Bab 25: The Whisper of the Dead
Upon returning to the clearing where they had pursued Alyssia, Grayson and Katheren were shocked to find a body lying at the center of the glade. Rushing to the scene, they discovered it to be Alyssia, who had seemingly escaped earlier. She bore a deep blade wound on her left breast, and her breath had stilled.
"How did she end up dead here? Hadn't she just fled?" Katheren asked, bewildered.
Grayson observed Alyssia's final expression—her eyes wide open in terror, her face etched with chaos and dread. "She was driven back here against her will," he deduced.
He noted footprints leading from Alyssia's body into the northern woods, the backward-set of the prints corroborating his suspicion of Alyssia being forced back.
"Could there be accomplices of the robed men nearby?" Katheren wondered, scanning the surroundings.
Grayson responded not with words but actions, squatting beside Alyssia to examine the bruised marks around her neck, evidence of a forceful grip.
"Her legs remain human; the assailant knew about mermaids' vulnerabilities. A tight chokehold, causing breathing difficulties, would prevent them from transforming, leaving them as defenseless as any human girl," Grayson explained, his eyes then locking onto Alyssia's hands. Her left hand was bloodstained, while her right showed signs of struggle.
He noticed a strand of white velvet caught under her fingernails. Grayson carefully extracted it and held it up to the light. "Likely torn from the assailant's garment, probably a woolen cloak," he mused.
A stern command interrupted his thoughts: "Stand back from the body and move aside!"
Looking up, Grayson saw a knight in silver armor emerge from the bushes, leveling a spear at them. In moments, they were surrounded by the knights of the Silver Dragon Wing.
"It's always when I least desire their company that they appear," Grayson muttered begrudgingly.
"And you never want their company," Elyra retorted, perched on Grayson's shoulder.
"We've finally found you, Grayson!" The deputy commander, Duglas, confronted them, his spear pointing accusingly. "Why did you kill this woman? Is she the mermaid guardian that Seraphine spoke of?"
"Who told you I killed her? A confession from the dead?" Grayson's cold laugh didn't confirm or deny the accusation.
"You're right; indeed, the dead told me. If not you, how do you explain this?" Duglas pointed out the blood on Grayson's silver blade.
Grayson's calm gaze shifted from the bloodied sword to Duglas's white cape, and he countered, "If that's evidence, then by that logic, you could be the murderer!"
"Scoundrel! You're already suspected of the Grandmaster's murder, and now this. Caught red-handed, save your words for the dungeon," Duglas ordered his men to seize Grayson.
Grayson chuckled at the accusation and deftly dodged the attacking spears. Seizing a spear, he tossed its owner aside, his sword flashing, fending off the encircling knights.
Katheren's cry for help drew his attention. She struggled against three knights, her pistol useless against their shields. As they attempted to subdue her, Grayson flipped one over, his boot firm on the knight's armor, then kicked another away.
The third knight turned to strike Grayson, who parried the spear and sliced through the attacker's gorget, his adversary falling in a pool of blood.
"Are you alright?" Grayson asked, pulling Katheren up. She was pale, trembling, too shocked to respond.
Elyra's alarm warned of new danger. Grayson spun, avoiding a lunge and running his silver blade through the assailant while pinning another to a tree with a spear.
"May you find peace in heaven," Grayson said tersely, pulling his sword free and looking up to see Duglas and more knights charging.
Kicking up a fallen spear, Grayson used it to block the knights' assault before grabbing Katheren, fleeing westward toward the direction the robed figures had taken.
As the knights began their pursuit, a commanding voice halted them: "What's transpired?"
The group froze, looking back at Andros, Seraphine, and Morven, with the rest of the knights rapidly approaching.
"What's happened here, Duglas? What exactly is going on?" Andros surveyed the chaos, the bodies, and asked loudly.
"Commander, when we arrived, Grayson had just slain the mermaid guardian Alyssia. We surrounded him and his accomplice, but they resisted. He has killed three of our brothers and fled westward with his cohort."
The group reeled at the news, Seraphine rushing to Alyssia's body, her countenance marked by disbelief.
"How could this be? Why would Grayson kill her?" she murmured, unable to grasp the scene before her.
Morven, thoughtful, asked Duglas, "How did you ascertain Grayson's guilt? Did you witness him stab Alyssia?"
"No, I saw him standing over the body, his sword bloodied. With no one else present, who else could it be?"
Morven found no fault in the deputy's logic but sensed an unsaid truth. He remained quiet, his furrowed brow speaking volumes to Andros and Seraphine.
"There are only two possibilities," Andros declared, squatting beside Alyssia. "Either Alyssia refused to divulge the truth, leading to a struggle where Grayson accidentally killed her, or..."
He paused, locking eyes with Seraphine, "She revealed the truth to Grayson, but his ties with the mastermind behind the scenes compelled him to silence her..."
Status Power Mingguan
-- Peringkat
Power 
-- Power
stone