A/n- warning there will be a scene involving torture in this chapter.

As always, betas are brilliant.

JK is a mastermind.

CHAPTER EIGHT

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Wails of sadness began to echo around the village road as Newt appeared, supporting Chogan while he gasped for breath between each sob. As Chogan collapsed to the ground in grief, the others attempted to comfort him, though there was nothing that could be said that would abate the waves of despair coursing through his body.

"Chogan, are you alright? What's happened to him?" Pules ran out of her house and dropped beside her inconsolable son. She looked at the sunken faces around her. "Wh-where's Sahale?"

"He's been accused of the Wendigo's crime. The beast took a woman's life last night, a woman whom Sahale had befriended. Because of this friendship and the Wendigo writing in Abenaki, some of the community have come to the conclusion that Sahale is the murderer." Newt began to explain as all color drained from Pules' face.

"You don't mean he's..." her voice trailed off, unable to speak her fear.

"No, he's alive! They've just captured him. If he's allowed a trial, he could be detained for weeks." Tina reassured Pules.

"And if he's not given a trial?" Machk asked.

"We have a few days before he's executed for murder." Tina said, keeping her expressions neutral to hide her fear.

"Well," Pules straightened up after a long silence, "Let's get you cleaned up. I'm sure you are all hungry." Pules got Chogan to stand and led him inside. The house created more seating to accommodate the extra guests as they shuffled in.

"We don't have room in here for that traitor." Chogan's words seeped venom.

"What are you talking about, nuqisus?" Pules asked her son. "What does he mean, what traitor?" Pules' pleading was only met with shocked faces of confusion.

Chogan whipped around to confront whom he was accusing.

"This worthless excuse for a spirit commander waited until Sahale was immobilized and in shackles before even attempting to help! What good is someone bound to stone if they freeze up every time we need them?" Chogan seethed, his skin bristling with feathers from his uncontrolled anger.

"Chogan, you're losing control of your spirit. We're all in shock but blaming anybody won't help Sahale." Mika reached out to touch him but he shrugged her hand away and walked to the door.

"All I know is that my brother might be murdered and we failed him." Chogan thrust the door open, pushing back a concerned Winema. He allowed his spirit to take control as he soared above the roof and out of sight.

"What happened?" Winema demanded. "A crushing magical force emanated from your house, Pules."

"Chief," Machk bowed, "It's Sahale. He has been accused of murder and captured."

"He is being held in town for now." Newt told their chief.

"We'll get him back, ma'am." Tina said assuredly.

Winema stood stoically as she processed each bit of information tossed at her. She held out her hand and produced a small turquoise stone in her palm.

"Hold this stone to your temple when you have new information. It will allow me to hear what you are thinking with contact to your head." Winema tapped the stone that rested on her forehead. "They are connected so I will be able to respond as well. I will call on the others for help to rescue Sahale. Let me know when you need to leave and we will set out from the amphitheatre."

"You're coming with us?" Hassun asked with surprise.

"What kind of chief would I be if I didn't assist with rescuing one of our own? I'm going to recruit some more warriors. Think at me when you're ready." Winema tapped her own turquoise stone once more before heading out of the house in search of willing fighters.

"Alright, let me show you everything I know about the floor plan of the DMLE office in town." Tina waved her wand to produce a sheet of parchment, a quill, and a jar of ink. She dipped the quill in the ink and touched it to the page. With another wave of her wand, the quill began to draw out a simple layout of the law enforcement building.

"That's where they have Sahale?" Istas asked and the quill ink transitioned from black to red and outlined four rooms along the back wall of the building.

"There are the cells. He could be in any of those four rooms but we can pinpoint his location with homenum revelio like we used at the Stag's Saloon." Tina explained to the others, eyes trained on her to absorb all the information she could produce.

"He'll probably be heavily guarded. Murder is no joke in small towns." Rowtag said.

"That's why we're going to bust straight through the back wall. The guards will be in shock for a moment, allotting us a few seconds to get Sahale on the other side of the wall." Tina began to light up with the excitement of their plan.

"Hassun, are you going to be with us on this?" Newt turned towards the nervous teenager.

"I have to be. Sahale is like a brother to me." He straightened up with confidence, ready to redeem himself with his best friend.

"Well then, you'll have to put a wall back up once Sahale is out. It'll slow the guards down even more as we make a run for it." Newt instructed and Hassun nodded with conviction. "Tina, will you relay all of this to Winema?" She held the stone up to her temple, shutting her eyes and concentrating on the plan.

"She wants to know when we are leaving. Iye and Ituha are joining the rescue mission as well." Tina looked up, breaking contact with the turquoise connection.

"We leave at sunrise." Newt said assuredly.

"Perfect," Mika smiled, "Abenaki are the People of the Dawn Land, our magic will be intensified."

"We'll get your son back, Pules. By this time tomorrow, Sahale will be back in this house safe and sound." Newt took her hand in his own, giving the woman a reassuring look and a gentle smile.

"Thank you. Now, let's get you all fed and ready for the morning." Pules turned to make dinner as plates appeared at the table. Everyone began exchanging ideas and hopes for their mission the next day.

oOoOoOoOo

The door loudly creaked opened and light flooded the small room, blinding Sahale momentarily. He tried to shield his eyes but found that he was tightly restrained to the chair in the center of the room.

"I wouldn't move too much. That's Devil's Snare at your feet. The more you struggle, the tighter it wraps around you until eventually you cannot even move to draw your final breath." said a silhouette looming in the doorway.

"Ernest? Ernest is that you?" Sahale tried to see the figure but his eyes were still too sensitive from the sudden intrusion of light.

"Well now, you've taken all the fun out of it." Ernest said, stepping forward so Sahale could make out his face.

"Ernest, you have to let me go. You know I would never do anything to hurt Gertie!"

"Don't you fucking say her name!" the wizard shouted venomously. "You don't deserve to even think about her."

"I haven't been able to stop thinking about her. I'm trying to find out what happened, Ernest. You know Gertrude is my friend!" Sahale jerked his arms, causing the Devil's Snare to wind up his ankles.

"I am too. That's why I'm here." Ernest twiddled his wand in his fingers. "You're going to tell me where her body is so her family can gain closure."

"I was trying to find a trail to follow when you captured me. Listen, it's a creature. This beast has been around since my people first came to this land, it's a-"

Sahale's words were lost to a guttural scream that erupted from deep in his chest. The Devil's Snare snaked higher up his legs as his body writhed in agony. Ernest walked up to him, a charm around his feet to repel the Devil's Snare, and crouched down to look Sahale in the eyes as the pain subsided.

"Just tell the truth, Sahale. I'd hate to have to Crucio you again over some silly bedtime story." Ernest trailed the tip of his wand down Sahale's arm leaving a trail of slightly singed flesh.

"You know the truth! Gertrude was my friend! It really was the-" Sahale was once again stopped by painful tremors that wracked his body. Vines wrapped tighter up his legs and over his lap, halting when he stopped spasming from the curse.

"Please don't make me use other means to get the information out of you. I really used to like you, Sahale." Ernest crossed behind his sagging form. "We all saw you with Gertie, always fawning over her every word, only showing up at the bar to see her."

"That's what friends do, Ernest. But obviously you wouldn't understand." Sahale said spitefully, locking eyes with a man he thought he knew.

"I'm afraid we have to increase my efforts to get information out of you." Ernest dug the tip of his wand in Sahale's chest. "Abbrahto corium."

The outer layer of Sahale's flesh began to disappear as his body erupted in a bloody rash. The small room echoed with his animalistic howls of agony. Spasms caused by the curse resulted in the Devil's Snare wrapping up his exposed skin, digging into the remaining flesh and dripping blood on to the floor.

"What is this?" Sahale screamed out at Ernest while trying to calm his erratic breathing as tendrils snaked their way around his throat.

"A little something I created just for you. Maybe now you can experience the terror you put Gertrude through." Ernest laughed, a sadistic sound to accompany Sahale's cries.

"I couldn't… I wouldn't. You don't understand, Ernest, I love Gertrude!" Sahale's tears stung at his abraded face. "I loved her," he whispered out the correction.

"You could never love her like I do!" Ernest spat out vehemently, fists clenched at his side as he shook with rage.

"That's what this is about?" Sahale asked. Another guard rushed in the room and his eyes widened in horror.

"Ernest what the fuck is this? You came in to question not to torture! Wayne, come in here! Throw this nutcase in a cell." The new guard said as he waved his wand, healing Sahale's skin to normal and relinquishing the hold that the Devil's Snare had on him. Sahale's cries turned into manic laughter.

"I'm sorry, Mr. Mocquien. He silenced the room, we had no idea what was happening in here."

Sahale continued to laugh, a shrill screech of his hawk form escaped his lungs despite being bound by the magic suppressing shackles. The guard who had freed him from the torture backed slowly out of the room, the cackling of the crazed prisoner echoing after him.

oOoOoOoOoOo

Newt materialized back in the village, his case of creatures tucked firmly under his arms. Tina arched a brow questioningly at him while he sat next to her on the bench outside of Pules' house. "I couldn't leave them overnight all alone. What if somebody had a nightmare?" Newt asked and Tina laughed into the sleeve of her sweater, her knees pulled up to her chest. "Can't sleep?"

"I'm too anxious. I keep going over the plans but I still feel as if something is wrong, like something is clawing at my brain." Tina rubbed the bridge of her nose.

"Come here, love." Newt draped an arm across her shoulders as he transfigured their seat into a swinging bench. Tina leaned into him and closed her eyes, letting the gentle sway soothe her headache.

"Thank you, this is perfect." Tina opened her eyes to glance up at the stars. Newt stared down at the woman nestled under his arm. He never imagined that he would end up back in America so soon, relaxing under the night sky with the headstrong woman he had grown to admire. It had been many years since he had felt this way about somebody. Lita Lestrange flooded to the front of his mind causing him to sag slightly from the weight of the memories.

"Tell me about Hogwarts. You make it seem magnificent." Tina looked up and smiled, her brown eyes connecting with Newt's blue ones.

"Oh wow, um, what would you like to know? I've got a copy of 'Hogwarts, A History' in my case somewhere." Newt sat up a bit and reached for his case.

"Not the history of it." Tina chuckled and held on to his hand to keep him from reaching for his case. She wrapped his arm around her, turning to lean deeper into his chest. "What was the first creature you rescued? Were you still at Hogwarts for that?"

"I was in my fifth year when I found her." Newt smiled as he began to remember the first creature he rehabilitated. "Everyone buys their supplies in London on Diagon Alley. There's an adjacent street where one would go to find some unsavory and sometimes dark items. It's also where you can see some of the most interesting magical creatures. That's where I saw her, still an egg resting on a bed of ashwinder embers. Somebody had messed up in transport and I thought I was getting an ashwinder for my Care of Magical Creatures class."

"I'm assuming that was your favorite class" Tina smirked.

"Oh, of course." Newt responded with a smile. "We had that egg resting on embers for a month with no progress. One day, a first year backed into the table and the egg rolled into a grindylow tank. We had no idea until I went to check on the egg and discovered the grindylow cowering in a corner as it's tank was overrun by a giant squid. The professor asked our Headmaster to ship it off by the next week so I broke her out and stored the tank in my dormitory."

"You kept a giant squid in your room?" Tina asked incredulously.

"The Hufflepuff common room was right next to the kitchens, perfect for sneaking bits of fish in for Cecilia as she grew to maturity." Newt smiled broadly.

"You named a squid Cecilia?" Tina asked, furrowing her brow in confusion.

"Well what would you have named her?" Newt responded and Tina shrugged in reply. "There were only so many charms I could apply to enlarge the tank before she outgrew it entirely so I was forced to move her to a new home."

"Did you set her free in the ocean?" Tina turned her face up to him.

"Of course not! Cecilia is a beautiful magical creature not to be condemned to life in a drab old ocean. I set her free in the black lake on Hogwart's grounds." Newt said assuredly.

"There is a gigantic magical beast living on the school property?" Tina asked flatly.

"Cecilia appreciates fine literature and elf made food, what better home than Hogwarts?" Newt puffed out his chest with pride for his first creature.

"You certainly are an anomaly, Mr. Scamander." Tina said as she settled back against his side.

"You are an amazing rarity as well, Ms. Goldstein." Newt hugged her closer as they stared up at the stars. "Sunrise should be in an hour, are you ready for this?"

"As ready as I can be. We've gone over the plan a handful of times, I just hope we aren't too late" Tina gaze fell to the ground.

"Sahale will come back safely. I promise." Newt kissed the top of her head. "Let's just look at the stars for a few more minutes before we get ready."

Looking up into the crushing darkness, the pair stared at the stars which dotted the sky before the bright colors of dawn pushed the night away.