208 Paul Goes Missing

Luna sat in her office when a large quartz that stood at the corner of her desk glowed with a faint white light. Her fingertips tapped the crystal and infused a small amount of energy into it.

Macha's voice sounded out from the crystal, "Luna, this is Macha. I came out here looking for an aswang, but the evidence points to something else. The wards remain undamaged around the village and a little girl was the only newcomer in recent months. The girl ended up dead and something ate her heart, nothing else had been eaten. An unreliable source said he saw a white bat that recognized him? He thinks it was the girl… but he is a known drunkard. Anyway, do you know what it could be?"

The message finished and Luna replayed it. She knew where Macha went and agreed that it did not sound as if the problem plaguing the village would be an aswang. The fact that the creature only ate the heart narrowed the monsters down quite a bit. The white bat was another good clue. Although unreliable, it was still an inkling she could go on. Throughout history, many reports of white creatures existed, but a bat was very specific.

Luna left her office and went down to the library to do some research. She had an idea of what it could be but wanted to double check the information before she drew her conclusion. It had been years since she studied this sort of creature.

****

The group had no other leads, for now, so they agreed the best thing to do was to spread out and get to know the villagers. Macha went to comfort Lily, while some of the others worked in the fields to give credibility to their reason for being here.

Lily mourned the loss of Elodie. She built a casket and Macha helped her to dig a hole for the body. Macha understood that burying the body would help the woman to move on. It would allow her to have the much-needed closer that would be required for her to start healing her broken heart.

After they buried the girl, a raven-haired man came to Lily's house. He was tall and had a dark tan. His muscular body made his shirt stretch across his chest. "I finished chopping another tree. Where do you want me to deliver it?"

Lily's face tightened. The world seemed to push her to carry on with her life. All she wanted to do was waste away in her home, but everyone continued to request her attention.

Her voice sounded hollow when she replied, "You can take it to Paul's house. He's been waiting for me to fix his wall."

When the man left, Macha asked, "Who was that?" She had never seen that guy walk around town before. She thought their group had already met with all the villagers.

"That's Joseph. He's the lumberjack who supplies me with wood for repairs," she replied.

This man did not live in the village and the nearest trees lay outside the wards.

"I don't recall seeing him before. Where does he live?" Macha needed to know as much as she could about this stranger.

Lily was busy getting together her tools to make her way to Paul's house. She had to demolish the rotten wood that she was planning to replace.

She did not bother looking up when she replied, "He lives past the river."

****

Later that night the group sat in the living room exchanging information around the fire when a desperate knock sounded on the purple wooden door. Nuria hurried to open it. At the door stood a woman who wore a magenta tunic with a grey pair of pants. Her hands lashed out and grabbed Nuria's arms.

Her dark blue eyes were filled with tears, "Paul didn't come home yet."

Nuria tried to wiggle out of the woman's tight grasp. The fingers were clinging a little too tightly to be comfortable.

"Calm down Mathilde. Did you check the bar? You know he goes there sometimes."

"I checked! I asked everyone and they haven't seen him. Please, you have to help me look for him," she begged.

Fear began to grip her, and she was left unsure of what to do. Huck was probably dead and Elodie had been murdered within the village wards. Now she felt the village became unsafe and was planning to move.

Upon hearing that another person went missing, Macha's group stood up.

"We'll help you search for him. What was he wearing the last time you saw him?" Macha asked hurriedly.

Mathilde's brow creased with worry and her lower lip trembled. "A teal work shirt and some shorts. Please, help. He went outside to check on the lumber for the shed, but never came back."

Macha nodded, "Go home and wait for him there. He might have returned. We'll search for him."

Now she regretted not having them do patrols while they waited for Luna's response. The people in this town were in danger and her group had not been cautious enough.

The group split up in pairs and fanned out. They called out Paul's name as they searched the village. As they walked around town, they noticed that the once opened shutters that adorned the homes were now tightly shut.

The full moons hung high in the sky, so the darkness of night had been pushed back. The light allowed Zian to track Paul's footprints. They led to the river that ran along the side of the village.

Aierim kept an eye out while he followed the trail. She was busy looking at the water when she thought she spotted something in the water.

"Zian," she called while shaking his shoulder. "What's that?" she asked while pointing to the water.

He lifted his head and looked up. When he saw what she pointed at, his heart dropped.

"Get the others," he instructed.

If it was what he thought it was, he did not want Aierim to have to help him drag it out of the water.

After Aierim ran off into the night, he stepped into the water. He made his way through the cold rushing river. As he got closer, he recognized that it was indeed a teal shirt that a body wore. He grabbed the lifeless arm that stretched out towards him, but it ripped off. His eyes grew wide in surprise, but he quickly regained his countenance. He tossed the arm to shore and pulled the body in by its torso.

When he got to shore he heaved the heavy corpse up onto the bank and squeezed out his clothes. Although it was becoming spring, and the snow had melted, the air still held a chill. In an effort to warm himself up, he used a little magic to increase his body temperature. He was not proficient in this sort of magic, so it barely did anything.

"All right, let's have a look at you," he sighed.

Saying that, he turned the man over and found something had torn the chest cavity open. The teal fabric of his shirt was stained red and the man's ribs were cracked outward. A pale look of terror and pain remained on Paul's face.

Zian poked a finger where the man's heart should have been. He shook his head, dismayed. Whatever had killed that little girl, had gotten to this man as well.

****

The next day everybody sat silently around the breakfast table. Nuria left earlier to question the residents and ask everyone where they were the previous night. She needed to know who had an alibi and who did not. Things were starting to get out of hand and the villagers were becoming worried. It was impossible to cover up the deaths and rumors began to spread like wildfire.

A weathered letter flew under the door and hovered in front of Aierim. She wiped the crumbs off her fingertips and accepted the envelope.

"It's from Luna," she announced.

She handed the envelope to Macha and tucked her white hair behind her ear with anticipation. The way Luna had delivered the letter was what she someday hoped she could do herself. It was what people did before they had invented the A.E.M. system and she liked the spell because it could transport items instead of just words.

Macha opened the message and read it out loud, "I hope this message finds you in good health. After some research, I feel sure that the creature you are dealing with is a skinwalker. They are known to be weakened by white ash, so put that on your weapons and carry a full pouch to throw at it in case of emergencies. They are best killed by decapitation. WARNING: You should NEVER look one in the eyes. If you do that, they can take over your body. The best way to identify these creatures is that they will have a perfectly circular scar on their body. If Tyr comes back before you are done, I will update him on the situation. Please please please be careful! Love you!"

After reading the letter, Macha took a swig of her juice.

She gave a hopeful smile, "That was a mouthful, but at least we have something to go on now."

She looked up into the air and closed her eyes, gripping the note tightly, "Thank you, Luna!"

Since they had a way to find the skinwalker, the group immediately came up with a plan. They decided that some of them would visit the bar and share battle scars with the people there. Working in the fields would also allow them to socialize and talk about various scars received.