Challenge #03426-I138: Strange Justice
The criminal begged for mercy, demanding a trial rather than what was facing them. The Pax Humanis member stood there, blade in hand, blood staining the clothing, giving the criminal the choice between the knife, or take their chances and jump from the cliff to the sea. -- Fighting Fit
Out in the Edge territories, things are a lot less formal than what one might expect. A small settling colony may take objection to a traveling shyster, but their decisions about meting out justice can be... interesting.
Coulter Pinion stood between the devil and the deep blue sea. Well. It was sort of purple, and the 'devil' was actually a hellishly frightening Human, but the predicament remained. Having been found guilty by mob rule, his choices were a quick death or a slim chance. With a huge serving of slow death on the side.
The townspeople fenced him in, watching. The executioner - surely a candidate for Pax Humanis - was sharpening a scimitar that was already gleaming. The sea, on the other hand, was at the opposite end of a cliff far too high for anyone to survive the dive. And even if they did, nobody had done a complete survey of the ocean's biodiversity. Besides, it was winter and the water was a kind of icy slurry. He'd freeze to death before anything tried to bite.
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