'- - - Not guilty my Lord!' Rutherford replied. His face was bleeding badly from wounds created by stones.
'What is the basis of your plea?' Marcus Cretan asked.
'My lord, my family and I have done nothing wrong but saved the people of Dradoma city from many ailments.'
'They claim that you have been using dark magic?' Marcus Cretan accused.
'- - - No my Lord, I am a doctor and scientist by profession and I have only used modern medicine and science to treat their illnesses and plagues.' Rutherford tried to prove his innocence.
'Your medicine and science gave you the ability to raise the dead?' Marcus Cretan continued interrogating. Unfortunately, he had already made up his mind.
'Liar! You are a liar! You are witches, let's burn them!' Riposted one from the crowd.
'Burn them! Burn the entire family!' The rest of the crowd joined in.
Marcus raised his hand to shut an angry mob.
'Rutherford, the whole village is against you, that is enough evidence to convict you. Therefore, by the power vested in me, by King Zylath Ghanda, I hereby, I Marcus Cretan, sentence Alex Rutherford and your family to death by fire. Burn them.' Marcus Craten finally gave his judgment.
The fire was lit under the alter made of thick firewood, and it started burning. The family of three were in agony, the hit had already reached their feet.
'Please spare us, Lord Marcus Cretan, we are innocent!' Pleaded the eight-year-old boy.
'The son of a snake is a snake, show no mercy!' Yelled an old woman.
'It's alright my boy, we will be in heaven soon, just close your eyes.' Angelachiara Rutherford said softly in agony.
The villagers were thrilled at the unfolding seen.
The trio were screaming in pain.
'Sensational! You will forever be burning in hell!' Exclaimed an old woman.
The trio were burnt. What remained were just ashes. The crowd almost started dispersing when something spectacular happened. A golden creature was seen rising from the ashes.
'Look!' Screamed one man from the crowd, pointing at the phoenix creature rising from the ashes. The crowd leaving turned to look at what was happening and were startled.
'Ooh no!' Jolted the crowd, moving some steps backward.
'I told you that they are witches!' Said one old man.
'Yeah!' Gasped the crowd.
'Kill it before it grows, it's a demon from hell!' Shouted a witch-haunter woman.
The soldiers were preparing to kill the golden creature when six arrows shot the six armed soldiers, and they died on the spot. A young female riding a white horse broke through the crowd and leaned down, grabbed the golden creature and steered her horse away.
'Another witch, hurry and catch her!' Shouted the crowd in pandemonium.
The female on the white horse was Cipher.
A convoy of pursuers was already behind her. That is the Zylath Ghanda soldiers and the angry mob.
Cipher reached the safe house, entered the airship with the golden creature and set it on an autopilot as it flew in the sky. When the Zylath Ghanda soldiers reached the safe house, the airship was already in the sky, the soldiers and the angry mob started firing.
'Forget about it, she is gone.' Marcus Cretan said. He knew it was pointless to keep shooting at the airship traveling at the fastest speed he had not seen before.
'Congratulations Cipher, for you have successfully accomplished your first mission, you are the winner of the intra-multi-gaming teleportation level one.' A male automated voice announced with excitement.
Immediately after the automated voice faded, the airship started vibrating violently. Cipher could see flames of fire surrounding her, yet she did not get consumed before she could process what was happening. The airship exploded.
Next, Cipher finds herself back in the virtual reality game and the interface of the hologram around her full of options.
'Wow! That was close. Everything I did there came naturally. I can't believe that I am still alive.' She expressed her emotions loudly and was curious about the rewards she might receive.
Cipher was in the process of understanding the entire scene she had just gone through, because everything happened so fast.
'Welcome back, Cipher, congratulations on winning your first mission in the Teleportation Gaming Interface level one.'
This time, Cipher was able to see the holographic figure of Viveibra who stood in front of her.
Viveibra carried on, 'Check out your profile to see the rewards you have achieved in your previous mission, to activate those that need activation codes, go to your storage space. Once more congratulations.' Viveibra notified, before her holographic body disintegrated, and it looked to have gone back to mingle with the hologram interface around Cipher.
When Cipher was left alone, she remembered all the incidences that took place while she was on Mars. The excitement she had was all gone. She was concerned about what happened to the other participant she was with on the mission.
Before checking her profile or the storage space, she first DM's Sara to get an update about their status. She was aware that they had definitely died on Mars.
Hello Sara! How are you holding up? I wanted to inform you that I managed to complete the previous mission we went on. If you get my message, please don't hesitate to communicate with me. I would like to know how all other team members are doing and if there is anything I can help with, please feel free to contact me.
Yours friendly
Cipher.
Cipher closes her DM with her signature.
After completing typing her DM on the hologram keyboard and sending it. Cipher felt quite relieved as if a huge burden had been taken away from her shoulders and breathed a sigh of relief. She stretched her body. Next, she was thinking about checking her profile when an automated voice sounded causing her to stop in her tracks.
'Cipher, you have been requested from the outside world. See you next time when you log in.'
Cipher wanted to protest, but she was too late, and she found herself on a hospital bed with three people gazing at her with smiling faces which made them look awkward, Cynthia thought.