The Forgotten Mage's Diary

Part Twenty Three: Clues

Elena stormed out of the castle with a portfolio she had filled with clues and leads. She ran towards where her father was killed, it was lined with some sort of police tape. She swatted away the tape and set foot into the large field. Flowers still lined the path and the area the crowd occupied still had footprints. Elena spotted the area her dad had been shot and raced towards it. His footprints showed that he struggled and Elena could even see some of what remained of her own prints. Without realizing it Elena touched her cheek and found tears had found their way onto her hands. She quickly shook her head to try and regain control over emotions and continued her search. Elena had managed to find the direction of where the shooter was. She found a spot in the crowd that looked suspicious, it had three small imprints in the dirt. Elena thought it over...probably a stand for the gun.

She had narrowed down some traits of the assassin but still needed some major clues in order to truly have a suspect. Next to the imprints were some fingerprints, they seemed to have tried to wipe them away though. Elena thought it over again-the murderer was a man, he didn't have a family, he was part of the Dragon Resistance, and he wasn't related to the royal family. He used a gun that needed a stand and was from Ludenville. Elena tried to search for any sign of hair or clothing pieces but found nothing. She then left to find the scene where the former king was attacked so that she could compare the circumstances and evidence.

The palace was completely surrounded with wary guards. "Excuse me miss, who are you? I'm afraid the castle isn't open for peasants such as yourself so you'll have to be leaving now," a young guard stated and shoved her aside. "My name is Elena Andersen and I was given permission by King Aaron to investigate."she calmly retorted. "Where's your proof commoner? Our king told us Elena was a blond mage with blue eyes! Must I repeat myself? You'll have to be leaving now." his tone was much harsher and he proceeded to shove her further away. "I am Elena! I'm disguising myself because-" a hand gripped her wrist, "Please excuse my sister. She's completely convinced that she knows King Aaron! She ran away from home, I'm so glad I found you sis~" Elena's breath became heavy, "Please, sir...I'm not related to this man! He kidnapped me! I can't go back, please-" The guard quickly replied, "I'm sorry but you've already lost my trust. If you really are Elena Andersen then you can just change you disguise back, right?"

Elena shuddered at the thought of being tied up again-without coloring books! "S-Sir...my spell...lasts twenty four hours...this man...he's a criminal" tears quickly brimmed her eyes. "Please let me avenge my dad! I need to investigate! I don't care if this stranger kidnaps me afterward or you report me to the police! I have to do this, no matter what!" Elena shouted. Her kidnapper's grip tightened, "I'm sorry, but we have to go home now."

 The guard had a face that reflected a little bit of fear and he shuffled nervously, "Peasant, should I alert the king? I can...check..." Elena nodded, "Please! Cole and Monica know me too! If the king is busy you can check with them!" The guard cautiously began to walk away, "How do you know them?" "They're...my friends," Elena replied with a smile. The guard walked into the palace rather hastily.

Once the guard was out of sight Elena's kidnapper quickly grabbed both of her shoulders and rushed her away. "Come on sister~ We're going home. NOW." Elena began to shake, "No! NO, GUARDS! HELP ME-" he covered her mouth and smiled to the rest of the guards. "Foolish peasant girl. You should learn to obey your relatives!" one guard ordered. Elena sobbed and tried to talk but his hand covered her mouth. He walked them both away from the castle but Elena kept struggling. "ELENA! LET HER GO!" Cole shouted. 

Her kidnapper froze, "What the-" in his moment of shock Elena wriggled her way out of his grip. Cole ran up to her and hugged her. "A-Another...you're k-kidding me..." he muttered. Cole looked up at him surprised, "Another what?" The kidnapper replied, "Are you aware of the Dragon Resistance?" he whispered. "Of course, you idiot! I'll never join that group of criminals! Sure, nobody wants to be exiled or banished but violence is what started it all in the first place!" Cole  exclaimed. "I think we need to talk." the kidnapper seemed extremely focused.

"Cole, this is our chance. We can interrogate him!" she whispered. Cole hastily nodded, "Y-Yeah...Let's go somewhere more...private." Cole's gaze met the guards'. The kidnapper gingerly agreed. Cole lead them all back to their cottage and told the guards to alert Monica of their whereabouts. Once they arrived to the cottage the kidnapper cut to the chase immediately. "My name is Azmend, I didn't kill Bernard but I have been working with the assassin. We work with the Dragon Resistance. I've been working mostly behind the scenes and I haven't been involved in any of the 'dirty work'. I mostly work with training new recruits and finding new recruits. I immediately saw Cole and I just figured you'd make the perfect addition to our forces. I'm afraid you'll have to kill Elena before you can really start working though..."

The other two just sat there in complete shock, "Why did you just confess to all of that!?" Elena shouted. "K-Kill?! I would n-never!" Cole exclaimed, "Elena, why didn't you freak out when he said I would have to kill you?!" Elena shrugged, "It didn't seem really important..." Cole just stared at her in utter astonishment. "I only told you this because Elena's going to die anyway and Cole doesn't have much of a choice." Azmend said. "You know, I really don't like you.." Cole sighed. "Okay, I already found that you didn't kill my dad. We knew you were working with the Dragon Resistance so you didn't give us a lot of new information..." Elena pondered.

"You found all of that out already? See, this is why I kidnapped you. I wanted to do things the easy way before 'he' could get to you." Azmend sighed. "He? Is he the one who's been doing this stuff? I know the assassin is from Ludenville, it's a man with no family, he only uses guns, and he's not related to the royal family. You guys are trying to take over the government, right? Since I'm getting in the way you guys are trying to get me too, hmmm...." Elena went deep in thought, "He...has red hair...dark red hair. He's really good at hiding it though, I only found traces of it on your shoulder earlier. You guys must be close, if it was on you then he must've been with you at the castle. You guys work together, right? Dragons normally only work with their owners but I heard they also can form these bonds with...family. He's your relative and he was in the section for no families because you had set it up to cover his identity! You said earlier that you work behind the scenes and that's why you were able to do it! I only know that hair was his because I've seen how secluded you are, you're very careful about staying isolated. You live in the middle of nowhere and rarely leave your house, you've only left your house to hunt me down."

Azmend let out a small gasp,"I...um...can't confirm any of that..."Cole had a small feeling, "Elena, let's go inside...now." Before Elena could question him Cole shoved her towards the door and she saw a bullet rush through the air. It landed in the ground with a thud. Azmend frowned and glared at Elena,

"He almost had you, too..."