52 Tracks

Atropa stopped short and creased her brows. "If you order me to help, you do know that I could never refuse, your highness."

Briar's expression darkened a little at what she said. "I do not have any plans in forcing you in any way. That would include doing such a risky job. I need you to do the job at your own will"

She sighed. "Honestly, I do not mind helping you, your highness…However…" the lady in waiting hesitated and trailed off.

Noticing her anxiety, he asked. "What is it?"

"I could try… but I have to inform you that though I am a child of craft, my magic is not that strong…" she said while looking forlorn.

"Judging on what I had seen; I could say that you could pull off high level spells." He commented. "Besides, you were able to locate Rozen."

"About that… I only managed to track down the princess because I have given her my hand-made amulet. It is similar to this one." Atropa smiled while taking out the golden necklace she had used earlier.

The prince sauntered near and examined the pearly white tear shaped-pendant. He could feel mana radiating from within.

"They both contained a little bit of my mana. So when I cast the spell to track her down, her highness's amulet responded with the one I have."

"I see." He muttered as he nodded his head. He then tried to confirm. "How about trying to track the rouge caster? Will you be able to do it?"

"It will be difficult for me to track another caster whose mana signature is different from mine. More so, if I have to track the mana traces that had been left for a few days or even weeks old."

Briar looked puzzled at her statement, so she explained further.

"If I put it in simple terms… it is like if you have a hound and you ordered it to track a game. It will easily find the game if the traces are recent. But if the trail is already a few days or even weeks old, it will be difficult for the hound to trace it."

"Does that mean that you could never track him?" he asked dejectedly.

If Atropa could track the caster, he would be able to save innocent lives. So he was hoping that she could provide assistance.

"I could still try…" she said which made Briar smile a little.

But his smile fell when she added. "I am not promising anything, your highness. I am not exactly as good as those pure bloods."

"So you are one of the ones whose blood had declined?' he muttered which made Atropa frown. "I apologize, that was a careless remark."

In order to change the mood, he shifted the topic. "If you can't track it down… can you suggest something that could help with this case?"

She held her chin and tilted her head a little before giving her response. "Maybe hiring a professional caster can help a lot."

"I'll do that." He sighed. If Atropa could not track the caster, then he really wouldn't have any choice but to ask Zeke for help. "but that would be after you allow me to see what you can do."

~~~

A few days later, in the outskirts of Hopley…

"Uhhmmm, your highness, I can ride a horse on my own." Atropa muttered uncomfortably.

"I know that you can. But it would be faster to travel this way." He replied while pulling the reins.

Briar knew that Atropa could ride a horse well.

But due to her recklessness when she saved his sister, he did not want her to ride on her own.

Thus, the two of them shared his horse. He had placed Atropa in front so that he was somewhat embracing her while holding the reins.

"I think Noir is burdened." She said while referring to the prince's black steed. "he had to carry us both for hours."

"Noir is a fine warhorse. Our weighs are nothing to him." He said while tightening his grip on the reins and guiding the steed towards their destination.

"Besides, I already gave him a potion which will make him enable to feel exhausted."

The lady grumbled in a low voice. "Rich people really. Wasting a valuable potion on a horse."

Although the prince heard her, he did not comment any further.

She broke the silence after a few awkward moment. "We should have brought some knights. You are a prince, I could not fight really well."

"It is fine. If there will be any dangerous entities, I can fight and protect you."

"I am one of your subjects, your highness. It will be my job to protect you. Not the other way around."

Briar kept quiet. He knew that if he would talk, Atropa would just admonish him.

She was much worse than Nigel when it comes to reprimanding improper manners.

Instead of arguing, he just reveled on the fact that they are close together. She was in his embrace and that's all that matters.

As he breathed deeply, her sweet scent which reminds him so much of apples tickled his nose. He wanted to have more contact with her. It was so tempting.

However, he was aware that if he would push his luck, she would run away from him.

But, maybe he could tease her even just a little.

"We are almost there." He intentionally breathed near her ears.

"You don't have to worry about Noir, he can rest once we reach that place." He added in a husky voice.

Although he could not see her face, he knew that she had blushed. He took note that her ears had turned ruddy with just that provocation.

"Your highness…" she muttered in a fluster. "This is improper!"

Her reaction gained a few chuckles from the prince.

After a few minutes, they had arrived at the intended location.

"They have already cleared out the place." Briar commented after he dismounted his black stead.

"Will you be able to track the culprit down?" he asked as he assisted Atropa in getting down the horse.

Atropa allowed her gazed to scrutinize the place before she frowned. "With this close to nothing remnants of a crime, I don' think I could find anything."

"So is it that hopeless." He said dejectedly while leading her to the area.

"I can still try, your highness." She sighed as she prepared the materials.

Briar observed the girl as she produced several dark purple candles and a dagger. She lighted the candles and placed them on the five points of the star.

Then using the dagger, she cut her wrist and drew the thirty-second pentagram of Saturn with her blood.

However, she stopped short after she had drawn the pentagram.

"What's the matter?" Briar asked.

"I need a catalyst to locate the caster." Came her reply. "But since they had already cleaned the area and took the remaining things as evidences, we won't have a catalyst."

"You should have told me to bring at least one evidence." He quipped. "Can you still try?"

Breathing a huge sigh, she recited the spell in ancient tongue.

The pentagram glowed and several drops of blood formed into three red marbles.

She tried to track the culprit but the marbles broke and she could not locate him.

"It is no use, your highness." She gave up after her fifth try. "The last ritual was a few weeks at least, so the traces of mana had already disappeared. I could no longer track his location."

"I see…" the prince also seemed to have given up, but he remembered something. "Atropa, can you at least tell me about the ritual that this person is doing?"

Atropa nodded and the two moved to the altar where the ritual had been performed. The flaxen haired watched as she tried to reconstruct the pentagram's traces on the floor.

It took her a few minutes to complete the elaborate pentagram and a few more minutes were used to decipher the spell.

When she was done, her face lost color. Briar was able to catch her when her knees gave way.

"What's wrong?" concern etched on his face.

Atropa looked shaken. "Your highness, this is a ritual of sacrifice. Its aim is to resurrect the dead."

"What?" he was taken aback.

"It is necromancy, your highness!" she almost screamed.

Briar's jaw hung ajar and all color drained from his face.

When the two had calmed down, Atropa advised. "I think it will be better to find a caster who could fight this one. I am afraid that this is beyond my ability."

He helped the girl up so that they could leave. But even before the prince could take a step outside the altar, the pentagram glowed with an eerie shade of darkness.

"Your highness watch out!" Atropa tried to push the prince outside the pentagram but it was too late. They were both engulfed by the dark light and got transferred…