The Inquisitor and Yuda sat in her office, discussing what to do with Hilock.

“Ma’am, you should just kill him now and be done with it,” Yuda said.

The Inquisitor stared at her, considering the proposition. Hilock didn’t seem very cooperative, and they already had all his belongings. She searched for a reason to let him live and could not find one.

“I agree, Yuda. Let’s get this over with.”

They left the office and headed toward his chambers. The guards outside it stepped aside to let them through. When they opened the door, they found Hilock curled into a fetal position in the corner of the room.

“Tie him to the hook.” Yuda grabbed him off the ground and wrapped his hands with rope. She then placed the rope onto a hook before pulling him to his toes with the pulley mechanism.

“He stinks like shit, ma’am. Don’t get too close.” The Inquisitor approached him, looking sorry for the wretch.

“Last words, Hilock…”

He slowly looked up into her face, days without food or water had drained him.

“Just be done with it. I’ve had enough breaths.”

“You are sentenced to death, to be carried out immediately. May the gods judge you justly. Now they speak.”

The Inquisitor raised her hand and sent a surge of electricity from her fingertips and through Hilock. After only a few seconds, the pain and the screams stopped. His body slumped over.

“Take his body to research and, for gods’ sake, wash him.”

As the words left her lips, the image of Hilock on the hook distorted. His body changed to Yuda’s, and behind Yuda stood Hilock, having removed Yuda’s dagger and holding it to her stomach.

“She’s not yet dead but close. Use your head and don’t act verbose.” With his other hand, he pulled a piece of cheese from his pockets and showed it to the Inquisitor. “You’ll swallow this down, and step aside. Else I’ll show you what her insides look like.” He tossed it over to her, and she caught it.

“Please,” the Inquisitor said. “I could replace her as easily as ordering lunch. You should have picked a better hostage.”

He pushed the blade into her stomach—just enough to draw some blood.

The Inquisitor grimaced and her eyes narrowed. “Fine! Just so you know though, I’m going to make it slow next time.” She chewed the piece of cheese, and with a nod from Hilock, she proved she swallowed it.

“My dear lady, it’s not death I fear. You already killed me. I’d need not shed a tear. What’s left is a shell that has but a single purpose, to remove all your masks and bring a usurper.”

He cut Yuda free from her bindings and let her fall to the floor. Even without the Inquisitor’s powers, he knew he couldn’t take her in a close-range fight. He wouldn’t make the same mistake again.

“I’ll alert the guards if you don’t kill me,” she said, smirking.

“Yes they’ll come, and try to kill me, but who will they actually be stabbing? While changing the past is your ambition, the present is mine, and your place is this prison.” He changed Yuda back to him and himself into the Inquisitor. “I’ll take my leave, and you’ll take your stay. Show your mouth reprieve, and she’ll live another day.”

Hilock left the room and motioned for the guards outside of it to follow him down the hall. It was a long walk out of the Requiem. He tried to wear her scowl as best as he could, so nobody would interrupt him.

As he journeyed down the hallway, Chase walked toward him in the distance.

He panicked. “Stop that man!”

The guards, although confused, complied. Chase’s eyes widened at the detainment.

“You! Wait in my office until I return”

Chase shrugged and made a hand sign, extending his index and pinky finger out. Hilock responded by putting out his middle and ring finger. He nodded and proceeded with the guards. But as they walked past Hilock, He punched Hilock’s in the face. The guards, unsure of what was happening, jumped on Chase and took control of him, while Hilock, after a moment of being dazed, ran past them all.

This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.

“That was him!” Chase screamed from the ground. “He didn’t know the call sign! Get off me!”

The guards hesitated.

Fed up, Chase kicked one guard off him and put the other in a choke hold. The guard passed out in seconds. He then rolled over and elbowed another guard’s nose, knocking him unconscious. He chased after Hilock, who was still running down the hallway.

Hilock took a right down another hallway. Chase approached the corner cautiously and peeked. The white garment was talking with another guard. He pulled out his gun and shot out Hilock’s knee. Hilock fell to the ground.

Chase ran up to capture him, but when he got there, he realized it wasn’t him. It was another guard crying in pain.

“My fucking knee!” the guard screamed. “Why did you do that?! Argh!”

Chase pulled out a bandage and handed it to the other guard there.

“Here! Tie him off! I have to move!”

The guard took the bandage and worked on the injured man. “Asshole,” he said.

Chase took a second to breathe. He knew Hilock was trying to leave, and there was only one path to do so. As fast as his legs could carry him, he ran down that path.

Hiding in another room, Hilock watched as Chase ran past him. While common sense would say to leave out the only exit, he knew he would never make it out alive that way. Plus, there were far too many guards to trick between here and freedom. His last trick would make Chase more cautious, which he counted on to backtrack.

Still disguised as the Inquisitor, Hilock ran back toward her office. He passed over the guards on the ground, entered the office, and ransacked her papers. Several folders were thrown around. He had to find the file he allowed himself to be captured for.

The office doors burst open, and Hunter entered in. “Jig’s up, Hilock.”

Without another word, Hunter fired into his left shoulder. He fell to the ground and grabbed at his wound. There—underneath the desk—he saw the folder he was looking for. He grabbed it and stuffed it into his shirt.

More bullets flew over the desk.

”I’m getting impatient,” Hunter said, “and when I get impatient, I tend to miss and hit vital organs…”

Hilock stood, Hunter fired through his head. The image disappeared.

“The real one now.”

Hilock stood for real this time.

“Good to see you again, brave one. Glad to see you found closure and then some."

Hunter lowered his gun. “As much as I hated you, I gotta say…I’m glad you did that. It made me face some demons I had kept hidden.” Hunter lowered his gun.

“It seems what we value, is not the same as what we pursue. If I had only one thing to sign, it would be that they both align.”

Hunter walked over to him, grabbed his arm, and twisted it to make sure he reacted to the pain. He placed his badge into his hand.

“I really convinced myself I was doing the right thing. That I was the good guy. They had me kill him for gunpowder smuggling, and they let the puppeteers off scott-free.” He grabbed the badge, threw it out the window, and shot it. “I’m going to find all of those responsible. You're gonna cause enough of a distraction here, so they won’t look for me. If you survive the fall that is.”

“What?!”

He grabbed Hilock and dragged him to the broken window. Sweat formed on Hilock’s forehead as they stood in front of it. He tried to remember how long the last fall took and wished he could read the file before he died. Could he finish it in time before he hit the ground? No. He’d never know.

“If I see you again, you’re getting one through that ugly head of yours,” Hunter grunted and threw him out the window.

Closing his eyes, Hilock screamed as he plummeted toward the ground, clutching the folder.

He took a deep breath and prepared for the end.

The impact hit him. A soft one.

He opened his eyes. A fabric that stretched across an alley had caught him. He felt his whole body to make sure it was intact and laughed. Yet the fabric then ripped and he fell toward the ground.

The fall was twenty feet—not enough to cause any serious damage but enough to hurt like hell.

On the ground, he groaned for a moment before standing and dusting himself off. He saw a wooden door in the castle walls. He walked toward it and pulled but to no avail. Guards yelled orders in the background, but he didn’t have the strength to make another illusion or run away. He just simply sat against the door and waited to be captured.

He pulled the folder out and caressed it with his fingers. He read its label out loud. “Cadivus aka Archangel.” As he prepared to open it, the door opened, and he fell backwards. He found himself staring up at a man with a dirty face.

“He’s here!” A man dragged him away from the door, and another man came over, closed the door, grabbed his legs, and carried him away.

They ran down a hill with him, out of sight of the castle windows. Eventually, they sat him down gently. When he looked around, he saw a large crowd of people surrounding him, staring at him with concern.

“Thought we lost you in there,” a man said. “No one has ever escaped the Requiem before.”

Hilock went to stand, and both men helped him to his feet, one throwing his arm over his shoulder to support him.

He looked around at the citizens, overwhelmed by their support.

“Why? Why have you come?”

The crowd all looked at each other like it was obvious.

“We saw the last ritual,” a woman said. “Something was wrong…”

“Yes, I cast an illusion to save the man on trial.” he said. “What of it?”

“Well, if the ritual saves the innocent from harm then…”

“Yes? What of it?”

“Then why did they all rush to save the King from it? No harm should come to the first survivor from the gods afterall.”

The crowd murmured in agreement.

Hilock thought about the ordeal, cursing himself for not seeing something so obvious. He smiled and looked at the crowd with tears in his eyes.

“So, you’ll help me stop this from happening again?”

The crowd went silent. One by one, they all got down on one knee.

The man supporting his arm spoke.

“After the sacrifice you just made, we’ll follow you till the end, Hilock. Even now, whispers of your name travel to ears that would hear it.”

Hilock laughed at the absurdity of it, cackling like a man possessed.

“What is it?”

Hilock wiped the tears from his eyes, and took a deep breath.

“Now they listen.”