2 The Inquisitor

"So, what information do we have?" asked Idormus, while he was drinking wine to calm himself.

For this completely symbolic visit, he was chosen as a leader of the Inquisition's delegation, but now that the situation was out of control, it seemed that he was the correct man for the job. While the other eight panicked, he started gathering information and analysing the situation.

He had enough time. The young foreigner gave it to him. He silently stood in front of the temple without moving for the last two hours. It was obvious he wanted to talk with one who would declare himself the local leader, but Idormus had no clue what could he want to talk about. Three of eleven priests, who participated in the public execution, were beaten to death by the mob and other three died of bleeding before they could receive the needed aid and it was obviously impossible to forgive him for instigating this vile act.

"He also attacked our tax collectors before. He called them criminals. And then he interrupted execution of that heretic and called those priests child murderers." said one of the priests.

Idormus already heard a similar report from a different priest, so there was nothing new for him. So be it.

"How about the king? Did he give us his word that he would stay out of this situation?" he asked then.

"Yes. He and his people will let us deal with it ourselves. We have their confirmation they intend not to interfere." answered the priest.

"Excellent. In that case, it seems that the time to deal with that bastard has come. Call for my subordinates, and we will personally see him in order to learn what he wants to say. It doesn't look like we will gain any new information by staying here so we shall go right to the source." he ordered.

"Yes, sir."

***

Seven men and two women were slowly descending the stairs from the temple to the young foreigner. The Inquisition thought the young mage.

Eight inquisitors stopped and only one of them continued a few steps closer, probably their leader.

"It seems you want to talk with us about something, you heretic. Spit it out." said the tall man in a white robe with a magic sword by his belt.

"Are you the leader of the Inquisition?" asked the young mage.

"Yes, indeed I am the leader of the Inquisition." lied Idormus to make himself sound more important. If the foreigner was so ignorant of the Church as to not know who the leader of the Inquisition was, he could use a small lie to make him more scared. He would be certainly forgiven this white lie, since it was done for the greater good, to give him the upper hand in this conversation.

"Great. So you are the one responsible for this situation." said the young mage, revealing anger in his voice.

"I have a proposal for you." he continued after a short pause.

What now? Idormus was thinking about the situation. What could the young man propose? Will he offer to give himself up to them if they forgive citizens? But the proposal the young mage made was completely out of his expectations.

"You and your little group of bandits called the Church will pack yourself and leave this kingdom never to return. I and the magic guild I represent will not pursue you." the foreigner stated his proposal.

Idormus was speechless. That mage dared to threaten not only him but the whole Church? Who does he think he is?

"I heard enough, pagan. You shall suffer for your insolence! Do you believe that we, the faithful servants of Rogad, fear you? With the power given to us by him, we cleanse this world of evil like you." he almost screamed, as the anger took over him. After all, he was not completely sober, since he calmed himself with too much of the wine.

The young black caped mage shook his head with disappointment.

"What a pity. I thought you would be more reasonable. Very well then, we shall fight if that is what you wish for." said the young man with a tired voice.

"You alone against nine powerful mages? Do you seriously think us to be so weak?" reacted Idormus to what he perceived as an insult.

"I am never alone." said young magician, pulling for four small stones size of a marble out of his pocket, and threw them into the air. The four stones disappeared and four figures appeared in their stead between the young man and the nine inquisitors.

Most to right stood a young man in a light leather armour. With a closer look, one would realize that on his head, what appeared to be blonde hair, was actually not hair but straw. He had two short swords that were already in his hands, prepared to cut and slash.

To the left of him stood a young woman with unnaturally blue tone of her skin and white hair in a heavy steel armour, but with no helmet on. In her right hand, she held a steel mace and in her left was a heavy shield, surface of which reflected light so well it was easily comparable to a mirror.

Even more to the left stood a crimson haired female magician in a dark red dress. She held a small lamp made of glass and steel in which red candle burned with a small flame.

The last one, most to the left, was a female archer who had moss instead of hair. Her skin was light brown with a few stains of green. The longbow she had was made out of completely black wood and had an ancient feeling to it.

"Glacia, Scarecrow, Helia, Dreya, I am sorry to bother you four but could you deal with them? I am not in the best mood. However, could you make sure their leader survives?" said the young mage behind them.

The young man with straw instead of hair smiled with excitement.

"Of course. But you had no reasons to call all four of us for this, Moren. I could handle these nine alone." he said.

"Don't boast pointlessly, Crow, I think that maybe even Unhorn would be able to deal with these. Master, why have you summoned us?" responded the blue-skinned woman in armour as she raised her shield.

"I suspect Moren wants to impress that crowd of people behind us. That might be why he called us all." said the moss haired archer, readying her arrow.

"Well, I disagree. He looks pretty angry. I think these idiots somehow pissed him off." the red-haired mage offered her impression.

Idormus was pissed off. They didn't take him even the slightest bit seriously, focusing more on talking than on him and his subordinates. Making a gesture with his hand, he and his eight subordinates attacked together.

However, all their magic attacks were attracted and pulled towards the shield of the armoured woman.

"They are actually a bit stronger and more skilled than I thought." she said, but her calm and composed expression without any real focus betrayed her words. Then she raised her mace and from within, a beam of magic light went towards one of the closer inquisitors.

Her target created a magic barrier to protect himself, but a powerful beam of magic penetrated the barrier and tore him to pieces.

While this was happening, moss haired archer fired an arrow wrapped in magic that killed one of the female inquisitors. At the same time, the straw-haired man disappeared from his original place and instantly appeared between two inquisitors, stabbing them with his swords and killing them instantly.

Another two were burned to ash by the flame that erupted from the lamp that the red-haired magician held in her hand.

The straw-haired man, seeing that one of the inquisitors wanted to send a magic attack at him pulled out a dagger and threw it at him, hitting the inquisitor right in his left eye.

The second female inquisitor who was the last one alive except for Idormus was at that time hit in the chest by an arrow sent by the archer, dying before her body reached the to ground.

The only one remaining was Idormus. He was currently overwhelmed by the undeniable result of this short battle and felt that his knees have started shaking. He was not able to accept that his subordinates were dead. They died so fast... They were elite mages of Inquisition. Well, as low ranked members, in terms of power, they were weaker when compared to inquisitors of higher ranking, but the Inquisition was already an organization of elite magicians, and even the weakest member was considered to be rather powerful.

How? How could they be defeated so easily?

"Are you satisfied? I offered you a way to avoid this pointless bloodshed and yet you rejected. So what will you do now?" asked young mage.

Idormus knew what would follow. His death.

"The previous proposal is still valid. You can take your group of bandits and leave this kingdom." said the foreigner to his surprise.

"You will not kill me?" asked Idormus with a shaking voice filled with fear.

"I think this was bloodshed terrible enough. Of course, if you reject my generous offer, I'll have to continue. Killing people doesn't make me one bit happy, but if there is no other option..." responded the young mage, raising his staff.

"Wait! We will leave this country! I promise!" screamed terrified Idormus, afraid that if he did not do so, youth could see it as not accepting.

"A wise decision." said the youth, and four of his guardians disappeared into thin air.

As a young mage was leaving, Idormus found in himself the courage for one last question.

"Excuse me, but could you tell me who are you?" he said, afraid of asking, but he knew that if he didn't return with at least some information, commander the Highest Inquisitor would fry him alive after he returned.

"My name is Moren, and I am an envoy of the magic guild Il'lief, or as you would call it in your language, the Guild of Life Magic and Necromancy."

"The Guild of Life Magic and Necromancy?" asked Idormus, feeling sceptical.

"Our guild has a seven centuries long tradition, but that is not something you should care about. Take your people and leave. And know that if you decide to plan some stupid revenge plot, our guild will be willing to meet you with its full power and erase your little Church from this continent." was the mage's answer, before he slowly walked away from the temple, towards the king's palace.