Lily's Girl Is Found

Macha walked through the streets with Palila. Her dark brown eyes scrutinized the surrounding buildings, searching for a clue that might help with their investigation. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary and overall it seemed like a peaceful village.

She fixated on a purple-painted flower that decorated a house. It only had four petals, which bothered her because all the others had five petals.

Forcing her eyes to tear away from the flower, she asked, "So, do you think it's really an aswang?"

Now that they talked with Nuria, she was having doubts. Many creatures liked to prey on children and if the kids walked into the Outer-Reaches, it would not be uncommon for something to kill them.

The shuffle of their feet on the dirt pathway continued at a casual pace. Palila watched as Macha kicked a rock along as they walked.

"I don't think so, what about you?" Palila asked. Not waiting for Macha to respond, she added, "I don't know how it's happening, but how could the monster get in with all the wards in place? Sure, they have stronger wards now, but before this, they probably had wards similar to Marseille's. I mean, this village provides most of the grain for our country. The King wouldn't just leave it unguarded for the creatures to attack."

This was a good point. She did not think about that before. "Maybe someone invited it in?" She remembered many spells would not work if something invited a creature in willingly.

Palila shook her head. "Why would someone do that? It's more likely that the killer is somebody from the village."

She did not like the way this mission was going. The situation seemed too suspicious, but she decided to keep her reservations to herself, only sharing her thoughts with Macha.

Palila's observations caused Ivan's face flash into Macha's mind. He had been a terrible person who they never found. Her lips flattened as she recalled how twisted that man had been. "I sincerely hope it isn't that. I admit people can be worse than monsters."

Now the friendly village did not seem so charming. Her friend's words left her unsettled.

As they continued with their search, they came across a small ditch to the side of the residences. Many cut logs had been thrown into the ditch. Macha was unsure what the purpose of this area was, but assumed the villagers used this area to store firewood.

The two women jumped down and inspected the area. Tossing a few logs to the side and walking around.

"I think this spot might have been dug up recently," Macha commented as they got to the edge of the ditch.

There was a mound that was not level with the rest of the earth. As she tossed some wood pieces to the side, she uncovered the freshly turned soil.

Palila looked at the mound. "What makes you say that? Maybe it's just the way the ground looks."

She did not see anything suspicious enough that she would bother digging up that spot. Her feet were sore, and she wanted to go sit down.

Macha shook her head. "No, it definitely looks odd. I remember my father put in some... uh... pipes to water our grass. He dug up the ground. When he covered the pipes, the earth appeared raised like this. Same idea for graveyards."

This was the first time in months where she was unsure how to explain a word from her world to the people here. Moments like this frustrated her and made her realize that she did not master the language yet.

"Why would he put pipes in the ground to water grass?"

Macha stared at Palila. She missed the point completely. Her eyebrow raised as she gave her friend a skeptical look. She found it hard to believe that Palila was really that dense.

"We didn't have magic to water the grass. Look, that's not the point here. I'm saying this is definitely the weirdest thing we've seen all day," she pointed out.

The prospect of digging up the dirt did not sound very appealing to Palila. Her nose wrinkled as she moved to the area in question.

"Really…" she responded flatly.

Macha's shoulders slumped. "I'm gonna dig it up," she stated and began to scoop the soil to the side.

She wished she had a better tool, but at least the soil was loose.

Resigned to her fate, Palila bent over and assisted her small friend with digging up the mound. As she scooped up the soil, she realized that it was loose. Her blue eyes flicked up to meet Macha's gaze; they exchanged looks and continued to dig.

The further they dug, the more conviction Macha had regarding her hunch. Eventually, an odor seeped out of the ground. It was rancid and invaded their nostrils.

"Dragon shit!" Macha took a step back and ran away. Sounds of her wrenching could be heard as she leaned her face behind a pile of logs.

"I can't breathe," she choked out. She had never smelt anything so bad in her life. It smelled like rotting meat and feces.

"Stand over there," Palila motioned for her friend to stay back. Her brows were drawn together, and she took a deep breath.

Not waiting for Macha to move, she immediately dug her hands deeper into the earth. She held her breath as she moved and dark soil flew behind her. As she worked, large handfuls of soil flew between her legs as she scooped it away.

Suddenly her fingers reach into something liquidy and she closed her eyes. Her body tensed as she moved the dirt around and her hands touch what seemed like bone. The area seemed warmer than the rest of the soil. Her eyes were still closed, but she heard Macha dry heaving.

A shiver ran down her back and she slowly opened her eyes. She had unearthed the open carcass of a young girl. The decomposing body had the saggy skin draped over the small skeleton. Her digging pushed aside the dirt, revealing areas of black and the surrounding soil mixed with the internal organs that had spilled out. The sight caused Palila to open her mouth and gasp with surprise.

"Ahh..." she cried out and stumbled back.

The moment she parted her lips, she was hit with the terrifying smell. Her mind became blank, and she fell down. The feeling of the carcass haunted her fingertips, and she vomited while furiously wiping her hands on the grass. She could feel the rotting flesh beneath her fingernails and she tried to get it out.

The stench refused to let up and both of them retreated to the closest home. They stood, sagging against the wall, staring at the ditch.

Macha recalled Unai's mother, but that was a different sort of horror. Her body was still fresh and did not have the smell of rotting flesh. This corpse was not only terrifying to see, but it also had a stench that lingered in her nostrils, forcing her to remember the way it looked.

In a shaky voice, she asked, "Are you all right?"

Palila shivered. Her stomach churned, but there was nothing left inside.

In a clipped statement, she said, "Well enough. We need Nuria to identify the body."

Without hesitation, the two headed for Nuria's home. No one was back yet, so they went straight to the showers to clean off. The smell continued to assault their memories, and they wanted to get rid of it.

Even after washing twice and using the ear cuffs, Macha would still smell the stink of the carcass from time to time. In the end, she decided to sniff the bar of soap until she heard someone come back.

Nuria and Castel walked arm in arm. They had a wonderful walk, and he enjoyed inspecting the areas with her. When Palila and Macha came running into the living room, he could tell something was wrong. Their faces looked pale and their eyes were wide.

"We found a body and need you to identify it," Macha blurted out.

They had not covered it up and knew that she wanted to keep the investigation a secret from the village.

Upon hearing this, Nuria immediately let go of Castel's muscular arm.

Her voice was full of concern, "Of course. Let us go now. Where is it?" This was a huge development and she wondered if it was a new body or one of the children who went missing.

****

Nuria stood over the small corpse. Her fingers covered her mouth and her eyes gazed at the little girl who had come into the village three months ago.

A tear fell down her cheek, and she nodded. "Lily needed this. Thank you."

Castel rubbed a hand on her back to comfort her. "Who's Lily? Is that the girl?" he asked.

His tone was a bit stiffer than usual because of the smell. He did not understand how Nuria could not be affected by it. He used to work as a fisherman, but even this made his eyes water.

In a soft voice, she explained, "No. This girl came to the village three months ago. Lily is the woman who adopted her." She turned her back to the corpse and began walking away. "Come, I'll explain it on the way to her house. I need to let her know we found her girl."

The party followed, but Macha gave the body one last look. She held a black silk handkerchief with a bar of soap over her nose and mouth. The chest cavity had been split open and looked empty.

She pursed her lips and took a few hesitant steps closer while holding her breath. The sounds of birds came from the forest across the way. Just looking at the cadaver left her body tense.

It appeared as if something had ripped the child's heart out and deep claws scratched the delicate skin around the girl's chest. Something tore her muddied dress to shreds and it lay strewn around her in ribbons. Macha's eyes traveled to the child's crotch area, but the skin appeared untouched. Her shoulders relaxed slightly after seeing that. She then stared at the youth's opened eyes and mouth. The girl died with a look of horror and surprise on her face.

Macha turned around, shaking the image out of her mind. This was a scene she wished she had never witnessed.

Under her breath, she swore, "We'll find who did this to you," as she ran after the others.