The room seemed almost to hold its breath before a sound pierced everyone’s ears.

  It began as a choked bark that cracked and stretched into a shriek so loud that Cass’s teeth ached. Flint’s scream from making contact with electricity barely sounded human as it tapered into something else. Something that didn’t fit the mold of man they all knew. The Silver Officer held onto the man, but the dial was no longer pressed as they both fell to the ground.

  Those guarding the exits split, leaving one at each door as the rest collapsed in on the two. Everyone stopped as Vex yelled out, “Get back!” Then shoved the old man away from himself.

  There was a ripping sound as his clothes split at the seams. Great black and purple mottling spread across his entire body as several arms sprouted from his back, each twisting unnaturally and half-formed as if it were a caricature of what an arm should look like.

  One man didn’t listen and got too close. He took a punch that knocked him clear to the remaining guard at the door, unmoving where he landed.

  The Councilors gasped, but Cass didn’t. He stood there, calmly, as they’d known there had to be a Changeling on the Council. Very few other options existed for how Hollis had been entrapped.

  Vex wasn’t done with his role. He pulled a shining sword from his sheath and dove towards Flint, point held forward. The changeling twisted mid-transformation, far too fast for Cass to see, then planted a hand against the ground and threw a kick the Officer’s way. His body lit up the room even more as an arm bathed in radiance batted the attack aside.

  Cass raised a hand in the air, “Initiate the containment protocol.” Those within melee distance pulled thick, wooden shields off their back and encircled the changeling in the center, Vex stepping back, having done his part to keep them grouped together.

  As the Flint changeling groaned, Cass spoke quietly to the remaining Councilors. He quickly guided them over to the opposite corner, where his guard and another company man stepped in front of them for their own protection.

  All a part of the plan. Though Flint wasn’t the one to write the letter, it was obvious to everyone with eyes that he really didn’t want to touch the electrical device. Now, we need to move on to the next step.

  He’d known something like this might happen. That’s why he’d had a plan ready. Cass reached into his robe and pulled out a gift he’d received from Master Brannic. It held a blue glow.

  “You have one chance to survive. Surrender, change back from the faces of those whose life you stole, and agree by contract to provide us with information on your fellow Dark Guildmembers.”

  Flint finally stood up. It had only been seconds since the screaming had first begun, but the Changeling stood several heads higher than it had before. A ten-foot-tall creature with four half-formed arms appearing from its back glared at the crowd.

  It spoke in a slight hiss, “Sstupid moronss. Dark Guildss? We’re jusst trying to ssurvive. You have everything here. Everything you need to pussh beyond, and what do you do? Nothing! Nothing at all! You’re sso happy with your mewling city. Sso comfortable…all of you. Living fat off the land while we sstarve. You think this city is a miracle? It’s a cage!” He kicked at one of the company women, but the shield held as her fellows closed in, supporting her on each side.

  Cass was unmoved, “So you refuse our offer? Your choice, to be clear, is death?”

  He looked at Cass, then two more eyes blinked beside the original set as each moved to watch someone else. There was no spoken response.

  He’s really going to make me do this. Cass felt another small piece of himself die at that thought. So be it. This is someone who is threatening my city, and I have a duty to uphold for everyone who’s counting on me. There’s no time for second-guessing here.

  Reaching back, Cass’s fingers closed around the smooth glass of the bottled lightning. The cylinder practically hummed in his hand as the contents were shaken. Then, without unstoppering the potion within, he threw it directly toward the center.

  Flint tried to move, but the guards stepped forward, Vex behind them. He tried to grab their shields, to escape what was sure to be the end of his life. But he was rebuffed at each quick attempt.

  As the parabolic arc continued its trajectory, the guards planted their shields in the ground and took cover at the last moment, hoping the wood would protect them from the incoming blast. The crack of the bottle touching the ground felt like the only sound in the world as it shattered right beside the creature, then the explosion came.

  It was bright enough to blind. A coruscating sphere of destruction as sparks and ropes of electricity lit up the Atrium. The sound was oddly quiet except for an incessant buzzing as the bottled lightning spread out in a shock of destruction. The shields held, their thickness and quickly treated wood burning as Master Brannic’s recent invention did its work.

  As for the changeling formerly known as Flint, it screamed again. A pitched warbling that rose and fell in intensity as the Master Alchemist’s deadly potion tore through the creature's only defenses, its flesh. It rose higher and higher until sputtering. And then, there was only silence and the crackling of bubbling flesh as it collapsed.

  The bottled lightning shot off a few more sparks as one of the guards screamed. A crack and squishing sound echoed out in the room as he slammed his shield onto something.

  “What?” He asked, looking around, “There was an eyeball looking at me.”

  As the final spurts of newly discovered power tapered off, and Cass breathed a quiet breath of relief as a few laughs met the man’s nervousness, something else happened that wasn’t seen by anyone.

  With all their eyes glued to the center of the room, they missed a straightforward fact.

  Ward was changing.

  It was Thane who saw it first. Even as the potion had broken, and the screams had begun, he’d kept an eye on his fellow Councilor. Even as Cass sighed and began speaking of cleanup and potential contamination, as Vex complained that he should’ve been the one to throw the bottle, Thane noticed as small gyrations shook his fellow Councilor’s frame.

  Then, she took a step. Not backward, as any normal person would do in this situation. But forward, toward the temporary Guild Master, just as something fell out of her dress and touched the ground. Cass heard him as he muttered, and turning his body at that moment, saved his life.

  “Is that a rubber glove?”

  “Cass, look out,” Adya screamed from her spot in the upper stands as a blur attacked him where he stood. A long line of scorching fire burned itself against the side of his neck, the force of the blur’s passing knocking him down in a light spin as he struck the ground. Pain and something more nefarious trickled into his veins as his body suddenly stopped working, and all feeling went with it.

  Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

  Eyes wide open and paralyzed, he got a close and front row seat to what had happened to Councilor Ward.

  Standing at an off-kilter angle, as if her form hadn’t finished whatever changes she’d put it through, the changeling's transformation was different than Flint's. Where he’d gone for size and the utility of multiple arms, Ward had slimmed down, packing muscle into a more petite and ultimately faster frame. The former woman’s hair had all fallen out as she grinned at him with teeth meant to rend and tear. Two red pupils bounced around the room as she assessed her position, then she lightly tossed a dripping tube-shaped dagger into her other hand and dove at Vex next.

  The Silver officer met her in a glowing clash as they bounced around the room in a fight fast enough that it blurred for anyone below the third tier. Cass, meanwhile, couldn’t move as the poison traveled through his veins. All he could do was stare at a blank wall as those around him screamed and tried to fight back. A bang, footsteps, but his entire view was nothing but the wall.

  Vaguely, he heard the sound of someone approaching him from behind. “Vale, you okay?”

  With the loss of feeling, he’d also lost the ability to move his mouth in reply. It wasn’t until several seconds had passed that the Survivor path finally recognized the attack and kicked into high gear. The problem was, the poison was everywhere, and the first thing it went to repair was his nerves. It was a good thing he was paralyzed, or the whole room would’ve heard his screaming.

  As his eyes stared sideways at the world, errant thoughts drifted in on how odd a feeling it was to be moved and not feel the hands doing the moving. His body rotated seemingly of its own as he was rolled onto his back and finally saw the speaker. Thane Morrowind wiped a bead of sweat off his forehead. “Don’t worry, kid. I’ll get you to some safety.”

  He moved around behind him and placed his hands at his sides. With a lift and a muttered curse for Cass’s unexpected weight, he huffed and puffed, dragging the young Guild Master to the corner of the room as the sound of screams and crashes continued to roll across the room. “Two changelings in the council…can’t believe that we couldn’t…tell.”

  Placing Cass sitting upright against the wall, he felt a change in his body as the burn concentrated with great tenacity at the initial point of contact. Just the smallest amount of feeling returned to his neck, and it came just in time as he needed to know what was happening. With a twitch, he rolled his head slightly, getting a quick look around the room.

  Two changelings. How did she trick me? How did she get by the test? How long am I going to be like this?

  Thane quietly muttered, “I can’t believe another Guild Master’s been paralyzed. Wait, are you even alive, or am I talking to a corpse?” He felt the man’s fingers rest against his neck. “Whew, okay. But now we’re down another Guild Master, damnit.”

  Cass barely listened. Several guards were on the ground, blood leaking out of them in many places, but the brightly clad figure of Vex continued to battle against the infiltrator in their midst. The Silver officer was a glowing figure that moved and struck out against the attacker with a smoothness not present in the violent grimace covering his face. Cass lost sight of him and the changeling as they moved beyond his vision, only for them to return, Vex throwing a desperate attack the creature’s way. He missed.

  As for everyone else, the other guards seemingly activated abilities meant to slow, entrap, or empower themselves, but it was all for nothing. The changeling would not be stopped.

  Then, Vex pulled out his trump card. Palmed in his calloused fingers was a second blue potion of bottled lightning.

  That’s the last one we have. Cass thought as the burning had reached his toes. If…his thoughts were distracted as his healing factor kicked up another notch. If he misses, a lot of people are going to die.

  As the changeling leaped, intending to attack another guard in a light blur, dark blood pouring from several wounds, Vex took his chance. The release was smooth. The bottle, spinning, flew with a perceptible slowness as it arc’d through the air. Cass helplessly watched as time seemed to stop, and he mentally crossed his fingers that the egotistical man had thrown true.

  With his limited movement, several moments crystallized themselves in his memory. The changeling, eyes on the potion, opened its mouth wide in surprise. Vex’s face set in determination as he took a step, still on track with the creature, forthcoming explosion or not. As for everyone else, they reached for the nearest shield, with many finding none at all.

  The crack resounded with finality.

  Cass blinked through watery eyes as the blue power of a recent alchemical discovery lit up the room a second time. The guards tried to grab their shields, Vex took a glancing hit, spinning off into the relative darkness, and everyone at a distance tried to cover their eyes. As for the Ward changeling, it screamed as several ropes of power struck it across the body.

  This was a move of pure desperation on Vex’s part, one that had deadly consequences as many guards were also afflicted by the electric destruction arc’ing throughout the Atrium.

  When his vision started to clear up, right as the paralysis further released its hold, he looked around and found more than half of the highest-leveled combatants remaining in Liora sprawled across the ground. Vex picked himself up first, lines of burning and blood touching him from thigh to shoulder, then limped forward.

  The changeling was down. They had won. Or so Cass thought.

  With what seemed a power of effort, it lifted itself on two legs and one arm. Blood leaking from its mouth, it turned and tried to hiss at Vex’s slow, staggered movements, but all that came out was a sputtering cough as further red splashed upon the Atrium’s ground. Understanding came upon it as many other guards, some damaged and some not, began to close in.

  Chewing something in its mouth, it spat to the side, and with his enhanced vision, Cass saw the whiteness of a tooth within the glaring phlegm. “This is only the beginning.”

  With those ominous words, its last remaining arm stood out straight, then dove within its own body as if a stick falling into tranquil water. A moment later, the changeling’s legs thickened, further pushing out the already torn clothing until it began to run at the opposite door with speed. The guard standing there tried to meet the attacker, but a swift kick knocked them far away and through an Atrium wall before it continued. With Vex’s recent damage, he had no hope of keeping up, so he stood there watching like the rest of those recovering from the attack.

  “Son of a bitch,” Vex cursed as he looked around. “Sound off if you’re alive and conscious.”

  The role call came back in bits and bobs as Adya came down. The Scout had wanted in on the fight, but Cass had refused. She would not have survived the carnage at her current level. Immediately, she ran over to Cass’s side, “Are you okay?”

  He still couldn’t answer, but he tried to send her a feeling of hope as he twitched his neck a small amount. Judging by her expression, it didn’t go through as her eyes tightened up perceptively. Vex appeared beside her as if by wounded magic.

  “Damn,” The man cursed twice more. “Another Guild Master paralyzed.”

  “Not quite,” Thane said beside him, presumably in a seated position, as Cass could hear the man right by his ear. “I saw him move his head earlier. I believe Guild Master Vale will be clear of his condition sooner than you’d think.”

  “Is that true, Vale?” Vex got closer, looking him up and down. “Are you somehow beating the poison?”

  Cass gyrated his neck back and forth, just having enough control of those muscles not to allow his head to slump down. Adya gave him a sympathetic look as Vex whistled.

  “Well, I’ll be damned. You’re fighting through the poison at Tier 1 to boot.” He winced through some pain as he stood there bleeding in front of everyone. “I need to go get fixed up. I’ll leave a few Company people to watch over you as you recover. Be safe, Vale. You were the first one attacked, and I don’t think any of us should take that lightly.”

  He limped away just as a commotion started up near the open door. Several guards wearily picked up their shields again around the room, but the sounds coming from just beyond the entrance were both unnatural for the area and yet completely normal. It’s only when the figure ducked her head and squeezed through that everyone understood.

  She ran right up to Cass and neighed very loudly.

  “There’s a horse in the Atrium.” Thane Morrowind commented beside him, the disbelief heavy in his voice. “In one day, I’ve learned that the Liora Guildmaster has been paralyzed, a teenager is in charge, my fellow councilmembers are changelings, and yet this has somehow surprised me the most.”

  He took a long, deep breath, then said again, “There’s a horse in the Atrium.”

  [Tier 1 Investigation Quest]

  Assignment: Taste the Unknown

  You’ve followed the same flavor paths for too long. So, it’s time to send you somewhere unfamiliar. Not far, just different.

  Your Task: Find and eat at a restaurant that serves national or cultural cuisine you’ve never had before. Not a new place with the same food, but a wholly new flavor map you haven’t walked before (beware of allergies).

  Rules: – No ordering the safest thing on the menu– Ask one question about the food, origin, or story– Eat with attention, not just hunger

  Optional Bonus: Invite someone else who’s never tried it either. Make it a shared expedition.

  Completion Condition: New cuisine eaten. One question asked. One border moved.

  Timeframe: One WeekReward: 7 XP (10 if you can provide proof with photographic evidence of food and friend)

  Not all quests lead into the wild. Some begin at the edge of your plate.

  —J.D. Mullenary Sr. The Original QuestWright