Chapter 7: Crime

Solomon was annoyed. True, with the rickshaw he managed to move faster than on foot, but the small vehicle was still terribly slow. Solomon had the feeling that, on these dirt roads, it could just fall apart at any moment with all the squeaking and sputtering noises it kept making, but it would have to make do. When he made the next turn, he saw that he was driving close to a small cliff, overlooking a large river.

Thus far, he hadn't run into anyone, which was good. If he kept up this tempo he would reach the shore in maybe a week. When he would get there, he would need to find a way to get back to the isle. This would not be that hard, there would probably be plenty of boats to steal.

He was thinking more about what to do with the cauldron when he would get back. He would need to find out how to operate it somehow. The easiest way to do this would be to simply ask his father, if he truly wanted Solomon to follow in his footsteps and use the cauldron, he would help him right? The most important reason for Solomon to go back to the isle was to simply have some sort of base of operations. He had wondered if the cauldron was powerful enough to be used within the boundaries of the barrier, another thing he would have to find out.

Ever since he'd found the cauldron, he had been thinking of ways to activate it. So far, only two solutions had come to mind, either he needed a specific spell or ritual, or he needed more magic. If it was a specific spell or ritual that he needed, he could only hope his father would share it with him or that it would be mentioned somewhere in some ancient archive. If he would be needing more magic, the task would become quite more difficult. Where would he get more magic? There were some people with magical abilities on the isle, but they had no way of using them with the barrier. There were also magical beings in Auradon, the fairy godmother or Tinkerbell for example, but how would he be able to use their magic for his own purposes?

This question continued to bother him, when he suddenly heard the sound of clopping hoofs behind him. He looked in his rear-view mirror and saw a group of riders heading his direction fast, from the looks of it they were soldiers.

Solomon tried to calm himself. Maybe they would simply pass by him? The horses quickly caught up to him and Solomon stiffened when he heard one of the riders yell.

"YOU! IN THE RICKSHAW! PULL OVER! YOU ARE BEING SUSPECTED FOR MURDER! PULL OVER QUIETLY AND YOU WILL RECEIVE A FAIR INVESTIGATION AND TRIAL!"

He was shocked. It was barely two hours since he had committed the murder. How had they caught up with him so fast!? He didn't have much time to question that however, he needed to figure out what to do now.

He knew that he couldn't outrun them, his rickshaw barely went over running speed. He looked at the horsemen behind him. There were eight of them, if it had to come to a fight eight would be easy enough to dispose of. He saw just one bowman, good, if he took that one out quickly he wouldn't have to worry about attacks from a distance. If he pulled over, stepped out and let maybe two come near him, he could take those out quickly as well before dealing with the rest.

He suddenly noticed that one of the horsemen wore a brown robe and was holding a staff. A mage!? He just had to run into the one army patrol with a mage among them, just his luck! He reached behind him into the cauldron and pulled out a handful of blackstones, those would now prove their usefulness.

"PULL OVER! NOW!" one of the soldiers yelled again. Not wanting them to damage his vehicle, he slowly parked it along the side of the road and put on his mask. The horsemen surrounded him, two in front of him, four to his left and two behind him. He held his two daggers behind his back as he kicked open the door and stepped out.

Archer was perplexed when he saw who stepped out of the vehicle. He looked to be a young man, around his own age, quite tall with a long trench coat and most concerningly, a mask made to look like a skull. If anyone in Auradon had to be the murderer they were looking for, this had to be him.

"TURN TO THE VEHICLE AND PLACE YOUR PALMS ON IT!" Archer yelled.

The man willingly turned around, not saying a word, and stood against the rickshaw. This was the first conformation for Archer that whoever they had just pulled over was guilty, he didn't even protest.

"WHAT IS YOUR NAME?" He yelled at the person, who was still keeping his hands behind his back, hidden underneath his trench coat. The person did not reply and did not move.

Archer looked at his fellow soldiers and they all descended their horses. "Seymour, Mitchell!" he said to two of the other soldiers accompanying him and his troop, "cuff him!" the two soldiers nodded to him and approached the delinquent. Archer, meanwhile, kept a hand on the hilt of the sword that was strapped to his back, the others also kept their weapons ready and Royce knocked an arrow on his bow.

Seymour and Mitchell grabbed the person by the shoulders to turn him around. Suddenly, the person sprang into action, quickly turning around and using two hidden daggers to cut both soldiers along their chest, who then fell to the ground screaming.

As everyone in the troop started yelling, the person quickly threw one of his daggers at Royce, hitting him square in the shoulder, and immediately used the same hand to grab something from his pocket and tossing it at Lancelot.

Archer watched as the item exploded in a gust of thin, grey smoke and Lancelot sunk to his knees with a scream and dropped his staff. Royce, meanwhile, had also fallen and was pressing his hand to his shoulder.

Now the rest of the troop came into action. Archer swung Excalibur at the masked man, who managed to block his first swing, dodge his second but then fell prey to a kick to the chest. As he scrambled back up, he immediately had to dodge a swing from Alex' war hammer and deflect a knife thrown by Aden.

Archer soon realized that this person was a first-class fighter, he himself had no time to check the wounded as he had to join in the fight.

Archer and his three companions managed to slowly drive the masked man back. Aden tried to incapacitate him by throwing his knives, but the masked man kept moving so fast and nimble he could not get a clear shot. Alex managed to drive him back with some wild swings of his war hammer, but the man was able to dodge his attacks with style. The final soldier, Lucas, was armed with a simple sword and tried to make a hit connect whenever he could. He was young and unexperienced however and after one wild swing, the masked man managed to pull on his arm and drive his dagger straight through his neck. Lucas was distraught and tried to put pressure on the wound by putting both hands around his throat, it was a futile effort though as the blood seeped through and Lucas dropped to the ground.

Archer jumped over Lucas' convulsing body, performed a roll, and managed to slice the top of the killer's leg. The killer then had to quickly jump back as Alex went in on him with his war hammer again.

Archer then went in between Alex and Aden and performed a high swing with his sword. As the killer blocked his swing, Aden came from his left and threw one of his knives right in the killer's flank. When Archer subsequently broke their stalemate, Alex was supposed to come from his right and deliver a fatal blow, but when he swung his war hammer, Archer saw to his shock how the killer ducked under it and managed to slice the back of one of Alex' knees, which made Alex collapse with a grown.

Aden then confronted the killer with his two machetes, while Archer tended to Alex. "Alex! Are you alright?" He asked hastily.

"I'm fine!" he groaned while holding his leg. "Go help Aden!"

Right when Archer looked back, he saw with a shock how the killer kicked one of Aden's machetes out of his hand and proceeded to slice at his arm. Aden yelled out in pain but managed to block the killer's next blow before he was kicked in the chest. As he was sprawled on the ground, the killer prepared for a fatal blow, but Archer came in between.

He came at the killer with multiple fast blows from every direction, forcing him towards the edge of the nearby cliff. As their fight continued, Archer noticed the blows of the killer becoming more desperate and sloppy. Eventually, Archer managed a substantial cut to the killer's left arm before kicking his leg. When the killer went to one knee, he once again grabbed something from his pocket and threw it at Archer. Archer used Excalibur to block the item and saw to his astonishment how the thin, grey smoke was absorbed by the blade.

Archer thought that he saw a brief look of shock and bewilderment come over the killer's face, before he lunged himself at Archer again. Archer dodged him, tripped him and managed another cut on his leg. The killer fell down with a grunt at the edge of the cliff.

"SURRENDER!" Archer yelled as he pointed Excalibur at the killer's chest. "LAY DOWN YOUR WEAPON!"

The killer was laying down on the rocky cliff, his chest heaving and his eyes darting between the point of Archer's blade and his face. "This isn't over." The killer said darkly. Suddenly, he rolled over, over the edge of the cliff, and plummeted at least 40 feet into the river.

Archer looked over the cliff, but he saw no body appear anywhere in the water. The river was deep, and very rough, so it was impossible to see what happened below the surface. He kept looking for about a minute, not seeing any sign of life, before returning to his friends.

The first he encountered was Aden, with a deep cut in his arm which he had already managed to bind himself. Overall, he was alright.

Alex was the next one, a stab wound in his leg. He had managed to stop the bleeding as well but was unable to get up. He managed to be dragged back to the horses with the help of Archer and Aden.

They found Lucas' body near the edge of the road. The wound in his neck had been fatal and he had bled out. They covered his body with his cloak before seeing to the others. Lancelot had recovered from the blackstone and was busy binding up Royce's shoulder.

"What happened?" he asked when he saw the rest returning.

"Killer jumped into the river." Archer said darkly. "How's everyone here?"

"Royce is gonna be alright, just a slight stab wound in the shoulder. Seymour and Mitchell are more gravely injured, I suggest we take them back to the town right away."

"Alright, they won't be able to ride themselves, so we'll each have to take one behind us on our saddle." Archer said.

"Wait, where's Lucas?" Lancelot asked.

"Stabbed in the neck, didn't make it." Archer replied sadly.

"Shit!" Lancelot cursed.

"Can you take his body?" he asked Royce, Aden and Alex. "You can rest here for a while before rejoining with us at the town, you'll all need to see a doctor just in case."

"We'll make it." Aden said. "You go help them."

Archer nodded to his friends and spurred on his horse, and together with Lancelot and their two wounded friends, they headed back.

With their horses running at full speed, it only took about fifteen minutes for them to reach the village. On the way, they ran into the patrol lead by Rodrick which Archer had sent for. Not wanting to waste any time, Archer sent them down the road in order to provide aid to the others, they hadn't been fatally wounded, but who knew what might happen.

When they reached the village, Archer and Lancelot quickly carried the two wounded soldiers to the town's hospital, where some doctors immediately started to take care of them.

About ten minutes later, they were joined by Royce, Aden, Alex, Rodrick and the rest of the patrol. Two members of the patrol carried Lucas' body, wrapped in his cloak, down to the basement.

Archer and Lancelot stayed behind in the waiting room while their friends were being treated. It took more than an hour before Royce, Aden and Alex had their surgeries completed. All of them had needed stitches. Seymour and Mitchell had been so gravely injured that they had to stay at the hospital for a while.

"Now that was something else." Aden said to his friends as they all sat down around a table. "That guy really knew what he was doing." He said as he inspected his arm, which was wrapped in a sling.

"Who was he?" Lancelot asked. "Did anyone recognize him?"

"He was wearing a mask, Lance." Royce said. He also had a sling and a large piece of bandage covered up his wound.

"You could have recognized the mask." Lancelot replied. "It's still highly unusual. I mean, we don't get that many murders in Auradon and this guy wielded magic."

"What do you mean?" Aden asked, "All I saw were daggers."

"The item he threw at me." Lancelot said. "Was a blackstone. An item created to cause magical disruptions. When thrown at someone, that person can temporarily not use magic. They hurt as hell too." He added bitterly.

"He threw one of those at me." Archer said. "But it looked as though Excalibur absorbed the damage or something."

"That's the power of Excalibur." Lancelot explained. "There are extremely few types of magic or magical items that can harm the blade."

"That's great and all." Royce said, "but shouldn't we find out who that guy was?"

"Who he was is not of extreme importance. We just need to make sure he doesn't kill again. I was about to send out a patrol to search for his body, but I wanted to wait for you guys first."

"Don't mind us." Alex said.

Archer stood up, waved to his friends and headed towards the exit. In front of the hospital, a group of around twelve soldiers was waiting, and they all saluted when he exited the building.

"Men!" he said. "I want you to patrol along the river and look for someone. That person could be both dead or alive, but he's most likely wounded. I want you to scour both sides of the river from the waterfall onwards until you reach the next town. The man was wearing a brown trench coat and a mask shaped like a skull, if you find him alive you must know he's armed and dangerous, you therefore have my permission to shoot on sight. Return immediately if you find anything or reach the next town. Now go!" he said loudly.

The soldiers saluted him again and stepped onto their horses. Archer watched them leave before heading back into the hospital.

Archer and his troop had stayed in the hospital for a few hours, first waiting for news of their wounded friends and later to visit them. Both Seymour and Mitchell had suffered a substantial cut to their chest, but no vital organs had been damaged and they were both expected to make a full recovery. Archer and the rest had briefly visited them, before heading to the town's largest bar to get some drinks.

Once they had all gotten a large pint, they restarted their discussion on who their mysterious delinquent was. Archer mostly listened to what wild theories the others had to offer instead of delivering some of his own.

"He's a villain kid, he must be!" Royce said for about the hundredth time. "Who else would do what he did?"

"How could it be a villain kid?" Lancelot replied. "After the barrier was restored, Auradon security made sure that no other villains had escaped the isle."

"They may have overlooked something. Those people were sent there for a reason, I bet they have some kind of way to fool security." Royce said.

"If it was a villain kid, and I'm not saying that he was, what was he doing here? Why come all the way here instead of say Auradon City? What could be here?" Alex said.

"How are we to decipher the logic behind what a villain kid does? He probably had his reason. Maybe he was looking for something, or meeting someone." Royce said, and he took another swig of his pint.

"He could have also been a civilian in the grasp of sort of curse." Aden offered. "Maybe a simple farmhand who entered the wrong cave and awakened some old spell that caused that person to turn evil?"

"I have not read of such a spell." Lancelot said while stroking his chin. "But just in case, I'll look around for any missing people reports and ask Merlin about any lost possessive curses or spells."

Before anyone could offer more theories, a messenger from the patrol entered the bar and headed straight for their table.

Archer stood up and the soldier saluted him.

"At ease." Archer said, "What did you find?"

"Nothing sir. No body in or around the river and no suspicious activity either." The soldier reported.

Archer made a growling sound and turned to his friends.

"The river is large." Lancelot said. "He could have floated all the way down to Camelot for all we know."

"I guess so." Archer said. "Have you investigated the rickshaw any further?"

"The rickshaw, sir?" the soldier said confused.

"The rickshaw. The vehicle the masked killer had stolen. Have you investigated it?"

"I'm sorry sir, but I don't know what you're talking about, there was no rickshaw." The soldier replied.

"Near the turn overlooking the river. The place where we stopped him at the side of the road, the place I told you to start looking!" Archer said urgently.

The soldier looked panicked. "I'm telling you sir, there was nothing."

Archer was perplexed. When they had left the scene, they had left Aden, Alex and Royce to look after Lucas' body and the rickshaw had still been there.

"Was the rickshaw still there when Lance and I left you?" he asked the other three.

"Yes!" they all replied in unison.

"Has any soldier moved it after we'd all left?" he asked the messenger.

"Not that I know of sir, but as I've said, with all due respect, I don't know what rickshaw you're talking about."

Archer started thinking, who could have possibly moved the rickshaw? Who?