“How did she take the challenges emotionally?”
“Quite well, she didn’t shed one tear even when I pushed her. She is a persistent and tough girl, you can believe me.”
“Great, this is the kind of team member I am looking for. This is all that I wanted to hear from you, you old, heartless whacker! Tell the girl that I want to see her in the afternoon, she should come to the hall of entrance exams, I will be waiting for her at the hour of the cuckoo.”
“I will give her your message, Noan! Are you sure you don’t want to join the training a bit, you old fart?”
“I will pass on it now, my friend. I have other errands to run. I will leave you to continue torturing your novices.” I smacked on the shoulder of the greyish, sturdy Master.
“I will not be easy on them, I have never been. May Dermeron guide you on your way, Noan.”
“You too.”
I turned around and left the training yard, heading towards the lodgement of Durrone, teacher of the theory of dark magic and charms. The old teacher called everyone who had successfully finished the Inquisitor training his son. I was sweating heavily by the time I reached the top of the tower.
“To the intestines dried on the sun, why did it have to be built so high up?”
I drew breath and, taking a deep sigh, I knocked on the door in hopes to find the old Master inside so I didn’t have to climb all these stairs in vain.
“Who is it and what do you want?” a hoarse voice answered from inside, to my greatest pleasure.
“I am Master Noan. I want to inquire about a novice of yours, if I can bother you for a minute, Master Durrone.”
“One moment, son. I will open the door right away but my joints are not as they used to be.”
He moaned and I could hear his shoes shuffling sluggishly on the floor as he stood up from the squeaky chair and came to the door. The lock clicked and the door opened creakily. The wrinkled, hunched Master was standing before me, wearing large spectacles on his hooked nose.
“Come inside, master,” he invited me to the spacious room which was very well lit by the sun shining through the enormous windows.
He shambled back to his desk covered by endless piles of folios – rolls were scattered all around the room.
“There is a bit of a mess here, I wasn’t expecting visitors at this hour. I am studying a new charm and it requires quite a lot of research.”
“No problem, Master, I don’t mind. My room is not the tidiest either.”
“So, who do you want to ask about, son?” he asked and pushed the spectacles up on his nose.
“I am looking for new team members. One of them is a priestess of Velinore, her name is Kirien. I would like to hear about her from you. What can you tell me about her, wise Master?”
“I remember her. I would say that she is a real talent, despite her young age. She was very keen on learning about the theory of dark magic, she was absorbing knowledge like a sponge. She completed all her exams without a mistake. If you want my opinion, son, she is a very determined girl who actively wants to do something on make our world a better place.”
“What do you think, Master Durrone, will she be able to handle all the horrific events that our job entails?”
“I cannot know that, son. I can only say that we have prepared her as much as we could. She is a girl of strong heart, I don’t think that she would escape after the first difficulty. She has a very good relationship with her sister. My view is that it would be a shame to separate them.”
“So if I take one, I should take the other too?”
“By all means, as far as my old eyes allowed me to see, they are more powerful together.”
“Thank you for your time. This is all I wanted to know, Master. Can I ask you to message her that I am going to wait for her in the hall of entrance exams, at the hour of the cuckoo?”
“Naturally, son, I will let her know.”
“I wish you good health, Master Durrone, and thank you for taking the time for listening to me.”
“This is all natural, son, come again, my door is always open for you.”
I said goodbye to the old, hunched Master and I was pondering what my initial impressions would be about them when we would stand face to face. After leaving the tower, I had lunch and was waiting for the little time left to pass by. I stared out of the window in the hall of the entrance exams. The sunbeams were relentlessly struggling with the ever-swirling clouds. Whenever they seemed to conquer for a second, the sky brightened up but there came again another cloud and faded their light. This endless battle was unfolding when I heard knocks on the door.
“Yes, come in,” I replied.
The door slid open and a handsome girl with short, dark brown hair, dressed in a flower-patterned tunic, stepped inside. She was slit-eyed of ocean-blue color, her skin was light. She couldn’t have been more than twenty-five years old. A small medallion was hanging on her neck, depicting a tree of wide crown. She walked graciously, her gaze exuded confidence and determination.
“Greetings, Master Noan. My name is Kirien. I have been informed that you wanted to talk to me.”
“Greetings. Please, take a seat,” I said and sat down opposite her. “I have called you here because you and your sister have aroused my interest. You excelled at the examinations as novices of the Inquisition. As for me, I have lost two members of my team and I am looking for new ones to fill their places. I would like to get to know you a bit more before I give you a chance to work on my team. Please, tell me about yourself. Why did you apply to join the Inquisition? What are your goals?”
“I had a rather strong reason, sir. When my sister and I were children, some members of a demon sect murdered our parents when we were on a journey in Irwaldia. Their leader was a warlock. They would have sacrificed us too in their refuge in the woods for their eight-armed master, Vorlorg, the Dweller of Darkness, if it hadn’t been for the Inquisition who arrived in time to save our lives. They executed the warlock and thrusted swords into his followers. This induced a great change in my life. This is when I had decided that this was what I wanted to devote my life to, helping others and chasing the evil, wherever it might take me. I grew up to be a consecrated priestess of Velinore, but our blood urged us to do more with my sister. Both of us decided to leave our previous lives behind and embark on a journey together.”
“Why did you choose to serve the goddess of nature from the array of gods?”
“I felt her to be the closest to me. I always adored and respected the wild and the creatures living within, from the tiniest beings to the largest ones. Nature is wild and possesses a power that some might not even assume. I wanted to serve the goddess who accepted me as her faithful servant.”
“My take on that is that I get on well with the animals as long as they don’t want to kill me. But this is about you, not about me. How did you find the training?”
“I would do many things differently if I could start over, but basically I gained a lot of new information which will assist me in my fight against the dark forces. I must add though, that I am only willing to join your team if you take my sister too.”
“Do you have such a strong sisterly connection?”
“You can say that but the real reason is that together we form an excellent team, we can almost read each other’s thoughts. You will see that if you take us.”
“I have one last question that I normally ask novices. What is your greatest fear? Please, be honest.”
I observed her body language to see how she reacted to my question. She didn’t hesitate long and she seemed to be telling the truth.
“That my sister dies before me and I will stay alone in this ruthless world.”
“You must really love each other. Well, alright. I have learnt what I wanted to know. Please send your sister in and wait outside. I will make my final decision after having spoken to her.”
“Yes, Master Noan.”
She stood up from the table and walked outside. The
hunched Master Durrone was right, they do want to stick together. A few seconds later, her spitting image entered the hall, wearing dark brigandine armor and two swords crossed on her back. Her hair might have been slightly longer than her sister’s but the fire that blazed in her eyes was identical. I deemed her somewhat more muscular than her sister. I assume it was the wielding of swords had steeled her muscles. She was stone-faced, no emotion at all.
“Greetings, Master Noan. I am Weridan.”
“Greetings. Have a seat. I am looking for new talented novices to my team. I thought that you met my expectations and I would merely like to get to know you more before I make a decision. Please tell me about yourself. Why did you join the Inquisition?”
“I suppose my sister had already told you the tragedy of our family and I would prefer to skip that. I studied to be a sword wielder in my homeland, Irwaldia. I learned everything I needed to know about combat in the school of Jango-hu. I became a sword master, my speciality in two-handed fighting, but you already know this. I joined the Inquisition because I wanted to chastise the people who serve dark forces and hurt others and the Inquisition was the only place to do this legally.” the girl gave what is probably a rare smile.
“You speak well, Weridan, I like your attitude. It is important to be aware of our strong points and our weaknesses alike. What is it that you wouldn’t be capable of? What are your fears?”
I saw it on her face that she was thinking hard about what to say. After brief consideration, she started to speak.
“Maybe kids. I would never be able to hurt children.”
“That is quite a delicate matter, but believe me, you are not alone with this. Your sister mentioned that you were only willing to join a team if you could go together. What is the reason for this?”
“Look, Master Noan, us two are the only ones left for each other. Our studies and our interests had separated us for long years and now we are on the same path again. We don’t want to be separated again and, anyway, we basically feel each other’s thoughts which could be useful in a battle.”
“Who would you attack first in a room if they were all standing in front of you? A wizard about to summon dark forces, a soldier with a crossbow, or an immense warrior holding a battle-axe?”
“The arrow is faster than anything else, so I would attack the crossbow-fighter first, then the wizard muttering his spells. Beware, a few words uttered from this wizard are enough to send us all into misery. I would leave the massive warrior last, although he might be strong and great, he is slow compared to the other two.”
“I can see that your sense of tactics is excellent, it is no coincidence that you excelled at the exams. Normally, I take careful consideration in who to take into my team, I extensively test their strengths and weaknesses but I don’t have time for this now as I have received a new task and time presses me. At last, I want to test your abilities in a fight,” I stood up from the table and drew my sword out. “This is Loomer and it is very curious to see what you are capable of, sword master girl.”
“Are you sure, Master. That this is what you want?”
“Yes, let’s see what you can do!”
She stood up and drew out the blades from her back and took a combat position. I swung Loomer and commenced my attack with a swift thrust. She averted it nicely then blocked my arched dash on her neck and initiated a counterattack which I avoided successfully by bending aside. I thrust again. She turned her hip aside to ward off the attack. These few movements were enough for me to see that the girl was damn good.
“Enough! I must admit, you are an excellent sword-wielder,” I finished the fight and put my sword away.
“Thank you, Master!”
“Please tell Kirien to come inside.”
She nodded, slid her blades back into their scabbards and called her sister. They were both standing in front of me. They pretended to be calm but their body language revealed that they were both very anxious.
“So, novices, my decision is the following. I regret to tell you that both of you are admitted to my team,” I opened my arms. “I regret saying this because I have high expectations from the members of my team but I always try to establish a good relationship. This will be a tough lesson for you. We meet tomorrow morning in the library, I will tell you the details there.”
“Thank you, Master, you can count on us. We promise not to let you down.” they replied with relief.
“This is what I expect from my people. You may leave now.”
They made a bow and disappeared into the corridors.
So, you listened to the request of Funny, huh, Noan? Gusir asked in my head.
I can see the potential in them and I need fresh energy on my team. My decision was not influenced by my brother’s request, believe me.
Sure, sure, keep telling this to yourself but you do not fool me.
You will see how apt these girls are. I had no ulterior motives like you are assuming.
Well, if you didn’t, I did. As I can see, I am beginning to slowly take control over your mind. Soon, you will be craving for my words, like a parched wanderer craves for water on the endless sands.
I would die of thirst sooner than I would let you take control of my decisions.
Don't count your chickens before they are hatched, Noan. This is a wise saying, you should listen to it.
Shut up!
I stretched and was pondering how to find traces of this mysterious relic. What if we find nothing about it in the books? My thoughts soon wandered off to the shapeshifter. I didn’t know much about him, or her, but I would have liked to dig deeper into the matter. I was sorry that I was not charged with this task but I could do nothing about it. Come what may, Dermeron will guide my way if I were to err from the path that he had set for me.
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
The Plan
Kirona was furious when I returned two days ago. It was hard to explain to her what had happened, but of course all I said to her was that Yuraj would not bother us anymore, I didn’t reveal how I had managed to achieve this. I didn’t leave my remuneration to be lost. I returned to the hollow tree with a group of soldiers and took the little pouch with me back to Rockclaw. I locked myself in the bureau and counted the golden dorens that Fergund conferred me with. All three-hundred and fifty dorens were there, not a single coin missing. I checked the precious stones as well and as far as I could judge, they seemed real, they glittered in the sunshine. Time was pressing, we only had two days before we would leave for the harvest ball and we had to arrange everything by then. I took out my opal blue crystal ball and muttered the secret words.
“Zriv al zund,” it flared up with a violet blue colour and the familiar face slowly emerged within.
“Greetings, brother Randar. I have called you because time has come to take the next important step on the long road towards our final goal.”
“Greetings. I have been expecting your call, I am here and listening to you.”
“I am going to ask for the assistance of the Mirror Dweller. I have decided to cast it an important role. If it is possible, you would have to go with it to the mirror world for a short while. When I summon it again, you would arrive together and this way we wouldn’t have to devise plans on how to remain together with the Duke without raising suspicion.”
“This sounds like a bold idea, brother. I would prefer not to stay with that creature in a completely unknown world but if it is feasible, I will take the risk for the sake of our race’s future.”
“Will it attract attention if your current human shape suddenly disappears?”
“I can handle it. I am a simple servant girl in the kitchen of the Duke. I will spread the word that I would look for another place, so no one would search for me if I don’t show up.”
“Great, I will summon Gideur, then and we can hammer out the details.”
“Before you did so, End’horis, I have bad news to tell you. One of our brothers, Alghorond, was killed by the humans. He had been takin
g the place of Countess Cerylen for almost a year.”
“Your words bring sadness and grief to my soul. May Andor guide him in the afterlife. These frail maggots are just breeding like rabbits and we are at the brink of extinction. We must be extremely cautious. However, we must act now, we cannot delay any longer.”
“We are on the same page, brother. I fear, however, our enemies might become aware of our presence.”
“We must take this risk, Randar.”
“We have no other choice. Anyways, it would greatly facilitate things if your strange little friend could indeed come to our aid. Summon it and let’s find out if what you have in mind is viable!”
“We can think of it as the assisting will of Andor. I will instantly start the procedure, stay connected.”
“I will be here.”
I looked for the granite statue of the weird creature that I had hidden in the jewellery coffer. I made a cut on my palm and gripped on it, gazing in the mirror on the table expecting the Alqafka to appear. Within less than a minute, its hunched little figure crawled out of the mirror, straight towards me. Its unblinking sulphur yellow eyes glared at me.
“You have called me again, shapeshifter. What is your request this time?”
“Greetings, mirror-dwelling Gideur! I have another mission for you. Can you see that face in the crystal ball?” I pointed at the magical object on the table.
“Who is it?”
“I can hear everything, Gideur. I am Randar, a friend of End’horis.”
“Another shapeshifter?”
“Yes, he is also a descendant of my race. I have a question to ask: can you take another creature to your world?”
Faceless: The Takeover (The Shapeshifters Book 1) Page 19
