<~> Chapter 149

I rolled my shoulder as we looked at the stairs up to the next floor. I had to admit, I was feeling a bit nervous about it. Watching a changeling that looked like Luna being killed right in front of me had shaken me more than I'd like to admit. The way Piper reacted to the situation really hadn't helped either. It was pretty disconcerting watching Piper break down like that when she's usually so solid.

I thumbed the little piece of metal on a cord around my neck. "Do you think this thing will actually do anything?" I asked.

Luna shrugged. ("Your guess is as good as mine. I don't know much about the fae.")

All fifteen of us delvers were given a small amulet with a name that translates to something like "troll cross" after some back and forth using the rings. It was a small necklace made from a thin rod of iron bent into a ring on one end with the tips curled inwards on the other. The shape reminded me a bit of the Taurus horoscope symbol. After being teased so much about my own 'superstitions,' I was almost tempted to bring that up, but if I was being honest, I really hoped it actually did something to ward off the changelings on the next floor.

"Do you know what this is supposed to do to protect us from the changelings?" I asked Maxwell.

"Celeste didn't give me much information about the amulets when she handed them to me. She just told me that it was a countermeasure that Bellatrix came up with that's supposed to ward off the fae," he replied.

Aria sighed. "It sounds like we're testing these for them too, then."

"I think you might be right," Maxwell said grimly.

"At least we're not the only ones testing them," I commented while looking over my shoulder.

This time, the plan was to send all three delving teams up to the second floor at the same time. Like before, we would split up and try to find the stairs or any other resources of note. Because of the nature of the floor, it didn't seem like a good match for sending large groups of soldiers that changelings could slip into. If these so-called troll crosses helped ward away the changelings somehow, then small units of soldiers could be brought in to help explore the floor and collect resources. Resources that included the changeling corpses. They had been proven to be rich in crafting components for the enchanters and alchemists.

Tor'jek had extensively trained Milana and Luna in how to read the flows of magic that should give away a transformed changeling, but that would be put to the test now. I was most worried for Valkin's group since they were the ones least likely to be able to handle the floor. Any worries I had privately brought up to them had already been shut down by Valkin's team, though. They were hunters who were ready and willing to risk their lives and didn't want to get left behind. I just hoped that their confidence was well placed. They didn't have our rings to fall back on if the troll crosses didn't work.

Maxwell turned and addressed the other two groups. "If everyone's ready, we'll be heading in first."

Valkin and Jol'ket both gave a quick nod of acknowledgement, and the various members of both groups wished us good luck. I took a breath and began climbing the stairs. Not long later, our group was in the mirrored maze of pillars again. I glanced across all my friends and was happy to see that Piper looked like her usual self. The trauma this place had inflicted on her last time seems to have passed for now. Hopefully, it doesn't come back in full force if we get attacked by another copy of Luna again.

I shifted to my wolf form and rested my axe on my shoulder. I sniffed the air and let my sensitive whiskers point me in the direction of the stairs, assuming that worked property on this floor. This maze was a bit more open and less organized than the previous mazes, so I wasn't sure if it would work the same.

Taking a step forward, I pointed in the direction of the change in air pressure. "This way," I said.

We walked into the maze and took a few turns before Maxwell broke the silence. "Last time, you didn't seem to notice the changeling until it attacked. Do you think you'll be able to spot them earlier this time, Helena?" Maxwell's tone was all business. I didn't take his question as the slight it could have been interpreted as. He was asking me a serious question.

"I'm honestly not sure how the last one slipped my notice. I didn't know it was there until it stabbed me," I replied.

Aria sighed. "We should keep an extra eye out for sneak attacks and ambushes then. I can't really break off to scout under these conditions."

"All of us need to keep our eyes out for them. There's no telling what direction they could come from with all of these pillars around," Maxwell said.

I tilted my head as I heard an odd noise. "Something up ahead to the right. Voices, and something else."

"Keep steady. Everyone, stay prepared. Lead us in the direction, Helena."

I nodded and followed the strange sound. It deviated us from the path my whiskers were leading, but that was fine. When we turned the corner, we saw the reflection of a staggeringly beautiful woman in torn clothing being surrounded by eight men in black brigandine armor.

When the woman's eyes met mine, she reached a hand toward me through the reflection. "Help me! Please!" the woman cried. In response, one of the men slapped the woman across the face, knocking her to the ground.

We quickly turned the corner and rounded the pillar until we were facing the group and waited for Luna's judgment. ("The woman's a changeling... all of them are,") Luna said as soon as she finished identifying them.

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("Okay.") Luna replied to a command that only she could hear from Maxwell. I gripped the handle of my axe in preparation.

The woman had started telling some sob story that all of us ignored. Suddenly, she cut off mid-sentence as her eyes widened in shock. All of them tried to dive out of Luna's sudden fire spell that had activated under their feet. The moment the fire passed, I dashed across the room toward the farthest one away and dropped my axe on his scrambling body. The changeling had no time to react as my axe embedded itself deep into the creature's spine, breaking its transformation and killing it in an instant.

I dropped my foot onto the creature's back and used it as leverage to pull my axe from its broken body before turning to face the others. The one I had killed had been in the best shape, while most of the others had been at least partially scorched by Luna's spell. Piper's eyes were hardened, but there was no hesitation as she stood side by side with her brother and cut down the men in brigandine armor. Luna and Aria shot spells and arrows at the others while Iris used her wind magic to keep the ones nearest to our frontline unstable.

Leaping back across the room, I began to finish off the ones Iris was suppressing while Luna and Aria turned the beautiful imposter into a pincushion. In less than a minute after Luna had given us the green light, all of the changelings were dead. Once they were killed, they all returned to their normal changeling form, and we found out the only one that had been wearing any real armor had been one of the ones Piper had killed.

"Why did this one have armor, but none of the others did?" Piper asked as she held up the black brigandine armor that she pulled from the dead changeling.

I frowned. "Maybe they only had one armor, but it had given them the idea of using this ploy on us."

("Why didn't they try to pose as one of us this time?") Luna asked.

I thumbed the troll cross amulet that hung around my neck even in my wolf form. "Perhaps this amulet shields us from their ability to shift into us."

"You know, there is a way for you to test it out," Aria said.

As I looked over the corpses, I grimaced. "One of these is female, can I take that one? It will at least make this a bit easier on me."

Maxwell nodded. "It would be more than worth it if you could tell us what these troll crosses actually do."

I sighed and began to dig into the female changeling that had been amongst the group. Somewhat strangely, the one who had been posing as a woman had been male, and the one who had actually been a female had been disguised as one of the men. It gave me the impression that the disgust I felt whenever I shifted into a man was an issue the changelings didn't suffer from the same way I did. I shook the thought away as I dug into the carcass. Despite the grisliness, the changeling tasted so good. The savory taste of the humanoid monster's meat revitalized me as its dense magic poured into me while I feasted.

Once I finished eating, there wasn't much left other than the unappetizing wings caked in the creature's sneeze-inducing dust. I nodded to Maxwell once I finished. "You can take those if you want. I can't eat them."

"Good, they think this might be the most valuable part," Maxwell commented as he scooped them up and put them in his magic backpack. I idly wondered if he worried about blood and guts cross-contaminating things as I prepared to transform into the new changeling I had devoured.

Stepping a little away from the group, I shifted back to my beastkin form and removed my troll cross amulet. I tossed it into my storage ring and took a deep breath. "Okay, here goes."

I shifted into the new female changeling and blinked my beady black eyes at the others. Even from the other side of the room, I could feel the poisonous aura of the iron coming from their bodies. The aura muddled their emotions to my senses and made their thoughts invisible to me. That aura also made it hard to understand their shape properly. I wouldn't be able to trick them by using one of the others against them. I would immediately be caught. While they were wearing those disgusting things, the only way I would be able to get anything from them would be if I could convince them to take the poisonous iron off. I already knew plenty about them, but for some reason, I couldn't remember why it wouldn't be a good idea to trick them. It was confusing, and that confusion reminded me that I needed to change back since I wasn't thinking clearly.

Once I was back to normal, the thoughts I was having made a lot more sense to me. "These amulets definitely work. Though now, I think any random chunk of iron large enough would make the changelings a lot less dangerous. While we're wearing them, they can't read our thoughts or understand our forms. They also can't gain sustenance from our emotions while the iron is poisoning them, so I was only able to consider how to trick you guys into taking them off, rather than the ways I would make all of you feel awful."

("Does that mean that you've confirmed from a second changeling that this one is the same as the last one in terms of its motivations?") Luna asked.

"Yeah. I don't like being a changeling," I said with a frown. "All I can think about is how to get what I want, which involves hurting all of you. It feels normal when it's happening, but in retrospect, the thoughts feel bizarre."

Piper nodded. "Good, then we have nothing to worry about when killing the small bastards." She turned to glower at one of the dead changelings on the ground. "Even this was a sick way to try and get a rise out of us."

"I'm sure there would be plenty of people who would have been swayed by this kind of thing," Aria said. "A lot of boys dream of saving a poor vulnerable girl surrounded by men who would do her harm. I always got more handouts than the boys when I was out on the street, even if I occasionally had to run away from creepy weirdos."

"It's a good thing that Luna can see through them. It was odd that there would be anyone here, but it would have been hard to fight them if we didn't actually know for sure," Iris said.

Luna scratched the back of her head. ("True. The troll crosses are only half of the equation. Delvers will also need to be able to see through their deceptions. Even if we were wary, the changelings would have put us in the position of either abandoning someone who needed our help or walking into a trap.")

Maxwell shook his head. "Let's keep moving. I doubt this will be our only encounter with them. I've already finished packing away the bodies."

I nodded. "Alright, everyone, it's back this way." We retraced our steps until we were back on track for the stairs according to my sensitive whiskers. Not too much more to go.

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