Earl Ashbrun POV
I was staring out the window in my bedchambers. The enchanted windows and secure structure allowed me a look outside into my city. There was so much damage to the buildings, a small tornado formed in the distance, decimating the forest with fierce winds. Clenching my jaw, I cursed and glanced at my wife, soundly sleeping on the bed. Sighing, I sat down next to her and passed my fingers through her soft hair. For her and my son, I would do anything.
Feeling my age, I felt a strong wave of determination. I will secure him a legacy worth inheriting, not just this pitiful title bestowed by a bunch of self-serving bastards. The council was most likely going to contact me as soon as this storm passed. I need to secure Harlheim at the very least. Once I separate this land from Terra Silva and become king of my own territory, it was just a matter of time before it spread with the resources I’ve prepared. It was time to give up on securing the little elf. That guild will disappear during the storm.
Getting out of bed, I leaned over and pressed a kiss on her head. Putting on my robes, I headed to my study. The halls seemed empty, an occasional guard bowing his head at me as I passed. Ignoring them, I unlocked my study and entered. With a short chant, I channeled mana into the illumination stones. With the room bright, I sat at the desk and took out the Communication Crystal. Activating the barrier held in the runes on the ceiling, I focused on my crystal.
It glowed brightly as I attempted to secure a link with its twin. After two minutes of getting no response, I frowned but kept waiting, “Master.” A deep male voice finally answered. Annoyed, I hissed, “What took you so long?!” He cleared his throat and kept whispering, “I was around too many people. The demon has interrogated Xavil, Monty and Eloise.” Feeling tension fall over my chest, I slammed my hands on the desk, “Report!”
“Lord, I am unsure what Xavil revealed, the demon has not shared his findings with anyone on the matter. Though we have suspicion Monty and Eloise revealed too much. He knows about some of our plants and about the poison. I found Hobbs’ corpse in the cellar just now, he hung himself after speaking with the demon. Kevin is most likely dead, his attempt at killing the girl was stopped by the demon and he was lost to the storm. Though the demon claims Hobbs revealed nothing.” The man paused as if waiting for my questions.
Snorting, I relaxed slightly, “They are mostly small fry, too bad about our kitchen assistant. I’ve no use for the child anymore. The demon doesn’t know about you?” I heard a sigh, “He doesn’t know though I feel he holds reservations.” Nodding mostly to myself, I tapped my finger, “Can you kill him and the girl?”
There was silence for a while until he finally answered, “We might be able to take him down with everyone but the guild members will get in the way. We are outnumbered.” Irritated, I narrowed my eyes, “Just poison them!” Another sigh could be heard, “I already did Master but the demon does not eat and always checks his drink, he will detect the deadly poisons we have on hand. As for the girl, he checks her food now. I am a hundred percent sure Evergreen personally sent him.” I suddenly heard a ruckus in the background. I heard him curse on the other end as he moved around, “Shit. It would seem Gabrielle’s been sold out as well. Master, I need to go before he begins a bloodbath. It should be a few minutes before the poison begins showing symptoms. The amount was not enough to take full effect, some will be able to fight back.”
Slamming my palm against the table, I hissed, “Listen carefully. I want that guild wiped out by the end of the storm! I don’t care if the amount wasn’t enough, just butcher them once they’re all weakened. Spare no one! I want Thalia’s chopped off head sent to Evergreen!” Grinding my teeth, I saw the crystal lose its luster, showing that the connection was cut off.
Cursing, I felt tense. That bastard demon was messing with my plans too much. I should have had him murdered back at that filthy camp of theirs. Clenching my fists, I took out another crystal. Establishing the connection, I heard no sound as I spoke, “Start preparing the troops, once the storm passes be ready to secure Harlheim. We will be starting our siege by the end of the month.”
Atkozott POV
I realized I was too hotheaded at the moment. This whole confinement was getting to me, especially considering I was surrounded by enemies. I wish I had that Asubritt right about now, it would be simple to just hide Thalia’s identity with it. Too bad it was left hidden in the trunk of a tree along with my other stuff. As I was about to head downstairs, I felt a tug on my shirt. Glancing over, I saw Thalia look at me with hesitant eyes, “Please, can we just stop for a second? I just want to eat something, I haven’t had anything since breakfast and it’s already evening.” I was about to retort when I heard her stomach rumble in protest. Eyeing her, I gave a sigh, “Fine.”
Just as we were about to go down, I heard footsteps tapping down the hall. Turning, I saw Clary jogging at us, a confused expression on her face, “Hey!” She stopped and glanced between us, “Uhm... What happened while I was asleep? Why is the room wet again?” Shaking my head, I gestured for her to come with us, “I’ll tell you on the way down.”
I filled her in for the most part, receiving the expected feedback of gasps and shock. As we entered the tavern space, I glanced at the corner table and saw Gabrielle was still there gambling with her team members. Prying my eyes away, I nudged Thalia to get her food. We sat at the table and waited while I spewed a load of bullshit about what I found out just to mislead any eavesdroppers. I said the witch revealed nothing and killed herself before I could find out anything. As the food was brought to the table, I glanced at Gorin who seemed to want to ask something. Lifting a brow, I grabbed Thalia’s plate before she could eat and sniffed it closely. Seeing it was normal, I nodded and did the same for Clary.
Gorin lifted a brow, “Found who poisoned the food yet?” Grunting with a nod, I glanced at Gabrielle before grinning, “It was the man named Kevin. He did it before trying to kill Thalia. I got rid of him though. Hobbs didn’t want to tell me anything, he insisted his kid would get killed if he talked. I let him go since he’s harmless now.” I said with a shrug, closely looking at the people in hearing range of my words. Gorin seemed surprised, “You let him go?”
I snorted, “He said he knew nothing, no point in wasting time on him anymore than that. I’ll leave him to you.” Gorin took a seat, “Anything else? I really would like to know if there are more turncoats around me.” He spoke with a clear frown, glancing around with concern. I tilted my head at him, “I only know about Hobbs and Kevin, Monty died before I could get more out of him.” I groaned theatrically, “If you know anyone suspicious, please point them out.”
He seemed to be in deep thought before nodding, “I might have some idea but need to double check the records.” He turned around at hearing his name being called. A man lifted his arm and waved him over. Gorin sighed, “Duty calls. I’ll talk to you later.”
As I was about to rush the girls, I thought I felt a weak fluctuation of mana from the crowded tables. Standing up, I walked around trying to pin point it, receiving glares and curses from the members I accidentally bumped. It really was too full in the evening, everyone was eating the stew. Cursing, I felt the barest thread of that mana vanish. Having enough, I walked back to the table and motioned to the girls to stand up, “Go sit with Ha’Luk and Mortier.” They shared a glance before Clary gave me a concerned look, “Are you going to cause trouble again?” I grinned, “You know it. Keep your heads down. If you see anyone head at you, just tell Mortier.”
Ignoring the others, I walked straight for the gambling table. The team members looked up suddenly, confusion clear in their eyes, “Sorry, you can’t join the game, we’re full.” I could sense Gabrielle’s calculating gaze on my face. Moving around them, I stopped behind her and leaned over to glance at her cards. Not really caring about her hand, I narrowed my eyes as I recognized the scent of rosehip that was on the note. Grinning, I stood back up, “Wow, that’s one hell of a hand you got there. You sure you’re not cheating?”
Their table became silent as the screeching of the chair sounded next to me. Rocky tossed his cards on the table and shoved me aside. I was surprised at the strength of his push, making me stumble slightly, “What the fuck do you want?! Stay away from her before I kick your teeth in!” Rocky growled and prepared his fists. Dusting off where he shoved me, I kept a grin on my face. Gabrielle put her cards down and had a confused, innocent look on her face, “Can I help you? Have I done something to offend you? Why slander me so?”
Lifting a brow, I saw no flaws in her act. Even her breathing and heartrate were steady and calm. If I didn’t know for certain she was one of them, I might just have believed her. Concerned about the fact they could actually lie to me, I glanced up but couldn’t find a sign of Gorin. Good, it was certain he would have come to placate the situation. Right now, I needed to see what makes this chick tick.
Putting my hands up defensively, I grinned, “Calm down. I’m just joking, I’m sure you’re an upstanding guild member.” I dragged the words, lacing them with some sarcasm. Rocky scowled at me before pulling his elbow back to punch me. Before he could follow through though, Gabrielle held his fist, smiling at him sweetly, “I appreciate the gesture, but please, there is no need to fight amongst each other. I get that we’re all stressed out a bit from the storm but we shouldn’t take it out on others.” I was genuinely impressed by her sweetheart act.
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Rocky blushed slightly before smiling as if he just got a puppy, grabbing her hand and giving it a kiss, “If you say so, Bella.” Seeing this lover boy in action nearly made me cringe. I took the free chair on the side and dragged it over to sit next to her, “I’m sure you have room for one more. C’mon, I’m bored out of my mind.”
One of the other women at the table frowned at me, “We told you there is no room. Take a hint and leave.” I glanced at her, and noticed the way she kept eyeing Gabrielle. Hearing her clear her throat next to me and seeing the other girl quickly avert her eyes was clue enough there might me more than one plant at this table. Grinning widely, I gave a snort, “Make me.” The other girl seemed to be at a loss before slamming her cards on the table and grabbing the morning star leaning against her chair, “You want a piece of this, fucker? I will bash your skull in!”
It was then that I realized she was buff as fuck. I couldn’t tell before because of the clothes, but now that she was standing, I was shocked to see the woman was almost 2 meters tall and rippled with muscles. The veins bulged on her forehead and throat as the guys next to her laughed, “He pissed off Helga. This should be fun.” The woman was red in the face, her braided, blond hair was short, reaching her shoulders. I stared at the hothead and ginned, “Are you with Gaby girl?”
Seeing the others look at me weirdly was enough to know they didn’t know what I was talking about. Gabrielle seemed unbothered and kept trying to calm the situation, but the hulk twitched. My smile widened. Without warning, I grabbed the table and pushed it against her. Despite clearly being a strong warrior, she was pushed back from the surprise attack, losing her balance as she fell on the table behind her. It broke under her weight as she swung her weapon and shattered the table on top of her.
With a scream of rage, she charged me. The others took a step back, Rocky pulling Gabrielle away from the commotion. I taunted with a side glance before sidestepping the charging woman. Though she opened her arms to catch me, I ducked and tripped her. She flew from her own momentum and smashed head first into the brick wall. To my surprise, she stood up unfazed. Her eyes were bloodshot as mana seemed to glow red around her, infusing her muscles.
“Shit. She went berserk.” One of the men mumbled and ran away. I saw Groin was trying to push his way past the retreating crowd but ignored him. The morning star was heading straight for me. Dodging the devastating blow, I positioned myself near Gabrielle and baited the furious lady with a middle finger. The weapon responded, swinging from the side in quick succession. I kept moving back, the spiked weapon destroying chairs and tables.
“What the fuck are you doing?!” A male shout came from behind me, letting me know how close they were. Just as the weapon attempted to strike me once more, I jumped to the left, kicking off the wall and away from the rampaging lady. Hearing curses, I watched as the morning star connected with a shield on Rocky’s arm. Seeing it splinter and crack, I heard him shout in pain, the bone peeking from his biceps. Holy shit, that lady hit hard. Good thing I decided to dodge. She suddenly snapped out of her maddened state and gaped in shock at what she’d been led to do.
The fact that Gabrielle was nowhere to be seen showed she’d seen through my ploy. Just as the angry Helga turned around to give a war cry, Gorin stepped between us, “What the hell is going on here?!” I dusted myself off and scanned the crowd. I could see Gabrielle disappear in the direction of the bar, swallowed by the horde of people. Thalia was with Mortier and Ha’Luk, the demon was ginning at me while Ha’Luk seemed bothered by my actions.
Rocky was clutching his broken arm while the healer did his work. Helga was at ease for now, but if looks could kill, I’d probably be dead. I shrugged, “I heard she was strong so I wanted a friendly spar.” I said casually, “Rocky was just a bit of collateral.” Gorin scowled at me while the others shouted how I came over and provoked them, “You start a brawl in the middle of a storm, inside a crowded space without any regard for others?! You really are daring!” He shouted furiously.
Snorting, I crossed my arms, “That chick is a turncoat, she was very obvious.” I said in a matter-of-fact-way. Seeing her flinch, I grinned, “Come on, tell us who has the poison to kill everyone in the guild.” Most people sucked in a sharp breath, staring wide-eyed at me. The number of people that neglected to act in succession with the others was shockingly high. Feeling my heartrate spike at seeing how many possible moles might me here, I counted at least 10 and 5 didn’t even try to look surprised at the possibility they might have been eating poisoned food.
Gorin’s eyes widened, “Poison? What are you talking about?” He glanced at Helga who looked like she’d eaten a lemon. Walking over to her, she seemed genuinely scared of the innkeeper, “Explain!” He shouted with authority. She glanced all over the tavern as if asking for help before she scowled, “You bastards don’t give a shit?! Fine! Go- ”
Just as she went to speak a bolt whistled through the air and lodged itself into her right eye. I turned as quickly as I could but there was too much of a commotion, “Anyone see where that came from?!” I shouted. I heard shouts from all over, some said the cellar, others the bar. Hearing so many different answers, I understood the infiltrators were using their anonymity to cover for the shooter. Recalling the trajectory, I spotted a head of blue hair near the bar before it quickly disappeared again.
Gorin suddenly turned around from the corpse of the large woman and shouted at the top of his lungs, “The bar is closed! Everyone to your rooms! No one is allowed to leave until the storm ends!” He turned to me, “You too! I don’t give a shit anymore. I will not have you causing chaos for the sake of apprehending a single spy.”
Seeing the people slowly clear out with mutters and curses, I narrowed my eyes at the innkeeper. I really didn’t trust him. This was something that would greatly help the moles. Meals would be delivered to the rooms most likely, making it even easier for them to take out the guild. I doubted all the members would believe my poison claims and seeing how Gorin just tossed it under the rug made me really consider him as one of them.
I turned to grab Thalia who was waiting with Clary by the stairs. Good thing she was with those two otherwise they really might have taken this opportunity to kill her. Sighing, I glanced back and saw Gorin was kicking the broken chairs into a corner. Taking the opportunity, I swiped his ledger with my tail and headed upstairs with the girls. We walked down the deserted hall as I read through the book I stole. It held a bunch of names and numbers. Seeing the marked columns, I knew it referred to room number and gold. Finding the number of Gabrielle’s room, I grabbed Thalia’s wrist and headed past their room. She was going to protest along with Clary but I shushed them and gestured for her to follow silently. Clary had went back into their room.
Seeing the door to Gabrielle’s room, I tried the knob and found it was locked. With a strong push, the lock broke. The blue haired elf was standing in the far corner with a crossbow pointed at Thalia, “Move and she gets the same treatment as Helga.” Narrowing my eyes, I feinted to head for her then reached up to deflect the bolt. Hearing her curse, I saw her reload the weapon with admirable speed. Though not fast enough. Surprisingly, I felt a small rush of wind help me out, making me reach her before she could take aim again. I knocked her into the wall and disarmed her.
Holding her with my forearm, I heard the door close behind us as Thalia walked over furiously, “Why the hell do you people want to kill me?! My uncle doesn’t even care that much! He just sent this guy to help him with Harlheim, it has nothing to do with me! The bastard saw an opportunity and took it, using me as fucking guise!” She hissed through gritted teeth, having enough common sense not to shout in this situation.
Gabrielle snorted, “I’m not telling you anything. Do your worst.” Before I could say anything, Thalia once again shocked me, “Oh, you’ll talk. I’m sick and tired of everyone pushing me around!” She began chanting under her breath, glaring at the immobilized rat. Curious, I watched as Gabrielle suddenly widened her eyes and began gasping for breath. Using her mana, she resisted the pull that was dragging the air out of her lungs. I dug my claws into her shoulder to fuck with her concentration.
She gradually turned purple from the lack of air as Thalia stopped. Gabrielle panted before spitting at her. I dodged the projectile but it landed on Thalia’s clothes. She didn’t seem to mind and chanted something different this time. The green glow passed from her to Gabrielle, circling her throat as Thalia seemed to grow exhausted. Seeing nothing happened, I glanced at her quizzically, “It’s a truth curse, the only one I know.”
I gaped at her, “You had a truth curse this whole time and neglected to tell me?!” I hissed. She furrowed her brows, “Using curse magic not only exhausts the caster but also applies to them. It’s a double edged sword that leaves me open to magical attacks. I hate using it and very few people dabble in it, I only know it because my uncle insisted I learn. It works best with simple questions, yes and no for the best result.” Shaking my head, I turned back to the pale woman.
“Is Gorin one of yours?” I asked the first question that was currently on my mind. Her lips quivered despite her trying to keep a poker face. I pushed my claws deeper into her flesh. She opened her mouth to shout but instead, words came out, “Yes.” My eyes widened as I cursed, “Does he have the poison?” Another yes passed her lips, “How long has he been a turncoat?”
She grinned at me, blood flowing from her lips, “Never.” Confusion settled as I glanced at Thalia, “The hell does that mean?” She groaned, “He’s never been a turncoat. Please don’t ask me questions while she’s still under the curse. It’s a terrible feeling.” I turned back to Gabrielle, “So he is not a traitor?” Her eyes squinted, “No.”
Seeing she was playing games, I slammed my knee into her gut. Thalia gasped, “I cast that on her so you don’t have to torture her! Just stop!” Rolling my eyes at her hypocritical blabber, I ignored her, “What is he then?” Gabrielle coughed, fighting the magic but faltered, “The Earl’s familiar.” I froze, staring at her in disbelief, “Familiar? He’s not human?” She grunted, “Yes.”
“What is he then?!” I growled and shook her. She groaned and squirmed, “A doppelganger.” It was the first time I heard of that species. I knew of shapeshifters but doppelgangers not so much. Glancing at Thalia, I was about to ask her when she crossed her arms on her chest and shook her head. Recalling she was also under the curse, I sighed and asked Gabrielle instead, “What are doppelgangers?”
She cringed, “A rare species of Devils.” No wonder I didn’t know about them, the Devils were a species I knew the least about. I knew about Vampires, Inani, Succubi and the Onis but that was it. I understood they held a large variety within their race and often bred with other races. Glaring at her, I continued, “What can he do?”
“He can take the face and memories of those he kills and consumes.” I shook her with a small snarl, “What else?!”
She quivered, “I don’t know.” Furrowing my brow, I tilted my head, “That means he killed the real Gorin?” Tears gathered in her eyes at the stress the curse was putting on her body, “Yes.”
“When?” I asked with a hiss.
“Before the storm began.” I realized it was most likely after I spoke with him for the first time. Looking back, I couldn’t help but feel startled at how perfectly he mimicked the innkeeper. He was the perfect copy. Cursing, I closed my eyes and sighed, “How many of you are in the guild right now?”
“One.” She said with a mocking grin. Pushing my forearm tighter against her throat, I hissed, “How many of the Earl’s spies are here?!”
“20.” I paled at the number. There was around 80 people in the guild right now, almost all the members taking shelter here once the storm hit. Hearing a fourth of that were enemies made my head hurt. It was way too many and Thalia made it difficult to take care of it my usual way. Shaking my head, I glanced at her, “Last question, when is the poison going to be administered?”
She suddenly gave a sweet smile, “It’s already over.”
“What?! When?!” I accidentally exclaimed.
“During lunch.” Blood dripped from her lips as she started to laugh, “You’re too late! Tonight, the Warmongers will fall!”
“What poison is it?” I asked hurriedly. She shrugged, “Don’t know.”
“Why wasn’t Thalia’s food poisoned?” I asked with gritted teeth, glaring at her. She snorted, “Those who could detect it were avoided. We can handle them later.”
I slammed her against the wall hard enough to snap her neck, “You won’t be handling anything.”
Groaning, I shared a look with Thalia who was clearly horrified by the information we found. Not even a minute later, I heard groans come from the other rooms. Cursing, I went to find that doppelganger.