The ranger moved through the trees with hardly a rustle. Exploring the elven environs of Cormanthor, in particular those in the Tangled Trees after Fannt Golsway had been invited by one of the elven families to pursue a lost cache of heirlooms thought destroyed when Myth Drannor fell, had schooled him in the ways of woodcraft. His mentor had only been partially successful in recovering the lost items, but in the months that Baylee had lived among the elves, he'd learned how to pass through the trees as if born there.
He swung from the branches, and landed with sure-footed balance on chosen limbs, closing in on his target. The ores had the advantage of being able to see in the night, but Baylee's own abilities had been sharpened by long living in the wild. He hunted as easily by night as by day, moved as quietly. Catacombs often held no light either, save for torches carried along for that purpose. And those had to be used sparingly. He hadn't always made it back out with benefit of light. So he'd learned to trust his other senses and his intuition.
He hurled himself through the air again, landing on a thick-boled limb thirty feet above the ground. A pair of ores ran through the brush, their path taking them beneath the tree he'd chosen.
The ranger released a tense breath and focused all his attention on the ores. Both of them neared the base of the tree. Baylee let himself down through the limbs hurriedly, avoiding dead branches that could break off and fall below to warn the ores. He dropped the final six feet, having no choice if he wanted to arrive in time.
He hooked his legs around one of the lower branches, then fell so he hung upside down. Both ores heard him and tried to figure out where the sound came from.
"Cat!" one of them yelled out in warning.
The forest held a number of feline predators, including leopards. Baylee had witnessed them in his travels since leaving Ranger's Way. He reached down and grabbed the second ore's head. Hanging by his legs, making any use of his upper body strength was difficult. Still, he managed to cup the ore's skull tightly and twist.
The ore's spine splintered.
Baylee released the corpse and it collapsed to the ground. Evidently enough noise had been made to warn the ore's companion. The creature turned around in surprise and nocked an arrow to the short bow it held.
Hanging upside down from the tree branch, Baylee stared death in the eye. The shifting of the ore's shoulder told him when the arrow was about to be released. The ranger threw himself to the side. The arrow fletchings slipped along the side of his face, letting him know just how close it had been.
On his way to the ground, he flipped in midair and landed on his feet. The ore screamed out a warning to the others of its party. The sound of running feet started immediately toward Baylee.
Seeing the human still alive sent the ore into a panic. The creature drew back to the shelter of a nearby tree as it tried to nock a new arrow.
Baylee sprang forward, reaching for the ore. He seized the creature's head and slammed it into the tree hard enough to smash its skull. The ore let out a long breath, shivered, and died in the tangle of roots thrusting up from the ground.
The ranger gathered the short bow and the quiver of arrows. A quick count showed him fourteen arrows in the quiver. He took five of them out, fitting one to the string and taking four more up in his left fist, holding them with the bow, managing the handful with ease.
Though Golsway had been reluctant to allow Baylee to carry weapons, he had seen his apprentice trained in their usage.
Happily better armed, Baylee faded into the darkness of the forest It was time for the hunted to become the hunter.
"Detestable creature," Jaeleen said aloud. Her words dripped spite and venom.
Roosting upside down high overhead in the tree the woman hid under, Xuxa regally chose to ignore the woman and sent her senses ranging far out, seeking Baylee. She touched the minds of two of the ores and retreated instantly by choice.
Ores had such narrow, closed minds filled with horrific dreams fueled by the smell of blood. Xuxa shuddered, re-closing her leathery wings about herself. She still could not sense Baylee, and she was beginning to feel somewhat anxious.
"I know you can hear me," Jaeleen called out from below, "and I know you're up there."
Then do us both a favor, Xuxa flashed at the human woman, and shut up. She intentionally made her telepathic voice loud enough to hurt.
Jaeleen loosed an oath, summoning up a colorful, but wholly inaccurate family history for azmyth bats in general, and Xuxa in particular.
Xuxa ignored the outburst. Seated in the upper branches of the tree, she had a good field of view. Her night sight stripped away the dark shadows twisting across the land. One of the ores had closed the distance between itself and Jaeleen to sixteen paces. Feeling disgusted, Xuxa also noted that the human female still did not register the ore.
Baylee would never make such a mistake, the azmyth bat knew. She had trained the human ranger to be alert to everything going on around him, and she took pride in Baylee's skills, which were well beyond those of most humans.
The ore continued creeping up on Jaeleen.
Xuxa briefly considered sending a warning to the human female and letting her fend for herself, but decided not to. In the ensuing fight, Jaeleen might manage to get injured, and Xuxa didn't intend to listen to Baylee berate her for it. And there was a certain amount of territorial pride involved since Baylee had made the woman her charge.
Unfurling her wings, Xuxa let herself fall from the branch. She dropped like a stone, emitting her high-pitched squeak too high for either humans or ores to hear. The sound bounced back up at her from the forest sward, instantly letting her know how near she was to her quarry.
She broke her fall at the last possible moment. Her leather wings stretched out and caught the wind, straining her muscles and the tendons of the joints. She rode the breeze, arrowing at her target.
In the last moment of its life, the ore noticed the azmyth bat coming at it silently. The ore shifted defensively against the movement, raising its club.
Xuxa knew the ore probably hadn't even identified what she was at the time she struck. Not wanting to take a chance on the opportunity presented her, Xuxa screamed again. The sound waves bounced back at her, bringing the ore into clearest focus for her bat senses.
She twisted in the air violently, bringing her twin tails stabbing into flesh while her fangs sank deeply into the ore's throat, hi a flicker, she unleashed the lightning charge bottled up inside her.
Overcome by the onslaught, the ore tumbled to the ground, smoke rising from its twitching body, unable to even manage its own death throes.
Xuxa frantically beat against the wind to gain altitude quickly. She swooped around, circling the tree where she had left Jaeleen. Her keen eyes picked the woman out of the darkness.
Jaeleen leveled the hand crossbow. Her hard eyes projected anticipation.
Miss, Xuxa promised in a whispering voice in the woman's mind, and I won't.
Jaeleen snarled an oath and lifted the weapon clear. "Have I ever told you how much I hate flying rodents?"
Xuxa flew to the top of the tree and took up her search for Baylee again. She remained aware of Jaeleen below. The woman scurried for Baylee's shovel and dropped into the hole the ranger had dug. The shovel's blade bit cleanly into the dark earth.
Xuxa shifted along the branch. She could neither sense nor see Baylee, though she was aware of the ores as they pursued something through the forest.
Then her attention was divided as the shovel Jaeleen wielded so vigorously broke through into hollow space. The azmyth bat peered down.
Jaeleen dropped to her hands and knees, tossing the shovel to one side. She dug frantically into the earth, enlarging the hole she'd made.