Tano arrived at Watch headquarters bright and early, as usual, only to find a summons to the Duke's palace waiting for him. His stomach twisted with dread at the thought of the meeting that was sure to happen, but as there was no avoiding it, he put on his best stone face and trudged up to the palace, leaving Captain Ennrian, his second, in charge.

Rannale, the Duke's Secretary was waiting for him when he arrived. "Lord Commander," he said with a small bow.

Tano scowled at the man, displeased at the reminder of the title that Duke Sleine had insisted on foisting upon him as a "reward" for long years of distinguished service. However, as he knew from experience that Rannale would ignore anything he said on the matter, he grumpily followed the man to the Duke's study without comment.

Vicereine Kalira rose when he entered, looking tired, but still as strikingly beautiful as ever. Tano endured her brief embrace, and even found a smile for her when she thanked him earnestly for coming so early.

"You know I don't sleep," he reminded her.

"Right. Of course. Sorry." Kalira yawned and resumed her seat at the Duke's table, laying an affectionate hand on his arm as he poured her a cup of very strong tea.

Tano's insides twisted with misery as Sleine leaned forward to kiss Kalira's cheek, a reaction that he struggled not to show. It wasn't Kalira's fault she hadn't been able to return his feelings, after all. He'd told Kalira he was happy for her, and he'd just have to convince himself that he meant it.

"Something to eat, Commander?" The Duke gestured to the spread in front of him.

"No thank you, my Lord." Tano said politely. He was able to counterfeit the mechanics of eating, but as he didn't have any taste buds, he preferred not to bother. "I don't currently require sustenance."

The Duke smiled. "I'm afraid you'll have to forgive our rudeness as we eat in front of you, then. It's been a long morning already."

Tano nodded stiffly, wishing that Sleine wasn't so damnably... likeable. Somehow it would have made Kalira's rejection easier to bear.

The war council commenced when the rest of the Duke's informal council of advisors had arrived.

"We've located the shifter cult's temple, and with it - the relic," Sleine said, jumping straight to the heart of the matter. "And not a moment too soon - the conjunction needed for the ritual is less than two days away. The temple is hidden below the lowest levels of the catacombs. A strike team is being assembled as we speak to infiltrate the temple and destroy the relic, so that the cult won't be able to summon their god." Sleine turned the full weight of his regard on Tano. "Commander Tano, given that these are your people..."

"They are not my people," Tano growled. "They chose their side when they abandoned me, and I've chosen mine."

The Duke grimaced.

"Your loyalty is, of course, above reproach," Kalira said apologetically. "We simply meant that you have the best understanding of how they think."

Sleine nodded. "To say nothing of how useful a man of your... talents will be."

Tano grunted. It wasn't the first time he'd been tapped for a mission of this sort. He was Commander of the Tinoran City Watch, not an adventurer or an assassin. But it was hard to deny that his shifting ability would be even more of an asset than usual, given that they were going up against his own kin. And since a successful summoning of the shifter god would result in a cataclysm of fire and death that would consume the entire city, it was in Tano's own best interest to do everything in his power to ensure the ritual was prevented.

"I am yours to command, my Lord."

"Very well. The strike team is assembling at the armory. You'll leave as soon as they're ready."

* * *

The Duke's adventurers were some of the best in the realm, and with good reason - Sleine spared no expense to ensure they were happy. That their salary came from his own personal coffers rather than the public purse was one of the many reasons he was so beloved by his people. His effortless goodness was another - the Duke was a man you couldn't help but believe in.

Safely navigating the catacombs' warren of tunnels was slow, careful work. The cult had booby-trapped the tunnels with all manner of gruesome and deadly traps, both mechanical and magical. It took a full day for the team to get into position, and everyone - including Tano - was exhausted and worn by the time they evaded the last of the patrols and emerged from a secret passage into the inner sanctum.

Birch, the team's master thief, consulted their pocket watch. "The conjunction happens in about two hours."

"We won't get another shot at this, then," replied the cleric, a balding little man whose name Tano's tired brain refused to hold onto.

Found it," Esskale, their wizard, said dryly, pointing to an alcove on the opposite wall in which a large, plain metal box sat on a marble pedestal. The entire wall was dominated by an ominous mosaic, with black and purple tiles making it appear that shadow tentacles were erupting from the box. Esskale frowned, squinting, as she scanned the surrounding area with mage sight. "Nobody move," she said shortly as she raised her hands.

Nobody did.

A few minutes later, she made a final throwing motion, and there was a brief shower of sparks. "There," she said tiredly. "Had to do it quick and dirty, but I've unmade the protections. The magic ones at least." She swayed exhaustedly, and Lorek - a taciturn merc the size of a brick wall - stepped forward to steady her. "And now I need to sit down."

"My turn," Birch said, lowering a pair of enormous lenses onto their face.

Time ticked with agonizing slowness as Birch examined every square inch of floor before turning their attention to the pedestal itself, but no one complained. Birch was the only reason they'd gotten this far in the first place.

Finally, Birch sighed. "Only one left," they said, lifting their lenses and beckoned Tano over. "But it's a doozy. See this?" They pointed at a small circular hole on the front of the box that was about as deep as Tano's second knuckle, several inches below the lid's seam. Birch moved their lantern so that Tano could see the wicked-looking needle gleaming inside. "There's one on every side, and the only way to remove the lid is to depress the mechanisms on all four sides of the box."

Tano frowned. "And the needles are coated with a fatal poison, I suppose."

"Naturally," Birch replied.

Tano looked at Esskale, who was sitting on the floor, leaning against a large pillar. "Is the poison magical in any way?"

Esskale grunted, squinted at the box, and shook her head. "No."

"Mm. And cutting the damn thing open would draw far too much attention."

Birch nodded wryly. "We don't have the time or tools for that anyway. Unless Esskale can melt it or something."

"Nope. Used all my power making sure we didn't get disintegrated."

"Alright then." Tano cleared his throat self-consciously. He didn't usually like shifting in front of an audience, but... Needs must. "If anyone gets squeamish about tentacles, you might want to close your eyes."

It would have been easier to revert to his natural liquid state, but as he still needed to be able to communicate, Tano had to concentrate on holding the rest of his shape steady while he split his arms into four separate limbs. Next, he stretched each limb so that he could extrude a digit into all four holes at once, just in case Esskale was wrong and one or more of the needles was magically trapped.

Thankfully, however, his caution was unwarranted, and there was a satisfyingly loud click when Tano depressed the mechanisms on all four sides simultaneously. "I don't suppose we know if there are any traps inside?"

Birch and Esskale both shook their heads.

"Very well. We'll just have to go for brute force and ignorance, then." Tano reformed his right arm into a giant mallet and shifted the majority of his mass into it, making it as dense as possible. When he was ready, he looked at Birch. "On three, remove the lid and hit the floor. You count."

Birch nodded and got into position while everyone else took shelter behind the pillars ringing the outside of the room.

"One. Two. Three!"

Birch was fast - they flung the lid aside and hit the floor almost before Tano had time to react. Angry red light erupted from the box as the object inside - a diamond-studden diadem - battered Tano's will with magical compulsion, demanding that he put it on.

A split second later, his "fist" made contact, triggering a blinding flash of light.

Time slowed to a crawl as voices around him cried out in pain. Tano collapsed like a puppet whose strings had been cut as a vast, overwhelming Power wrapped itself around his soul and tried to take him along with it as it was dragged back into the void. There was a moment of unbearable tension, then something snapped. The god howled its outrage directly into Tano's mind, lashing out with its remaining strength.

So this is how it happened, then. He'd always thought he'd die in the line of duty.

And then Tano was back in his body, and there was no room for thought. No room for anything but pain. Endless, excruciating waves of pain as magic coursed through every atom of his being.

Tano screamed and blacked out.

* * *

He came to lying on the temple's cold stone floor.

The cleric (Galen? No. Gallen.) was kneeling beside him, holding his wrist. "He has a pulse!"

Tano started shivering violently.

"Your cloak," Gallen snapped at Lorek.

Lorek removed his cloak, looking away in embarrassment as he draped it over Tano.

It was only then that Tano realized that he was naked. His head swam as he was assailed by unfamiliar sensations - cold, discomfort, pain. Dear gods the pain. Instinctively, he tried to shift forms, bring his "clothes" back, only to find a void where his magic once had been.

"Hurts," he gasped.

Esskale frowned and looked at Gallen. "It's not a spell."

The cleric looked as baffled as Tano felt. "There's nothing wrong with him," he protested. "At least not that I can feel."

Tano grit his teeth against the pain he apparently wasn't having. "What. Happened."

Birch leaned over him, eyes wide with wonderment. "You're... human."

Fuck.