Trip To The Inferno (Unedited)

Part 49

When Ogden's words registered in Laird and my minds, we both jumped on our feet alarmed. I don't think I saw Laird react to something so quickly before.

'What?' He snarled at Ogden, not caring that he wasn't the one who murdered someone. Or at least, I think he couldn't have. He was the right hand and it was obvious that both Tlaloc and Laird trusted him. Them? What was the name of his wolf, if he had one? Ogden, on the other hand, stood still and calm, keeping his eyes on the beast.

'Kira, one of the healer's apprentices, have been found mutilated in the forest, near the border of the Fire tribe' Ogden began explaining and we all moved from our positions. I don't know if I wanted to see the body or if I will be able to given the protective Alpha wolf genes in Laird and Tlaloc. Plus, the past experience that involved me and pain.

We began walking somewhere, presumably, to the crime scene. Me not knowing what to do, I simply stayed quiet and followed the males, listening to their conversation and making sure not to fall back or down because of darkness.

'Any unique attack marks?' Laird began questioning Ogden, walking on all four and occasionally sniffing around us.

'Her body was mutilated and ripped to pieces, but we can't ignore the possibility of human doing. As of now, the Herbalist is the one near the body and identified the girl'.

'What about murderer's scent?' I asked and Ogden blinked at me, clearly only now noticing my presence.

'Yes, we detected two scents for a moment, but...' a short silence stood between us with crunching twigs and grass resonating underneath our feet. Suddenly, his calm and collected face twisted into disgusted snarl as his canines became visible to me for the first time.

'The body is stuffed with Deathly Lullaby. We can't go near to inspect it without dropping dead on the spot and the smell erased the murderer's scents as well'

Silence came back as I looked at Ogden in shock. He just showed so much emotion in such a brief moment that I was sure it was once of a lifetime event. My eyes wondered to Laird as he joined Ogden's disgust with snarl as well.

'W-what is this Deathly Lullaby?' I asked quietly, cautious not to anger the males.

'It's a very poisonous plant that has a very strong and sweet smell. For us, a moment of breathing the fumes can cause paralysis that leads to death.'

My mind clicked on the "for us" part. Knowing that their senses were heightened, they had different abilities and their genes were completely different from the usual human, or in this case me, it did not surprise me, that they had a weaknesses.

'Why is it in our territory? I thought I made it clear that this plant is forbidden to cross the border while I am in charge' Laird snarled again and I couldn't help, but to roll my eyes.

'Well, it's obvious that someone smuggled it in here. I don't think your people check what others bring from other parts of island, do they?' I retorted and pushed some branches away from my face.

'They will from this day onwards' he growled.

After some time of walking and talking about possible murders, that right now point to Fire tribe, I noticed that Laird and Ogden fell silent. We also slowed down considerably as they began growling out of nowhere to almost anything. Their behaviour was getting more and more weird until I smelled a sweet smell in the air. It was faint, but with every meter towards the crime scene, the smell increased a lot.

And then we reached the spot.

It was a wooded area. Ancient trees here looked a lot more denser and taller, making surrounding a lot darker. The moon was barely breaching the branches, but still somehow managed to illuminate the area enough for me to see a little bit. My eyes instantly went to the body that laid mangled in front of me, a little bit further. From where I stood, I could see that her stomach was cut open, multiple slashes running across her stomach. Pieces of leather mixed itself with muscle and blood, making a soup between the insides. Underneath the body, the grass was dyed red, blood already dried. Not too far away from the body I managed to count seven fingers thrown everywhere with severed arm and both legs neatly placed above black haired head. But the most disturbing aspect were the flowers. Hundreds of pastel pink flowers everywhere. Thrown around the body, stuffed inside the mouth, mixed with the intestine's soup, decorating the pile of limbs. Everywhere.

I couldn't suppress my gag reflex as over sweet smell mixed with a little bit of iron reached my nose. Looking at the morbid "art" before me made me shudder in disgust. Who could have done this?

Looking away from the body I notice more than half the village standing a good distance away, most of them were males. I also noticed how pale and aggressive they were even though they were looking at the body. A dead person.

'Lynea, come here' Laird suddenly spoke from behind me and I looked at him. He looked.... exhausted. His eyes were hooded, but the snarl was still prominent.

'Are you alright?' I asked and walked to him. Apparently, he stopped sooner than I, and I managed to walk a couple meters ahead of him. When I reached him, he, without any warnings, pulled me down on my knees and forced me to sit. Next, he put his head on my thighs and pressed his nose close to my private area. Very close.

I felt my face go ablaze in an instant.

'W-what are you doing?' I blurred out, shocked by his actions, and tried to stand up, but he grabbed my thighs on the side and kept me in place.

'Breathing your scent, what does it look like?' He answered, my knees feeling a small rumble from his chest.

'Molest.... huh?' I couldn't finish my sentence because I felt hot breaths fanning my shoulder.

'My apologies, Luna' Ogden's tired voice quietly spoke from behind me and before I could look at him and ask what he was doing, he snuggled to my neck from behind, breathing in deeply.

Huh?

'What are you two doing?!' I yelped as Ogden leaned with his body into me, my back pressed against his chest.

'Your scent.... is the strongest smell.... that kills all the effects of other things. We.... are using it.... in order not to die' Ogden breathed out, sounding like he was on the verge of sleep.

HUH?!?!?

'Then leave this bloody scene and go back! Are you all stupid or something?! There is nothing for you all to see here that is worth to die!' I screamed for everybody to hear. These people were ridiculous.

'We need to investigate the body' Laird answered, sounding a lot stronger than Ogden, but still tired. An idea came to my mind and I sighed.

'Then at least let me take the flowers away from the body since I am the only one not affected by them' I suggested and got two growls from Laird and Ogden.

A/N

Forgot to mention that Deathly Lullaby = Oleander.