In Edington, the Sheriff waited. They had tied Robin brutally to the wooden construction that morning, arms stretched out to the left and right upper corners, his legs bound at the opposite end. Gisburne held the whip restlessly in his hand. De Rainault looked at the captured villagers his soldiers had brought back that morning. "Let it be known that this is what happens to rebels and their supporters!" He waved to a soldier who was guarding the headman of the village. Quickly a rope was slung over a tree branch and a noose placed over the man's head.
His wife screamed out and ran towards her husband. "No-o, you can't do that, my lord! Mercy!" But the Sheriff looked at her coldly.
"Yes I can and will. You all supported these outlaws and you can be happy that I won't kill all of you – as an example." He nodded and the man was drawn up. His throes of death took a few minutes, then he hung silently. Every one of the villagers was frustrated and full of wrath. But they couldn´t do anything. They were helpless. So for them there was nothing else to do but take care of the dead man's wife. They pulled her from the ground where she had fallen when her husband had died. The Sheriff continued: "And let it be known what punishment rebels deserve. Watch carefully!" He gave Gisburne a wave.
Gisburne shouted towards the forest: "Outlaws! If you´re somewhere out there, this would be the right time to come out and surrender! Otherwise – I don´t know how long your leader will be able to bear pain!"
Robin had watched the previous scene in deep wrath. It annoyed him that he wasn't able to help. But he didn't see any reproach in the gestures of the villagers. They knew what risks they were getting into when they asked Robin for help. But this didn´t calm the young outlaw. It was always his motto not to endanger the people and this time it had all ended in disaster.
Two soldiers, who ripped his shirt off his upper body, tore him away from his train of thought. He shivered in the cold rain, but showed no reaction. Silently he prayed to Herne that he wouldn't be weak and show fear of the pain that awaited him. He hoped that his friends wouldn't be lured out of the forest because of anything that´ll happen now. Gisburne laughed: "Now I´m interested in how long you'll be silent."
The shout was clearly heard by Robin's friends. And one of the soldiers was coming out of the forest to tell the Sheriff that they were there. Immediately, the Sheriff sent his messenger away and Gisburne got ready.
The outlaws took cover behind some bushes. Beyond that, they hadn't gone to the trouble of hiding. John was paralysed as he watched the scene before him. Marion turned pale. "If you don´t want to…" John said. But she shook her head and breathed deeply.
"I'll stay. I don't want to leave him alone. And I swear to you, I´ll kill Gisburne if he harms him!" she spoke, her eyes blazing.
Then, the Sheriff nodded at Gisburne after a few minutes had passed and nothing happened. Gisburne took the whip and, with a sneering smile on his lips, he started to lash hard at Robin's back. Robin bit his teeth together when he felt the horrible pain of the lashes on his back. But no sound came from his lips. As hard as Gisburne tortured him, Robin fought back the pain until he lost consciousness after an endless time and many lashes.
Marion pressed her face against John´s shoulder. It hurt so much for her to watch. Robin was tied with his face pointing in the opposite direction, so they could clearly see what Gisburne was doing to him. Marion's anger grew with every stroke. John whispered, "Please, Nasir, hurry!"
Robin regained consciousness after two soldiers threw icy cold water over him. "Your friends have time!" Gisburne said, laughing.
Robin's look was full of contempt. "I think they are intelligent enough not to walk into your silly trap – boy!" he said roughly. Gisburne's face darkened with anger and he took his dagger out. He had waited such a long time to punish this wolfshead, this greatest enemy of his. Full of eagerness he heated the knife and wetted his lips. This night he had imagined a lot of horrible things he wanted to do…but in most cases he would have needed a well-equipped torture chamber. Now, here, he could only use a few things to hurt someone. But that didn´t meant that he wasn´t good with so simple things like whips or knifes…He held up the red glowing blade and grinned at Robin. Robins features flickered only for a moment, before he controlled himself again. The pain he already felt, was far more he had ever experienced. Not the broken arm, when he was a young boy, not the fever he had last winter was a comparison to it. And something told him that this won´t be the end of his ordeal. He pressed his lips together tightly when the blade came closer to his naked chest. Gisburne started to cut Robins skin with the hot blade and enjoyed every inch the knife cut forward. Robin nearly gasped loudly when he felt the burning pain, but once again he was able to suppress any audible reaction. He knew he couldn´t hide any visible reaction any longer, but it didn´t bother him. He knew very well that any lack of audible reaction would drive Gisburne mad anytime. It was his only hope to end his suffering in time, before his friends would do anything silly, like trying to free him, or before Gisburne would succeed in torturing him to death. He didn´t want to grant him this pleasure. But Gisburne managed somehow to stay in control, even if his anger was clearly visible on his face. Gisburne stared full of hatred into Robins eyes, but the young man didn´t give away. Gisburne was sure that Robin have to suffer agonies, he could see it by his increased breathing, his agony on his face, but so far he hadn´t opened his mouth, apart from spiting insults at him. It was time to change that. His experiences in torturing, result from long lasting training in the torture chamber of Nottingham Castle, and of course, from his own sick mind. "I know you want to scream, wolfshead, only your foolish pride holds it back, right? Or is it the anxiety that your friends could hear that you´re not that strong as you want them to believe?" Robin clenched his fists and looked up into the cloudy sky. Yes, he wanted to scream, but as long as he was able to bear it, he won´t. He felt the rain now coming stronger down from the sky. It washed over his injured body. The blood mixed with it and ran down slowly, seeped into his trousers, dripped to the ground. Silently he prayed to Herne once again. His blood for the land – his blood for the people of this land, like he had sworn it a long time ago. He knew it was his time to shed his blood for the cause he was fighting for. Gisburne waved one of his soldiers to give him another instrument of torture. It was another whip with tiny metal fragments woven into its leather. It was something what came into his mind in the late evening yesterday. Gisburne didn´t hesitate any longer and started to bash him with it on the back. Robin gasped loudly when the fine metal ripped through his skin, deep into his flesh. Six more whippings and he couldn´t control the horrible pain any longer. He gave a loud groan for the first time. But not as loud as Gisburne had expected. Another series of whippings rained down onto his sore back in the hope to allure louder screams out of him. Gisburne didn´t bother any longer where he hit him. So he felt many strikes hitting him over his chest, his arms, leaving deep torn skin and flesh. The cuts let run more blood down his body and down to the ground. Along with his low screams of pain, his spirit cried out even louder for Herne…He could almost feel the spirits of the world he partially belonged to, reacting with rage…Herne´s son was hurt and with it this part too. This world beyond the knowledge of most of the people was shaken to the core. "Scream, you bastard…I want you to scream!" But it was too late, Robin felt the loss of blood and the pain demanding its price. He slowly lost consciousness again.
The outlaws watched the scene, horrified. Waiting was the worst thing they had to do now. And every one of them would have gladly run out to put Robin out of his misery. Especially Marion, whose anger and fear grew by the second when she saw how Gisburne treated her husband. But then, fortunately, Nasir arrived. He nodded, then his expression turned pale when he saw what had happened. He pulled out his swords, his face a dark, grim mask.
Marion took her bow,
put an arrow on the string and raced towards Gisburne. Before anyone
could react, she shot a well-aimed arrow into his back. Gisburne
froze as he was about to pour water over Robin again to get him back
conscious, but then he fell down with a scream. Marion took cover
fast. The Sheriff, who had watched all the time, satisfied by
Gisburne's actions, became scared when the outlaws arrived so
quickly. He ordered his men to shoot at the wolfsheads, to hamper
them as they tried to get to Robin, and looked nervously in the
direction where his reinforcements should come from.
"Where is
that damned man, Andrew? Why isn´t he coming?"
The
outlaws shot their way free and got closer and closer to their
leader. Gisburne was still alive and he pulled himself behind the
left hut, where two soldiers helped him. The Sheriff cursed. "Hold
them off, idiots!" The outlaws killed two more soldiers, who made
the fault to get out of their cover.
"We can take cover behind
that hut on the right until we can free him," John suggested, while
they shot at the Sheriff, who was quickly taking cover with his
soldiers as a new wave of arrows came from the outlaws. They knew all
too well the deadly precision of the longbows. Will nodded and ran
quickly to the side of the hut. Meanwhile, Robin regained
consciousness.
He realized what had happened through a thick fog of pain. He tried to shout at them that it was a trap, but only a groan came from his throat. He concentrated on staying conscious. He heard John call, "I think you shouldn´t wait for your men, Sheriff. They won't come. If you retreat, we'll spare you and your soldiers!"
The Sheriff gave an order to the soldier next to him: "Run and look to see why they don´t come. And tell them they should hurry, otherwise I´ll hang them all in Nottingham!" The soldier turned anxiously and was soon hidden by the forest.
Nasir pointed to the man who was leaving and said, "He's on the way to find their reinforcements."
"Shit, he´s too far for my bow. We must hurry!" Will shouted. "Free him and then we'd better leave!" he said to John.
"Give me protection when I say 'now'!" John said and laid down all his weapons except for his dagger. "Now!" He jumped out and ran to Robin.
The Sheriff realized that the outlaws were about to free his prisoner. He pointed at John and shouted: "Shoot him and shoot their damned leader!" One soldier aimed but missed John. Seconds later, the man was dead.
"Poor skills!" Will murmured and took care of the next one who wanted to shoot their defenceless leader. John reached Robin and started to cut the ropes that held his tortured friend. John swallowed heavily when he saw Gisburne's work. Robin's back was scourged from the lashes and covered with blood. His upper body was covered with deep cuts. The blood ran down his body, seeped into his trousers. John had to hold Robin tight, otherwise he would have crashed down, after he had cut the bonds. With a painful groan, Robin fell into John´s arms. John held him gently, taking care not to hurt Loxley anymore than he was hurt already.
John tried to act quickly, but as he wanted
to lift Robin into his arms, his back was exposed to the Sheriff and
his men. In that moment one of the soldiers used the opportunity.
John wouldn´t have had any chance if Robin hadn´t reacted
that quickly. When Robin looked over John´s shoulder and
recognized the danger, he knew that in this moment none of their
friends would be able to stop the aiming soldier before his arrow
would reach John. So he took all of his remaining strength, struggled
against Johns firm grip and freed himself. John loosen his grip
surprised, and looked astonished at his friend. For a moment he
looked deep into John´s confused gaze, before he could see the
spark of comprehension. But Robin didn´t waste any time and
pushed John against one of the wooden pales he had been bound to. He
covered him with his own body and to held him in place at the same
time. John was totally surprised when he felt himself pushed forward
- when he made contact with the wooden pale, nearly banged his
forehead against it, but his mind reacted to slow to prevent it. Numb
he shook his head. He felt Robins back against his own and tried to
turn around, tried to find out what had caused this situation. Then
he felt Robin´s body crashing harder against his own,
accompanied by the terrible groan of his friend.
Robin
had closed his eyes when he pushed John back, he didn´t want to
see the approaching arrow, otherwise he may hadn´t found the
strength to protect John´s life. A second later he felt the
burning pain of the impact, when the first arrow hit him in his left
shoulder. At the same time John turned around, only to see how Robin
was thrown around by the impact of the second arrow, horror and shock
crept into his gaze. The second arrow had pierced through his left
side, between his lower ribs. Robin felt the pain of both the arrows
spreading like hot fire through his tormented body. He stretched out
a trembling hand, looking for something to grab hold on. Weakness
spread over his body, and he slowly fell down on his knees. John
caught his friend's arm and got to his knees, too.
"Robin!"
John found his voice again. "No-o, Robin...".
John´s eyes filled with tears, when he realized what
Robin had done. Robin tried to keep himself up straight by putting
his other hand on Johns shoulder, but he knew that this effort was
useless. He breathed tedious, tried to stay conscious. He could see
John cry openly and wanted to say something, but he only groaned.
John swallowed hard and wiped his tears angrily away, when his gaze
blurred completely. He looked into Robin´s agonized features
and supported Robins struggling to remain straight. Sad and desperate
he shook his head. "No…" he whispered again. He never wanted to
see his friend hurt like this, but now, in only one day, it came true
what they all had feared the most – that one of them could be
captured, be injured or killed. He looked deep into Robin's eyes,
still trying to understand why he had done this. He could see his
former shining green eyes clouding with pain. "Flee. I beg you...
John, plea-" Robin whispered finally. It took all his strength to
get those few words out, then he lost consciousness and collapsed in
John's arms. Carefully John pulled Robin´s bloody and heavily
injured body closer, they had to get out of here, soon, before
another one might be hurt or the other soldiers would appear.
This all happened in seconds. Shortly after the second arrow hit Robin, Will reacted fastest, and before the soldier could shoot another arrow, he lay dead on the ground, an arrow in his throat. Will screamed: "Run, John! We´ll cover you! Come on!" John heard Will´s call and struggled to his feet, he started to run as he had never run before in his life. He ignored the striking branches, when he reached the forest, the shock in his limbs. He just ran.