Chapter 9
The bones of untold stories
Adrion
The smell of burnt oak went unnoticed by the guards that surrounded the clearing he had led them to.
I may not have much fae magic. But it does not mean my heightened senses fool me. He thought to himself, smirking as he caught a familiar scent in the air. Stepping down from his stallion with ease, boots embroidered with gold markings met with dry leaves that crunched loudly in the silent forest.
"Your Highness. It isn't safe here, we must go on.
" Inanov, the captain of his royal guard said immediately, moving his horse towards Adrion's.
The prince held up his hand, silencing him.
From the tracks that lay bare in his sight, he could almost imagine what had happened days before in this clearing, as if he were there in time.
Adrion placed a gold glove on a large oak tree to his left and brought his gloved hand back to show the ones around him.
It was ash. Something terrible happened here... Adrion gave a sinister smile, walking further toward that familiar charred smell. He inhaled deeply and exhaled out. "Aaah... Here it is." Under a pile of burnt wood and leaves lay charred bones.
That familiar smell he knew all too well had been from burned flesh.
He stood above the leaves that had covered up the evidence and were brushed aside by his boot.
A sudden gust of wind pushed away the rest of the lightweight leaves and among the ash of what was once a human, lay a blackened skull that had not burned enough like the rest of its body.
The sound of a blade being drawn immediately caught Adrion's attention when he saw Inanov come closer to the prince.
With an uncomfortable clearing of his throat, he pleaded with the prince, "I don't think it's wise to dally in the woods, especially if the people before us dealt with this kind of fate. "
The prince couldn't help but chuckle at Inanov's suggestion and pressed his foot against the blackened skull, completing what the fire could not.
A sickening crack and crunch followed with the strength of his weight upon the skull.
Adrion removed his foot and everyone couldn't help but look, where was once the skull now lay ash, no fragment or clue of what was once there before.
Inanov was right. They should leave, it would make their trip to Merlanis quicker than it has to be, although a part of the prince wished he could stay.
To use his heightened senses to try and solve the mystery of what had occurred here.
Adrion had a strange feeling of wonder of whom the skull had previously belonged to, whether or not the person had been good or bad and whether the person who burnt the body had a sense of brutality or perhaps had just been taking care of a deed.
He wouldn't allow his curiosity to weigh him down.
If I wish to be the King of Apollo one day, I will need to speed up my journey.
Time is of the essence and terrible things happen all the time, however.
.. it's only just better when I can be the one witnessing it or even perhaps having the power to prevent it.
Adrion thought to himself while he made his way to his horse, putting his foot into the stirrup and pushing his golden cloak around the horse.
He caught the eye of Colfe who eyed the ash markings on the ground, the weak man almost looked sick.
Adrion gave a virtuous laugh and led his horse to a trot near Colfe and clapped the man on the back almost painfully. "You need to get out of the luxuries of the castle more often, old man. This is only the beginning."
Colfe nearly sneered at the prince when he remembered they weren't exactly on castle grounds, and anything that happened to him now wouldn't be helped by anyone.
Most of the men in the group had gotten down from their horses to relieve themselves and some went down to stretch after the long ride they endured.
Two young men stood around the patch that had blackened ashes which were slowly being swept up in the wind.
"Look. It's a diamond," Akiel, one of Apollo's most skilled trackers said to his younger brother, Hulin, who was recently appointed as a beta tracker and taught by his older brother.
"What? Where?" Hulin asked eagerly as he bent down near the ashes.
"Right here." And before Hulin could expect it, Akiel landed a kick onto Hulin's behind that sent his younger brother sprawling, face-first into the ashes.
With eyes wide he sputtered and wiped out the ashes furiously from his face with his yellow cloak.
"That hurt!" Hulin managed to get out as he wiped his face more.
"It was supposed to; it was a damn kick to the ass." Akiel snickered.
Adrion couldn't help but form an annoyed expression as he looked in their direction, but he would be damned if he didn't bring them along.
Adrion turned his horse towards the front of the group brushing his gloved hands against the pine, ready to leave this part of the Oakenhold Forest. And it happened almost suddenly as if the wind spirits itself brought along a scent he immediately couldn't forget from his memory.
The scent had a certain darkness to it, a scent that also reminded him of raw untethered fire and blissful dawn all in one breath. It was...
Intoxicating.
"Now that's a wonder," he whispered to himself.
There was something dangerous and interesting about this particular scent. Adrion couldn't help but become more curious, then thought to himself, I’ll keep an eye out for you.
Akiel and a scowling Hulin trailed behind Adrion on horses that came just a few spaces behind his.
"What did you think of the tracks?" Adrion asked.
Akiel and Hulin almost answered at the same time. Hulin gave Akiel a shove and then answered. "From what we saw, whoever did that, went the same direction we're going in. They didn't bother covering up most of the tracks."
"Although, I wouldn't think this would be an interesting situation, to find a dead burned body in the woods and wonder about the killer. It happens every day," Akiel then added.
"Just wanted to confirm my suspicions," Adrion said in fake boredom.
Once they reached Inanov at the front they set forth to Merlanis, galloping at full speed, not intending to stop until they reached their destination.
Adrion’s cloak glinted and shone bright as the sun's rays caught onto it, making the light bounce onto his silver hair that moved freely in the wind.
Adrion breathed in the fresh air of the forest, his body almost happy to be away from Apollo, his stallion kept in pace with his trusted trackers that led them through the maze of the forest.
Perhaps my journey will be exactly like how it was today. Finding the bones of untold stories.