"Speak to the doppleganger filth you have tracking the ranger. Tell them he is to be left alive."
"How?" The fact that they were dopplegangers limited the names to a list of six.
"They will hear you." Shallowsoul touched the ball with a talon.
An amber glow clouded the glass, but didn't dim the clarity of the image.
The lich's instruction let Krystarn know the crystal ball was evidently one of Moredlin's, able to transmit sound from the viewed location to the scryer, and from the scryer to the viewed location. She leaned forward, her breath fogging the amber-tinted crystal.
Xuxa took to wing at once and swooped toward one of the approaching sailors. The man's cutlass whistled by only inches from the azmyth bat.
Baylee dodged a blow from the viciously twisted boat hook the other man held. The ranger stepped to the side, looking for a means of escape.
The sailor with the boat hook reset himself and came again. His movements were precise and measured. Evidently he was a skilled fighter and no neophyte to actual battle. Baylee blocked the blow, slapping the back of his wrist against the man's weapon forearm and using his strength and leverage to keep the arm from descending. The ranger threw a bunched fist into the sailor's face, snapping his head back.
For a moment, the sailor's face seemed to wobble, and the ears grew longer. He staggered back, his free hand across his nose and eyes.
Baylee recognized the long ears and twisted features for what they were. He had fought dopplegangers before. Xuxa.
I have seen, the azmyth bat replied. They are all foul, cowardly creatures.
But in nowise less dangerous, Baylee pointed out. He gave ground before the doppleganger as it came at him again. Xuxa tried to keep the second one occupied, and to get close enough to use her own unique powers to end that part of the battle. But her attacks took glide time to maneuver. As soon as she broke off, the second doppleganger joined the first in attacking Baylee.
Without warning, a feminine voice spoke from the very air around them. "Keep the ranger alive," she said, "or you'll know my wrath."
"Alive?" the one with the cutlass argued. "But that was not the bargain."
"The bargain has changed. Surely you, of anyone, would understand change."
Baylee believed he recognized the voice as belonging to the drow woman. They had tracked him. The pursuit had not ended.
"It is all right, Zyzll," the other doppleganger with the boat hook said. "She only needs him alive. Not of a whole piece. We'll still take his arms and legs. And if need be," he held up the cruel boat hook, "we can take his eyes as well."
Seizing the moment, Baylee turned and fled. His action caught the dopplegangers by surprise, and he gained three good strides on them before they took up pursuit. The ranger headed for his mount tied up in front of Nalkie's. He came up from behind it at a dead run, used his hands on its rump to vault up, then landed with his feet on the saddle. He took one step as the horse shifted in surprise, and leaped onto the solid wood awning over the tavern, hoping that it would hold his weight. He ran the length of it, away from the sea and deeper into the shops.
A glance over his shoulder showed him that Xuxa winged toward him. The two dopplegangers raced after him as well. One of them rippled, the arms and legs stretching as it grew two feet taller than it had been. At its new height, it easily grabbed the edge of the eaves over Nalkie's and hauled itself up.
The eaves vibrated beneath Baylee's feet as the creature dropped onto the awning. The doppleganger with the boat hook followed along on the street below.
Baylee ran, quickly as he could, leaping over the open gaps between the awnings. A handful of shopkeepers and their patrons came out to watch, not daring to get too close. But Baylee knew the watch would be called, and with them would be Cordyan Tsald.
The line of buildings ended only a short distance ahead, leaving only the street or the alley behind the buildings. Baylee vaulted the low roof overhang of a leather-worker's business and ran for the back of the building.
At the end of the roof, he took one glance down and spotted the trash heap behind the seamstress's shop. He dropped into discarded fabric, breaking his fall, then clawed his way out. The footsteps on the roof above crashed, sounding close. With its greater stride, the doppleganger pursuing him across the rooftops gained ground.
Further down the alley, a young man swabbed out the back of a butcher's shop, the door wide open behind him. He looked up as Baylee approached, freezing into place.
The ranger eyed the handle of the mop. It looked good and strong, the grain showing that the cut had been made with it instead of against it. A thud sounded behind Baylee, and he guessed that the eight-foot tall doppleganger had dropped down.
The youth mopping out the butcher's shop stared past Baylee with wide eyes. The ranger reached out for the mop, snatching it from the youth's hand. "Excuse me. I need this." He turned to face his pursuer.
The doppleganger was almost on top of him. He couldn't have outrun it any longer. The creature's borrowed face split in a huge grin. "You're going to fight me with a mop?"
"If you're not too cowardly," Baylee replied, holding the mop defensively before him. "After all, we are alone. Your kind generally prefers to outnumber an opponent. And I am a fair hand with a mop." He breathed fast, trying to keep his breath regular after the exertion. Even fighting for his life as he was, part of his mind was occupied with what might be on the elven ship.
The doppleganger waved the cutlass with certain menace. With its enhanced height, the heavy-bladed weapon looked small.
Baylee shoved the youth back into the butcher's shop, out of the way of the confrontation. He ducked under the doppleganger's first slash. Instead of striking back as he stood and moved back from his taller foe, he put the wet end of the mop on the ground, then stomped the handle just behind it. The oak handle broke in a jagged arc. He side-stepped the next thrust.
The other one is coming, Xuxa warned.
I know. Baylee took another step back, giving ground, getting the feel of the changed weight of the mop handle. It was too short to be a true staff, but in his hands it was a dangerous weapon.
The doppleganger swung another cut at him, stepping forward in anticipation of Baylee moving back again.
Baylee deflected the blow, stopping enough of the sword before deflecting it to ensure the doppleganger's hand would ache from the impact. Caught off guard, the creature was unprepared for Baylee's reversal of the mop handle, or the swing that connected with his face.
The doppleganger roared with rage and pain, struggling to get the cutlass up.
Baylee ducked to the side, reversing the mop handle again and striking the doppleganger on the side of the knee with a meaty smack. The leg trembled and almost went out from under the creature.
Trying to recover, the doppleganger aimed a backhanded blow at the ranger. Baylee parried the cut and came across the top of the cutlass, ramming the rounded end of the mop into the creature's forehead hard enough to jerk its head back.
The doppleganger stumbled back, a worm of blood already threading down its face. The creature howled with rage and threw itself at its opponent.
Baylee whirled away, catching sight of movement behind the first doppleganger. Xuxa tried to intercept the second doppleganger, but managed only to narrowly escape the boat hook. Keeping his attention on his first foe, the ranger slid the handle through his hands and swung it hard.
The heavy oak caught the doppleganger on the foot, breaking bone. The creature hobbled, trying to stay upright on its injured foot.
Swinging again, Baylee connected with the doppleganger's head, knocking it to the ground. Before it could rise, he ran the sharp end of the handle into its throat, up into the brain. The doppleganger ceased its struggles, shivered convulsively, and died.