Killer's Eyes [Engl.]

4. The Verdict

What had he been thinking? Why had he done it?
Jake stared angrily in front of him and felt himself like an idiot.
Maybe it wasn't such a good idea to take the chameleon in his quarter. Jake's quarter consisted of an old wooden hut nearby an old gold mine. Previously, it has been used as temporary storage for explosives when the gold rush in California was still in high demand. Now the camps were empty and the gold mine abandoned.
Angrily Jake looked at the chameleon, which was still tied up and powerless on the floor.
Jake averted his eyes from the lizard and stared outside. The sun was already low. Soon it will be night.
Perhaps, it would have been the better to let him die in the heat of the sun.
But, damn it, he let himself be persuaded.
All this time Rango hadn't woken up yet. Or was he dead? Jake leaned his head down and listened intently. He was still breathing.
"Why don't you die?," Jake muttered through clenched teeth.
What should he do with him?
Kill him! Kill him now! As long as he is still unconscious. Now you have the opportunity to give him a quick painless death.
Jake pushed forward with his head, but in front of Rango he stopped.
Damn! It was so vile. If he wanted to kill him, he wanted a real duel...
He paused. Why not? If his killer instinct already told him to kill him, then they should duel each other as befits for two legends.
"Well," Jake muttered and circled around the chameleon. "I let you still alive, but only until our duel."
Rango couldn't hear him, but Jake had nothing against his monologue. As a "judge" he had just decided a verdict.
The chameleon keeps alive until it is ready for a duel.