The voice of the creature pronounces its third and final challenge, but it takes a few seconds for me to even grasp what it is saying.
“You mean… between the seven of us, one is a monster?” Ellie gasps out.
The creature merely looks at her, but does not deign to respond. I send a glance at Allea, who once again gives me a small shrug. Either the creature spoke true or it is a good liar if she can’t notice anything odd.
If there is a shapeshifter that has infiltrated our group, when could it have happened? … Of course, the first room. Something about the reward we received and the perceived difficulty felt off, and now I know why. So someone got kidnapped, likely forced down the “volunteer” path that Larissa spoke of, and a monster took their place, either in an effort to keep us moving ahead while our comrade is further separated or as a setup for this question… or both.
Against groups of cultists, should they somehow gain access to this place again, it even serves as a way of getting someone who is likely handy with a knife in a position to cause immense damage.
The fact that we wouldn't even have noticed had the gatekeeper not given away the game makes me gulp hard, and inspect all my companions in turn. They all look suitably shaken, but at first, second and even third glance, I cannot spot anything that I would describe as abnormal about my party members.
Kallion looks thoughtful more than anything, cooly assessing the situation and likely already formulating plans on how to resolve it. I did not lose sight of his light, so I highly doubt he would have been replaced.
Allea looks surprised, and slightly annoyed. Likely at herself. She considers it her duty to detect any threat to us, and not having spotted one, she is likely mad at her failure. I could not fault her though, that room must be unbearably disorienting for someone with skill enhanced hearing, it was loud enough for us as is. One of her eyebrows is quirked up slightly, as she studies everyone, her pointy ears twitching slightly as she attempts to focus her perception on each of us in turn.
Astrid… looks more confused than anything. She looks at Allea and me in turn. I highly doubt whatever monster this dungeon could cook up could replace her though, you would need a troll to wrestle her into submission since she received her newest skill and an accompanying growth spurt.
That leaves the bards… I do not know them well enough to make a judgment.
Harry seems nervous, his eyes shifting between us all and beads of sweat forming on his brow, but that is a reasonable reaction in a situation like this, I think, especially for a non-adventurer like him.
Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.
Nathan is still gripping his left hand tightly, and bares his tusks at the creature before us while holding his pencil in an almost defensive posture before him. It is of course possible for him to have been replaced in between his warning signal and us arriving on the scene, but I find it unlikely.
Ellie, standing to the side and slightly behind her bigger green colleague, as she has the entire time, seems the most nervous of them all. After her earlier outburst, she looked at the creature unnerved before inspecting each of us carefully in turn, grasping hold of her lute and backing away a bit further.
“Hey, is what the blonde squirt says true?” Astrid cuts through the silence. “Is one of you a monster that looks like one of my friends?”
“It is not impossible.” Kallion replies calmly. “If that were the case though, the creature would need to be a highly skilled actor to blend in so seamlessly… or have had ample opportunity to observe us interact and strategize.” He gives me a meaningful look. Then it dawns on me.
“You mean they have been watching us since the discussion about the first room?” I ask to confirm, and he nods.
“I believe so. If there is indeed someone here that “feigns familiarity”, there is no other explanation. Also… it never specified how many. There could be more than one.” Kallion cooly states, looking at each of us in turn.
“Me and Simon never lost sight of each other in the first room, which is where a substitution is most likely to have occurred. My magelight should have been visible the entire time, which means, if you follow my logic here, that you can all trust me and him to be the genuine article, so to speak.”
After a round of hesitant nods, Kallion continues.
“I propose the following plan. Each of us will ask everyone else privately a question that the person should know, that has not been mentioned inside. Afterwards, me and him will compare notes, and then we will deliver our answer together. Is that satisfactory?”
“S-Sure. That seems like a reasonable plan.” Harry agrees.
“But what if the shapeshifters can read minds? Or have manipulation skills that would cause you to believe them?” Ellie speaks up.
“In either of these cases, we should be unable to detect the imposter, and would simply have to go about determining everyone's identity another way. I find them unlikely though.” Kallion rebuts her doubts. “Now, if there is nothing else, I will start with Astrid all the way at the back of our little column, you start with Allea and move backwards from there. After we have asked everyone, we will reconvene and discuss.”
I nod and turn towards Allea. She nods at me, and steps forward while Kallion makes his way towards the back where Astrid leans down so the two can whisper amongst each other.
This should be easy. Allea has been a friend to me for the longest time. Dozens of potential questions swirl in my head. What best to ask, though? Something where vague answers are impossible, ideally. Yet something that has not come up since we entered this place.
My mind made up, I open my mouth to speak.
“What is the name of my mother?”