Drayce and others reached the prison cell. Not bothering to look at them, the elf said, “When they escaped, they had brought their captive along with them. Must be someone important, since if it’s just a nobody they wouldn’t bother to keep that captive alive. From the fresh blood, it seems like they have moved that person maybe an hour or two ago. If you had started investigating in the morning, you could have caught these bastards since they seemed to have left by sunset.”

Drayce kneeled on one leg next to the elf and touched the blood on the ground as well. “You are right. It’s fresh.”

“That’s strange. Shouldn’t they have run as soon as their mission failed? It’s been an entire day since the incident, so why wait till the evening to leave?” Slayer commented as he too touched the blood.

What the elf had observed, Drayce had observed as well. He noticed the illusion formation at the other end of the narrow corridor. He looked at Aureus. “The leader was a  Black Witch, right?”

Aureus nodded.

Drayce asked. “Is everyone in that group black magic practitioners?”

“I cannot confirm, but that seems to be the case.”

“How powerful is she compared to the rest of her group?”

“She’s several leagues better than them. I was shocked to see how her black magic could be so strong. I’m afraid she’s as powerful as your mother.”

Drayce stood up and stepped out of the small cell. “Seems that Black Witch, their leader, was hiding someone here, keeping it secret even from her subordinates. That explains why she had to hide the captive using an illusion formation and why she waited for the group to leave before moving that captive at a later time. She probably did it when no one was with her, waiting till she could be alone to move the captive in secret.”

“You can feel it, right? The captive was a supernatural being,” the elf added. “One with a powerful divine bloodline.”

Hearing those words, Aureus felt a strange emotion engulf him. “Someone with a divine bloodline…?”

“Don’t hope,” Drayce warned the winged man. “It’s better to not have expectations at this point. There are a number of divine beasts roaming these lands.”

The elf glanced between Drayce and Aureus. “Well, no matter the identity of that captive, he or she is no better than livestock at this point.  The blood of a divine beast is top-tier medium any black magic practitioner would go crazy about,” the elf explained.

“Is this why they needed me and my mother?” Aureus said through gritted teeth. He found it disgusting and evil, how they could ruin lives just for the sake of their blood.

“Not just you, but…” The elf looked at Drayce. “Your wife would have ended up the same if they got her.”

Drayce had already imagined it even before the elf said anything. He could not help but let out a shaky breath to calm himself.

Aureus shivered. He did not even want to imagine what would have happened if he had failed to save Seren. ‘I would have offered myself to them to let her go. Even if it would mean I will be their slave for a lifetime. I cannot let them hurt her. I had already lost my mother to them. I will never let them get to her as well. She is special to me…She is…’

“There is nothing more here. Let’s leave.”

The elf’s words interrupted Aureus’ thoughts. The elf who had stood up was staring at him, his gaze carrying the meaning that he knew what was going on in Aureus’ mind.

The elf sighed and walked out from the suffocating corridor. Since there was nothing more for them to find out, their group eventually stepped out of that underground hideout.

“Since you said that the captive was recently moved out, then they could not move fast due to the captive’s injuries, right? They must be nearby. We should search for them,” Aureus said as his wings opened wide, ready to fly up the night sky. His body swiftly left the group without waiting for anyone’s reply.

As his form disappeared, only his voice was left behind. “Wait for my signal if there is anything…”

The elf had his hands on his waist as he stared at the now empty sky. “I have something to show you.”

Drayce knew he was speaking to him. “I almost thought you were going to hide it.”

“You don’t miss anything, do you?” the elf said and put forward his hand in which something appeared in between his fingers.

It was a long fine string which was shining gold like an enchanted item. Drayce picked that string up and it didn’t take him time to realize what it was.

“Is that a strand of hair, Your Majesty?” Slayer asked.

Drayce nodded. “And it probably belongs to someone who is just like Aureus,  someone with strong divine powers.”

“Possibly a female one,” the elf commented.

The two looked at each other as they both had the same thought in mind.

“It might be his mother,” the elf finally spoke up.

Drayce tightened his hold on the hair. “You think she’s still alive?”

“You’re young so you don’t know, but in my almost thousand years of existence, I’ve only seen a handful of divine beasts with bloodlines so pure, their hair are permanently colored gold,” the wise elf said as he shrugged. “Those with  pure bloodlines are so rare, they’re treated like royalty in their own clans. They will receive maximum protection from their warriors. There are only one or two born in several generations, you can hardly count on your fingers their numbers who are still alive. If not for his mother, what are the chances the Black Witch can capture another divine beast at the same level as that young Divine Eagle?”

“So it’s really Aureus’s mother?” Slayer said.

“The possibility is high.”

Drayce agreed to it and then said, “For now, keep this a secret from him since we are not sure if it’s truly his mother. We cannot afford having him turn reckless and do something which he should not.” Drayce looked at the sky where he could see a golden dot roaming around like a firefly. “I don’t want him to be any kind of danger.”

The silver-haired elf and the knight agreed, and silence enveloped them as they waited for Aureus’ return.

“Your Majesty, may I ask a question? Why do you think that Black Witch hid her captive even from her subordinates?” Slayer asked, as he was not knowledgeable about supernaturals.

“Because of lack of trust,” Drayce responded.

The elf explained it further to the puzzled human.

“Black magic practitioners practice ‘survival of the fittest’. That Black Witch might be that group’s leader, but it’s possible she’s just a mid-level leader, or there are others who have the same rank as hers. People like her don’t like to reveal their true strength or the source of their strengthened powers even to their allies or those belonging to the same circle as them. That witch is probably being careful and keeping that captive secret, using her blood whenever she needs to use a strong black magic spell. It might be due to that captive’s blood that they were able to form a trapping formation so strong even I could not easily break that barrier with my most powerful spelled arrow.”

After sometime Aureus returned as he could not find any of the traces of that black witch or any of her acquaintances.

Aureus landed in front of the other three who were waiting for him, “I could not find anything. I think they have managed to hide again or have gone somewhere far.”

Given her powers, it won’t be difficult for her to go somewhere far but I am sure that the Black Witch would return. They are stubborn creatures and don’t like to get defeated. She will return soon,” the elf commented.

“By then we will be ready and this time she will pay for what she has done,” Drayce added. “They all live separately and only gather at such a hideout whenever they have to plan something.”

“Your Majesty, that means they are scattered and living inside this kingdom, most precisely inside and around blackhelm but are good at hiding. To date, no one managed to catch His Majesty’s attention, which means they are best at hiding.” Slayer was aware of Drayce’s capability of catching any supernatural power.

“Or they too are using some kind of strong spell to hide the aura of energy around them,” the elf commented.

“This is very likely possible. To date, I believed nothing could hide my sight but I don’t believe the same now. There are stronger spells that can deceive my eyes even,” Drayce said.

He was amazed at what kind of spell his mother had put on Aureus that more than two decades had passed by but not even once he could sense anything off with his pet other than thinking he was way smarter for being just an eagle. He was not just any shapeshifter but a rare and divine one with the strongest bloodline.

‘How powerful of a supernatural my mother exactly was to be able to hide Aureus’ so well?’ he could not help but wonder.

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