“How did this demon get here?” he pushed his staff ending in an open winged eagle to my chest. “You must have summoned it somehow, speak!”
“I don’t know, Motari. You are the Arch Mage of the court, not me,” I replied.
“I will soon find out, you maggot. You cannot hide a magical object from a mage. I sense them.” He closed his eyes and holding his hand towards me, began focusing sharply.
“I know now! I can sense the presence of an object exuding magic,” he cried out in a few seconds, slid his hands into my pocket and pulled out the statue of the weird creature. “This is what you used to summon it, isn’t it? This hazardous object must be closed up! It cannot get into the hands of anyone of your kind!” He said and carefully placed it carefully under his caftan.
“Would you take care of this bastard for a second?” Noan asked the Arch Mage.
“Of course, you can leave him to me.”
Noan went to the monk and the other knight who were pulling out the broadsword from the chest of their fellow.
“He didn’t survive, he died instantly,” Funny shook his head with grief.
“We didn’t expect a demon to be here, only a fucking shapeshifter! If it hadn’t been for Motari, all of us could have kicked the bucket. Rest in peace, brother.” Funny closed Father Tero’s still open eyes. “Fist, Funny, bring our brother with you, we will leave soon.”
“Aye, Master,” the bald monk replied.
He stepped to the girl still on her knees and put his hands on her shoulder.
“We will have time to mourn our comrades, Kirien. The sacrifice of the Father was an exemplary deed.”
“He wanted to save me and he paid that price with his life!” She wiped her tears, sniffling.
“Everything has its time. It was now that the gods decided to call up him. He fell in battle, his death is worthy of an Inquisitor,” Noan said as he helped the girl stand up.
“Master! Are you sure that this is not the real Duke?” the other twin girl asked as she hugged her sister to comfort her.
“Of course, and I will prove it to you! Motari, do you still have the poison of the mushroom?”
“Yes, Noan, I have it here with me,” he threw a vial containing some muddy liquid to me.
He took the cork out, grabbed me, and forced its content into my mouth.
“Swallow it, you fucking pest, swallow it all!” he forced me to gulp down the bitter drink. “This is a poison producing acute symptoms, Motari and i know its effects well. You will see that this creep is not impacted by it at all.”
Our body made us immune to all these compounds. I had no idea what kind of poison they forced into me, so I didn’t know how to act. Since most poisons induced muscle contortion, I tried to simulate that, if I was lucky and it would work out, I would light the flame of doubt among them. I dropped down and contorted my muscles amid raving roars.
“Enough of the simulation, you bloody rat! You have failed at pretending.” Noan bent closer to me. “This compound only causes minor sickness, maybe nausea, or dizziness. Stand up now, you bastard!” he kicked me as an encouragement.
I was discovered, I couldn’t do anything. I couldn’t mislead them. They were too well-prepared, and I felt helpless and furious to have been captured like this.
“Motari, do you still have some power left to open a magic portal to the fortress?”
“I will try, although my reserves have been mostly depleted,” he answered with a fatigued voice.
“Stop right there!” shouted Victoria as she entered the room with her guards. “First I need to get out of this rat where the real Orlond is!”
“We don’t have much time, Duchess! We must take him to the center of the Inquisition where we can interrogate him properly,” Noan said.
Victoria came to me, her face showing nothing but contempt.
“Spit it out, shapeshifter, or whatever you are, where is my real husband?”
“But I am standing here in front of you! I am Orlond!”
“I could see it with my own eyes that you drank the poison that I had given to you with some days earlier! You are not a human and you are not my husband!”
It was futile to pretend anymore that I was the Duke. I changed my strategy, I had nothing more to lose.
“You will never know, Victoria.” I smiled and then she spat on my face out of fury.
“Take this away from my sight before I stab a knife into his heart!”
“Instantly, your majesty!” Noan dragged me away.
The girl in the dark brigandine armor and her sister lifted the dead Father off the ground.
“You will not get away with this! You have committed high treason, you will all hang on the gallows. You too, Victoria!” I shouted at her. Noan turned to me and punched me in the face so much that blood gushed from my lips.
“I have always wanted to punch a monarch, even if it’s just an impostor. I never thought that it would feel so good! I am an inch away from disemboweling you but unfortunately, we need you alive. We must learn a lot about your race if we are to be rid of you for good.”
Motari circled with his staff, muttering some words and the air began to sizzle and vibrate as the passage among spaces materialized in the hall.
“Come on, everybody, go through the gate! The guard of the palace is going to break through our barricade soon! As soon as we interrogate him, we will notify you, your majesty, about what we had learned about the real Duke!” Noan shouted.
“Go, may Dermeron guide you, Master!” she waved to us sadly.
Due to my sharp hearing, I could hear how the soldiers were trying to smash in the doors a floor below us. I was pushed through the magic portal and I found myself in a completely unfamiliar environment. This was not the palace anymore. How could this happen? How could I have committed such an error of not noticing that these trash of humans were behind me? This couldn’t be the end of my road, this was not what Andor had set for me.
CHAPTER NINETEEN
In Captivity
I pushed the shapeshifter through the magic portal and followed him through the passage of sizzling energies. Motari was the last one to arrive and the flashing gate closed after him. I looked at the members of my team who were grief-stricken and tense due to the death of Stout and Father Tero, who lost their lives during the battle against the demon.
“Listen to me! Our mission has been accomplished, even if we paid a high price. Take the dead to the mortuary so that we may bid them a proper farewell. Motari and I will take the captive to the council and tell them what had happened. I hope the Grand Master will act wisely in this delicate matter.”
“Do you really think that you can achieve anything with this? You are mistaken, we have infiltrated your circles, you cannot stop us!” the monstrosity was yelling, still wearing the body of the Duke.
“What if this bastard is telling the truth?” asked Funny, as he took off his knight’s helm.
“Then we are in great trouble, Larond. The least people are aware of this delicate issue, the lower the chances are that the other fucking shapeshifters would hear about our action. Not a word to anyone!” I explained our situation to everyone.
“How should we proceed, Master?” asked Weridan.
“Let’s meet here in half an hour to discuss options.”
“Alright, Master, we will be here,” said the sword-wielding girl.
She lifted the corpse of Father Tero with Kirien and they left for the mortuary, followed by Funny and Fist who were carrying Stout’s lifeless body.
“Come on, move!” I pushed the bastard.
We headed straight to the council hall with Motari amidst startled gazes of the people we encountered when they saw how I was jostling the tied Duke in front of me.
“Idiots, you will regret this! Whatever you might be planning, you are bound to fail!”
“You could really stop this now, shapeshifter! We are in the center of the inquisition. There are good chances that you will never see
the sun again,” I explained.
“This is a historical moment, my friend. I think you might even be promoted when they hear that you have captured a shapeshifter alive,” said Motari, as he was stroking his beard.
“That might be true, fellow. This is the first fucking time in the history of the inquisition,” I raised my chin with pride.
We arrived at the giant double gate which was relentlessly guarded day and night by the knights of the inner circle. There were six guards standing in full plate armor in front of the gate, their hands resting on the hilt of their swords.
“Report the Grand Master that I have come with an important captive, a shapeshifter!”
“Is the Duke the shapeshifter, Master Noan?” one of them asked.
“Don’t believe this fool, he kidnapped me and took me here with force!”
“I’ve had enough of your sassing!” I took a cloth and tied it tightly on his mouth. “Come on, pull your finger out, we can’t cool our heels here all day!” I hurried the amazed knights.
They looked at each other, shrugged their shoulders, and one of them knocked on the door that was soon opened a crack. The knight disappeared and returned within a short while.
“Master Noan, they are ready to receive you. All three of you may enter.”
I looked at Motari and saw a faint smile flickering across his face worn-out from the casting of spells.
“After you, my friend. This is the great moment we have been waiting for,” he said, gesturing me forward.
I entered the room with confidence, tightly squeezing the shapeshifter’s arm. The Grand Master and two older members of the council were sitting at the enormous silver pine table. I headed straight to them.
“Order and glory, brother Inquisitors!”
“Order and glory, Master Noan!” they all replied together.
“Greetings to the wise men of the Inquisition!” Motari greeted them too.
“I have been informed that you have captured a shapeshifter, Master Noan. Would that be Duke Orlond?” the Grand Master inquisitor asked me, pointing at the tied captive behind me.
“Yes, this monstrosity is a shapeshifter. Don’t be deceived by his looks, this is not the monarch of Therwold.”
“Take the bandage off and let him speak,” Oppenor commanded, to which I obeyed.
“This is all a lie! This lunatic man and his team attacked me and kidnapped me from my palace. The arch mage of my court turned against me! This is high treason, I demand justice!”
“Shut up, you rat, I didn’t tell you that you could speak!” I kicked him in the stomach and he fell on his knees heaving.
“Tell us, what is this all about, Noan?” the old inquisitor, left of the Grand Master, asked.
“As you wish. My old friend, Motari messaged me, asking for my help. I requested permission to leave from Master Dorodian and I went to my friend in the ducal court.”
“The Master had notified us about your sudden departure which surprised all of us, but please, continue,” one of the old masters added.
“Duchess Victoria and Motari began suspecting that something was not going right with the Duke as he had started behaving in strange manners. He had forgotten about important dates and seemed like he was not himself. We began investigating the reasons in secret. I had utilized all my knowledge to discover what was behind the problem but our efforts had been futile. His excellency was not stricken by neither a disease, nor a curse, and was not possessed by anything either. Finally, it occurred to me that we might be facing a shapeshifter, like in the case of Countess Cerylen. I applied the only known method of uncovering such a creature, we submitted him to the poison test and my suspicion was justified. Naturally, we did not use a deadly poison, but one that produced only minor effects. We had agreed to capture the impostor. I returned here to the fortress for my team, and fortified with the invaluable help of Motari and the Duchess, we attacked and captured the shapeshifter that is standing before you. This is anything but human, brother inquisitors.”
“This is a rather adventurous story, Master Noan,” Oppenor said. “So, you revealed that he was not a human by poisoning the Duke?”
“Not exactly. We had given some of the poison to Duchess Victoria, it was her that took this important step. She wanted to look into the matter herself,” added Motari.
“Before taking the creature here, I also gave some poison to him to see it with my own eyes. The poison had no impact on him,” I said.
“You are rather daring, Noan, I must say. Who else have you informed about this highly delicate matter?” the Grand Master asked.
“Only my team, Motari, the Duchess, and myself. I handled the issue with the utmost discretion.”
“You did well, Noan. It is in everyone’s interest that the truth isn’t revealed. It would have unimaginable consequences if the news were to be made public. Did you manage to find out what happened to the real monarch, the Duke of our country?”
“Unfortunately no, we have yet to get that out of him,” I cast a despising glare at the shapeshifter next to me.
“We have never succeeded in capturing one of these peculiar creatures alive. Accept my sincere appreciation, Master Noan. There is only one thing left, to detain this fake Duke. Guards!” shouted the Grand Master. The massive double gate opened and four knights entered the hall.
“Take Master Noan and arch mage Motari and throw them in the dungeon!”
“What?” I cried out while four knights surrounded us and drew out their weapons.
“Master Noan and arch mage Motari, I arrest you with the charges of high treason! Confiscate their weapons and the staff of Motari!”
“This is madness!” I shouted.
“I have told you that we were everywhere, you damn inquisitor,” the shapeshifter whispered into my ears with a smile.
I saw no point in fighting against my own people, they were only obeying a command. I wouldn’t have been able to defeat them anyway, they were knights of the inner circle, they were the most deadly swordwielders I knew. Moreover, Motari was extremely exhausted after the battle against the demon. I knew that my whole team was in danger.
“Have you infiltrated these circles as well, you dreadful rats? We will eradicate each and every of you!” I shouted with anger.
“Master Noan, you have gone insane! I will pray to Dermeron to forgive your sins. Take the captives and lock them in the dungeon!” the Grand Master said.
“Hand your weapons and the staff over, we will not ask you again!” one of the knights yelled, holding his sword in front of his chest, ready to strike.
Kill him! Kill all the fucking shapeshifters and all their servants, Noan! the voice of my dark side demanded. Although I didn’t mean to, I found myself grabbing the hilt of Loomer, I almost drew my sword out of fury. Motari looked at me tensely and put his hand on my shoulder.
“My friend, I believe the time has come to…” he smacked the ground with his staff and within a blink of the eye, we were in my room before anyone could intervene. “…to get out of here!” he finished his sentence.
“May worms feast on their flesh! So they have infiltrated even the inquisition!” I kicked the first chair I found in my fury.
“I was as startled as you are, my friend. They must have been planning all this for a long time and we walked right into it. I assume they are taking the places of all the people in important positions, one by one. After that, they can easily control history by starting wars and devastating countries.”
“I swear that I will keep fighting against them as long as I have power in my veins! I take a fucking faceless bastard alive and bump into even more goddamn shapeshifters! How long have they been controlling the Inquisition?”
“I don’t know, Noan, but their first step will be to come here, so we better hurry!”
“You’re right, I am just so nervous, my head is about to explode! Let me pack a few things and go to the mortuary to get the others. Then we will get out of here!”
“Where do you want to go, my friend? Soon we will be wanted criminals all over the duchy. Headhunters will surely be behind us!”
“I don’t know but I will find out.”
I was not surprised, Noan, I have always suspected that these slimy worms have infiltrated our circles. You can only trust those who you submit to the poison test and they pass.
I must agree with you now, Gusir. As you can see, I am in great hurry and have no time to discuss this delicate matter with you.
I will be here, Noan, I’m not going anywhere. You can call me any time if you need advice.
I might go even more insane but I will call you if the situation deems it necessary.
The voice that was awakened in my mind after defeating Iriana silenced in my head. I chucked a few magic potions and magic objects in a buff-leather side bag, including the magic parchment. I carefully opened the door to look around in the corridor but I saw nothing suspicious.
“Alright, we can go now,” I signaled to Motari.
Speeding up our steps, we nearly pushed the people who crossed our way over. After descending two levels on the stairs, we finally entered the underground mortuary. I noticed the members of my team as they were praying over the bodies of our dead comrades, holding candles in their hands. There were only a couple of others working down here. I didn’t know how much time we had left so I had to inform them about the situation.
“Master, have you already finished at the council?” Fist asked.
“Tell us, how did they react to the news that you brought a shapeshifter to the inquisition?” Kirien asked, with bright eyes, almost as though she was excited to hear the answer.
“Listen to me! We have very little time so I will briefly tell you what the fucking situation is! Shapeshifters have penetrated the council, Oppenor Grand Master and at least two other masters, Gaido and Zuron are not humans for sure.”
“What?” their eyes widened.
“Let me continue! They turned against us and wanted to arrest us when we told them the story in the great hall with Motari. Fortunately, my mage teleported us away so now we all have to flee! They will probably want to arrest you as well with the charge of high treason. The captive had fled and will presumably sit back on the throne.”
Faceless: The Takeover (The Shapeshifters Book 1) Page 27
