“Throw away your weapon or you will end up like your friend!” I shouted at the wounded assassin.
We cornered him with Hrindel, he had no chance to escape. I grabbed the Bloodgusher with both hands while we were glaring at each other. The injured man was preparing for our attack in a defensive position, clenching his teeth, hoping that one of us would commit a mistake. Three more soldiers rushed into the room.
“We beat off the invaders, my lord, they either escaped or died!” they shouted to us, gasping for breath.
“This is your last chance!” I warned him again. He was now surrounded by the five of us.
I saw him considering his options, then he lowered his head and his weapons.
“To hell with it, alright!” he threw away his sword and raised his hands.
The soldiers took him and made him sit down on a chair, carefully tying his hands and legs. He was searched, and two more hidden daggers were taken away from his boots. The baron had experienced a few dangerous situations in his life, but nothing that could compare to this one. He could always count on Hrindel, and luckily for me, he didn’t let me down either.
“If it hadn’t been for you, these bastards might have succeeded!” I said, turning towards the One Eyed, as I was putting my sword back into its scabbard.
“This is my duty, my lord, to look after you! I wouldn’t have forgiven myself if something horrible had happened.”
“This is why I chose you to be my guard. You have fulfilled your duty conscientiously, for many years now,” I patted his shoulder appreciatively.
Kirona came to me crying and she hugged me.
“To Ismar, my husband, are you alright? I thought they would kill us!”
“Everything is fine. It’s over now,” I tried to console the agitated baroness.
“You’re hurt,” she looked at the wound on my shoulder, wiping her tears.
“This is nothing, just a scratch,” I said and gave a kiss on her forehead.
“Sit down quickly, this wound has to be stitched immediately,” she commanded.
She made the servant girls bring some strong spirits, rags, needles, and thread. She thoroughly disinfected the needle, then one of the girls cautiously started stitching the wound. Kirona was too afraid to do it herself as her hands were still trembling after what had happened.
“Hrindel, I want a report!” I turned towards the guard while the servants were taking care of my wound.
“There might have been about a dozen invaders, your lordship. We killed five, the rest escaped. We lost three of our own and we have four with light injuries. We don’t know yet who they were and for what reason they attacked you, sir.”
I had to find out who had devised this plan and why the Baron was targeted. Our whole plan is in jeopardy because of what happened tonight. I didn’t want to wait for another attack against me. Much preparation had preceded us getting to where we are now with my brothers. One attack cannot hinder us from reaching our goals. I decided to take matters into my own hands, making use of my supernatural powers. Since nothing similar had ever happened to the baron, I could risk averting from his usual habits and interrogate the captive personally. It wouldn’t raise suspicion under such circumstances.
“How the hell could this happen?” I cursed.
“The guards outside were ambushed with crossbows. We confronted them and started the fight in the inn, sir.”
“You held your ground well. Hrindel, please take care of the baroness yourself. For the rest of the night, everyone should be on the lookout. Now leave me with the cutthroat,” I looked at the men sharply, not accepting any contradictions.
“Yes, my lord. As you wish,” the soldiers nodded after eyeing me more a few seconds too long.
The fat inn-owner showed up in his gown and a tasselled cap, holding a lamp.
“I hope you are all okay, your lordship.”
“Yes, fortunately nothing grave happened. Thanks be to the gods that we are still alive.”
“No such disgrace has ever happened in my inn, I can assure you, your honour! What can I do for you to compensate for this horrible attack?”
“Nothing for the moment, go back to sleep, we will discuss the rest in the morning. Off you go!”
“As you wish sir,” he bowed and quickly disappeared through the door, trying to avoid causing more unpleasantness for himself.
“Kirona, you stay with Hrindel!”
“Why don’t you leave this work to your soldiers?” she asked, sounding worried.
“I have to take care of this personally.”
“If you so wish, let it be, but please watch out for yourself, dear husband.” She looked me with worn eyes.
“Are you sure you don’t want me to stay, my lord?” Hrindel asked.
“No, I can take care of it myself. You watch out for the baroness.”
I hugged and kissed her on the lips before the One Eyed took her outside. She was still severely disturbed. The soldiers grabbed the corpse of the other assassin, took it out and closed the door. I took a chair and sat down facing the captive, eyeing his restraints.
“And now it is time for us to talk, you and me,” I said.
“I will not tell you anything. You are a dead man, Baron!”
I bent closer to him, smiling, putting both of my hands on his shoulder, and whispered.
“The real baron is already dead. I will make you confess everything, believe me!” I smiled.
He frowned as I placed my palms on his forehead. The whole of his body began shaking as the process of copying the memories had started. The images followed each other quickly in his head. He was trying to resist but the ropes were holding him tight. Within a few seconds I was in possession of some useful information.
“Who are you?” he moaned, perplexed. He was still dizzy from the memories that were recalled.
“Who am I? My name is Cortel Farland,” I said, grinning wide.
“But that’s me! How do you know my name?” he stuttered.
“From you, you miserable bastard!”
I started the transformation, copying the face of the man. His pupils widened and his jaw dropped as he gazed upon his spitting image.
“How is this possible? Are you some kind of wizard?”
“Worse. I am a Zauron. But you would know nothing about us, you imbecile. I have no further use of you,” I hushed him and pushed my sword into his eyes up to the hilt. This resulted in very little external bleeding and immediate death.
It was a hazardous but possibly fruitful opportunity to visit my attackers. I wanted to know about them. He founded the band two years ago, their current leader was called Valquor. They called themselves the Slinkers and they made quite a lucrative business for themselves. Farland joined them about half a year ago. They had a reputation all through the underworld of the duchy. I knew I was short of time to explain to the assassins why I was delayed so much. I made a cut on the shoulder part of the brigandine armor, where I was injured. I took the bandage off and removed the stitches to pretend it was a fresh wound, just to stay on the safe side. I had to make a cut on my side as well, because the armour was splattered with blood and was damaged around that part. I knew exactly where they retreated. Their camp was around two miles away, in the woods by the village, to the west. I undressed, and I removed all the clothes from the dead assassin as well, putting his clothes, his armor, and my dagger in a bag, tying it carefully. I couldn’t go on foot, it would have taken too much time. I had to summon the ancient power of my race. At the beginning of time, when Andor created us, we were able to take the shape of not only of humanoids, but of any kind of animals that had a similar size to our own. Over time, we gradually lost this ability however, our ancestors saved the knowledge in our magic balls. This allowed us to summon this power but it depleted the magical object so much that we could only use it once every nine or ten days, and the ability lasted for only an hour. I opened the window and took my crystal ball, which I always had with me, from my travellin
g chest. I whispered the words of my people.
“Operiem von nu doll.” The ball flashed with light, and a second later I could feel how the ancient power spread throughout my body.
My hands transformed into wings, I grew feathers all over my body, my feet turned into strong claws, and a sharp, hooked beak grew at the place of my mouth and nose. I transformed into a fully developed rock eagle. I grabbed the bag that I had tied earlier with my claws and flew out the open window, flying into the night towards the camp of the assassins.
I quickly left the tiny village behind as I flew up high, riding the wuthering eastern winds. I was quietly soaring to my destination above the high-reaching crowns of the forest trees. Thanks to my keen eagle-vision, I quickly spotted a fire in the forest. The location that I gained from the assassin through the memory-drain was correct, so I landed in the vicinity, amongst the trees. I transformed back into a human shape, taking the body of Farland Cortel. I put on his clothes and his armor.
It had already stopped raining, but raindrops still fell from the leaves of the trees. I noticed a slight light among the trees, not too far from the place I landed. I snuck closer to have a better look. I could make out some words of a conversation. I was sure that I was at the right place, it must be the camp of the assassins. One of the guards heard me stepping on a branch that broke with a crackling noise under my feet.
“Who’s there? Reveal yourself or I will shoot an arrow between your eyes!” he shouted at me, holding his crossbow in my direction.
“Calm down, fat Loren, it’s me, Cortel,” I stepped out from behind the trees, holding my hands up high.
“It’s you, you bastard? We already thought you got slayed by the baron!” He was surprised to see me but the robust man lowered his crossbow.
“I almost did but I managed to escape through the upstairs window. I twisted my ankle up good as I fell, goddamnit,” I limped towards him.
Four people were sitting around the fire, all dressed in black, two guards were standing a bit further away. Some of them were injured.
“Well, well, look who came in from the dark. Sit with us, brother,” one of them said, gesturing me to come over It was Valquor, the leader of the gang.
“Thank you, boss. I got totally soaked!” I sat down at the fire next to him.
Probably of northern origin, he was taller than the average, and seemed to have immense strength. A striking vertical scar ran down under his left eye, his brown hair was tied in a tail. The flames of the fire danced wildly beside us, shedding light on his troubled face. He was holding a flask in his hand, he took a deep sip and handed it over to me.
“Take this, have a sip, you deserve it as far I can see.”
“Thank you,” I took a sip from the strong spirit which burned my throat and spread warmth throughout my drenched body.
“We didn’t see you jump out of the window, Cortel.”
“You must not have been lookin’ hard enough.”
“It must have been hard to get away with a twisted ankle. How come they didn’t capture you as you escaped?” he asked, turning towards me.
“They had no bloodhounds and were more concerned with the wound I gave the Baron.”
“Are you sure they didn’t followed? I don’t want trouble here.”
“I am not out of my mind, boss. I stopped many times and made sure I wasn’t being followed,” I answered confidently.
“What happened in the room upstairs, Cortel? You were supposed to shoot an arrow in the baron with Xodal. This was supposed to be done quickly,” he kept stabbing his hunter dagger in the tree trunk to calm his nerves.
I recalled the memories of the assassin to describe everything exactly as he saw it.
“We climbed up the southern side of Goldenbeam. Walking through the shabby roof, we found the window of the room the source indicated and carefully climbed down and unlocked the window. We did it flawlessly, not making any noise and such. We entered holding our crossbows, but before we could shoot, the baron surprised and attacked us.”
“You couldn’t have been so quiet if he had heard you, you bastard!”
“We were as silent as the dead, boss! I swear to you!” I placed my left hand over my heart to make it sound more credible. This is what Cortel used to do too, so I took this habit of his.
“Carry on!” He shook his head.
“So we started close combat. The bastard Baron cut me on my shoulder and on my side. He fought well but we cornered him and would have defeated him if it hadn’t been for his guard, that one-eyed beast that appeared. He killed Xondal, he simply stabbed him like a dog. Like it was nothing. Then I turned to the window and jumped out before they could grab me, twisting my fuckin’ ankle in the process.”
“Show me your injuries?” he kept on playing with his dagger, looking uninterested.
“Sure thing, boss.”
I took off my armour and showed the wounds on my shoulder and my side.
“Hmm. You weren’t pulling my leg you son of a bitch! You’re lucky, I hate if someone lies. Let’s move on. We have had futile missions before but we really cocked this one up! We cannot expect any payment for this. Tomorrow, I’ll go to Tizland to talk to our commissioner in person. I will try to ask for one more chance.”
So, there was someone in Tizland who commissioned them to murder me, well the Baron. I must find out who that was? I could only achieve that by copying Valquor’s identity, he would never reveal it otherwise. His people never questioned who the jobs were coming from, it would raise suspicion if I did that now. It would be risky but I had been in similar situations before and I always got out of them.
“I don’t know, boss, can we succeed at another attack? Especially now that they are expecting us?” one of the assassins asked.
“Listen, Spike! We took the job, we can’t back off now that we encountered some difficulties. The reputation we built with blood will be lost if we don’t correct our mistake.”
“True, but we have lost many and a lot of us are injured.”
“I don’t give two shits! This is a part of this job! Next time, we will be smarter and use poison. I suggest everyone get some sleep. Tomorrow, we will get a healer to take care of the wounds. Change the guard to every three hours,” he said as he threw a big log onto the fire. “And now I take my ass to rest. Only disturb me if strangers are coming, especially if they’re women!”
“This was a fucked assignment, Cortel.”
“Indeed, Spike. I almost kicked the bucket,” I said to the man sitting opposite me.
“Let’s head to bed.”
I didn’t have to wait for long, everyone was snoring within half an hour. Even the guard dozed off. I stood up from my blanket and stepped beside the gang leader who was sleeping on his back. I grabbed his neck with one hand, covered his mouth with the other. His eyes popped, he tried hard to resist but couldn’t escape my grip. Having a thorough knowledge of the human body, I knew I had to quench the veins going to the brain to make him lose consciousness. He did so very soon, with no one noticing anything around us. I placed my palms over his forehead and within a few minutes I finished obtaining all his memories.
I had to look for a rusty-bearded dwarf merchant called Algerind who stayed at the One Armed Giant’s Inn in Tizland. I cut his throat as a matter of routine and he perished in silence. I carefully wiped the blade in his clothes, and, my purpose accomplished. I quietly left. I undressed and tied the clothes again into a pack so that I could carry it. I had to hurry because the ancient force was about to leave me. I began the transformation, and taking the shape of the rock eagle again, I grabbed the bag and flew up high. I was approaching the Goldenbeam with vast flaps of wings, the scenery changing rapidly around me. Soon, I could see the village and the inn emerging in the darkness. I descended and was flying towards the open window with great clarity; it was a matter of minutes before I would not be able to keep myself in the shape of an eagle anymore. I landed in the room just in time, I shivered and unwillingly
transformed back to my original shape. I stood up from the floor. I had been close to breaking my bones after falling from this height, but luck hadn’t abandoned me.
The corpse of the cutthroat was lying where I left him. I quickly undressed and put his clothes back on him, put him back on the chair and tightly tied him to it. I dressed up as Telron and transformed back into his body. Not even an hour had passed since the soldiers left us in the room, I didn’t think I would have been the object of suspicion yet. I opened the door and saw Hrindel’s armored shadow at the flight of stairs as the sound of the squeaking door shook him up from his doze.
“I’m done. I learned some useful information but he didn’t make it in the end,” I shrugged.
“The bastard only got what he deserved. What did you manage to get out of him?”
“I don’t want to tell it just yet. Take the corpse out of the room, I’m going to check on the baroness. Tell the owner that I want a copious breakfast. A big breakfast,” I was beginning to feel hungry from all the transformations.
“Yes, my lord!” he nodded and went off to arrange things.
I opened the door and saw that the baroness was sleeping quietly, the events of the night must have upset her, so I left, not wanting to wake her up. I went back to my room as two soldiers were carrying the corpse downstairs. Soon, a servant arrived with a substantial breakfast a pigeon pie which I quickly finished, alleviating my insatiable hunger. I might need the help of the mirror-dwelling creature, as the dwarf merchant will be surely escorted by guards, I thought. I couldn’t resolve this otherwise. I wouldn’t have thought that I would solicit its skills so soon but I had no other choice. I locked the door. I was glad that I had decided to take the little granite statue with me. I cut my palms, gripped the statue, and watched how the red energy of my body covered it sluggishly, drop by drop. I started to stare at the mirror in front of me, expecting Gideur to appear. I didn’t have to wait long. Its tiny feeble shape crawled out of the mirror and was stood before me, looking at me with its motionless sulphur-yellow eyes, making me shiver once again.
Faceless: The Takeover (The Shapeshifters Book 1) Page 4