Justice leapt, the brim of his hat brushing the face of the beast. The black, fanged creature roared in anger as it slashed at him. He slid beneath it, drawing his sword.

"You shall pay for the deaths you've caused." he stated, his longsword pointed directly at it.

"Thou art in no position to present me my punishment, allow the counsel to deal it to me." it spat.

"The counsel is the reason we're out here in the first place." he replied.

"It is still not thy decision to make."

"I act, where others fail to."

"Thou art a vigilante."

"Maybe, maybe not, that doesn't concern you."

It growled, and he charged, leaping into the air once more. He flung his sword, pinning his enemy to the ground. It howled in pain as he landed feet-first on the creature's chest, his leather boots slamming into it.

"Please...have mercy..." it moaned.

"Not today." he replied, stone-faced.

He produced a double-barreled shotgun from his cloak, pointing it directly at the beast's dark face. He pulled the trigger, discharging both rounds into its face. The sharp crack of the gunshot reverberated off the nearby caves as the creature's body went limp, blood spouting from its neck as the shattered remains of its skull littered the ground before him.

"The act is done." he shouted in a monotone.

A man, dressed in a heavy jacket and jeans, appeared from the forest, from where he'd been watching.

"No, you aren't." he said, pointing to two shadows repressed within the nearby caves.

"They've done nothing to warrant punishment." he stated, re-concealing his shotgun beneath his cloak "Your wife has been avenged, no more blood shall be spilt tonight."

"Like hell!" the man spat "I want the whole pod wiped out! Fucking kill them!"

"I am a man of justice, I will not harm the innocent."

"They're anything but innocent! I want justice, you fraud!"

"It has been served, leave this place."

"Oh, so now you're defending those...those...freaks! Those murderers!? That doesn't sound much like 'justice' to me!" he screamed.

"You are in a fit of rage- go home, lest you do something you'll regret." he replied.

The man simply brushed past him, reaching into his belt.

Justice's hand rested on the trigger of his gun, ready to draw.

"Do not force my hand, Mister Ayers."

"Fuck you, Justice." Ayers shouted back, drawing a pistol from his belt "I'm putting a stop to this."

Justice disappeared, flashing back into existence before the mouth of the cave.

"Do not do this, Ayers," he stated, hoping to dissuade the man from his course of action "you know as well as I do, that these creatures aren't responsible for the murder."

"Out of my way, Justice."

"Very well, Mister Ayers..." he said quietly, stepping out of the way.

Ayers stepped forward, and Justice knelt down to whisper in his ear.

"Aim for the feet, they're the weakest point on the body."

Ayers grinned and stepped into the cave, his pistol now aimed at the floor. If all went well, the idiot would take his advice.

A shot rang out, as well as a howl of pain, not belonging to Ayers.

Justice darted into the cave, dragging Ayers out of it by the neck of his jacket. He forced Ayers to the ground roughly, drawing his shotgun once more.

"Y-You can't do this!" Ayers exclaimed, now afraid for his life as he stared down the blackened insides of the two barrels.

"Indeed I can," Justice grinned "shooting innocents is just the ticket to get on my list, Mister Ayers."

"Please...please! Have mercy!" he whimpered, tears streaming down his cheeks.

"You did not request mercy for the once you hired me to kill, Ayers, why should I hand you mercy, if you cannot give it? You were willing to destroy innocent lives, after all. Had I not given you the wrong place to shoot, you would've surely injured them."

"But...but...I saw the- the wound!" he protested.

"They may bleed, like you or I, Mister Ayers- but they're sure a hell of a lot durable there than most humans are."

"Wh-why are you telling me all of this?"

"Because you and I both know that you're not leaving this forest alive."

He pulled the trigger and fired, blasting a hole in Ayer's chest. The poor man coughed up blood as he ceased to breathe, rolling over and scrabbling at the dead leaves littering the ground.

Turning silently, he circled back, towards the caves. The shadows inside curled back, like a sudden low-tide, fearful of him.

"I've not come to cause you harm tonight." he stated lowly into the cave.

He knew how sensitive the ears were, especially in such places with a high rate of echo-location.

"You murder my husband, and you dare say you've caused us no harm?" a female voice trembled from within.

"Your husband himself was a murderer, I had no choice." he stated softly.

"You've made a widow of me and mine, then." she said, sounding as if she were trying to hold back tears.

"I give my deepest condolences, I'm sorry fate had to cross our paths like this..."

"Indeed...fate...surely..." she moaned quietly.

Thinking, he removed a simple white card from the breast pocket of his jacket, and placed it carefully on the ground before the cave.

"I shall leave my work address here, please do call if you are in need of anything."

With that, he turned and left, walking beneath the glint of the half-full moon hanging in the sky. He passed the bodies of both the creature and Ayers, as he went to exit the forest, thanking whatever deity watching over him that tomorrow was Saturday.