Chapter 56: Clues

Seeing the large spider, her hand went numb and cold filled her body. Elise could almost feel her entire blood was drain out from the monstrous-looking being preying on her with his golden eyes. Seeing the creature began to move again, Elise resumed her running. She mustered up her power to run again despite her tired and wounded legs.

"I've always thought that you have a bad luck but perhaps that's an understatement." A voice echoed from above, stopping in front of her was a tall man with the fold of his coats flowing out like black streaks from the wind. Ian raises his hand, placing it on the spider for the creature to suddenly unable to move. It raged around howling to Ian with his large eyes bug out on him. "You think you are the scariest, huh." Ian spread his palm before the spider as he stated his words, slowly clenching it to a fist for the spider to have his body slowly crumbling into a powder.

Elise had her blues eyes closed when she saw the entire spider had turned nothing but dust bellow Ian's soles. Turning his head, Ian swept his red gaze over the wounds on Elise's leg and drew his brows together. "You're wounded." He spoke and placed his hand to her wound. In an instance light beamed out bellow her feet and all her wound disappeared along with its pain.

"Thank you, master Ian." She whispered in awe.

"What happened here and how did that beast came?" Beast? Elise asked herself. Was that also a magical beast? Then what about the little ghost boy? Elise mustered up her strength on her leg, beginning to walk again, she realize that although her pain had disappeared her fatigue was still there. Panting her breaths, she spoke. "The boy."

"The boy?"

"They ghost boy." Elise walked over back to the spot where she last met the boy. Bringing Ian with her, they both padded the muddy road. Ian took a glance around with the knit in his brows still hovering upon his forehead. Like a trace that showed how long the large spider had chased Elise around in the forest, many trunks of tall trees have been broken down or splitting down in to two with almost none of them spared. Following behind her steps as she run was a trace of red line made up from her blood. Like a game of cat and mouse, he noted in despise.

Elise arrived at the spot before but found no one there. Worried, she called out again. "Boy? Boy?" She called and walked around on the place to search for the boy. She had never known anything about ghost getting ill but seeing the ghost of the boy grimace in pain, it must have been a painful thing similar to an illness. Turning to Ian, she spoke explained. "There was a ghost of a boy here, before." Her mind was out of places and she knew that she must have sounded like a crazy woman in front of him right now. Regardless, she told him what had taken place.

"Then?" He asked for her continuation. "What happened after that, puppy?"

"We played and talked for a moment but then suddenly her start feeling pain and his eyes turned wholly black." She weaved her words in a state of confusion, speaking in scrambles. "He then said something about 'corruption' and told me to run."

"Then you ran to find out that it was that spider beast who chased you." Ian filled her last sentence. "Yes," she replied. If the boy disappeared right away after telling her to run and a spider beast chased her, then could it be the spider was the ghost's boy? When Elise rounded her conclusion and her face went pale.

Ian hummed. As a demon he could also see ghosts but none dared to come near him and he wasn't also concern of the dead's matter. "Corruption, if that what the ghost said it would mean he was corrupted into the spider beast."

Elise turned her quizzical eyes to Ian. "What is a corruption?" Perhaps Ian knows something about ghosts?

Ian shook his head, indicating he also didn't know for Elise to pursed her lips into a thin line, not knowing what she should do. Moving a step forward, she felt her view turning hazy and her body became unstable as it collapse forward. Ian reaches out his hand to catch her with his eyes widen in a surprise. "You've lost too much blood." He spoke, pressing his tone. "My healing magic can't recover the blood that you lost. Let's go back now."

"Wait, Master Ian." Elise tugged his sleeve and pointed her hand. "The ghost boy told me that the black cloak people buried something over there."

"You came here for the clues?" He whispered and Elise saw him bending his back to reach out his hand on her knees. She felt her view turned to the sky and turned her face to the right for her to feel the soft breathing of Ian brushing her cheeks. Elise was taken aback for suddenly carried by the lord's arm, her lips stammered and hurriedly she said. "Master- Master Ian, please let me down I can walk on my own."

His red gaze reminded her that she staggered before. "I don't see that you could."

"It was only a slight headache, my lord. I can walk." Just a touch of a hand could make her sight hazy and her breathing fastened from her loud heartbeat. The perimeter between their faces was only a few inch away and she was worried of whether he could hear her heartbeat. Not knowing that Ian had been able to hear her heartbeat even when they were a few feet apart.

"You've lost too much blood just heed to my words. It's an order." His words were firm and unmoving regardless of what she tried to reason him and in truth it wasn't as if Elise disliked being carried by her. She only felt surprised and embarrassed. Her lips pursed to a line, her eyes looking up to meet Ian's glowing scarlet eyes.

Before she knew it, Ian had teleported him along with he wrapped in his hand to exit the forest. A church member who had been standing around idle jolted when she saw the Lord of Warine suddenly appearing out of thin air with a woman on his hand.

Like the church member, everyone including Edward and Dalton who was close to the vicinity had their eyes almost popped out at the scene. "What happened?" Alex who was also at the place ran toward them. His eyes fell on Elise under Ian's arm. "Ms. Scott?"

"Sir Anderson." Elise replied in a whisper, her face was beet bright red enough for anyone to mistook her face as a tomato.

"I will tell you the rest of the story later." Ian stated bringing Elise away to a secure place. The Sky has turned pitch black by the time. Elise seated on the burned house of the village while Ian took the rest of the Church member to dig up the place where the ghost boy told her.

After a while of digging one of the Church member rose his hand and waved it for other's attention at him. "There's something here!" At his words everyone came up to him, helping him to take out the things that laid buried under the ground. Languidly walking over the place, Ian saw what they took out. It was a body of a person who have been burned half along with a small end of a paper they the burned man held tightly in his fist.

The pungent rotten and burned smell flew on the surrounding. With a handkerchief on his palm, Alex covered his nose and had the fabric muffled his voice. "A burning method."

"A perfect method to kill a dark sorcerer for a human." Ian sang a hum, bending his knees to crouch in front of the corpse without an ounce of disgust. Holding out his hand, he opened the stiff hand of the corpse and took out the corner of the paper that he was on his hand.

"What's he holding?" Alex inquired and heard no response from Ian. Bending his head, he glanced at Ian and caught a glimpse of Ian drawing his brows altogether.

"I don't know." Ian passed the paper to him, picking a rational tone. "It's only a corner of the paper. What was written in it even I can't guess."

Alex almost believe his words entirely if only he didn't see the expression he made before but he also didn't doubt him to have a connection with the incident. He isn't ask nor did he mentioned what he saw, obediently nodding. "You're right. Any guess?"

"Nothing other than this corpse belong to a dark sorcerer."

"Then if the black cloak people was the one who buried the corpse here, perhaps this one betrayed them?"

"It's not entirely impossible. Like others, dark sorcerer surely also have issues among themselves." Ian stood from his crouching position, throwing his glove to the ground and took a new one to secure it to his hands. "But our question is for what and why."

Alex sighed at the last clue, having no other new clue, he lifted his chin to the sky. "It's dark out now. We'll leave it here for today."

Ian walked out for Alex to follow his lead. "What will you tell the Church?" Ian asked Alex who replied with another sigh. "Dead end. I'll tell them that. They wouldn't be satisfied but I also don't think they'll make a problem out of this. I promise not to say a word of Ms. Scott's help." Alex stopped his steps right in front of the forest. "Thank you for the help, Ian."

"It's nothing for you to thank for, it's all on Lewis account." Hearing his words, Alex laughed dryly. "But I'm still curious, why would you bring her here?"

"As she's going to work in the Church I brought her for experience."

Alex rubbed his chin remembering that he spotted a red-haired woman in the main Church of Afgard. At the time he came to avoid Kyle yet he was captured by Ruhan only to be scolded endlessly by him. Throwing some bored glances around his surrounding, he faint caught a glimpse of a woman with a bright red hair and instantly remembered the slave that Ian bought nine years ago. At first, he thought that perhaps he mistook the girl as the same one that Ian brought nine years ago but in fact it was Elise Scott. "So that was really her." He muttered to himself. "I will not stop you again then, have good night my lord." He wished.

Ian pulled his right corner of his lips. "Likewise."