Faceless: The Takeover (The Shapeshifters Book 1)

by Xaiver Morden

  “No, lord Valquor. I am sorry but everyone gets only one chance from me. I thought that the clan of the Slinkers were more gifted than this.”

  “We are, lord dwarf! Our employers have been satisfied with our performance for two years. We have always accomplished our assignments.”

  “Still, you failed at accomplishing my assignment. To cut the matter short, you will not get another chance! The discussion is over. Leave!” he signalled at me irritably with his golden ringed fingers.

  “There is something else, lord Algerind, that I have brought you as compensation. I am sure you will like it,” I took the small mirror from my bag and turned it towards him.

  “What, a bloody mirror? Why do you want to give me this junk?”

  “This is a magic mirror. Look at it closely.” I pushed it closer to him.

  He started examining it with his tiny piggy eyes. All of a sudden, he fell down with his chair, so startled he was. Gideur reached out with its clawed hands and crawled out on the table. The dwarf warriors immediately grabbed their battleaxes.

  “What the hell is this?” the merchant stuttered, pointing at the creature.

  “Finish off the guards, but quietly, Mirror Dweller,” I gave the order instantly.

  The Alqafka was swift to act. It uttered incomprehensible words and pointed at the two guards with its tiny clawed fingers. Just as they were about to raise their battleaxe to kill the odd creature, their hands froze in the air, as if they had hardened into stone. At that moment, they turned against their master and attacked each other against their will. Both of them dropped on the ground, rattling, choking in their own blood. This is some kind of power! I wasn’t disappointed by the mirror demon. Its power had surpassed all my imagination.

  I heard the rustling of a dwarf behind me and knew that the warrior raised its weapon, ready to attack. Fortunately, I snuck out in time, its battleaxe ended up in the desk. I drew Bloodgusher from its scabbard and, taking the opportunity, I stabbed it into his lungs while he was fidgeting with his weapon. The steel blade of Terwaldia easily penetrated between the plates of his scale armour. It was by no chance that I thrusted there, as not a sound left his mouth. He dropped his weapon, made an uncertain step forward and fell on the wooden floor making a loud rattling noise. The merchant pressed his back against the wall, looking at us petrified.

  “Help, he…!” he tried to shout but he snapped at his throat. Gideur was pointing its clawed hands towards him and no more words left his mouth. I stepped closer and placed my blade against his throat.

  “What should I do with him?” the Alqafka asked me, looking at me with its motionless sulphur-yellow eyes.

  “Leave him to me! Let him loose, I want him to speak. You have completed your task. You may now return to your world,” I answered.

  “If you were to ask for my help again, you know what to do and what it costs,” it answered, then went back to all fours and crawled back into the mirror.

  “Why did you do this, Valquor? What do you want from me and what was that dreadful creature?”

  “It is an ally of mine who helps me with arranging a few things,” I was pointing at the creature that was leaving. “And now, I will get what you really know about the attack against the Baron out of you.”

  “Why are you doing this? What benefits do you have from this? No matter how much they pay you, I will pay triple, just don’t hurt me!” he begged, blinking at me with his tiny piggy eyes.

  “No one is paying me, because I am not Valquor. He returned to his god a long time ago,” I said, while transforming my face back to that of the Baron.

  “You, are you a bloody shapeshifter?” He turned pale.

  “Yes and you wanted to murder a bloody shapeshifter. Now I will know the reason why. Stay calm, I promise you it won’t hurt!”

  I covered his mouth and growing another arm from my side, I placed my palm over his forehead. I absorbed each of his memories one after the other, and soon understood who was behind the murder attempt and what his reasons were.

  “All this because of a fucking mine?” I looked down on the merchant who was throwing up his dinner.

  “Do you know how many throats I had to cut for this information? Fuck you, dwarf!”

  I slashed his throat with a routine move and he fell onto the oak floor like a sack of grain, spewing blood.

  It was time for me to get out. With each second I stayed, I increased the chances of being discovered. I cleaned the blade of my weapon and I put the mirror and the little granite statue away in my pocket. I opened the windows to the street, pulled up my hood, and jumped. It was late night, I was hoping that no one would see me or discover what had happened in the room. I got on my horse and headed straight back to the house of the Bishop. I took the shape of Baron Telron and recalled the freshly obtained memories.

  A narrow circle of dwarf merchants, the Goldenaxes, had come in possession of the information that there might be runia minerals under the mines of Kirklander which were much more precious and rarer than silver. No one knew better than the dwarfs as to what the depths of the earth were hiding. If they were suspecting something, it was most probably true that something was there under the surface. Since they maintained a good friendship with Baron Yuraj and knew that Telron would never give it away, they allied with the neighbouring lord to get hold of the production rights of the mine, at any cost. Since I refused its sale in my letter, they sent the assassins to murder me. They would have easily convinced the baroness after my death to give it over in those difficult times, in exchange for a considerable amount. Returning to the house, I lay back to the bed beside the baroness who was not suspecting anything. She woke up as she heard me come back.

  “Where were you at such late hours, my husband?”

  “At the latrine, all this spicy food and the wine were hard on my stomach. I am feeling better now. Sleep, Kirona, we will have to take a long journey tomorrow.”

  “I hope you weren’t out with a woman again, Telron!”

  “I wasn’t, what are you thinking? I am exhausted, woman!” I closed my eyes knowing that I had come to understand everything concerning the attempt on my life.

  CHAPTER SEVEN

  High Priestess of the Shadow Sisters

  We were trying to find any trace of Iriana for the whole day. We had scoured the city and the surrounding area, but our spies had not heard about her. It was as if she had just evaporated.

  In the afternoon, we met at the One Armed Giant to discuss beside a pint of beer what we had managed to find out. Some impertinent flies were buzzing around, but not for too long. Fist had the hobby of catching them with bare hands, collecting them, and then stretching them out as trophies. He had an eye on them now too, looking forward to start the hunt – he caught the first one.

  “Gotcha! Finally,” he said as he squeezed the small pest in his hands and put it down on the table, stretching its wings.

  “Well, what news do you have? Have you managed to find out anything?” I asked my people around the table.

  “We have asked around in the underworld but she didn’t show up anywhere, no one has seen her. She might have even left the city,” Stout answered, scratching his forehead.

  “We have looked through the brothels, no one knows anything there either,” Freckledface added, taking a pull from his pint.

  “Have you also checked inside a few pussies on the way?” Funny asked, grinning.

  “You jealous, Larond?”

  “You bet. Brothels are more appealing than the cemetery or the orchards around he,” he said and shrugged his shoulders.

  “Has nothing come into your sight either?” I asked Funny.

  “Unfortunately no, Master Noan. Our witch was seen nowhere,” he shook his head.

  “I walked through the whole market and all the backstreets but I haven’t found anything apart from a few pickpockets and some of the mob,” Fist said, joining the discussion.

  “She was not seen at the chapels, nor in the pubs, Ma
ster. It’s as if the earth has swallowed her,” Father Tero sighed.

  “So all day we were walking in vain to try to find her. Bloody hell!” I nervously snapped at the table, with such force that the clay jugs loudly clacked against each other.

  “Don’t worry, Master, we will find her. If she is in town, sooner or later she must turn up somewhere.” Fist was trying to calm me down.

  I couldn’t tell him that I was short of time, I estimated that I had a few days left before she would probably kill me. She was getting bolder, the time would soon come for her to take the leap and murder me in the dreamworld – I had to hurry.

  “I really do hope that she would, Fist,” I took a sip from my pint of beer, the beverage running down my throat had a blissful effect on my fatigued, shattered nerves.

  “Master, you look quite anguished. Is everything all right?” asked Father Tero.

  My baggy eyes and wrinkled face gave me away. I couldn’t tell them that the ramador we were after had infiltrated my dreamworld and had been torturing me. This, apart from hurting my pride, would have crushed the team, which was the last thing I needed. I didn’t want them to know that the witch was far more perilous than I had first thought. I was therefore obliged to lie.

  “I haven’t been able to sleep well lately, Father, but I am alright apart from this, thank you.”

  “What if she had already left this region and we are looking for her in vain?” asked Freckledface, looking around.

  “Believe me, brother, she must be here somewhere. Her kind doesn’t just vanish like that. She promised to take revenge and she will keep that oath. She must be here. We won’t give up the search.”

  “It might be so, Noan. What should be our next step?” the Father asked as he stroked his greyish goat beard.

  “Keep your fucking eyes open, that’s all you have to do today. Everyone can do whatever they want. You can go to the brothels, gamble, get wasted, whatever, I don’t care, just be here tomorrow morning and be sober.” I ordered.

  “Yes, Master!” they answered simultaneously.

  They all stood up and left, except for the Father.

  “Noan, you can fool the others but I have been chasing evil for too long. I can see that something bothers you. I cannot help if you don’t tell me what it is.”

  “Thank you for worrying about me, Father, but I have no secrets. I have shared everything with you.”

  “It is not wise to hide anything. I have learned that throughout the years, it only leads to trouble.”

  “Except if I am helping those around me with it.”

  “Well, if you change your mind, you can find me here in the inn.” He stood up and left disappointed.

  I wouldn’t be able to keep it a secret for long that Iriana was tormenting me, causing me sleepless nights and leaving me in severe hardship. The Father was practiced in recognizing this, he must have noticed that I was hiding something. To the blood of bitches, this case is getting more and more complicated. I gulped down the last sip of beer and was about to leave the table when Bonecracker came up to me.

  “Master Noan! A terrible atrocity happened last night in the inn. A renowned dwarf merchant was murdered together with his three guards. I thought you should hear about the tragic incident from me.”

  “Were there any witnesses? How did it happen?” I asked, startled.

  “A strange bloke showed up last night and asked about the merchant. He waited for him to return with his guards, they must have had a business meeting, if you ask me. They went up to his room. In the morning, the servants found the three guards and the corpse of the merchant drenched in blood.”

  “How did this man look like?”

  The old orc was fidgeting with his nose ring. He seemingly revelled in sharing the story.

  “Well, let me think. If memory serves, he had a striking vertical scar under his left eye, his hair was tied in a braid. He was of good strength, a skilled swordsman, he seemed a man of the north to me.”

  “This is quite a detailed description. The bastard will be caught soon.”

  “I hope so, master, nothing of the sort had happened in my inn forso long, may the leprosy take his kind!”

  “Has anyone seen the man leaving the inn?”

  “Unfortunately no, he vanished after he had gone to the merchant’s room.”

  “Based on what you said, he must have been a professional assassin. Only the best ones is able to face three armed men at the same time. If you ask me, he must be far away already.”

  “I hope he will be impaled for having murdered in my inn. I won’t take any more of your time, Master Noan. Have a nice day!”

  “I wish you the same, Bonecracker, good day to you as well!”

  Father Tero and Fist stayed for some drinks at a neighboring table. Funny, Stout, and Freckledface were looking for some entertainment in the city after the hardship of the last few days. My body was craving for some rest. It had been a long time since I could have a decent respite, so I went up to my room. I lit a candle and grabbed my sacred symbol to offer an evening prayer to Dermeron.

  “My God! You, who are guiding me even in the darkest of hours, I beg you to protect me from the luring evil that is all around us. Spread your pure, omnipotent light in my soul so that I can resist the temptation of the evil, like a massive shield resists the frail blow of the axe!”

  I was lying on the table, knowing that I shouldn’t fall asleep, but I couldn’t resist long before an alluring voice took me to the dreamworld. I was mesmerized by its soft whisper, like a child when he experiences something entirely new from the infinite wonders of the universe. I found myself tied to the thick trunk of a Scots pine. Dense, impassable milky fog was swirling all around. My Inquisitor brethren were standing beside me with a whip in their hands and a crazy smile on their faces. Flicking the sleek ends the whip in the air, they cracked it at me, ripping up the skin on my chest and belly. I wanted to shout but no sound left my lips no matter how hard I tried. They tortured me, one by one, and only untied me when my whole body was covered by bleeding wounds. I dropped to the ground, powerless. I did not have the strength to stand up. The silhouette of a woman emerged from the dense, milky fog. Her ice blonde, curly locks were hovering sinisterly and she floated to me with a malicious smile, like a mirage drifting above the earth. I could sense her evil presence as she neared. With a firm move, she sent my people back, tore my trousers down, and sat on my lap, moving her hips back and forth. She mounted me began making fucking me wildly. I couldn’t do anything against it no matter how hard I struggled. When she finished, she bent over me and whispered into my ears:

  “If you believe that this is a dream, wake up, Inquisitor Master!”

  My eyes suddenly popped open and to my greatest astonishment, the real Iriana was sitting on me in the bed, my trousers were pulled down to my knees. The light of the moon infiltrated through the window and shed light on her nude body which was as ashen as snow. The act had just ended. Some kind of supernatural power suddenly flew her back to the corner of the room where she landed smoothly like a cat. I pulled up my trousers, feeling embarrassed, then reached towards my weapon.

  “You have slept with the woman who you are chasing and who killed one of your people, how pathetic!” she laughed with a sharp, catchy voice. “What would your fellow inquisitors say if they learned about this?”

  “Enough with your blasphemy, I will slash you into two, you lecherous wench!” I dashed Loomer towards her but only stabbed the air. Amidst a puff of smoke, emitting an eerie laughter, she unexpectedly appeared in the other side of the room.

  “I will haunt you each night until you will be begging for your own death! I can feel that your power is slowly escaping you and you will soon resign to your fate!” her narrowed turquoise eyes were casting wicked sparks at me.

  “Never! I will find you, you fucking bitch and I will kill you!” I turned towards her holding tight onto the hilt of my sword not to miss the target this time.

  �
�You can try, Master Noan!” she laughed, then disappeared from my sight with another puff of a dense smoke, before I could even take a step forward.

  I looked out of the window, both moons were shining bright on the starry sky. So, this is how she got into my room, travelling by the light of the moon. Highly experienced women pursuing dark magic are capable of travelling by moonlight. She could have killed me again, but the high priestess of the Shadow Sisters this time contented with humiliating me.

  “This ramador is shrewd and highly unpredictable. Bloody hell, the damned witch screwed me hard!” I kicked into the wall angrily. “Why are you torturing me, my god, what have I done?”

  I lit a candle and took a piece of paper, hoping that my mage friend had messaged me. I rolled out the buff parchment, and thanks to my prayers, a text began to unfold in front of my eyes.

  Greetings, Noan,

  I haven’t received news about you for long. I am disappointed to hear about the trouble that you had got into. Dream magic is no joke, if someone is killed in their dreams, they will pass away in real life as well, but you surely know this well. The ramador is indeed powerful if she had managed to infiltrate your mind. I had erected magic shields to provide protection against such attacks, but apparently they were too weak. I cannot delay, the urgency of the case is imperative, therefore you can expect my arrival on the day of Galrond. With joint forces, we increase our chances of tracking her down to eliminate her once and forever, regardless of whatever power she possesses!

  Your old friend,

  Motari

  The text flared up as I had finished reading, then completely vanished. It was amazing news for me that my old friend was going to arrive the next day. I was in dire need of his knowledge and expertise in magic. We had saved each other’s lives a couple of times already since we met at least thirty winters ago. I went back to bed relieved. My haggard body was smarting, I could feel the traces of the whiplash on my skin, although none of the wounds were visible. With great difficulty I managed to fall asleep, I was hoping that an undisturbed night was ahead of me this time. I was shaken awake by someone pounding on my door.