April 13th, 1798 02:26

Victor is cornered by Diego's men, five soldiers, three men holding their swords and two men pointing their rifles at him, with his back against the ice-cold waters of the lake. Victor isn't shaken at all, his fearless expression still remains even at this situation, his cold, emotionless gaze is fixed on Diego, piercing him with killing intent,

"Tell your men to drop their weapons."

Said Victor while his hand was on the hilt of his sword, fully ready to be drawn. Diego burst laughing as he also drew his sword and pointed it at Victor.

"Haha, you can't be serious, Mr.Hill. Do you realize the situation here?"

Victor sighed as he heard Diego's words, he looked straight into his eyes,

"This situation is going to end one way. With your head rolling by my feet."

Diego got furious from Victor's remark, he turned his back to walk away as he whispered to his men,

"Kill him."

The three swordsmen lashed at Victor all at the same time, he parried all of their swings with lighting fast reflexes, the power of his parry was so strong that it made the men lose their balance, he used that opportunity to slice the neck of one of the soldiers, blood was flowing like a fountain from the guards slit throat as the two remaining men made their attacks again, Victor parried one of the swings again and drove the blade back to one of them, stabbing him in the stomach, with one remaining soldier holding his sword close to Victor, the riflemen couldn't shoot unless they risked killing their own man. Diego shocked by the sounds of the fight turned to take a look, he was shocked to see his men dying and he yelled at the rest of them,

"Don't stand there, shoot him!"

The two riflemen looked at Diego confused, then they looked at each other for a moment before cocking their guns and taking aim, Victor took the body of the stabbed guard and used it to block the bullets from the riflemen, one of them hit the back of the body but the other one got Victor on the leg. He threw the dead body at the remaining swordsman and knocked him on the ground with the corpse on top of him. Then he took the already dead guards sword and stabbed the corpse so viciously that it also penetrated the man underneath it, killing the last of the sword-wielding guards. The riflemen tried to reload as fast as they could but with the flintlock guns, it took a lot of time to reload. Victor pulled out the sword once again and using both of his hands, he threw his sword and the guards sword at the heads of the riflemen, killing them instantly.

Diego was frozen, he was terrified, all five of his men were dead and now he was the only one still standing, Victor picked up some speed and rushed towards the dead riflemen, he pulled his sword out of the skull of the guards and with a swift strike he chopped Diego's head clean of his shoulders leaving behind a headless body spewing blood out.

April 13th, 1798 02:31

Victor left six lifeless bodies on the harbor, he walked back to the inn, lucky for him, the innkeeper was asleep, his clothes were drenched with blood and his leg was badly wounded by the gunshot. He walked back upstairs where Rory was still waiting,

"What did you do?"

Rory asked Victor after witnessing the state he was in. Without hesitation, Victor went inside his room and he found Natasha still waiting in the bed, she also was shocked by the sight of Victor being covered in blood, she figured that after so many provocations, someone would try to kill Victor, Diego wasn't exactly the kind of man to take in insults but what picked Victor's interest was something he said before the fight broke out.

Victor walked to the bathroom and tried to clean the wound, he removed his clothes and asked Natasha to wash the blood off them, he also asked Rory to help him with the gunshot wound. Rory got a tweezer from his toolkit and removed as many bullet fragments as he could, the bullet had shattered and inflicted more damage than it looked at Victor's leg, along with his tweezers and a scalpel to remove and clean around the wound he also used some alcohol. Natasha was out of words for the whole situation, Victor explained to them that Diego Pearson assaulted him with five town guards and he had to kill them all, astonished by the achievement and also terrified of the consequences such an action would bring, she stayed quiet and did exactly what Victor told her.

April 13th, 1798 03:46

It took a while to thoroughly clean the wound and stitch it back, at this point, Victor brought all of them inside the room to talk to them about his plan.

"You two should leave, you need to go back to the Barnes mansion and hide."

Natasha didn't expect to hear these kinds of words from him, she saw how badly injured Victor was and she wanted to tend to him.

"We need to stay here and look after you, with these wounds, you need someone to care to them."

Victor sighed, he raised his hand and softly touched Natasha's cheek as he spoke,

"No, if I am not mistaken, Pearson wouldn't be working alone, I am certain that as soon as someone sees the bodies on the harbor, they are going to report it, if Pearson wanted me dead, he has an accomplice. They are going to come to arrest me for certain, you can't be here or else you two will also be held accountable. Rory, I need you to check who is going to make the report, there were no eyewitnesses so the one who reports my name will probably be Pearson's collaborator. He told me that we meddled with some stuff we shouldn't, I feel like there is something else we are missing. I need both of you to work together and destroy the nesting pools, I will try to find a way out in the meantime. "

Rory agreed to help Victor, Natasha didn't want to leave his side but still abided to his directions, they both left the inn and made sure that no one was around to spot them, they walked to Lazar's house and both Rory and Natasha got to sleep to make it look like they were staying there the whole night, Victor also lied down on his bed at the inn and waited for morning to see if his theory was correct.

April 13th, 1798 06:14

Victor woke up from a knocking on his door, Lazar Barnes burst in the room along with ten guards fully armed,

"Victor Hill, you are under arrest for the murder of Diego Pearson and five law enforcement personnel, you are required to disarm yourself and surrender to be brought into court."

Victor knew that there would be some sort of consequences for what he did, even if Diego was the one who basically initiated the fight, he still killed six men and there was no way to prove his innocence, what is strange though is how did Lazar found out he was the one behind the kills with no eyewitnesses.

Without a second thought, Victor accepted his arrest and followed Lazar to the guard's post where they put him to a jail cell and shackled his ankles and hands with iron chains, they also left a piece of moldy bread on the ground of the cell, the cell was just a corner of the room separated by the iron bars and the overall flooring was just some hay and the occasional feces that were left behind by some other arrested individuals. Victor found a spot where he figured there weren't any droppings and he sat down waiting patiently to find out his punishment.

Meanwhile, Rory and Natasha just woke up from their sleep, the first thing they did was to get dressed and go to the guardhouse to see if Victor's theory was correct, they saw Victor in the cell just casually sitting down, with the sheriff dead, someone had to take command of the station, as such, Lazar was sitting at the office of the late Diego Pearson. Rory and Natasha rushed inside the office to ask a few questions.

"Uncle? Why is Victor in jail?"

Natasha spoke as if she knew nothing about the whole situation, she tried to sound as genuine as possible while asking. Rory also wanted to hear the explanation that Lazar would offer as to why Victor was imprisoned.

"Mr.Hill is guilty of the murder of Diego Pearson, the sheriff and five guards, their bodies were found earlier today at the harbor by some fishermen."

Rory had to question that reasoning to find out more about the case.

"So, if the bodies were discovered this morning, what kind of proof is there that Victor is responsible?"

Lazar froze for a second, he didn't have an answer to that question and Rory knew it, he also knew that if he mentions the name of the accuser then that would reveal the collaborator. At that moment, Lazar was saved by the arrival of the local priest, F.Lucian who interrupted the conversation,

"Mr.Barnes, if I may, I need your approval and the funding to take care of the funeral and ceremony for the late Mr.Pearson, as he had no family in town, I would assume the expenses to be covered by you."

Victor heard everything from his cell, he didn't move at all but instead he simply listened even more carefully to the conversation of Lazar and F.Lucian. Rory also stood aside and let the two men discuss their matter as he waited for his turn to speak, Rory was a polite person and he would never try to interrupt a priest while speaking, he had a deep respect for those who work for God. Before leaving, F.Lucian also walked close to the cell that Victor was occupying and prompted him to come closer to discuss something.

"I feel very sorry for the death of Mr.Pearson but I can't help to think that he knew what he was messing with. I just hope that if you are found innocent Mr.Hill, you would leave this place and never return, I don't want to witness the death of others by your hand."

That's what F.Lucian whispered to Victor who at this point looked him straight in his eyes and replied,

"How are you so sure that I am responsible for the death of Pearson? The only proof I can imagine that you possess is the wounds on the bodies of the victims."

F.Lucian also didn't have any solid proof to provide but instead provided reasoning for Victor's arrest,

"The bodies all died from a bladed weapon, Mr.Hill. There is no other suspect then you, criminals are executed in Magnus, even if I don't condone such punishment since the Lord is the only one who can give or take life, that's the laws of this town, there is no one who would have a grudge against Mr.Pearson but you."

Rory stepped in that conversation as he was standing closer and he overheard them,

"Is that enough proof to condemn someone to death, Father?"

F.Lucian did not respond to Rory's question but instead turned his head and walked towards the door to leave, Lazar entered the room and announced the sentence to Victor and the rest of them.

"Victor Hill, by the authority that has been given to me by the people of this town I hereby sentence you to death by public hanging, the hour of your execution will be two days from now on the 15th of April."

Both Rory's and Natasha's eyes saddened as they heard those words, they know how it all happened but they had no way to prove it. Natasha was too shaken by the whole situation but Rory was more accustomed to troublesome events and he kept his mind straight, he knew what he had to do. If by any chance he can find Diego's collaborator then he could make them withdraw the charges as there is no other proof other than the fake eyewitness that reported the crime.

April 13th, 1798 08:17

Rory and Natasha have split up and agreed to ask around town about the death of Diego Pearson, the whole town was in shock to find out that the head of the guards was dead, Diego represented the defense line of Magnus against the Shades, he was the one who assigned his men to guard the town, he was in charge of managing the defensive structures of the town. More or less, Diego Pearson was a trusted man and a lot of the townsfolk felt at ease with his presence, there were, of course, those that shared a different opinion. Some thought Pearson to be "a good for nothing" airhead with too much power in his hands. There were those who felt like he was incompetent and had taken advantage of the increased taxes to build a fortune with the excuse of using that funding to strengthen the defenses of the town.

Despite their best efforts, neither Rory nor Natasha were able to find out who accused Victor of the assault, at that point Rory had another thought, he tried to remember the closest people to Diego, he met up with Natasha outside of the Barnes mansion and didn't hesitate at all to ask her,

"What if the person behind this is Lazar?"

Natasha's eyes widened, she didn't expect to hear that from Rory at all, even if she was a bit angry for that accusation of her uncle, she couldn't deny that possibility. After all, the closest people to Diego were Lazar Barnes and F.Lucian White. She didn't want to admit it but Rory had a point,

"I know that my uncle has some temper issues but I can't possibly imagine staging a public execution just because he was provoked by someone, no matter what Victor said to him, my uncle would never do something so horrific."

Rory understood Natasha's feelings, he knew that what he said would probably sound insane to her, after all, Lazar is her uncle, he took her in when her parents died, as a single woman she could not really support her own in these times and Lazar took responsibility for her, she loved him despite the constant arguments for her lifestyle and decisions. Natasha had a deep respect for her uncle but her newfound feelings for Victor had also affected her. She couldn't pick a side. Rory understood that and tried to ease her mind.

"I am not saying that your uncle is a bad person, Natasha but I don't have the same trust as you do, what do you say we simply try to talk to him. Maybe he can at least shine some light to the whole fiasco."

These words calmed Natasha a bit, she agreed to that plan and decided to try and talk to Lazar later that day when he returns home from the guard barracks, the plan was for Natasha to play along with him and try to win him over to expose any information he may have while Rory is hiding nearby and listens to the conversation, in the meantime, he said that he was close to finishing a contraption that may help them with the destruction of the nesting pools, he asked for a quiet room to work.

"You can use the study, my uncle doesn't really spend any time in there, it's mostly occupied by papers about the town's expenses and other stuff. You should have enough quiet to work on the weapon, I will look in the market for any supplies you may need."

April 13th, 1798 12:43

Rory is working on what seems to be a bomb, Natasha has offered to bring him any supplies he might need but instead what she was actually doing was trying to keep her mind off the idea that her uncle might have something to do with Victor's execution, as of now, one thing is for certain, time is working against them as Victor's execution is on the horizon and they also have to find a way to destroy the nesting pools without him. Victor was supposed to provide the cover they needed in case the plan didn't work out perfectly and they get face to face with another of those terrible beasts. With Rory having no need for any additional supplies, Natasha went to see F.Lucian at the church for now...