A Date With Death

Is It Safe To Stare At A Dragon?

Sliding into a parking space near the road, Risienne turned the key, killing the engine. Gods, she did not want to do this. She had managed quite well the past couple of days, blocking out the night of the wedding and the damned murder. But here she was, at the Supa Police Station, having to give her detailed witness report. She had needed to reorganise her whole morning, just to fit this in.

Sighing, she climbed out of her car, locking it and smoothing down her deep red skirt suit set, making sure she looked presentable before turning and looking up at the misleadingly old and rickety building. To the human eye it looked like a derelict tower, one that no one ever seemed to vandalise, because mysteriously they forgot it was there as soon as they passed by it. But she knew better. Walking up the worn, stone steps she pushed through the revolving door, and into a completely different space.

It was all clean, fresh pale green and plants everywhere. The windows were uv protected, so the sun's rays couldn't enter, and the inside space was so much bigger then it should have been. Different species had certain areas, that catered for their individual needs, but at the same time could be used by anyone as well. And even though there were many different flowers around, it just smelt clean, no lingering bad odours or pungent flowery scents everywhere.

Walking up to the desk in the middle of the room she smiled at the young water nymph currently on duty. "Risienne Geil, to see someone about the druid murder a few nights ago."

One of the doors to her left swung open, and the same detective she had spoken to that night came strolling out, a warm smile as he held his hand out to her. "Hello, Miss Geil. I am Detective Red, we met the other night. Right this way, I have been waiting for you. I apologise about having to call you in, but you didn't give us much to go on before, so we thought we would have another crack at you, see if you can give us anything else."

Shaking his hand Risi gave him a half smile, taking her hand back, then following him into the tangerine coloured room, the old wooden desk and three chairs around it clearly older than the detective was. She assumed this room wasn't used a lot, from the stale odour in the air that she could smell. "I didn't give you much before detective because I didn't see anything really, but if it will help we can go over it again."

Sitting on the side with only one chair, she studied the detective as he sat down. He was tall, six foot three inches, long, dirty blond, almost a light brown coloured hair, and a neat, trimmed beard that suited his longer, slim face shape. High cheekbones, that highlighted his dark, amber looking eyes... ah. She understood now, the older room, the furniture, his attention to detail. He was Dreki, a dragon shifter. Rare, very rare in fact. She didn't know any lived on this side of the planet. He must be old, ancient even. Not that he looked a day over 35. They were hoarders, and they had excellent memories. He must be one of the best detectives they had, because she knew he would have remembered every word she had said that night.

Studying his hands, she was lost in her thoughts, wondering if he had shifted lately when he coughed, well rumbled politely, causing her head to snap up as she blushed slightly, embarrassed to have been caught staring. "I'm sorry, off in my own little world there. Where shall we start?"

He smirked, his eyes flashing as he watched her, looking at her for a second or two more before looking down at his questions. "Let's start with a run through of what happened, your actions, and then I will ask questions if something jumps out at me, ok?"

Nodding, she sat back, forcing her mind to go back to that night.

"I had been mixing with the other guests, and I had just taken a second sign up to my business. We had been there a few hours, and so I went outside for some fresh air. I had walked outside the front, and then wandered slowly around the left side of the building, to see the stars clearly. I prefer the night, with the sky lit up like that... anyway, so I had just turned the corner, when I saw this flash. It wasn't overly bright, but definitely caught my eye as it was pitch black out there. As I turned to see what had flashed I saw the man standing up in the distance. I didn't see any real details about him, he was too far away and it was too dark to see his height or anything. I just saw his glowing, ice blue eyes, a second before he disappeared into thin air. They glowed so brightly. But that was it. I could see this shape as my eyes adjusted, which is when I had cautiously walked over, slowly. I was worried about what was out there and whether someone was out there, but I went to see what was there. And that's when I found him. The druid. And as I realised it was a body and he was dead I ran back inside and told the staff. The rest you know."