Elaine Cunningham - The Best of the Realms, Book I

"Now turn toward me," said the dulcet voice.

I turned slowly, and as I did, I could see Caspar'ssilhouette at the window. I tried not to flinch, but only hoped that he hadplanned for this possibility. The woman seated on the bed did not seem tonotice him.

The doppelganger was carrying a crossbow, one of thosedrow-made hand-held jobs that looked every bit as dangerous as it was. She heldit level on me and kicked the comforter off her. She was fully dressed beneaththe covers, which I realized with both relief and regret.

She regarded me coolly.

"A more foolish disguise than normal,Raven," she said. "Did you mug some fop of a noble for thatface?"

"P-Pardon?" I managed, my mind in a bit of awhirl. "I'm sorry, I'm not the Raven. I thought you were…."

I made the mistake of lowering my arms slightly. Ravenpointed the crossbow toward my chest, and I raised them immediately.

"Don't even flinch, doppelganger, or I'll drill anew hole through you."

"I'm sorry," I said, wondering if Ampi couldhear my silent plea in whatever library he had ensconced himself, "but I'mnot the doppelganger here. You are, and if you're confused about it, maybe weshould talk about it instead of drilling anyone or anything."

Demarest the not-Raven, not-doppelganger laughed. Itwas a crystalline laugh, but cold and cruel. She raised the hand crossbow topoint at my face, and I closed my eyes. I really did not want my last sight tobe a crossbow bolt barreling in on me.

There was a twang, but surprisingly no impactor even the slight breeze of a near-miss. Instead, there was a low, femininecursing. Taking a breath to assure myself I was among the living, I opened myeyes again.

Demarest was back on the bed, clutching with her lefthand at the small bolt that had pierced her right front shoulder. Her rightarm, though still attached, lay on the bed inert. Of the crossbow I could seenothing. Blood streamed down from the wound along her arm, darkening her blue robesand pooling in a magenta stain on the linens.

I turned to see Caspar amble down out of the window.He was already loading another shot into his own drow crossbow.

I was mildly peeved, and said so. "How long wereyou going to wait until you made yourself known?" I started, but thehalfling raised the crossbow to my face, in much the same way Demarest had doneearlier. This was apparently a theme for the evening.

"Step by the woman, fool," snapped thehalfling in a very unhalfling-like voice. The voice was sharp, like dried twigsbreaking, and apparently used to being listened to.

I took two steps toward the woman, still seated on thebed, her breathing ragged and gasping. Her eyes were turning glassy.

"Poison," said the halfling, keeping thecrossbow leveled on me as he moved sideways toward the table. "Not thefastest, but fast enough. Soon you will feel it too."

As he moved, the halfling began to melt like a waxcandle and elongate. I know that wax candles don't elongate, but that's whatCaspar was doing. The fatty folds of halfling flesh peeled away. The dark cloakturned pale, the head narrowed, and the eyes turned white and pupilless. By thetime the halfling reached the table, he was no more a halfling. He was thenative form of a doppelganger.

"Raven, I presume," I said, fighting to keepthe quivering out of my voice.

"Right for the first and last time," saidthe creature, keeping the crossbow on me while digging into the bag with hisfree hand.

He pulled forth a large crystalline globe. Within itfloated a second globe of crystal, and within that a third globe. The threeglobes twinkled in the moonlight of the room.

"You've been very helpful, Tertius Wands,"said the doppelganger, smiling with even rows of ivory-colored teeth. "Youdrew away my former partner's attention so I could get the drop on her. And nowyou'll serve me again. When they find both your bodies here, the guard willassume that the lady was surprised by a robber and both killed each other,leaving no witnesses to the Tripartite Orb's new owner."

I started to say something about how I could offer avery good price for the orb, but I was drowned out by a low growling. The womanon the bed was fast, faster than I would be in a similar situation-dead ofnight, bedroom, poisonous bolt in one shoulder. As the Raven and I talked, shehad pulled herself into a crouch and now sprang at the doppelganger.

The shapechanger hadn't thought his former partnercould shrug off the poison, and had the crossbow leveled at me. He jerked hishand toward the new target as he fired, and his shot was wide. The poisonousbolt buried itself in the woodwork as the woman slammed into him. The globeflew from his hand like a live thing, dancing and spinning in the moonlight.

I dived for it as if it was the last roll at theHigharvestide feast. My mind told me that after all the aeons, a simple dropwould not harm the device, but my heart held the image of Uncle Maskar. Myheart drove me to spread forward on the floor, snaring the orb before ittouched the carpet.

I caught it with inches to spare, and both I andartifact rolled sideways, away from the sounds of battle. As I rose to my feet,I heard shouts in the distance and felt doors slamming open elsewhere in theinn. Apparently the fight was attracting other attention.

The two thieves, human and doppelganger, brawled inthe midst of the room. The doppelganger had already taken Demarest's form inthe struggle, so that it looked as if two blond twins were rolling about on thecarpet, clawing at each other. I looked at them, at the triple orb in myhands, and back at them, and wondered if I could negotiate my way around themand out the door. I really did not want to go back out the window and along theledge.

That was when the door burst open to reveal at leastthree, and perhaps a dozen, copper-headed watchmen. Each bore a heavytwo-handed crossbow, the type that could punch its way through the wall of astable. Some carried torches and lanterns, and behind them was the giant Sunsetin his crimson robes.

The two battling Demarests detangled and slowly rose,regarding the newcomers. I took another step backward. The window startedlooking like a better option all the time.

Sunset reached up and pulled his cowl back, revealinga very familiar, calm face.

Ampratines. Of course. I felt my heart start beatingagain.

The guards were not as sure as I was, and kept movingtheir aim from one twin to the next, unsure which was the true danger. Boththieves stood up uneasily, trying to put a few feet of distance between them.

I piped up. "The wounded one is real. Theunwounded one is the doppelganger."

The unwounded twin, Caspar/Raven/Doppelganger, wheeledin place and hissed at me, its fangs growing elongated and huge wingssprouting from its back as it did so. It leaped at me, intent on grabbing me ashostage and the globe as a prize.

Two things happened simultaneously. I threw the globeupward, toward the door and Ampi. And there were three or a dozen sharp twangsand the doppelganger collapsed on the floor.

The artifact floated like a soap-bubble across theroom, and into the hands of Ampi.

Ampi looked at me, gave a short quarter bow, thendropped the globe.

It hit the ground with a resounding smash, and bits ofcolored glass spattered in all directions.

It was followed by me, I am afraid, hitting the groundin a dead faint.

Back on the balcony of the Nauseous Otyugh, I hadrecovered sufficiently to watch the sun rise over the ramshackle buildings ofScornubel.

"You could have warned me," I said, poutingover an ale.

The djinni produced one more cold compress and placedit over my fevered brow.

"You did not wish any warning," said Ampi."I pursued matters as I thought I was best able. I have informed the localgendarmes that you realized the doppelganger was a halfling at the start, andplayed along to discover the location of the missing artifact. Therefore youare held blameless in this matter. The doppelganger is dead, and the thiefDemarest, his former partner, has been cleansed of the poison and is ready toaccept the town's justice."