Solace and Nox: A New Light

Chapter 12

"What's the status?"

A hospital worker held an unconscious guard in his arms. He had a massive goose egg on the back of his head, and the area around it was bruising.

"It appears to be blunt force trauma to the back of the head," the medic said, inspecting the wound carefully. "He's still breathing, but if we don't do something quick, he might not last the night."

Raiden had a concerned look on his face. "Well, don't waste any time. Get anyone who is willing to help and fix him up immediately." What kind of force had the power to cause a wound so bad? The culprit had to have extreme force behind their blow to cause it.

"Captain," Markis called from down the hall. "You need to come see this."

Raiden walked toward his partner, who still rested heavily on his cane. He opened one of the hospital doors for the Captain, and Raiden was greeted by lower ranked guards, investigating the crime scene.

"Captain Raiden," the three guards said in unison. "What brings you here?"

"If there was an assassination, that means the assassin could be working for Moldark, and his next target could possibly be the king. I want to know anything and everything about any recent assassinations in the area," Raiden replied, inspecting the demolished window. "Soldier," he snapped. "Report."

One guard spoke up and said, "Whoever this assassin was, they were quick and quiet. Other than the unconscious guard, there were no witnesses that we no of. We don't even know if the guard saw anything, especially since the wound was on the back of his head. The assassin probably attacked from behind. The victim, however, saw his assassin."

"How can you tell?"

"Jitlan Trink, a well known medic in these parts of town, was facing away from the window when he fell," another guard reported. "Due to the remains of his body, we are able to deduce that the victim was stabbed through the chest by a small blade, but it was long enough to cut all the way through his body. Then, he was probably pushed out the window by the assassin."

"But, sir," the third guard spoke up. "There was something odd about his body."

"Odd how?" Raiden asked.

The guards looked at one another, unsure of how to respond.

"It think it's best if we show you."

The three guards led Raiden and Markis to the morgue, which was just the basement of the building. They had to slow down for Markis, but he stayed strong. Raiden couldn't be more proud of him. He fought so hard to stay by Raiden's side, and to stay optimistic about this whole scenario. For that first week, Markis was more optimistic than Raiden, which was a first.

They entered the morgue and saw the body. Raiden knew immediately what had happened. Markis nearly fell over at the sight of Jitlan Trink's body. He knew better than anyone what had happened.

Jitlan Trink was killed with the same blade that caused Markis to lose his arm. It was the same blade that Moldark used to kill Raiden's entire squad. Moldark was on the move.

The guards were about to speak when Raiden and Markis began talking for them.

"Raiden, do you know what this means?" Markis asked. "Moldark is on a rampage."

"More likely, he gave his blade to a highly trained assassin. He knows it would be too dangerous for him to enter the city walls, we would know about it. But why was this man a target, when Moldark wants King Lotharius and everyone he loves dead?" Raiden replied.

"That's the question of the day," Markis said, staring at the doctor's frail body... or what was left of it.

Trace came in and said, "Captain, the king's family is here."

"Here?" Raiden asked.

"Excuse me," he said. Correcting himself, he added, "The king's family just arrived at the castle."

"Excellent," Raiden replied. "Get the rest of the squad; we will head back immediately."

Trace saluted and left the room. Raiden went to follow when Markis asked the guards another question.

"What was the time of death?" he asked.

Raiden stopped, curious as to what Markis was thinking.

"About two hours ago," one replied. "Why do you ask?"

"Raiden, what if there wasn't a reason for this assassination?"

"What do you mean Markis?"

"I mean, what if this wasn't a mission. What if it was just a distraction?"

"A distraction for whom?"

"For us."

Suddenly it hit Raiden right in the face.

"If this is what I think it is, the assassin killed someone out here, away from the castle, hoping that you would come investigating. The assassin somehow knew you would find any information about an assassination, and then would turn around and attack the real target while you were away," Markis explained.

"That's a pretty big stretch," one guard mentioned.

"But we can't take any risks," Raiden said and bolted out the door.

If Markis was right, and the assassin was about to attack the castle. Raiden had to hurry, or he would have failed his mission before it even began.