Adventure of Maurice Headsman 3

Beyond the grounds, bells hammer the night apart. Shouting swells through the streets as torches multiply, and armed crowds press toward the estate gates from every quarter.

Below the ring, the bound victims sag beside the darkened mechanism while Serev remains unconscious on the stones. Its failure has left the panic without any clear command.

The Baron turns from Serev and the slack chains, measuring the torchlit approaches. His jeweled robe catches the firelight as he edges toward a side passage.

Celia keeps her deathly light trained on the failed focus, guarding against a second surge. The bound victims remain below the ring, while the Baron’s escape route opens behind him.

The uproar rolls closer. Torches flare beyond the walls, and the first pounding strikes the estate gate as the Baron slips toward the unguarded passage.

Maurice turns from the fleeing Baron and reaches the bound victims. He studies each chain and hook before touching them, preserving the sorcerous arrangement as evidence rather than tearing blindly.

His executioner’s sword bites through the first silver restraint at its weakened anchor. He shifts his grip around the bruised shoulder’s pain and cuts the second chain without striking either captive.

The bound victims slump free together, wrists marked by the metal but breathing. Maurice catches their weight and lowers them clear of the darkened mechanism.

Maurice drags both freed victims beyond the mechanism’s reach, laying them on firm stone while the severed restraints remain where the stolen power left them.

Outside, the estate gate shudders under the crowd’s pounding. Celia guards the dead focus, while the freed victims draw unsteady breaths before the breach.

Maurice plants himself between the freed victims and the pounding estate gate, broad shoulders squared toward the entrance. His heavy protective clothing takes the scrape of shifting stone and keeps the force from his body as he settles.

He places his feet wide across the approach, leaving the freed victims behind his reach and the dead mechanism beyond them. The position is firm, deliberate, and impossible to mistake as surrender.

The gate shudders again. Maurice absorbs the jolt through his stance, using the protective layers to turn stray splinters and grit aside while his body remains the barrier.

Behind Maurice, the freed victims breathe weakly on the stone. His safeguard holds them within the shelter of his position, separated from both the focus and the gate.

Outside, armed voices demand entry, but the gate still stands. Maurice does not yield ground, and Celia keeps her deathly light trained on the darkened mechanism.

Maurice’s call cuts through the uproar. Reading the crowd’s anger and fear, he names the Baron’s flight as betrayal, while his broad stance keeps the freed captives sheltered behind him.

The gate bursts inward, and the armed crowd surges through without trampling the freed victims. Maurice’s heavy protective clothing turns flying splinters aside as he directs the charge toward the side passage.

The Baron reaches the outer court, but the crowd closes around him from three avenues. Their weapons lower toward his escape route, and his flight ends beneath their grasp.

The armed crowd binds the Baron’s hands and brings him back into the ring under Maurice’s watch. Behind them, Celia continues guarding the dead focus, while the freed victims remain sheltered.