April 13th, 1798 13:06

Natasha has gone to see F.Lucian for emotional support, despite the fact that Diego Pearson was a friend of father Lucian White, Natasha wanted to see F.Lucian and discuss Victor's innocence and any chance of him being released. F.Lucian was always a considerate man with devotion and faith. He never discriminated against anyone and never held bad feelings for anyone. In his eyes, everyone needs faith and support, those who have fallen even more. Natasha has hoped to see F.Lucian and also report her findings of the tar pools and their purpose. With this new information, the council might take action in a different manner and she didn't feel comfortable discussing that with Lazar since she expected his answer to be negative. Lazar didn't want Natasha to meddle any more with the Shades.

She has entered the church and approached the confession booth, once she heard the sliding window open, she began talking with F.Lucian.

"Father, I wanted to talk to since you hold a position in the town's council."

Father Lucian very calmly and respectfully answered,

"I am just a worker of God, I have tried to help the people of this town find their place next to God, my position in the council doesn't give me any jurisdiction, I will however listen to what you have to say, my child."

Natasha felt a certain warmth from the priest's words, almost like a soothing poem meant to calm down any soul fortunate enough to listen to it. She felt so relaxed and calm that she immediately confessed everything that was on her mind,

"I have fallen in love with Victor Hill, father, I cannot bear the thought of him in a prison cell, waiting for his death. I am prepared to change everything to get him out. If my uncle wants me to get married and start a family, if he wants me to never touch a sword again, I will do it to get Victor out. He is the only one I have acknowledged and if I am to start a family then I want to do it with this man. But my uncle holds a grudge against him, his strong opposition and his harsh comments against my uncle is the reason that Victor is behind bars, waiting to be executed. There is no other proof that he is responsible for the death of Mr.Pearson."

Despite the sudden emotional honesty that took over Natasha, she was smart enough to twist the conversation to a place where F.Lucian would have to reveal any kind of information he might had, she claimed that Victor was convicted without any actual proof other than Lazar's anger and the previous arguments between him and Victor.

"I don't want to ruin your hope, my child, but I am sure the mayor is doing his best for his town, if he believes that Mr.Hill is responsible for the death of...any man, he has to do his duty and remove that man from this town."

Natasha's eyes started to get wet from the tears as she started to lose hope for Victor, even in the face of his own death, chained to a cell, he never panicked or lose any composure, he gave them instructions and also tried his best to help the town, the same town that has him imprisoned. With whatever emotional strength she could muster, she explained everything to F.Lucian, she told him about the worg, about the tar pools and about Rory's plan to make a weapon to use to destroy the nesting pools from a safe distance without triggering that defense mechanism of the worg. She thought that even if she can't save the man she loves she can at least do her duty and save her town. She also asked F.Lucian to relay that information to Lazar since he was his friend and a member of the council. She wasn't sure if Lazar would listen to her or Rory.

April 13th, 1798 13:47

Lazar is still at the sheriff's office finishing some paperwork, as soon as he was done, he stood up and walked towards Victor's cell, he saw him sitting there with a blank expression, almost like a doll, not moving a muscle, not saying a word. Most people would try to cause a ruckus in the cells, shout out for their innocence or curse at the guards. Demand food or water or a better cell, but Victor was sitting there silent. Lazar approached him to tell him what no one wants to hear.

"So, Mr.Hill, the day of your death is going to be tomorrow at noon. You will die by beheading with a new French invention, the guillotine."

Victor raised his eyes and met Lazar's gaze, he looked directly at him and responded to that claim with absolute focus and certainty,

"By tomorrow noon, one way or another, I will be out of here, Mr.Barnes."

Lazar huffed at Victor's claim and dangled the keys in front of him as an attempt to mock his bravado. He left the office and head straight to his office to finish up some more paperwork considering the expenses for Diego's funeral and the guards that also died the last night. All the expenses will be covered by the town as Lazar was responsible for handling the taxes and the town's vault where all the money was kept. He left a guard behind to watch over Victor at the guard station and made his way towards his office.

Meanwhile, Rory was working on his contraption at the Barnes mansion, he had plenty of time and resources to work with, he looked ecstatic at the sight of his invention. After making almost a dozen of these weapons, he left the mansion in an attempt to find Natasha and see if she has any news about Victor's case at the moment. He packed a bag and head out to meet her at the church where she last said she was headed. On the road though, he remembered that he also had to ask around about the one who filled the report for Victor's arrest. So he headed towards the main street where most of the taverns and inns were and also a couple of high-class establishments.

The people in this town have made sure to advertise the existence of whorehouses and brothels to newcomers and also the cabarets. There was a huge difference in the views of the people for these kinds of entertainment places. Some were very pleased to have such establishments at their town and made sure to let travelers know about them and others felt ashamed for the situation and the fall of Magnus. The town was built to make use of the fishing at the lake and the founder was a devoted follower of God. The founder of the town, Magnus was also the one who instructed the church to be built. It was one of his first orders as soon as he had established his position in the town as the founder and the first mayor.

April 13th, 1798 15:02

Rory had no luck asking around about the person who reported the incident and Natasha had also struck out when she asked her own acquaintances. Without any change in plans, they both returned to the Barnes mansion where the met.

"I have perfected the weapon, we can take care of the nesting pools without being close to them, we have to go there and plant them though."

Rory explained his plan to Natasha who wasn't feeling so well with Victor's situation. As of now, it's beneficial that she doesn't know the exact time of Victor's execution because if she did know then it's not sure what she would be ready to finish the task. She felt a bit better after receiving Rory's news of the weapon, he explained to her how it worked,

"All right, what we need to do is find the pools and plant these explosives in, I have made a trigger that's going to ignite the gun powder as soon as I cast an immolation spell. I have implemented a scribe into the weapon that's gonna trigger the second I cast the spell. I am going to need a few pieces of tallow though to perform the spell. It's a simple warmth spell originally created by am alchemist to heat up certain elements but with my tweaks, it's gonna ignite the fuze for the bombs from a safe distance."

Natasha momentarily forgot everything and was ecstatic to finally have some good news, Rory instructed her to go see Victor and tell him about that plan, also tell him that they have no information about the person who reported the assault. In the meantime, Rory was planning to go into the forest and very carefully plant the explosives, they have very little time left before the sun begins to set and they don't want another attack to occur. Lazar has thrown them out of the mansion and without Victor, there is no guarantee that they will be able to fend off an attack while sleeping at an inn.

Natasha didn't waste a second, she went to see Victor at the guard post and tell him their plan to take care of the nests, she also wanted to hear if he has thought of something to get himself out of the prison, she needed to hear something from Victor to regain her confidence and courage.

Rory made his way to the forest, there was no sign of hesitation inside him as he walked in the forest and used the Halia root to find out the location of the nesting pools, one by one the Halia plants withered from the ambient black sorcery, one by one he found the pools and one by one he planted the bombs inside them, he used a piece of fishing line to lower each explosive to the bottom of the pools and made sure not to disturb them as he didn't want to face of against a worg. The number of the pools was nine, nine pools were responsible for spawning the Shades. Judging by the length of the fishing line, Rory made the assumption that the pools were deeper than they appear, he thought that perhaps the pools were also a hiding place for the Shades. Without any solid proof though, that was just a theory.

April 13th, 1798 15:18

While Rory is at the forest planting the explosives with the utmost care, Natasha has gone to see Victor at the guardhouse, the guard standing outside the post has seen Natasha and upon recognizing her has let her enter without any questioning, she walked right up to Victor's cell and saw him sitting down. She felt weird while looking at him locked up, she called for him and as soon as he heard her voice, Victor stood up. Natasha turned to face the guard that was watching Victor,

"Can you leave us alone for a minute, I would appreciate it very much and I will also tell my uncle about your kindness and virtue, you can expect to be rewarded for such a favor."

The guard was enchanted by Natasha's words and beauty and at the sound of the reward. There was no way for Victor to escape anyway, nothing is going to happen if he gives them just one minute to talk. After all, Victor was to be executed the next day, the least he can ask is for a visitor. The guard complied and walked to the next room while informing them that they have a couple of minutes before he comes back.

"Did you find anything about the report?"

Is what Victor asked Natasha as soon as they were alone, she placed her hand on his cheek and ever so gently stroked his thin facial hair,

"I am sorry, no one knows anything about the report. I can't possibly imagine my uncle behind this."

Natasha mentioned that her uncle might have something to do with the report and the assault since Rory mentioned it before, her eyes were filled with tears since she couldn't do anything to help Victor.

"For now, you will have to stay here, Rory has already begun the plan to destroy the pools, I am sure that as soon as that is taken care off, my uncle will show you some favor and let you out, it might take a while, a couple of days, maybe a week. You will see, my uncle isn't the kind of man to let heroic acts unrewarded. I am sure that as soon as your partner takes care of the Shades, you will be let free."

Victor averted his gaze from Natasha for a second, he looked at the ground and then back up to meet her eyes, deep inside him he knew that he had no way out of this situation.

"You might be right, I hope Rory is doing ok."

Natasha leaned in towards the cell, she got closer and kissed Victor on the lips, despite their conversation being short, that gave her the emotional support she needed. The guard walked back in and informed them that their time was up,

"Ok, Ms.Price, I sorry but you have to go."

Natasha walked out of the guardhouse and towards the Barnes mansion, she geared up to meet Rory to the designated position, just outside of the north gate of the town, that's where they decided to meet up.

April 13th, 1798 18:54

Natasha has waited for Rory to appear from the forest, it took him a while to find all the pools and plant the explosives but thanks to some good luck he managed to finish the task, he saw her standing a bit away from the gate and leaning against the outer wall some distance away from the gate,

"Are you ready for this? This is going to end a whole year of horror for your town, Natasha."

Natasha didn't think that she would hear those words, for the past year she has devoted all of her time to deal with the constant attacks from the Shades, unable to fight them head-on, with no hope for salvation. She was happy that after all this time she can take revenge for all those who have lost their lives to the Shades, her parents included.

"Please, Rory, do it."

Rory began to chant the spell, Natasha had already brought some tallow for him from the mansion so he was able to perform the spell right there, she noticed a sudden flare in his eyes as was chanting the spell. It was like nothing she had ever seen, despite also researching sorcery. Rory definitely had talent and experience in that sort of thing. There was no sign of it going off, no sound, no fire, at some point, Rory just finished chanting and he turned to face Natasha with a huge grin on his face.

"It's done. The bombs have ignited, in a couple of seconds they will explode and the flammable oil will burn the pools completely."

A few seconds passed and they could hear the explosions going off in the forest, there was a slight delay between each explosion mainly due to the difference in the fuze length, not the igniting part. With the explosions taken care of, they stood ready to see what would happen, will any worg show up at the town? Or maybe they show up to the location of the pools like last time. A couple of minutes have passed since the last explosion and there was no sign of attack, with the night still getting closer. If everything went according to plan, the attacks should stop. They have no other choice but to head back to the mansion and wait for the night to come.

April 13th, 1798 20:59

The sun has already begun to set, the streets of Magnus are starting to get darker and darker, the everlasting fear of the residents still lies within them. They don't know if they will be safe. They don't know of the monster hunter's plan to destroy the nesting pools, they can simply hope to make it through the night. They are unaware of the efforts that Victor, Rory and Natasha have put to keep them safe, Victor is still in his cell. He is still sitting down silent. No matter what happens to the Shades and the pools, his execution is decided. Time always flows forward and at noon, Victor is going to die. He thought about sleeping but that would just shorten his last moments even more. He just sat there waiting, the last thing that has crossed his mind was Natasha. How she would react when she finds out tomorrow that he will be executed. The silence in the cell is broken when the front door of the guardhouse is opened, Victor can hear footsteps coming towards him from the other room. If Natasha has somehow found out about his execution, then what?

What is he going to say to her? How is he going to calm her down? Victor keeps hearing the footsteps coming closer and closer, the door opens and Victor finally sees who it is. F.Lucian. He has entered the guardhouse at this night. He walks closer to Victor's cell,

"Mr.Hill, I require your assistance, I have an approved letter for your release."

He said as he showed the guard a piece of paper signed for Victor's release, the guard opened the cell and let Victor out to go with F.Lucian.

"What is this about?"

Asked Victor confused as to why he is being let out while his execution was already decided.

"I finally know who is responsible for the attacks on this town and I need your help to defeat him, I have brought with me a stake dipped in holy water and blessed by many priests. With this weapon, we will be able to kill him."

Said F.Lucian while escorting Victor to the other room to pick up the rest of his confiscated gear.

Meanwhile, Rory and Natasha have already returned to the Barnes mansion, Rory was exhausted so he headed to the living room and fell asleep as soon as his head touched the pillow. Natasha decided to take a bath, while she was returning to her room so that she could also sleep she noticed something coming from the living room, the shadow of a person. It was Lazar, he was standing just a couple meters away from where Rory was sleeping and holding a big knife.