Marie Brennan - Doppelganger

Here goes nothing .

Miryo began to sing.

She kept it as quiet as she could; her hands, clasped near her mouth, helped muffle the sound. She got a good distance into the spell before Tsue realized something was happening.

“What are you doing?” the Cousin snapped, stepping forward.

The game was up. Miryo spun to face Tsue, singing full-voice now; as the Cousin lunged at her she dodged. It was a ridiculous chase, trying to keep out of Tsue’s hands while fighting to control the power. No, not to control it; that was beyond her. She just had to direct it, to make certain that someone else—Tsue—took the brunt of its force.

The power built to a crescendo, and Miryo realized she had no idea what it was going to do.

Through the roaring in her head, she saw the door fly inward hard enough to rebound off the wall. And there, so suddenly and unexpectedly Miryo almost didn’t believe her eyes, was Mirage.

One instant her doppelganger was in the doorway; the next, she twisted and threw herself violently to the floor. And even as she did so, the energy of Miryo’s spell broke its bounds and shot outward in an expanding ring of razor-edged fire.

Tsue had only begun to scream when it hit her.

The world swam around Miryo. Blackness threatened at the edges of her vision. She took deep gulps of air, reaching out for something to steady herself; there was nothing nearby, and then suddenly Mirage had an arm around her, holding her up.

“Warrior’s teeth,” her doppelganger swore, looking around the room.

Miryo’s vision was clearing. All around, at chest-height, there was a band of destruction. Her spell had ripped into the walls, and through them; the ragged edges were dancing with rapidly spreading fire.

She forced herself to look to her left.

Tsue’s body had suffered the same fate as the walls. The spell had caught her squarely, and had ripped her upper body apart.

“This place is going to be covered in fire and Cousins in about half a second,” Mirage said.

Miryo complied numbly as her doppelganger dragged her toward the door. They made it to the hallway, and stopped there.

Two Cousins in the room to one side had been coming to investigate the noise. They had gotten no farther than the doorway; the spell had caught them there. As far as Miryo could see in either direction, the energy had torn through the doors and walls. She wondered how far the destruction stretched.

“Not this way,” Mirage muttered, eyeing the growing flames. She pivoted and dragged Miryo into the other neighboring room.

For a moment Miryo thought the body on the floor in there was also her doing. But this woman, she saw, was intact, and still alive.

“Can you climb?” Mirage asked.

Miryo swallowed the urge to laugh hysterically. “Yes.”

“Out the window and onto the roof. If you go to the eastern end, there’s a drainpipe that will take you down to the southern wing. From there you can climb the tree down to the ground.”

“What about you?”

Mirage nodded at the unconscious Cousin. “I’ve got to take care of her.”

As she went to the window, Miryo saw what her doppelganger meant; Mirage had pulled a thin rope out of somewhere in her clothing and was knotting a harness out of it She glanced up and scowled at Miryo, standing there. Only then did Miryo realize Mirage was wearing her uniform, but without the mask. Her pale skin looked even whiter against the black. Almost as pale as Miryo herself felt.

“Move!”

She moved. Miryo leaned out the open window and saw that it would be no trouble at all to get to the roof. At least, it wouldn’t have been trouble under normal circumstances; now, however, her hands were shaking, and her vision was fogging, and she couldn’t forget the sight of the fallen Cousins.

“ Fallen?” Say it. They’re dead.

Miryo took a deep breath and climbed out the window.

She made it to the roof without losing her grip. Below, she saw Mirage pushing the Cousin’s limp body out the window; Miryo hoped the rope was long enough to reach the ground.

Then she turned her face away and climbed.

Linea’s manor house was simple compared to Starfall. The roof was too steeply pitched for Miryo to stand on, so she pulled herself up to the ridge and began to walk along tee, one slow, unsteady step at a time.

There are at least three Cousins still alive in that house. And they’re probably looking for you .

Miryo ran.

She didn’t allow herself to think about it; she just focused on the far end and started running. Later, the memory would terrify her, but now she simply did it and ignored the risk of falling. When her foot finally slipped, she was already above the southern wing. She turned the slip into a slide down onto one of the attic window gables, and from there went farther down to the edge of the roof itself.

The drainpipe was there, as Mirage had promised. Miryo glanced back and saw, to her relief, that her doppelganger was following. Then she swung her legs over the edge and began to climb down.

The house was well and truly on fire by the time they reached the ground. Mirage pointed, and Miryo saw several figures emerging from the house’s main door. “They’ll find the other Cousin,” Mirage said. “Let’s get horses and go.”

They went into the stable and stole two horses. Mist, Mirage said, was in the woods, but was worn out from a hard ride. They would pick the mare up and bring her along without a rider.

“What about the other horses?” Miryo asked.

“I cut their saddle girths. Move , Void it.”

With the last of the momentum she’d gained on the roof, she pulled herself into the saddle and let Mirage lead her away from the blazing house.

“What do you need?”

Mirage swallowed before answering, in an attempt to keep the thickness out of her voice. She was exhausted from riding, but she didn’t want Wisp to know that. Not that it was possible to hide much from the older Hunter.

“Refuge,” she said, and was reasonably pleased with her crisp tone. “For at least a few days. Me, and one other person. And no questions asked.”

Wisp raised one eyebrow. “No questions. I see. And I’m supposed to hide you. From whom?”

“That’s a question.”

“Damn straight it is, and I intend to get an answer to it. For one thing, I’ve got to know who I’m hiding you from , if I’m to do it right.”

“Hiding us from everyone would be a good start.”

That didn’t amuse Wisp. “You answer my question, or there’s no deal. You’ve barged in on me, ignoring the methods you’re supposed to use, and now I get the feeling you’re dumping a bucketful of trouble on me. This has to do with the commission, doesn’t it?”

“Jaguar agreed Eclipse and I could claim refuge if necessary. Are you going to disobey him?”

“Your ‘other person’ isn’t Eclipse. And yes, I damn well will disobey him if I have to; there may be a better way to handle this problem than straight refuge.” Wisp glared at Mirage. “This has to do with your commission. Tell me .”

Mirage thought about continuing to refuse, and gave the idea up. On a good day, she might be willing to face Wisp in a contest of wills, but not now. She had to save her energy for her real enemies. “All right. The ones behind the assassination are after me.”

“Why?”

“I killed their Hunter. Wraith.”

A slight flicker of an eyebrow was the only sign of surprise Wisp showed at the name. “And?”

“And about ten thousand other things I won’t go into now. I don’t have the time, and frankly, it’s personal enough that it’s none of your damn business.” Mirage summoned all her energy to glare back at Wisp. No way in the Void was she going to explain the doppelganger issue.