The Monster - Pt. 1.5 out of 2 (Murder, Inquisition, ...)
#5 of Tenebrae
A story about the trails of the Inquisitor Nocens and his faithful companion Nukke.
They travel to a village supposedly inhabited by a monster, or perhaps a traitor that needs to be put down.
PS: I am not a native English speaker and I am not very good at writing either, but I quite enjoy doing so. If you find any mistakes in my story (and
I am pretty sure you will), Please write a comment and mention them, or state if you liked the story or not. Thank you very much and have a nice day!
PPS: If you get bored while reading, try this:http://ttsreader.com/
Simply copy the text, click on the big green button and go to sleep.
"Wife? Wiiiiife! Damned woman, where the hell is she?"
Mayor smiled on them, but something definitely bothered him, he was sweating and his eyes were scanning everything around.
They were in a spacious room fitted with a long wooden table, on far end of the room, there was a stone furnace, with warm flickering fire slowly consuming the coal in it, a nice change for the weather outside.
Everything was orderly, mayor's wife must've been cleaning and sorting the house for hours before their arrival, one thing however was definitely out-of-place: deep claw marks on the floor, stretching all the way from the entrance to one of the other four door leading into the room.
"Those doors, where do they lead?"
Nocens pointed towards the direction of the marks, mayor nearly fainted in that very moment, white as a wall, he started stuttering and breathing heavily.
"Th-Those d-doors? Eh... Well... T-They lead into the cellar. Nothing of interest there my lord, trust my words."
Nocens kept a stone face, but Nukke would've sworn that he saw a flicker of amusement in his eyes.
"Nothing of interest? I would love to have a taste of one of your renowned wines."
Still as pale as a wall, mayor was going to start stuttering again, but Nocens stopped him abruptly with a wave of a hand:
"Oh stop it already! It is safe to assume that your wife is down there, is it the place where you're hiding the elf?"
Nukke stood there silently, in vain attempts to figure out what is going on.
Mayor stopped breathing, his eyes widened and so did his mouth, he was speechless.
"Execute him Nukke, this heretic deserves to live no more."
"WHAT?"
"WHAT?"
Both mayor and Nukke looked on Nocens, trying to figure out whether he's meant it. Inquisitor just nodded his head, as if he could read their thoughts.
"But I can't! He deserves a proper trial!"
"There is no trial for the heretic."
"What if he is innocent?!"
"Then god will judge him rightly."
"Can't we investigate first?"
Nocens exhaled deeply, visibly annoyed by his companion:
"Do it, NOW!"
Mayor stood there, like a statue, he did not even blink when Nukke took his sword and decapitated him with a single blow.
Warm blood splattered across the room and left both the Inquisitor and his companion sprayed with it.
Nukke dropped his sword on the ground, with tears running down his cheeks.
"Fuck."
Nocens observed him for a brief moment, before turning around towards the heavy wooden doors, supposedly leading to the cellar.
"I've killed in cold blood. I am a murderer! Why did you make me do it?!"
Sitting on a floor, Nukke could not pull together.
"Silence!"
"But I fucking killed him!"
Nocens quickly turned around:
"Pull yourself together, pick up your sword and learn your manners peasant!"
Nukke kept on sobbing, but he wasn't as loud as before.
"Yes my lord."
Nocens nodded his head again, turning back to work.
In mere seconds, he found a lever next to the doors and unlocked them by pulling it.
Doors opened with a screeching sound, there were stairs, going down into the cellar, a flickering light of a torch could be seen down, on the bottom.
"Let's go, work awaits us down there."
Nocens made a first step down, the stairs were wet, with claw marks all over them. Nukke was following him just behind his back, they were both silent, all that could be heard was Nukke's loud breathing.
"Your breath would wake the death."
"What? It doesn't smell that bad, my lord!"
Nocens chuckled softly, closest thing to laughter he'd make.
After the descend, they found themself in the entrance to a spacious round room, torches were lit on the walls, with warm flame both lighting the interior of and making it somewhat warmer than the rest of the building.
On the far end, there was an immense cage, made of iron and steel, a large piece of brown cloth was laid on it, forbidding them to see what it contains. In front of the cage stood the mayor's wife, dressed up in her festive robe, adorned with bronze jewelry. She stared on them with a rock face, neither sad, nor happy, seemingly not surprised.
A shiver ran through the Inquisitor's body, when he noticed that one of her hands is behind her back, he drew his sword and prepared for trouble.
"Please, my lord. There is no need for that."
Nocens did not move, still in the battle stance, ready for battle. Nukke watched it all from afar, like in trance, he did not see what was about to happen.
"Where is the Elf I am looking for?"
It was a rhetorical question.
"An Elf?"
She seemed genuinely surprised.
"Don't take me for a fool, your dear husband made that mistake already and he's payed dearly for it. Stand aside and let us get over with it."
She shook her head.
"No, I know we made a mistake for taking her as our sla-"
The sentence remained unfinished, as Nocens used a brief moment when she turned aside to rush forward and swing his sword leftward, cutting of her head with a single blow. She did not have enough time to react, or to say anything at all. Her body fell on the floor, motionless, her left hand clutched a short dagger. Nukke still stood aside, with his mouth open, as if his mind left his body. Nocens noticed that.
"What the hell is wrong with you? You are the most incompetent servant and guide I've ever had. Do you even care for anything in the World? Pull down the curtain, I want to see the Elf that caused so much trouble."