Sandis stood in the center on the small one room house. While simple it seemed to be built with intent and care. There are only two windows, one by the front door looking onto the street and the other is by kitchen overlooking the Magi’ river. The floor is smoothed concrete with a teal rug with turquoise stripes running in crisscross pattern. Laying on this rug is an old human male in his sixties his blood now soaked into the rug.
While Sandis was inspecting a small but very well made desk sifting through papers and books, the front door opens the hinges creaking loudly. He turns to see Armister Dathose she stands head and shoulders taller than himself. Her Druss ears swivel back and forth listening to anything and everything. She looks at the dead man on the floor then at Sandis. “What have you learned so far?”
“Armister nice to see you. So far, I’ve been able to determine that there was one attacker as all of the boot prints found are the same size and shape. Second, I believe they came from the river possibly swam across from the other side, though I’ll need more time to prove that definitively. Third there appears to be only one thing missing a single book or maybe even a box of similar size. Here on the desk, there is a dust outline where it was sitting.”
“Could it have gotten moved or is he perhaps laying on it?”
“I have searched the house inside and out thoroughly and found nothing to indicate that. I will however continue to look like the killer may have ditched it after getting what they needed from it.”
“Very well sergeant keep me informed on your progress and let’s try and bring this to a close as soon as we can. This is only the third murder in ten years for this hamlet it has distressed them greatly. This man was a beloved grandfather and husband his family deserve swift justice be done.”
With that she leaves and Sandis goes back to work trying to find anything that might lead him to the culprit of this heinous crime. He slowly scans the house again and sees something he hadn’t noticed before. There is concrete dust on the fringes of the rug. “Now why would there be fresh dust on the rug?” Turning over the body so pull up the rug he finds a small square of concrete that’s fresher not even having fully cured out. and it’s the same size as a book or small box.
Searching for any kind of heavy object he found a hammer in open wooden chest of other object like nails, string, and such. The hammer also had concrete dust on it. Sandis set to work breaking up the freshly filled square. After a few minutes of slamming down on the floor it began to break apart in chunks. Revealing a leather bound book wrapped in cloth. Stamped on the front is a red eye. The eyes was made of some type of crystal or glass.
He began reading its contents which appeared to be research by Brie Drall. It starts with her talking about her parents not understanding the need for her work and having her committed to an asylum at some point early in her life. A few pages in and he finds sketches of machines used for the extraction of a persons powers. There are some very disturbing entries. “I have finally successfully extracted the very essence of what gives powercasters their abilities. It took more than twenty test subjects, but I can now replicate the affects of powers with out needing a person to be a powercaster. This will change the war and the very world itself.”
Sandis reads through more of the journal trying to find the connection to this poor dead man until he finds an interesting note. “Subject 551 has escaped. His abilities have made him aware of his being a clone of my dearly departed husband Abron. I must find him and find out what went wrong, why does he not have Abron’s memories like the others? I am so close to salving the raped ageing he’s the first not to have it.”
Thunder sounds and lighting flashes bringing Sandis attention back to the world. He had been so engrossed he hadn’t noticed the woman standing in the doorway. Her face is covered by a black cloak that makes her look almost spectral against the darkened ski behind her. Lighting flashes again lighting just part of her face, revealing a single red eye. Sandis reaches for his pistol, but he isn’t fast enough. Faster than the lightning flashing across the ski his life is snuffed out. A then blade of force slices through his neck and his head slowly rolls forward stopping at the woman’s feet. She bends down taking the journal and whispers, “I finally have it back my love it won’t be long now we will soon embrace each other as we once did.”
