Investigate the noise

You quickly barrage out of the stables. You look down the dusty road. The setting sun behind you casts a long shadow almost as long as the road itself. The sun colors the town in an orange hue that gives off this air of finality. Something may die today. You get a gut feeling that you won't be the same after this.

You scan the town for the source of the sound. The only slight movement you catch comes from the sheriff's office. You walk behind the burned buildings to the south to leave yourself visible for as little as possible. Much to your chagrin, you find yourself unarmed, and the place to arm yourself is most likely the source of conflict. As you near the sheriff's office you notice that the lantern is lit, but almost as soon as you notice it, another gunshot is heard, and the light turns off suddenly. Another gunshot rings out quickly after.
You carefully cross the street, crouching slightly and softening your feet's impact to the ground, silently sneaking towards the office. You look inside through the barred window. It's hard to see clearly in the darkness of the office, but you do faintly make out the scene inside.

The sheriff is nowhere to be seen. A cell which housed three kobold goons is open. Two of the gang members are sprawled onto the floor bleeding out. The third kobold has crouched behind the sheriff's desk with a rifle in his hand. You recognize him as the mouthy asshole in the bar you knocked out with a whiskey bottle. In straight parallel to the frightened goon is the gargoyle in her cell with a pistol pointing straight at him.
You consider your next move. Stopping these killings is the ideal. The sheriff would undoubtedly want to see these bandits serve justice in a trial at Undercreek rather than having them dying in the desert like a bunch of dogs. However, moving into the office without any sort of firearm is a surefire ticket to a closed casket funeral. Is there a way to deescalate the situation from the outside? You wrack your brain for solutions but come up empty. By the time your head is drained it's already too late.

Another gunshot. You glance inside. The kobold has managed to hit the gargoyle in the leg, and is now moving towards the door. You run to the other side of the office and manage to catch a sight of the kobold's back running away. He is running towards the stables, undoubtedly to get a horse for an escape. Knowing that Emily is still in there you set chase. The kobold notices you and points his rifle at you while he runs. You swerve, taking big leaps side to side, as if you were hopping on stones over a creek. He fires. The bullet manages to graze your left elbow. It hurts something fierce, but not enough to slow you down. Knowing his aim is abysmal while running, the kobold turns his head back towards the stables and concentrates on running faster. You do the same.
The kobold volleys his body hard against the stable door. As you approach the stables a brief yelp and a gunshot airs into the windless surroundings. A silence rings in your ear as you prepare yourself for the worst. You look inside.
Emily is lying in a pile of hay. Her eyes are closed, but you can hear her whimpering. Her hand has clenched her side. Blood trickles from her stomach to the straws beneath her body. The blood fills your vision. As the trickles grow larger in your mind. It fills the hay, until it pools on the floor. The red water rises as a tidal wave flooding the stables. You're drowning. Red is all you see. You're losing.

You don't even realize it, when your fist rearranges the facial features of the kobold. As he plummets backwards onto the ground your fists follow. You continuously heavily cave his skull in with a sluggish powerful flourish of hammering blows. You don't stop. You just continue. You just continue. You can't stop. Just continue. Never stop. Don't stop. Don't stop. Don't stop.

"Jess, please stop." you hear as two arms wrap around yours, locking your punching arm in place.

You forcefully heave your head sideways and lock your eyes with Emily's. Your bloodied hand smear red prints on her shirt as she holds your arm close to her body. Her reassuring smile is betrayed by the tears in her beautiful eyes. Your breath is ragged and unstable.

"I'm okay, Jess. The bullet just grazed me. I'll be fine."

You can't meet her gaze for long as you look down on what used to be a face. Even wiping away all the blood and bruises, this mangled veneer no longer resembled the mouthy kobold. He is now just a loosely rattled bag of flesh and bones. He is dead.

You never changed. You know the circumstances were different. You know this guy was a sack of shit. But all you can see when you look at him is the deer-boy.

A small gasp can be heard, and you look behind you. Behind Emily outside of the stables you spot three figures. Aayesha, Farah, and Claire. For the first time since you woke up, Claire looks genuinely afraid of you. It breaks your heart. Aayesha and Farah looks quite solemn as well. The sun has finally set, giving in to darkness. The stars are out. It's beautiful, but you can't bear seeing it, so you turn your gaze back to the kobold once again. This is what you deserve to look at. This ugliness.

"Remember when I told you that I don't get scared?" you say breathily. Tears are welling up on your hardened face.

"Yeah." Emily quietly replies.

"That wasn't completely true." you say as small droplets of clear saline liquid hits the body under you: "There is one thing I'm scared of and this... this is it."