Chapter 8: Captain Drew Knight

The day after the Feast of Fools, Drew and his men awaited Alvin's arrival.

About time. Drew thought as Alvin's carriage pulled up, and Alvin walked out.

"Morning sir." Drew said.

Alvin just groaned.

"Are you alright?" Drew asked.

"I had a little trouble with the fireplace." Alvin muttered.

"Alright." Drew said. "Your orders?"

"Find the gypsy girl." Alvin said.

()()()()()

The guards barged into a bakery and discovered a secret room full of gypsies. They were pulled up to Alvin and Drew.

"Ten pieces of silver for the gypsy Iris." Alvin said holding up the pieces. The gypsies said nothing.

"Lock them up!" Alvin called out angrily.

()()()()()

The guards overturned a carriage full of gypsies.

"Twenty pieces of silver for the gypsy Iris!" Alvin said as he held up the pieces and jingled them. The gypsies said nothing.

"Take them away!" Alvin spat.

Drew began to get fed up with Alvin's foolishness, which he believed bordered on insanity.

()()()()()

At a farm with a windmill on the barn, Iris, in her disguise, looked at a house Alvin and his men had gone into, many claimed Alvin had gone mad. Iris believed he just stopped hiding his insanity.

()()()()()

"We found this gypsy talisman on your property." Alvin said as he held up the said talisman. "Have you been harboring gypsies?"

"Our home is always open to the weary traveler." The miller said.

"I am placing you and your family under house arrest until I get to the bottom of this." Alvin said automatically. "If what you say is true, and you are innocent, then you have nothing to fear."

"But we are innocent!" The miller pleaded as his wife and children backed away. "I assure you, we know nothing of these gypsies!"

Alvin left with Drew as he blocked the door with one of the guard's spears.

"Burn it." Alvin said coldly to Drew.

"What?" Drew asked in shocked outrage.

"Until it smolders." Alvin said. "There people are traitors and must be made examples of."

Alvin then handed a lit torch to Drew.

"With all due respect sir," Drew said coldly. "I wasn't trained to murder the innocent."

"But you were trained to follow orders." Alvin countered.

Drew looked at the house and put the torch in a barrel of water.

"Insolent coward." Alvin muttered.

Alvin grabbed another torch and set the mill on fire as it quickly spread throughout the rest of the house. Drew gasped in alarm. Alvin had completely lost his mind! Drew jumped out of the way of a falling blade of the windmill and jumped through the window. A moment later, Drew burst out holding the children, and he was followed quickly by the miller and his wife.

()()()()()

As the family walked off, the guard, Bucket, knocked Drew down as Mulch held his head up as Alvin approached.

"The sentence for insubordination is death." Alvin said simply. "Such a pity. You threw away such a promising career."

"Consider it my highest honor, sir." Drew said solemnly as Bucket prepared to cut Drew's head off.

Iris quickly picked up a stone, put it in a sling she had and tossed it at Alvin's horse, so it reared and bucked Alvin off. This gave Drew enough time to wrench himself free, knock Bucket and Mulch out, and jump on top of the horse and have it run off.

"Get him, and don't hit my horse!" Alvin shouted. Several bowmen then aimed and shot at Drew. As he crossed a bridge, an arrow hit his back dangerously near where his heart was. Drew gasped and fell off the horse into the river below. As the guards prepare to fire more arrows, Alvin held them back.

"Don't waste your arrows!" Alvin said. "Let the traitor rot in his watery grave! Find the girl. If you have to burn the city to the ground, then so be it."

Iris waited at the bottom of the bridge for the guards to pass, and Iris then dived in. Drew was weakened and unable to float thanks to his armor, so Iris took it off to reveal his white undershirt and pulled him up to the surface. She then managed to gently pull the arrow out. Drew needed help, and she could only turn to one person.

Chaos dose not own The Hunchback of Notre Dame or HTTYD but she owns Iris and Twilight the Snow Fury, Hikari belongs to WingBladeWeaver1357, and Drew belongs to RedDiEnd.