Now…Now our Dear Arthur Morgan has finally gotten the Relic. Not even bothered by the consequences or the results of taking said Relic. A Relic of ancient history. Left on that Altar for who knows how long.
But perhaps…He's just beginning to experience what the so-called…Orb…is capable of.
Once more…Only one way to find out…
-Chapter 10- Rescue: It's not just a word…It's A Promise…
Arthur slowly made his way to the small opening. Which he squeezed through with great difficulty. Even more difficult than when he hadn't been exhausted. As he did, it looked like it was turning Morning.
Morning?! How long had he been in the damn cave!? At least the snow Storm had calmed down.
Guess that didn't matter, now was time to head to Madam Nazar and get the money. 10,000 dollars. Better be as much as Madam Nazar had promised.
As Arthur slowly exited the Cave, he noticed his horse was gone. Damn It! Had she wandered off? He then started whistling.
"Girl! Come here! You out there!?" Arthur shouted, whistling here and there. But then…he noticed hoof prints. But it wasn't just one horse. It looked like multiple horses.
Arthur looked at the prints left behind. He pulled out his Cattleman Revolver and followed the footprints. His strength was slowly returning to him. He walked into a patch of trees. He then saw his horse. Tied up to a tree.
Arthur looked at her with suspicion. She seemed tense and stressed. She jumped a little bit as she tried to break off from the tree.
"Easy, girl, easy," Arthur said, but she didn't seem to be listening.
Suddenly, Arthur was hit in the back of the head by a strong force. Forcing him to fall on the ground.
"Hah! It worked! I can't believe this dumb sonuva Bitch fell for it!" A voice was heard behind Arthur.
There were a few hysterical laughs behind Arthur. He could count at least three voices.
"Let's get him back to Tom," One of them said. Arthur acted like he was knocked out. Even though he wasn't. As they reached to pick him up, Arthur brought out his cleaver and slashed the two of them in the throat.
Causing them to fall over and bleed to death. The third man had an Evans Repeater in his hand.
"Oh shit!" The man said as he aimed the gun at Arthur. Arthur reached for the gun as it fired. Which was followed by Arthur swinging his Cleaver on the man's neck. Causing him to fall over.
Arthur stood there a bit shaken. He looked down at his shoulder and saw a gunshot wound.
"God Damn it," Arthur said, he then took a closer look at the men. O'Driscolls…Shit!
Arthur clenched his shoulder as he made his way to his horse.
"Hey! He's getting away! After him!" More voices shouted from the trees. Arthur quickly untied his horse and mounted her.
"YA!" Arthur shouted as his horse galloped through the trees. Arthur galloped through the thick forest. Gunshots were heard behind him. A Bullet flew passed him and hit a tree.
"Get after him! Don't let him get away!" One of the O'Driscolls shouted.
"Come on, Giddy-up!" Arthur said as he tried to get his horse to run faster. Arthur's Horse then galloped into the open and Arthur was met with a familiar place. It was a small hideout. With a few buildings here and there…wait…This was the place where Arthur and Dutch along with the rest of the gang fought The O'Driscolls that were near Sadie Adler's Home.
He heard more shouts and horses galloping toward him.
"Come on, YA!" Arthur shouted as his horse Galloped through the hideout.
But…the place apparently already had owners.
More O'Driscolls popped out from the buildings and started shooting at Arthur. Many of the shots were missed, luckily. Suddenly, Arthur's Horse hit an O'Driscolls, causing her to fall on her side. Which caused Arthur to fall off his horse too. His Horse slowly got up and galloped off into the thick. Leaving Arthur.
Arthur pulled out his Cattleman Revolver and started shooting at the O'Driscolls. Hitting one in the skull, killing him on the spot as he flipped over some railing. More shots came at Arthur. Arthur started running toward one of the buildings.
"There he is! Get him!" The O'Driscolls shouted as they continued to fire at Arthur. A Bullet pierced Arthur's back. Causing him to fall on his stomach in the snow. He yelled in pain, but quickly got up and limped to the building. He bashed open the door and shut it behind him. He would have to make a stand in this building.
He let out a few heavy breaths, and the bullet in his back started to bleed more. He got to a window and shot at the O'Driscolls hitting one of them. Suddenly, at least five more O'Driscolls came out from the woods on Horseback. Shooting at Arthur, hitting the building.
Arthur was completely surrounded. He shot again from behind cover. Killing another O'Driscoll in a vital. Causing him to fall over dead in the snow.
"Come on you Bastards!" Arthur shouted as he shot his Cattleman Revolver at the other O'Driscolls.
Arthur was then bashed in the back of the head as two O'Driscolls got into the building from a window behind Arthur. Arthur fell to the ground. The Two O'Driscolls picked up Arthur and started to punch him in the face. Beating him harshly. After one punched him, another followed after.
"Enough," A Voice was heard behind the two O'Driscolls as they stopped beating Arthur. A Larger O'Driscolls with a scruffy brown bear. With a double Bandolier and a shotgun on his back, with a machete holstered to his side.
"Arthur Morgan is it?" The O'Driscoll said as he got close to Arthur's face.
"Do…I…Know you?" Arthur said exhaustingly. The O'Driscoll seemed to chuckle.
"No…But your little bitch does," The O'Driscoll said with an evil smile on his face.
Little Bitch? Wait…did he mean Sadie?
"I don't got one of 'em, sorry to tell ya, pal," Arthur said, acting as the comedian he is.
"Oh…But you do…Does the name, Sadie Adler, ring a bell? I was the one who killed her husband…opened his chest out and tore 'em out, gutting him like a damn pig," The O'Driscoll said as he grabbed Arthur by his hair. Arthur could feel the rage boiling at this point. He started to gurgle up his mouth and spat at the O'Driscoll. The O'Driscoll simply laughed and wiped it off. Which was followed by a strong punch in Arthur's gut. Causing him to yell in pain.
"Oh, Don't worry, You won't be seeing her again…Not after I send her a gift…A gift of her new man with his chest open and guts everywhere…just like her husband…Name's Tom, by the way, you'll remember that," The O'Driscoll said as he brought out his machete and placed the end of it at Arthur's chest.
"Let's see how long we can drag this out," Tom said with a chuckle.
"Not for Long," Arthur said as he shot his Cattleman Revolver that he still had in his hand as he shot at Tom, hitting him in the leg, causing him to yell in pain, and fall to the ground. The two O'Driscolls were about to punch Arthur, but Arthur shot the O'Driscoll to his right, in the face. The O'Driscoll on his left managed to land a hit on Arthur's face. But Arthur retaliated with a small throwing knife in his throat. Jabbing it in his throat causing the O'Driscoll to back up, choking and gurgling as he fell on his back.
Arthur slowly got up to his feet with heavy strain and pain. But he was rammed into the wall by Tom. Who had also gotten to his feet. Tom smacked Arthur's Revolver out of his hand and tried to slash down on Arthur's shoulder. Arthur caught his arm and stopped the machete from making contact.
"You gonna die today, Morgan!" Tom shouted.
"Even if you kill me, there'll be a dozen other men to come and kill you! You're finished, Arthur," Tom said as the machete slowly moved closer and closer to Arthur's shoulder. Arthur's strength was giving in.
Suddenly, there were gunshots outside and incoming horses.
"Kill these bastards!" The voice of Dutch was heard as the sound of gunshots was heard. Arthur could feel himself smile as he looked at Tom, who in turn was shocked and angered.
"You were saying, Tom," Arthur said as he brought out his Cleaver and smashed it on Tom's side. Causing him to yell in pain. Arthur stood up on his feet and smashed his head into Tom's. Forcing him to be pushed back. Tom swung his Machete aimlessly at Arthur, but Arthur threw his Cleaver at Tom, forcing him to crash into the wall, breaking it as Tom fell to the ground. Seemingly dead.
Arthur picked up his Cattleman Revolver quickly and bashed the door open and saw…Dutch, Bill, Javier, Charles, John, and Micah shooting up a bunch of O'Driscolls. Killing them dead where they stood. Arthur himself shot at the O'Driscolls.
Micah was the first to notice Arthur.
"Dutch! Arthur's here!" Micah shouted. Quickly catching Dutch's attention.
"Arthur! You're Alive!" Dutch shouted with excitement and joy seeing his closest friend alive.
"You could say that!" Arthur said as he shot an O'Driscoll in the head. Killing him.
"How'd you boys get here so quick anyhow?" Arthur asked as he shot another O'Driscoll.
"Sadie Adler, she encountered some men when she took Jack fishing, and got shot because of it, she warned us a whole bunch of O'Driscolls were tracking you down!" John shouted at Arthur as he shot an O'Driscoll in the neck.
"Damn bastards!" Arthur shouted with rage as he shot the O'Driscolls once more.
What was left of the O'Driscolls started to retreat. Falling back.
"They're retreating!" Bill shouted.
"Let the cowards run!" Dutch shouted as he holstered his Lemat Revolvers. He quickly ran over to Arthur who was having a hard time standing. Arthur then leaned against a hitching post.
Dutch quickly aided Arthur by helping him keep his balance.
The rest of the gang started to gather around Arthur, making sure he was okay.
"Thank you…All of you…For saving my damn hide," Arthur said with heavy exhaustion.
"You look pretty shot up, Cowpoke, looks like they gotcha pretty good," Micah said as he placed a hand on Arthur's right shoulder.
"Yeah…they most certainly did," Arthur said.
"What were doing up here anyway?" Dutch asked Arthur.
Arthur then opened his satchel.
"I came up here for this," Arthur said as he brought out a mysterious orb. The gang looked at it closely. Dutch specifically.
"What exactly is…this?" Micah asked getting a closer look at it.
"Not sure…but, apparently it's worth ten thousand dollars…I hope it is at least," Arthur said. This shocked the gang. Some were in disbelief such as Bill and Micah. Others questioned it such as Charles, Javier, and John. Dutch, however, was skeptical of it.
"This, hunk of junk, worth ten thousand dollars? Who's the buyer?" Dutch asked.
"A woman I met down near a creek, She's a collector…Her name's Madam Nazar, said it was worth ten grand, it better be at least," Arthur said.
"I'm just glad we got to you in time, Arthur," Dutch said as he placed a hand on Arthur's shoulder.
"Me too, Dutch…Me too," Arthur said.
"Now, I have to collect some money, you boys can ride on back to camp…lest you wanna come with me?" Arthur said.
"John, Charles, would you mind riding with Arthur, Micah, Javier, Bill, and I are gonna ride back to camp and reassure everyone that Arthur's okay," Dutch said to everyone present.
"Course Dutch," John said.
"Sure thing," Charles said.
Arthur's horse then started running out from the trees.
"There you are girl," Arthur said as the horse trotted to its owner.
"Hang on, let me go get my Cleaver, I'll be back," Arthur said as he slowly made his way back to the wooden cabin.
"Take it easy, Arthur, I'll go get it," Charles said as he placed caring hands on Arthur's shoulders and guided him back to his horse.
Arthur then slowly tried to get on his horse, while John and Charles helped him. Arthur's face was pretty beaten up. His bottom lip was bleeding, he had bruises across his face.
"Alright, I'll go get the Cleaver," Charles said.
"Thank you, Charles," Arthur said. Dutch, Bill, Javier, and Micah started to ride off back to camp.
John mounted up on his horse.
"You look like you've been through shit," John said. Arthur chuckled.
"Yeah…I have…Gettin' this hunk of junk wasn't easy…then the O'Driscolls showed up…so yeah…Been through a lot of shit today," Arthur said as he chuckled at the end of finishing.
"At least you made it through it, right," John said.
"Yeah, I just hope it was worth it in the end," Arthur said. Charles came back with the Cleaver in his hand. Handing it to Arthur.
"Here you are Arthur," Charles said.
"Thank you, Charles," Arthur said. Charles then mounted up on his horse.
"Alright, Let's ride," Arthur said. Their horses started to make their way to Madam Nazar. Where hopefully…Good money will come out of this. But…Who's to say for sure?
To Be Continued…