The orders had gotten to her not too long ago. The messenger had practically shoved it into her hands before galloping off to find other patrols to have join in the search. Leslie had been watching the spot where the messenger had disappeared, wondering if she really wanted to take a look and what had been given to her. After all, her patrol had been going smoothly and without event, just the way she liked it. Now this. The captain looked down at the message she held in her hand, looked up at her small patrol, then back down at the parchment. Well, might as well get this over with.
Leslie showed little reaction to the order, though inside she wasn't too pleased. The piece of paper had orders to search a nearby town for one missing prince. Why was it that she always got dragged into the search whenever he ran off? Oh well, orders were orders and maybe she'd be the one to find him this time and let him know how she felt about his little disappearing acts. The captain put the orders up her sleeve and signaled her small squad to form up in a half-circle in front of her.
"Alright! Orders just came down the pipe saying we have a missing Prince and that he was last spotted in this general area." A few in her squad rolled their eyes. They knew that 'general area' usually meant a good dozen leagues. Others she knew stayed near the Capital to know that these disappearances weren't that uncommon but it was always a hassle to find the Prince again.
"Let's go! We're to search a nearby town then move on from there!" The soldiers barked out their compliance and steered their horses inline behind hers and headed off towards the town. On the way, Leslie was brooding about how a nice, peaceful patrol had gone so wrong. They were on their way back too! She really hoped the Prince was here. She'd give him a piece of her mind alright, rank be damned.
All thoughts about the Prince swiftly left her mind when the stench of burned flesh reached her nose. Some of the others had noticed it too and were showing signs of unease. "Free your weapons and be prepared for anything." She barked behind her, taking out one of her pistols. Though it might not be what she was thinking, it was always possible that there was a mage around. The villages weren't as tight about the vile monsters as they should be.
Soon, the sound of crying reached the Captain. "Form up and dismount!" She called, quickly following her own order. The others quickly formed into two ranks and got down from their horses, scanning the nearby houses for any suspicious activity. As the crying got louder, and the stench stronger, Leslie could tell that whatever had happened, it was down now. "At ease!" The Captain ordered, relaxing a little herself as everybody put their weapons away. Though things might have settled down a little, there was still protocol to go through.
Today had started so well too.
As the squad approached, Leslie handed her reins off to a nearby soldier and stood a little off from the crowd that was circled around the source of the stench and the crying. It was always a headache to deal with a death. Some of the villagers had heard the squad's approach and were trying to move others out of the way so that Leslie could see what had happened and were probably hoping that she'd kiss everything and make it better.
"What's going on here?" She asked, loudly. Most of the villagers looked up at her question then moved from in front of her so she could take in the scene. Was she saw took her aback. She didn't show any reaction, her training made sure of that, but the scene disgusted her and reminded her why mages were to be hunted down and killed. A woman was crying over a body that had no skin. Mage fire had probably burned the skin off, judging by the stench and the fact that nothing else was burned.
"Jenks! Stay with the horses!" She barked. "I want these people cleared and I want to know what happened here." Her five-man squad, not including her, broke up as directed and started dissipating the crowd, asking questions about what happened and such. Leslie went over to the crying woman and knelt down next to her. "Don't worry Ma'am." The Captain said genitally. "We'll get whoever or whatever did this." The woman looked up into Leslie's eyes to see solid determination. Oh would that mage pay.