to not be spotted, Ruiz had to move from the cornfield to the garden, then to the house, around the wheat out front, then past the fence. There was a small overhang just beyond the fence that would obscure him until he was behind the barn. As long as he stayed in the shadows and against dark backdrops, he could remain hidden very well. It was times such as this that he was glad to have a pitch-black coat. With his poncho covering his star and his sombrero still in the house, he was one with the shadows as he approached silently.

Rather, he tried to approach silently. Being completely obscured by shadows was good for no one seeing him, but it also meant that he hadn't seen a stick just lying on the ground, giving away his position with an audible snap.

"That you, boss?" asked the gryphon. He was still not keeping his voice down. "We was just about to look for yer signal. We're almost rea--"

He was close enough. With a strong pull, Ruiz drove the sharpest rock he had into the open throat of the gryphon. He then immediately fired another round while moving closer, trying to hit his eye. His aim was still a little off, but he hit close enough to disable him. In a last-ditch effort, the gryphon reached for the plunger, but a quick butt from Ruiz' horn knocked him far enough away that he wouldn't be much of a problem anymore.

The other gryphon had been hit twice by Jed's shots, and was now trying not to be hit by the metal rod Jed was using as a club. A shot across the beak from Ruiz was enough to distract the gryphon, enough that Jed could bring the rod down onto the bird's head. A few steps to the right and one more swing, and all three gryphons were dead.

Jed turned to face Ruiz. "Don't think we're done yet."

Ruiz disconnected the wires from the plunger, and began winding up the cable. "I wouldn't dream of it, señor. We still have to remove the explosives, repair the screen door, and dispose of the bodies."

"And fix your leg," added Jed. "Just so we're clear. In that case, keep taking those down. I'll be right back."

The dynamite had been just stuck to the walls with tape, with the biggest adjustment made being that all of the fuses were bound together and all set to go off at once. When he'd taken everything down, he put it back into the box, just in time for Jed to return with the body of the first gryphon on his back. He opened the barn door and dumped the body into the wagon.

"Load up the other two, quickly." Ruiz did as ordered, also loading the box as Jed secured himself to the front. "I'm going to take them out into the desert and dispose of them, and all of this stuff, as well. Don't worry about fixing up the screen door or cleaning the floors, you need to be patched up, first. First aid's in the living room. Rest well, and I'll be back around dawn."