Alastair spent the day away from other members of the crew, taking refuge in one of the lower levels of the ship where he could find solace. He found himself tucked in a corner, surrounded by barrels of salted meat, where he was well hidden from view. It wasn’t the most comfortable or light of places, but then that seemed to suit his mood. He sat with his back uncomfortably propped up against a rough wooded beam with his leg bent and his right stretched out. [i]“Could he be after him?”[/i] he asked himself, his brows furrowed in frustration. He let out a sigh and let his head gently fall back against the beam behind him. He let his eyelids slide down and encase his world in serene darkness, a small comfort at times. Alastair doubted that the inquisitor knew who he was and therefore could not see why Omero would lie, but he knew better to trust his kind. He had seen their evil for himself… [hr] [b][i]Nérac, France – 10 years ago[/i][/b] [b]“Ah! Alastair! There you are!”[/b] came a frantic and withered voice from the darkness. Alastair carefully placed down the heavy sack of grapes and turned to see William, the owner of the vineyard panicked and covered in sweat. [b]“William? What’s wrong?”[/b] Alastair asked as the man caught his breath. He was concerned to see the man that had given him work, food and a roof, in such a state. He had been working on Williams farm for a couple of weeks by that time, and had quickly quite fond of his host and his family. [b]“Maisy! Have you seen her? She went out to play with Louis, the neighbours boy, this morning but has still not returned.”[/b] It was only as he explained the situation that Alastair could fathom the fear in the man’s eyes. It was a fear that he himself knew. [b]“My oldest boy thinks he might have seen her go into the forest, so we’re heading out there now.”[/b] Alastair placed his hand on his friends shoulder to comfort him as he spoke, [b]“It’s OK William, we’ll find her. You know what kids are like. Have you spoken to Louis’ father? Made sure that the kids aren’t on his farm?”[/b] William shrugged off the hand from his shoulder, although not in anger. [b]“Yes, they are not there. Robert’s at the gates; he’s going to go into town to look for them whilst the rest of us scour the forest.”[/b] Alastair rubbed his beard, his calloused hands much rougher than his wiry greying hair. [b]“I’ll go with him; I don’t know the woods enough to be of much help. And it’ll take more than one man to give the town a good searching.”[/b] [centre]-----[/centre] [b]“That’s a fire! Do you think the towns under attack?”[/b] Robert was a large man, the epitome of masculinity with a low gruff voice. But in that moment he seemed as fragile and vulnerable as the youngest of girls. [b]“My son could be in there!”[/b] Alastair stared at the small glow in the near distance. The flame itself was not visible, and only a small trail of smoke was beginning to form in the sky above it. [b]“That’s no large fire. Maybe a small house fire at best. If the town was under attack we’d hear the commotion from hear.”[/b] Robert looked silently into Alastairs eyes for a moment as a strange sound carried over the wind, [b]“…All I hear is cheering?”[/b] The two quickened their pace towards the town, breaking out into a light but manageable jog. As they drew ever closer the unusual sound of cheering grew louder, filling both men with a feeling of uneasiness. They were but a hundred metres away from the town’s closest buildings when a small boy appeared from the bushes and began to run towards them. “Louis!” exclaimed Robert, his eyes tearing up. He held out his arms before embracing his son in a tight hug. The young boy was covered in dirt and had red around his eyes from where he’d obviously been crying a lot. [b]“My son, what happened? Where have you been?”[/b] The young boy took a couple of minutes to subdue his crying enough to let his words out. [b]“We-we went to town to see the market. Then we started playing hide and seek.”[/b] the boy’s sobbing intensified for a moment before he continued, [b]“Maisy was looking for me when this man grabbed her in the alley. He started hitting her and taking her clothes off!”[/b] At that the boy once again broke into large sobs, his breathing becoming difficult. Alastair’s fists clenched in anger, his knuckles quickly glowing white. [b]“Louis, what happened to Maisy? Where is she now?”[/b] Alastair didn’t mean to be insensitive, but they needed to find the girl. [b]“The man’s wife caught him with Daisy! He said that she made him do it – he called her a demon! He dragged her to the priest![/b] That was all Alastair needed to hear to piece the rest together. His eyes opened in horror as he looked back towards the town, the flames and the cheering. [b]“No…”[/b] he whispered before his voice turned into a roar, [b]“No!”[/b] Alastair’s legs began sprinting as hard as they could towards the commotion, with each powerful stride carrying him at an almost painful speed. It wasn’t fast enough though; it never could have been. As Alastair turned the last corner and found himself in the towns square, he saw a sight that would forever be etched in his memory. Atop a small mound stood a tall flaming pyre, with a small blackened figure fastened to its base. Beside it a zealous priest in an inquisitors robes bellowed out the ‘words of God’ to his fanatic audience, denouncing the ‘succubus’ and any other demons that tried to tempt the innocent into premarital sex or adultery. [b]“What have you done?”[/b] thundered Alastair, causing the crowd’s eyes to fall onto him. The inquisitor smiled in response, the firelight dancing off his face giving him a menacing look. [b]“We have killed a demon my child. A creature of evil!”[/b] Alastair drew his khopesh in a slow motion and begun slicing into his skin, ensuring that everyone could see what he was doing. [b]“I’ll show you a creature of evil…”[/b] [hr] Alastair stood with the other able members of the crew on top the main deck of the Bitch as she sailed closer to the burning pirate ship. It was hard to see what was happening with the great flames dancing in the otherwise pitch black expanse of ocean. What was clear however was that the enemy ship carried with it death; the horrid stench of burning flesh and hair swept across the air and brought back the fresh memories of Sintra to many on board. Alastair narrowed his eyes to try and better see what was happening, but could only make out distorted silhouettes. He would have tried to use his Raven’s Eye were he not surrounded by so many people. [b]“Get some boards ready!”[/b] he yelled out as a thought crossed his mind, [b]“If our comrades are still alive they’ll need a hasty exit!”[/b] Although he certainly held no position of authority, those nearest to him quickly shuffled away before laying some boards beside him. He nodded to and clasped the shoulders of some of the men in gratitude; some of which he recognised as drinking buddies from his first night aboard the ship. Alastair spun his head in search of the Captain, and saw Emilio barking orders to those responsible for steering the ship. Alastair noticed that many kept their eyes on the Captain, waiting for the charismatic leader to give fresh orders and walk them through what was about to come. Turning back to the enemy ship, Alastair was finally able to see what was causing such chaos – a Naga. He knew of such monsters, although he had not encountered any himself. [b]“Get these boards across!”[/b] Alastair barked yet again as the other ship got within range, leading the way with one of the boards. It was clear that the Captain was shouting out similar orders as other groups did the same. Between the dark of night, the crashing on the waves against the ship, and the flames ahead, it was still hard to see exactly what was going on and what the best course of action was. [b]“They’ve killed it!”[/b] yelled someone with a better view. [b]“Don’t board their ship! Their coming back across”[/b] yelled Leonard, who suddenly appeared beside him. Moments later Epu, Omero, Artemisia and another sailor appeared on the other side of the board that Alastair had helped push across. When it was clear that Epu was injured Alastair quickly dashed forward and scooped up the man’s legs, making it easier to carry him back to safety. It seemed like only seconds passed before the Bitch was suddenly moving again and drifting away from their would-be attackers. Alastair turned and assessed the other two. Omero seemed mostly fine, with his blade covered in what must have been the Naga’s blood. Artemisia seemed injured and was now occupying the aforementioned’s attention. [b]“Let me take that for you.”[/b] insisted Alastair subtly, relieving Omero of his rapier so that he could tend to the young woman. Luckily it seemed like the inquisitor was more concerned with her to take too much notice of Alastair, who quickly disappeared with the blade and the monster’s blood.