“Don’t worry. Those are good observations,” the fireskin claims, cracking a small smile.
Aedyn nods and gently breaths a sigh of relief. “Would you please explain to me why Nyx and Luke are of such interest to us?”
Isaiah eyes Aedyn carefully and strokes his chin. He mutters a long spell and six small illusions appear on the table. Four of them are nothing more than white hazes. One of the detailed illusions is of Luke standing with his sabers drawn and the familiar look of determination on his small face. The other clear figure is of Nyx dancing with lightning and fireballs weaving around.
“From this moment on, what you hear will remain a secret,” Isaiah coldly orders the priest. “Your friends are not to know of this because it is not time for them to know. Failure to keep this information a secret will be met with a lifetime behind bars and the magical removal of your tongue.”
“I pledge on the light of Durag that I will not reveal any of our secrets without permission,” the priest swears without hesitation.
“Good man,” Isaiah says, his voice low, but clear. “There is a legend wrought by Gabriel and Zaria. It states that six champions will rise to face the greatest evil that Windemere has ever forgotten. Even the wisest of our organization have little knowledge about this being because of the gods’ spell. It could be a demon of untold power, an ancient necrocaster, or even a fallen god. The champions who are destined to face this being will be granted amazing powers and become legends for eternity. All of this is what Gabriel has written upon the stones of destiny and what Zaria, and Uli to a lesser extent, has helped him prepare for. Unfortunately, they have no way of protecting these champions because of the law of influence, which is why our organization was created. Our job is to safeguard the ones who have been chosen and guide them along their path to save this world.”
“Luke and Nyx are more important than they realize,” Aedyn clarifies to prove his is listening. “Do we know what kinds of powers they will gain?”
“We assume that they will be elemental in nature because these destines were written long before the Great Cataclysm when such a standard was used for chosen powers,” Isaiah says with a deep sigh. A wave of his hand sends the illusions into the air where they become spinning orbs of light. “There is more that our scholars have found by studying this legend, but the information is barely understandable at this time.”
“Is it truly confusing or am I not authorized to know right now? I can handle being told that it is not my business,” Aedyn admits with a wry smile.
“I would tell you if it was not your business, Lord Karwyn,” the caster promises, looking tired as he runs his hand along his scaly head. “There are two parts of the legend that we have yet to understand. One speaks of a circle of awakening, which we assume refers to unlocking the powers of the champions. The other part is a single word. That word is embodiment and we have no idea what it is in regards to.”
“I am sorry, but I cannot help you,” Aedyn apologetically claims. “May I ask why I saw six figures and only two of them were clear?”
Isaiah holds out his hand and the spinning lights gently land on his palm. “The other four champions have not stepped on their path of destiny. Your friends are the only ones that the organization knows about, which puts us at a disadvantage. The creature they will face could already know the identity of the other champions.”
“I assume you used a magical object or scrying to find Luke and Nyx,” Aedyn says with a yawn.
“Somewhat. We have been watching the Callindor family since we were founded because their heritage made them an obvious champion source. Once a Callindor was revealed as a champion, we knew Gabriel and Zaria were making their move,” Isaiah admits with a toothy smile. “To be honest, Luke being one of the champions was unknown to us until he promised Nyx that he would help her face her destiny. The only champion that we have known since birth is Nyx. You have seen the power that she wields, so imagine the ripple of magic that announced her birth. I could not have missed that even if I was asleep.”
“How did she get so powerful?” Aedyn asks curiously.
“Two reasons, but I’m bound to keep one secret until my end. This ring prevents me from speaking it,” Isaiah declares. He wiggles his left pinky finger, which has a silver band embedded in the flesh. “Nyx appears to be the personal project of Gabriel. He has taken great care to mold her aura by forging a strict lineage. I don’t know if the other champions have been groomed like this or if they have been left to develop on their own until a being like Nyx appeared.”
“Let me go back a bit and get something straight. Gabriel, the god of destiny and master of hell, is working with Zaria, the goddess of purity, and Uli, the elven warrior goddess? I understand Zaria and Uli working with each other. Their churches have a modest alliance with each other,” Aedyn says, his priestly knowledge making it difficult to understand this unheard of alliance of rival gods. “But Gabriel is a sworn enemy of Zaria. Their dislike of each other is so strong that it is the reason mortals know about the relations among the gods. Their feud was threatening to shatter the law of influence until the gods deemed mortal knowledge of god relations a neutral zone in regards to the law.”
“Then, this alliance should tell you how dangerous this ancient evil is,” Isaiah replies with an electric snap of his talons.
Aedyn quietly drums his fingers on the table while he thinks. All priests learn about the animosity between Zaria and Gabriel, so it is a belief-shaking revelation that they have working together for centuries. Aedyn can only imagine how dangerous and powerful the coming threat is if sworn enemies are joining forces. Most distressing is that two of his friends are going to do battle with this threat that even the gods fear. The priest rubs his temples as he wonders what he should do. After several minutes of quiet thinking, Aedyn realizes that there is really only one path that he can follow.
“You have made a decision, Lord Karwyn?” Isaiah asks, interrupting the half-elf’s thoughts.
“I will continue with my friends and keep them safe,” Aedyn proudly announces.
“I agree that you should go with them, but we request that you limit your actions on their behalf. It is not your destiny and following them could cost you your life,” the caster politely warns him.
“I understand and I choose to ignore your warnings. Neither of them possess the magic to heal wounds or the caution that some situations require,” Aedyn insists, his eyes daring Isaiah to argue with him. “Besides, they are my friends and I will stand by them.”
“Very well, Lord Karwyn, you have Zaria’s blessing and Durag’s faith to continue with them,” the caster says, accepting his defeat. “You should get some sleep.”
Aedyn yawns and finally realizes how tired he is. “Yes, I was unable to get a full night’s sleep due to the incident with my father. I thank you for your time and information. I will send you weekly reports on our progress. If I happen to come across any other champions or those that I feel might have the potential, I will notify you immediately.”
Isaiah nods approvingly and gently taps his claws on the table. “Good. Fizzle is waiting for you outside. Good luck, Lord Karwyn. The organization is always with you.”
A small handshake and a smile pass between the half-elf and the fireskin. Aedyn shakes his foggy head clear before wandering out of the room on stiff legs. He can still hear Isaiah tapping his claws on the table until he emerges into a weed-covered hallway. The bright light streaming from the open windows blinds him for a second.
“There is something wrong with the light,” he whispers.
*****
“This does bring up a good question. Where is the real Kellia?” Fritz asks as he carefully examines the dead creature. The moist body is starting to smell like vinegar, which becomes stronger once Fritz removes the dagger.
“Obviously, she isn’t in Freedom. What is that thing?” Luke replies before Luciana hands him his clean clothes. “Thanks, Luciana.” He stares blankly at the young gi
rl who is casually sitting on the edge of the bed.
“What?” she asks, her cheeks turning red.
“I have to change, so can you please turn around?” he requests. Luciana turns herself around and Luke is about to strip to his underwear when he notices the full-length mirror in front of her. He walks over to flip the mirror before going to change in a corner.
“I wanted to try,” she mutters with a cute grin.
“If you two are done, I believe I know what this creature is,” Fritz announces.
Luciana meekly states, “It’s a doppelganger.”
“Wrong, my dear. It’s a . . . doppelganger,” Fritz says, a twinge of annoyance in his voice. “I thought you didn’t know what it was.”
“I’m sorry, but I forgot. I was scared and I had only seen one once before,” Luciana admits, nervously fidgeting with her hair. “The royal family uses doppelgangers when a threat has been made or a long journey must be taken. I had to use one once when we caught wind of pirates planning to sneak into the mansion during a large-scaled attack. They wanted to ransom me, but they took the doppelganger instead. I don’t know what happened to her after that though.”
“The pirates were probably killed,” Fritz says, examining the body’s wide, sticky hands. “A doppelganger is very strong and durable when in its true form. This one was in the form of Kellia, so its natural abilities were neutralized.”
“Excuse me,” Luke interrupts. He tucks his shirt into his pants and takes a seat next to Luciana. “I’m glad you two know what is going on here, but I’m still lost. What exactly is a doppelganger and why is it here?”
“I thought that would be obvious,” the gnome laughs.
Luke rolls his eyes and grunts his irritation. “I can see that it’s a shape-shifter and I’ve heard that it works for the royal family. Is there anything that I missed?”
“That’s pretty much it,” Fritz sheepishly admits. “The trick is to figure out when this one replaced Kellia during our journey. Although, it could have been with us since Gaia and the real one was sent to Gods’ Voice ahead of us.”
“No, she was behind us,” the half-elf says, leaning over the body. He turns its faceless head and gently pokes at where the eyes would be. “They sent us ahead with the decoy to set off all the traps and to keep the Lich’s attention on us. The temptation of having all of us on a single ship would be too much for him. I’d be very impressed with the Duke’s plan if I wasn’t so angry.”
“Why are you angry?” Luciana asks.
“I really don’t like being used as a decoy meet,” he replies as he continues poking the corpse.
“Uh, you might not want to keep poking it in the face, especially near the mouth,” Fritz warns him. The old gnome tries to politely move Luke’s fingers away from the body, but his hands are slapped away.
“Even I can see that it doesn’t have a mouth, Fritz,” Luke impatiently snaps. “Anyway, I guess we should deal with the question of when we met the fake Kellia. We definitely started out with the real one. How do these things change . . . ow!”
The hidden mouth of the dead doppelganger clamps around Luke’s finger. The forest tracker can feel electricity running along his finger while he continues to pull. Fritz runs over to help Luke yank his finger free, but they get nowhere until the corpse opens its mouth. The body begins to shiver and change its shape as Luciana inches toward the balcony. The long limbs shrink and gain muscle tone while the head grows pointed ears and blonde hair. The gaping hole in its throat spurts red blood before it closes. It feels like minutes pass, but the corpse has changed into a perfect double of Luke in the span of twenty seconds.
“That answers my question of how it changes shape,” Luke mutters, sucking on his bruised finger.
“Amazing creatures,” Fritz declares, pulling out a scroll and jotting down some quick notes. “If this thing were alive then it would have your memories and a skewed version of your personality. These things are dangerous if they are working for the wrong people.”
“They have our memories? Isn’t that intrusive?” Luciana asks, curiously kneeling a foot away from the body. She topples backwards when the throat wound opens up and spouts foamy, blue blood into the air.
“Looks like it can’t hold a form for that long after death,” Fritz mentions.
“I’m surprised it could change at all,” Luke gasps once his heart rate returns to normal.
“Not too surprising. A doppelganger is composed of a main body and a colony of parasites,” Fritz explains, intently watching the doppelganger change back into its green, featureless form. “The main body is very malleable, which is how it physically changes. The catalysts for changing form are the colonies of parasitic organisms that coat their skin and organs. These parasites also live deep in the brain of the doppelganger, which is how they copy memories. The change is made by specialized electric impulses sent by the brain through the main body. You must have felt some slight shocks when it had your finger.”
“Part of the reason I said ow,” Luke mumbles.
Fritz pats the half-elf on the hand in mock sympathy before continuing. “A doppelganger can change back to its original form by sending a message to its parasite colonies. It requires another taste of the copied form in order to change back. The release of a borrowed form cleanses the brain of all acquired traits, memories, and the personality. This is accomplished by a gland in the brain that activates upon the body changing back into its original form or the doppelganger’s death. It would appear that even after death, the brain still has a little life left in it. The last of its energy was probably used to complete that final change.”
Luke is cautiously staring at the body when a question appears in his mind. “Did you say that it copies the personality?”
“It isn’t a perfect match because they inevitably get something wrong because of the complication of emotions,” Fritz explains, his words flowing a lot slower than his typical lectures. “Mannerisms, fears, memories, and desires are copied because they are stored in the brain at some level, but the emotions that compose a personality are found in the heart and spirit of a person. These are unable to be copied by anything short of necrocasting, psychics, or manipulation magic. It gets even more complicated for a doppelganger that has been employed to mimic a specific person. In this situation, the creature has a pre-existing idea of the person it’s mimicking. This pre-existing idea is used to sort the memories and mold a personality to fit that idea. Most times, this is an ideal version of the target, so it continues flaws that can be easily noticed.”
Luke can tell that the gnome is uncertain about his explanation, but the half-elf patiently listens to the end. “You mean that if someone told this thing how to act then it would act that way instead of using the memories correctly?”
“It’s a flaw of these creatures that we have yet to understand,” the gnome admits.
“In that case, I think I know when we met the fake Kellia,” Luke says with a proud grin.
“Feel free to share this information. My heart is too old for suspense,” Fritz jokes with an exaggerated thump to his chest.
“Remember when she started acting weird the day we left Rodillen? I think the doppelganger was waiting in that city and switched with her during the hours she was alone in the room,” the half-elf explains, getting to his feet and beginning to excitedly pace around the room. “Aedyn put a ward on her door, but he made it so that a person she felt safe with would be allowed to pass through. If the doppelganger were a maid or servant at first then it would have been easy to get upstairs without us thinking twice about it. Once upstairs, it only had to knock on Kellia’s door and show her proof of its true identity to gain her trust and be let in. That would explain why she started insulting all of us and tried to pull rank on Captain Higgs the next morning. This doppelganger was probably told that she was a spoiled noble who needed to be protected and was rude to the help. Duke Solomon might have a defenseless maiden image of his daughter and because of that
the creature didn’t know how Kellia acted around us.”
“How did the floating woman know Kellia was a doppelganger?” interrupts Luciana, who is sitting on the edge of the bed, engrossed in Luke’s words.
“She probably found out about the switch from her contacts in Rodillen, which is why she seemed more interested in going after Nyx and me at the other ports,” Luke quickly answers, feeling some relief at voicing a thought that had dawned on him days ago. “I might be wrong, but it does feel like after Rodillen our enemies stopped targeting Kellia and went after us.”
“All of that makes sense,” Fritz agrees with a crooked smile. “Still, at times the fake Kellia acted like the real one. An example of this would be when she was with Aedyn in Hero's Gate. It would be a safe assumption that a strong personality has the potential to interfere with a pre-existing idea under stressful situations. We can all agree that our Kellia has a very strong personality.”
“She was always difficult,” Luciana mentions wryly.
“One thing doesn’t make sense,” Fritz states, clearing his throat. “Why did Luke leave her unattended in Rodillen of all places?”
Luke runs a hand through his hair and awkwardly mutters, “It really isn’t the time to point fingers for past mistakes.”
“You two are funny,” Luciana giggles.
“We should let Nyx and Aedyn know about this before we show this to Lord Gideon and Lady Adara,” Luke suggests, his cheeks slightly red.
“You don’t have to rush. My parents probably already know about the decoy and nobody has seen Lord Karwyn all day,” the young girl says.
“Then, I guess it will just be me and Nyx talking to our hosts,” Luke responds, trying to hide his annoyance at the thought of Lord Gideon and Lady Adara being aware of the Duke’s trickery. “Can you send a message to Duke Solomon about this, Fritz? I saw a messenger service down the block, but it’s getting late. The place might close up soon. I can do it if you can’t.”
Legends of Windemere: 02 - Prodigy of Rainbow Tower Page 43
