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Lazarus flew among the current and saw the birds flying next to him as if they were their kin. Also, he noticed the eel creatures also flowed on the currents like they were the denizens of the air and aviators. This was natural for them. He wondered what he stumbled onto. It couldn't be a luck that he saw these creatures. It had to be part of the trial.
The creatures moved past buildings, strip malls and residences. The creatures were getting closer to the beach. He smelt the salty sea air. They flew past the last few miles when the eel creatures took a turn toward Newport Beach on Pacific Coast Highway. Lazarus thought they were going to Huntington Beach Pier.
He needed to decide which route to take. Trusting his instincts, he didn't follow the eel creatures, but flew toward the dark foreboding feeling. As soon as he turned away from the eel creatures, he felt that he made the right decision. The closer he got to the source of the evil the more he felt nauseous.
He flew toward Bolsa Chica Beach. There was a nature reserve a few miles from the Huntington Beach Pier. He had never been inside the wetlands but only saw it when he drove down PCH highway. It was usually deserted at this time of the day, except now there were several police cars in the parking lot. And he saw on a bridge which connected the wetlands to the parking area a place where the evil feeling radiated from. Several strong lanterns lights were projected on an object on the ground.
Lazarus made sure he was still invisible and then he flew closer. Several uniform cops stayed by the parking lot while several police guarded the front and the back of the bridge. Lazarus floated closed to the lanterns. He knew it was a dead body on the bridge. The cops were waiting for the detectives to come. Lazarus seen enough true crime shows to remember.
Lazarus wondered if he was sent here to help the detectives. He didn't want to look, but he had to. Moving toward the bridge, he lightly stepped on the wooden structure. The boards creaked as it took his weight. The cops didn't notice. He walked closer to the lights. A lump on the bridge didn't look like a body. The pile smoked in the air. The scent was acrid, and it burnt his eyes and nostrils.
Yet, he did recognize a hand and also a face, but it was burnt beyond recognition. He heard voices coming behind him. Lazarus flew into the sky away from the officers. Two men walked along the bridge coming closer to the burnt body.
Lazarus didn't hear the detectives conversation. He was staring at the burnt body. The signs of magic were around the carcass and the surrounding area. He scanned the area with his magical sight. The arcane powers looked like glowing embers. He had to find these monsters because he also saw something else. The dead person was also torn apart before he was burnt into a cinder.
Then he heard one of the detective talking. She said, “Do you feel that? I think something was around here.”
Lazarus thought the detective felt that he was here. He should leave. He could come back later and check on the area surrounding the charred body. He could find who was here before. He hoped. Lazarus started to fly upwards away, when he heard one of the detective say, “This was the third body we found this week. How do we explain this to our Captain?”
Lazarus stopped and listened to the detective. He saw the detectives were both tall, except one was heavy set and a man. He puffed from walking. The other was a woman. She bent down staring at the body.
The lady detective said, “What could burn a body in his way?”
“I don't know, Jennie. A blow torch?”
“No,” Jennie said. “But we have a serial killer hear.”
“No,” the heavy set detective said, “the other bodies were not burnt like this.”
Lazarus needed to know about the other dead bodies.
Jennie said, “I wonder if we can find out who this person was?”
“Well, we know the other bodies were women. But it can’t be the same killer. The other body was frozen and the other covered in rock,” the detective said.
Lazarus was thinking. The killer knew how to use the other magical elements. He was powerful. These cops couldn’t fight against this mage. Lazarus flew away and hovered close by the officers. He didn't know what to do except maybe follow the detectives. He wasn't sure. Lazarus was not well versed in magic to understand the intricate rules of its use.
He knew he could sense magic. But floating around the wetlands he couldn’t feel the evil power except from the dead burnt body. Then he felt something tugging him. He flew away. The evil scent from the dead body was obscuring the tugging feeling.
He soared closer to the beach. A heard a sound like people chanting an incantation. It was low. The tugging feel was felt again, and he was directed to move away from here. The chanting voices stopped. A feeling of evil dread encased him. He knew where the other body was. It chilled him. He moved inland away from the beach.
