Wings Of fire: Shadowstalker

Chapter 19: Investigation

Shadow stared at the body in shock. His jaw stayed dropped, and he couldn't believe his eyes. He felt his heart rate increase as he tensed up. Bloodstrike looked upset but not as much as Shadow would've hoped. The old general was grinding his teeth and lashing his tail, but he seemed mostly unfazed.

"Who..who did this-" Shadow muttered, his words trembling with fear. "Why.. how could anyone do this..?"

"I couldn't tell you. I came to ask her something and when I came in she was like this.. my guess is she hasn't been dead too long so the killer is still running around the palace." Bloodstrike hissed with his tail lashing. "We need to alert the guards, find who did this." The general then turned and began to walk out with a low growl. Shadow wanted to follow, but he just stared at Brighteyes' lifeless form with his wings tucked close. Starhunter walked past him and began to inspect the scene.

"Hm.." His friend started sniffing the room a little. He seemed unfazed too, but Shadow knew he was always like that. "Do you know anyone who might be good with this?"

"Nighthawk would be more than perfect for this." Shadow said quietly. His wings tucked closer and he let out a soft whimper.

"You can go get him. I'll stay here and guard the room." Starhunter pat his talon gently. "I can tell you'd rather head back to her.."

"I would.. but I don't want to leave you alone." Shadow said soflty as he looked at his friend. "Especially with a murderer on the loose. It's better if we stick together."

"Alright then, I'm not gonna argue with the prince." Starhunter smiled, sitting by him. "Not a bad idea."

"I figured it wasn't." Shadow said quielty before stretching his wings. Behind them he could hear several thumps as three dragons arrived. One was Nighthawk, the other Bloodstrike, and the third Darkstalker. He turned and glanced up at his father quietly. Darkstalker looked angry when he saw the corpse.

"Brighteyes! Where were her guards!?" Darkstalker boomed at Bloodstrike, making the general recoil. "Did you see who did this!?"

"No, your majesty." Bloodstrike responded simply, standing beside the king. "Whoever did this was quick and efficient."

"Holy hell.." Nighthawk said calmly. "Moons.. Shadow you alright?" He asked as he walked up to him, sitting by the prince. Shadow nodded and looked down at Nighthawk, who seemed just as shocked as everyone else.

"Right. Fine. I will use my scroll of truth to figure out who did it. Perhaps you can help me, son." Darkstalker offered with a slight smile. "I know you would love to help. You seemed quite fond of her after all." He nudged his son with a wing gently. Shadow stayed quiet and nodded with a nervous sigh.

"While you two do that, I'm going to investigate the area." Nighthawk walked between them and towards Brighteyes before sitting near her. "Should be fun."

"Perfect. Let's get to work son." Darkstalker turned to walk out, now heading towards his personal office. Shadow had only been in there a talonful of times, and most had occured joining the council. Once they got inside the office, Darkstalker sat at his desk and began to dig around in a chest. Shadow watched closely with his head tilted to the side.

"Father..what are we going to do about her and her family?"

"We will hold a funeral. She was very useful and smart, it's rather unfortunate she was murdered.." Darkstalker grumbled and kept digging. Shadow felt sick. Seeing someone who was so cheerful, bright and intelligent lifeless and dead in a corner wasn't sitting well with him. Darkstalker paused before turning to his son and wrapping a wing over him gently.

"Listen...I know it's hard for you to see something like that." Darkstalker said softly. "But you need to stay strong for me. The only way you and I are going to figure this out is if we keep a level head and work together. I'm here, everything is okay." He smiled and pulled him into a hug. Shadow hugged back with a deep sigh, trying to relax and calm down.

"..Okay.." He mumbled soflty with a frown. "Did you get the scroll..?"

"Of course I did." Darkstalker smiled. "It's right here. Now.. let's figure out who our killer was!" He said with a concerning amount of enthusiasm. The king unrolled the scroll on the table before sitting up. "Alright scroll, who killed Brighteyes?"

Quickly black letters appeared in the center of the scroll. The words read "Assasin." but that was all. Darkstalker grumbled with frustration.

"Sometimes you have to be very technical with it.. haha.. Alright then. Scroll, who hired the assasin who killed Brighteyes?" Darkstalker tried again. The scroll went blank before more letters appeared. Shadow's eyes widened with confusion and shock.

"Nighthawk-? But he wouldn't! He's loyal, he was always helping her.!"

"Oh my son.. this truly is horrible. Nighthawk was always one of my favorites but I suppose he will have to face trial, and possibly execution." Darkstalker let out a deep, frustrated sigh. There was something off about his tone. Surely Nighthawk couldn't have done this. Shadow shook his head, not believing him.

"No, no.. Nighthawk would never do this! Scroll, who killed Brighteyes?" Shadow tried. It went blank again before the name appeared in black letters. Once again, it read Nighthawk. "No.. this has to be wrong.."

"Animus magic isn't ever wrong son." Darkstalker shrugged. "Right then, I'll have to go fetch him. Looks like I will have to replace two council members." He pelt began to stand up. Shadow couldn't believe this. He watched Darkstalker walk out of the office, stomping his talons heavily as he did. Nighthawk was innocent, Shadow knew this for sure. If he didn't do anything, Nighthawk would likely die. He grabbed a blank scroll off the floor and picked it up.

"Fly to Nighthawk as quickly as you can, and repeat my words to him." He paused. "Get out of the night kingdom, because my father is on his way to kill you." He spoke quickly and confidently. The scroll then whooshed out of his talons and down the hall, faster than he could even process. It had to work, because if he didn't then two innocent dragons would die tonight.