The Potion of Life

Colos

Where had he gotten himself into now? This afternoon, a man approached him to tell him that they were still looking for someone who wanted to quickly earn a few ducats. Of course, he couldn't say no to that. He still had a few ducats left, but more is always better. When he accepted the offer, the man told him that they would like to employ him as an executioner. A bride had not shown up at her wedding feast. A full search operation had been launched, ultimately leading to the conclusion that the bride had been murdered.

The murderess had been captured, and she was to be publicly beheaded in the marketplace. Colos's task is simple: to behead the woman. Somewhere, Colos is apprehensive about this. Beheading a woman he had never seen before? It just doesn't feel right, especially if it's only for a few ducats. On the other hand, many people have met their end thanks to his diamond sword. This woman will certainly not be the last.

At this moment, he is on some sort of platform. It was set up an hour ago in the marketplace. A whole crowd of people is watching as the man who hired him rattles off a list of facts. After the man finishes his speech, the carriage next to the platform is opened. From the carriage emerges a woman with a black hood over her head. Colos cannot see her face, but he can see that her hands are tied behind her back. A man accompanies the woman onto the platform and forces her to place her head on a wooden block. However, the black hood remains over her.

The man who has been quoting all this time then calmly continues. He finishes by saying that it is now time for justice. He signals to Colos to step forward and behead the woman. Colos does so, although he feels a serious knot in his stomach. The audience starts cheering louder with each step he takes. Is this really who he is? A simple executioner who murders for ducats? With these thoughts in mind, he removes the black hood from the woman with his left hand. Then he looks straight into Emelina's eyes.

Startled, Colos takes a few steps back immediately. The audience is surprised by his reaction, and soon there is a lot of commotion. How could this be Emelina? She was a templar of science; she could never have murdered a bride. Or at least not without a good reason? As he stares at her in amazement, more confusion arises in the crowd.

An Adonis steps forward and introduces himself as Senjin da Silva. He begins to explain that Emelina has been falsely accused of murder. He and his knight Shogo conducted an investigation that proves it. However, Colos is too surprised to listen to this explanation. He's just glad he doesn't have to behead anyone, especially not Emelina.

He decides not to stay on the platform any longer. He has nothing more to do here. Before leaving the platform, he removes Emelina from the wooden block. They go down together and distance themselves from the rest of the people. Some people try to stop them, but thanks to Senjin's intervention, they eventually make it off the marketplace. Emelina looks at Colos the whole time with a bewildered but grateful look.

When they are alone together, he wants to ask her how she ended up in this situation. However, he can't ask this question because he sees a man running past him out of the corner of his left eye. Colos sees that this man is being chased by none other than Bjorn Thorson. He has a look of pure rage, and in his hands is his barbarian battle-axe. He'll have to ask Emelina another time. Why is Bjorn also in this village, and why is he chasing this man? There is only one way to find out. Without saying a word to each other, Colos and Emelina follow Bjorn.

While they are walking, Emelina says that Adonis Senjin da Silva and his knight are following them. Colos doesn't care much; those two shouldn't try anything with him. After all, he's a giant; they'll regret it if they do. Colos sees the man disappear after he crawls behind a few barrels. Bjorn walks to that spot and then disappears too. When Colos and Emelina arrive, Emelina says that the barrels hid a hatch. This hatch is now wide open, and a ladder leads to an underground system. Without really thinking about where this could lead, Colos follows Emelina, who is already climbing down.

When Colos feels solid ground under his feet again, he looks around to see where he has ended up. He sees a poorly lit corridor. There is a torch burning every few meters, but there is no other source of light.

"Don't just stand there staring, Colos! We need to be able to keep up with Bjorn!"

At a brisk pace, the two of them continue down this corridor, without any idea of where it leads. However, they don't have to walk for long; Colos sees that Bjorn is standing still in the corridor. When they reach him, they see that the man he was chasing is dead. Bjorn's throwing axe is still stuck in his back.

"What are you doing here, Bjorn? Why were you chasing this man all through this village?"

"Good afternoon, Emelina. I don't recall having to explain myself to you? I can ask the same of you, though. What are you doing here? Well, I'm actually here by chance. I was in the area and went into an inn to spend the night. I was tired of sleeping in the wilderness. Instead of getting a normal night's sleep, I was attacked in that inn. Who are they?"

Colos turns around and sees that the Adonis and his knight have followed them all the way to this underground passage. What did they hope to achieve by following them here?

"Good afternoon, my name is Senjin da Silva, and this here is my personal knight, Shogo. We saw you leave in such a hurry just now. Normally, we would be thanked for saving a young lady's life."

"I would never have beheaded her, so technically, you didn't save anyone. What are you doing here? Is it normal for you to follow us?"

"We were just curious. A Viking blindly chasing a common man in a fit of rage, and then you two following behind. You don't see that every day. Besides, where are we at the moment?""How should I know that? We were just following this Viking." 

After saying this, everyone looks at Bjorn questioningly.

"It was your own choice to follow me. I don't know where we are either. As I was saying, I was staying in an inn. However, I was attacked by four men there for no reason. When I wanted to tell the innkeeper about this, it turned out he wasn't present in his own inn.

When I was walking in the village just now, I ran into the innkeeper. I wanted to ask him where he was last night, but instead of being able to ask him that question, he walked away from me. I ended up following him here. He must be involved with the men who attacked me. Why else would he walk away from me?

Now we're here, and it's actually quite simple. I'm going to walk down this corridor to see what this is all about. You can do three things. Follow me, leave, or try to stop me. I strongly advise against the third option."

"Emelina and I have already followed you this far, Bjorn. You know us well enough; we don't easily back down from an adventure. Of course, we'll continue to explore this corridor with you. Besides, someone who wants to attack you probably wouldn't like us very much either."

"Shogo, what do you think? Do you feel like trying to stop these three?"

"No, Senjin, I absolutely don't feel like it. I find this Viking's story quite amusing. Besides, I'm curious why there's a passage under this village."

"Then we'll go with this group, Shogo. From now on, all three of you are under the protection of House da Silva. This means that I will try to protect you with all my resources. On the other hand, you will listen to me because I am the head of House da Silva."

While Senjin speaks these words, he shows his signet ring. This is a ring that commands leadership and respect. Colos will listen to this Senjin da Silva. However, when things get too dangerous, he'll still save his own skin first. The House da Silva doesn't interest him that much.