‘I would like to askyou some questions about how you think and feel when you’re inanimal form. It would help me to understand your method of shapechanging.’
‘I’ve heard thatwizards are very curious about many things. They are also dangerousand heartless wielders of power, ready to misuse their knowledgefor ill gains and use their magic to force people to their will.Why should I disclose any druid knowledge to a wizard that hideshis true nature and intent in a metal box?’ She replied.
I’m going!’ and shechanged back to her jungle cat form and quickly merged with theshadows.’
‘Do you really have togo?’ he shouted plaintively into the darkness, ‘I’m not the type ofwizard that covets power and uses his magic for selfish purposes,and I’d really like to hear more about you.’
Miranda stood in catform in the darkness about twenty paces away, watching Aquitain.Her mother hated wizards with a vengeance and as a consequenceMiranda was very wary of them. Perhaps she should have talked withhim a little more, to try to gauge whether he really was a threat.He didn’t seem aggressive, just inquisitive. She wondered why hewould want to know how it felt to be in animal form. She honestlydidn’t know, as her cat form was a part of her nature now, and itjust seemed to her as normal as her newman or eagle forms.
Aquitain waited forfive minutes but she didn’t return, so feeling a littledisappointed he cancelled the light, waited a couple of minutesuntil his night vision returned, and headed back to the town.
When he finallyarrived, he found the communal room in the inn was crowded withpeople, mainly newmans, singing raucous songs to the sounds of anentertainer playing a lute-like local string instrument. He spottedZephira sitting chatting with a group, mug in hand, and rather thanjoin in he stole up the flight of stairs to his room to contemplatethe day’s events.
Meanwhile back inPanmagica High Priest Kelnor knelt down and carefully examined thebody of the dead initiate.
‘You say the girldescribed the attacker that did this as looking like some type offemale holy avenger. Do you believe her story?’
‘Yes, Your Holiness. Wehave her in the dungeon at the moment. You may interrogate her atyour convenience,’ his assistant replied.
‘Hmm. A holy avengerwould use a special weapon and normally decapitate the victim.Their weapons have a certain divine smell about them and leavetraces of divine magic in the wound. This initiate has used his owndagger. I think this is the work of an assassin who convinced theinitiate to terminate his own life. Dam mind magic I’ll warrant.There have been several similar deaths over the last couple ofyears. I recall now that some of the other victims were peopleabusing prostitutes. There may be a connection here.’
‘How did the assassinget into and leave our building undetected? Was the assassinfollowing the girl to protect her, or was the assassin already herefor some other reason? There are questions to be answered. Tell thepriest in charge of security that I wish to see him in myoffice.
‘Let the girl go. Tellher we have prayed to our god to provide a holy avenger to protecther and her colleagues. The avenger will even strike down our ownpriests if they abuse the women. Tell her they will get greaterprotection if they join our faith, but it will cost them 10% oftheir earnings. Tell her also that if they join they will get a 20%discount on pox cures.
‘Invite the Council’sHigh Wizard over for a chat. I think we had better start lookingfor this assassin before he or she becomes more of a nuisance.Perhaps we should scry on the girl’s activities.
‘Dispose of the body inthe Council’s incinerator. He was only an initiate, and hasn’tearned the right to be raised from the dead. We’ll use him as anexample to our initiates to be more devout. That is all.’
‘Yes, YourHoliness.’
Chapter 6 High WizardFeatherdown
Aquitain was sittingin a corner of the room still wide-awake well after midnight, whenZephira staggered along the narrow hallway to their room. She hadsomeone with her who was trying to persuade her to let him comeinto the room with her, but she steadfastly refused, and after agallant effort he conceded defeat and left. She opened the door andfell into the room giggling.
‘Have a good walk?’ shegasped. ‘By the Powers this place is much livelier than I expected.The people seem bloody nice and very inquisitive about you.’ Shecrawled over to the bed, rolled onto it, and instantly fellasleep.
‘Great protection youare!’ he exclaimed, but she didn’t hear.
He slithered out of thebody shell and shape changed to his male newman body form, turnedoff the lantern and pranced around the room like a caged tiger.When would he get his own newman body back? This body was alien andit concerned him. He could almost feel himself changing, becomingmore an alien and less a newman. It had one good effect; he didn’tseem to get as angry as easily as before. When he was surprised bythe archon back at the mansion the anger had been triggered, butsince then he had been free of it. What did that mean? Was itsomehow related to the other talent that his father wouldn’t tellhis grandfather about?’
Several hours later,well after dawn, Zephira awoke. ‘By the Powers they have a goodstrong brew here.’
‘Who was that personthat wanted to join you?’ he asked.
‘Just a randy bard thatwanted to get into my pants.’
‘Melanie, what wouldhave happened if I’d needed you last night?’
‘Ha. You would havesolved the problem Logicon style, by talking your assailant todeath.’
‘I’m serious, Melanie,’Aquitain said, trying his best to get annoyed.
‘You’re not jealous areyou?’ she asked.
‘Listen carefully Rob.I got drunk last night because what has happened just doesn’t makesense. I needed to work it out in my mind. I’m not brilliant likeyou. No matter how you look at it, Granddad wouldn’t have abandonedus on a remote world unless there was a very good reason. He wasscared. I never thought I would ever see Granddad scared, but hewas yesterday. Maybe in your new body you didn’t see it, but I did.I think we’re in real trouble. I just hope that
