by Mel Odom
Xuxa’s telepathic voice interrupted Baylee’s thoughts, sending the ranger to ground. Someone else is there.
Baylee peered through the thick cover of forest, still counting his heartbeats. The woman had to know by now that he was taking much too long. She would be getting nervous. He pricked his ears up as the wind washed gently around him, hoping to pick up a fragment of conversation if she spoke to anyone with her. Who?
A small group. I have not seen them, but I have seen their passage.
Turning his attention to the forest, Baylee noticed a raven take wing over a hundred yards away. Other birds rippled in an unsettled manner along a trail to the south, and the silence followed behind. The thick forest prevented view of the small party there, but Baylee believed that it had to be a group rather than an individual from the size of the disturbance. Separate from the first?
Yes.
Maybe we should consider discretion. Baylee froze behind a lightning-blasted ash that had maintained growth in the lower branches.
That would be my advice, Xuxa replied. Though you’ve seldom heeded it.
We’d be leaving the dig site open for them, clearly marked. Even from his position now, Baylee saw the dig site easily.
Perhaps nothing lies at the bottom of that abandoned well.
Neither of us believes that.
The bat gave a grudging reply. No.
Then there is no choice, Baylee said.
Maybe in your afterlife, you’ll be granted the ability to know if the leads you followed this time did indeed bear fruit. Even for a highly intelligent azmyth bat, Xuxa exhibited a disturbingly acidic sarcasm.
I can’t leave it.
I know. I’ll be with you, friend Baylee. Whatever you should need.
The bond between Baylee and Xuxa was something more than mere ties between a ranger and a companion. Past companions had never been as close or gotten to know him as well. But then, Xuxa was the first that had the ability to really get to know Baylee. He knew Xuxa would never willingly leave him. In the past five years, they’d never been separated despite all the hardships endured.
Choosing an aggressive stance in light of the things that faced him wouldn’t endanger only himself. Baylee would be risking Xuxa’s life as well because the bat would not leave him.
The ranger glanced back at the pit he’d dug into the hillside. He was so close; he felt it. And it had been so long since he’d had a find of any real significance—intolerable months. The chance at this one had been hard-earned, and now it would be hard won.
He couldn’t give it up.
Silently, he shifted, choosing to go for the woman first. If you can, keep me informed.
Yes.
Baylee moved silently through the forest. He was as at home in the verdant green as he was on the unforgiving sea or on the highest mountain or in the crypts, tombs, and burial sites he’d prowled through. He’d seen them all in his twenty-seven winters.
He followed the land, gliding over it with sure-footed grace. He passed by squirrels and a lark in trees and brush, never startling any of the animals with his presence. The woman stayed within the forest. He wondered if she was aware of the other party as well. If she was who he thought she was, he was certain she’d have noted the other group. And if they were not with her, he knew she’d have been busy trying to figure out what to do.
He rounded a final copse of trees, down in a gully that was awash with dying leaves and broken branches.
He pushed all stray thoughts out of his mind, concentrating on one problem at a time. From his earliest youth, Golsway had chided him constantly about taking on more than he could handle. But the eagerness in him was something that he had trouble containing. That same eagerness was what had prompted the old mage to invest so much time in an orphaned youth begging scraps on the streets, and what had ultimately driven them apart when Baylee had been a young man come into his own vision of his career.
If he did find what he was seeking in the abandoned well, Baylee had promised himself to return to Waterdeep after the ranger forgathering at the Glass Eye Concourse and show Golsway the item he hoped to recover. Maybe it wouldn’t bring them together again as they had been, but there’d been almost three years between visits as well. They’d grown; he had, at least, and maybe Golsway had softened with the years. How much remained to be seen.
The scent of soap and woman strengthened in Baylee’s nostrils. This time, the wind also carried a hint of lavender blossoms. His heart quickened in spite of the situation. He was sure his instincts were correct.
Stepping over broken branches and bits of forest debris, the ranger made his way to the bottom of the gully. Footing was made more treacherous by the rocks exposed due to run-off and the waves of twisted dead grass trapping branches. A single snap of dry wood would carry for several paces in all directions.
He paused at a blackberry bush, staying well out of reach of the brambles. Even though they couldn’t bite into his leather clothing, the thorns would catch and jerk as he moved away, possibly alerting the others in the area.
The woodcraft of the small group to the south was lacking. Their feet clumped through the forest, loud to the trained ear. Baylee smelled them as well, breathed in the foul odor of the long-unwashed and the sulfurous taint of fear. They weren’t sure of themselves, and that was good.
Whether they trailed him or the woman remained to be seen. There were those who had placed prize money on Baylee’s head for past transgressions, and there was the possibility that he’d been recognized in Waymoot despite his precautions.
Baylee pressed on, moving slowly, parting the branches and brush ahead of him and making sure he didn’t move too fast as he slipped through them. The incline ahead of him grew steeper, broken by trees stubbornly growing out from the gully sides. Darkness continued descending over the forest.
A soft rustle of leathery wings sounded behind Baylee.
Xuxa’s telepathic voice tingled into his mind to reassure him. No one saw me.
Have you seen them?
No.
Baylee scanned the forest briefly, but the azmyth bat remained out of sight. He turned his attention forward, scanning up the gully wall before him. Shadows twisted and writhed ahead and to his left. Squinting, he made out the figure lounging there.
The woman crouched in the gathering gloom. Something edged gleamed in her hand.
She holds a hand crossbow, Xuxa said.
The announcement confirmed again Baylee’s guess as to the woman’s identity. He smiled in spite of the situation he found himself in. Jaeleen always added the spice of danger to any meeting between them.
Yes, Xuxa said, reading his thoughts. And that has never been a good thing.
I believe I asked you to stay out of my mind when you weren’t invited, Baylee retorted.
Thoughts like that are hard to avoid. I am quite sensitive, after all.
And a busybody.
Were we not in such dire straits, Xuxa threatened, we would discuss that accusation at length.
The azmyth bat never discussed anything that wasn’t at length. Baylee made a mental note to apologize some time before their eveningfeast to avoid the discussion. Hopefully they would be more occupied with their find.
He breathed shallowly, waiting as the woman turned her attention from the dig site to the approaching company of men. The smell of their pack animals lingered in the air, mute testimony to the fact they’d been ill-treated over whatever distance they’d covered. Easing a branch aside, the ranger peered at the woman.
He kept his eyes from directly resting on her. Most people had the ability to know when they were being stared at. Jaeleen was a warrior herself, trained in frontier woodcraft, though certainly not of ranger caliber.
She hunkered down next to a thick-boled oak tree. Early in spring, the oak seeds still fell to the earth in waves, twirling endlessly with each new breeze. Already the seeds clung to her homespun clothing, taking away some of the alienness of her that didn’t f
it in the forest.
Her face was as he remembered it, triangular, with a short nose and a generous mouth. Her yellow-gold hair blazed under the hooded brown cloak. The homespun clothing masked some of the generous curves of her body, but couldn’t hide the fact that she was all female.
She held the hand crossbow in her gloved right hand and glanced back along the trail she must have made in her journey through the forest. Only a few bent grasses remained to mark her passage. She’d been careful. Most people would never have been able to trail her. Someone among the pursuing group must have known woodcraft.
I could go scout them and report back, Xuxa offered.
No, Baylee replied. You could be seen. That’s a risk we don’t need to take yet. Jaeleen may know who they are.
She may not be inclined to share that information.
Baylee grinned, feeling his spirits soar as he contemplated the coming confrontation. Fighting in the forest was something he was very familiar with. He dropped a hand to the ground and gingerly lifted small rocks from the gully side. He discarded them patiently, searching for ones that were about the size of a robin’s egg, as round as he could manage, and worn smooth as churned butter to the touch. By the time he had a dozen of them located and pocketed, the first noises of the approaching party reached him.
The scrape of steel against leather sounded totally out of place in the forest. Horses blew their breath out in tired nickers.
Jaeleen shifted, laying her hand crossbow over a tree limb in front of her, a fletched bolt locked into place. Nestled into the side of the gully as she was, chances were small that she’d be spotted right away, and her position was defensible. Even with numbers on their side, the approaching group was certain to lose a couple members or more. Jaeleen was deadly with her little crossbow, and even more deadly when a man came within embrace of any of the small knives she kept secreted on her person.
Still, Baylee knew the woman would be overrun. He reached for his belt and loosened the strip of heavily worked deerskin hiding inside it. Holding the ends between his fingers, he took a rock from his pocket and placed it in the end. The pocket formed around the stone instantly, turning the simple piece of leather into a sling.
He clasped the sling in his hand, then moved forward into the open, gliding between the leaves and the branches. Jaeleen had her back to him. He made no noise that she could hear.
Coming up behind her, he reached forward and clapped a hand over her mouth. She struggled immediately, becoming a hellion in his grasp. Baylee used his body weight to subdue her, managing it with difficulty because he didn’t want to hurt her.
She waved the vicious little hand crossbow and tried to bring it to bear.
Baylee kept his hand over her mouth. She bit him, and her teeth penetrated the rough leather of his gloves with enough force to hurt but not break the skin. “Jaeleen!” he hissed into her ear. “Be quiet, or you’ll have them down on us!”
She stopped struggling, but her body remained tense. He released his hold on her lower face. She turned her head to look at him.
“Baylee?”
He met her gaze. “Yes.”
Without warning, she kicked him betwixt wind and water.
I warned you about her, Xuxa said. She knows no allegiance except what she gives willingly. You do not mean as much to her as you think.
Baylee rolled away to deflect part of the kick. But he crashed through the dead leaves and branches scattered across the ground, causing a great deal of noise. As he got to his feet, he heard orders bellowed in the distance. Then the sound of running feet echoed through the forest, approaching quickly.
Jaeleen leveled her hand crossbow at Baylee’s chest. Her finger whitened on the trigger.
2
“Baylee!” Recognition dawned in Jaeleen’s eyes over the edged bolt of the hand crossbow.
“Yes.” Baylee took a tentative breath, really surprised when it didn’t hurt too badly.
“What are you doing here?” Jaeleen remained behind cover, her attention divided between the ranger and the approaching group bashing their way through the forest.
“Camping,” Baylee replied. He turned his own attention to the crashing noises coming through the brush. The group no longer worried about remaining quiet. He pointed at the hand crossbow. “Would you mind aiming that somewhere else?”
Jaeleen shifted the crossbow, but not far. She reached up and knocked leaves from her hair. Oak seeds whirled around and descended to the ground. “You expect me to believe you were camping?”
“Not since you’ve been spying on me.”
Dark anger coasted across the shadowed planes of the woman warrior’s face. “Spying is kind of a harsh term, don’t you think?”
Baylee let some of his own anger sound in his voice. “What exactly would you call it?”
Jaeleen’s mouth made an O of surprise. “You think I followed you here!”
“I’ve been here for hours,” Baylee retorted, “and you’ve only just arrived. What would you think?”
The crashing through the forest neared, sounding remarkably like hounds taking to the brush. The bellowed commands became clearer, and this time Baylee was able to recognize the language being used.
An orc raiding party, Xuxa said. They must have cut your trail, or the woman’s.
“How dare you think I would follow you! I swear by the fair hair of Tymora, my chosen goddess, that I had no idea you were here until I saw you on that hillside!” Jaeleen looked indignant.
Her words rang true, but Baylee knew the woman had the gift of making any implausibility sound like the truth. He’d had experience. “Then what are you doing here?” he demanded.
She hesitated. “Traveling.”
Baylee snorted his disbelief, an obscene sound that Xuxa instantly rebuked him for through their silent communication. “Ranger’s Way is six miles to the east. You’re out in the rough.”
“I was hoping to shave a few days off my journey to Plungepool.”
“What business have you in Plungepool?”
“I went to see the falls, if it’s any business of yours,” Jaeleen snapped. “Which, of course, it isn’t. I’ve heard a lot about the area.”
“You’ve never been there?”
“No.”
Baylee struggled to believe that. Still, most of the times he’d occasioned to meet Jaeleen had been along the Sword Coast. Though there had been that time in Mulhorand when he and Golsway had recovered the Orb of Aurus, which had contained a codex that had given scholars clues into one of the dead languages contained in that country.
It had been the third meeting with Jaeleen, and the first time they’d been intimate with each other, giving in to the impulses both had. However, Jaeleen had taken advantage of that tryst to steal the Orb of Aurus. Golsway had been incensed, and it had taken them six days to track her down and steal it back only moments after she’d sold it to a rival collector. She got to keep her money, and Baylee and Golsway had barely escaped with their lives. The Orb was now part of a collection in Candlekeep where scholars still worked on divining the languages detailed in its codex.
“Why are you on your way now?” the ranger asked.
“I was responding to an invitation.”
“From whom?”
“Tarig Phylsnan.”
“Who is that?”
“I don’t owe you any explanations,” Jaeleen retorted angrily.
“You’re here,” Baylee replied, “and you’ve brought a war party of orcs down on us.”
“Me?”
“You!” The ranger was surprised at the feelings of jealousy that assailed him. After all, Jaeleen was most likely the last person he’d ever want to trust again. Memory of the wine of her lips and the smoothness of her skin haunted him at times, up in the stillness of the mountains or the deep of the forest. Golsway had always assured him that those feelings would someday be followed by the kiss of edged steel. Baylee didn’t doubt his old mentor’s words, but the temptation ble
w fire through his veins at times.
“I didn’t bring any orcs with me.”
Baylee!
The ranger turned in response to the telepathic warning screamed into his mind. His gaze swept the tree line to the south as the first of the orcs burst into view.
The creature screamed at once when it realized it had been seen, an ululating wail of presumed triumph. The orc wore a mustard yellow tunic that showed days of accumulated wear, and months of hard usage. Tears revealed the rusty chain mail beneath. An open-faced iron helm covered its head, baring the brutish snout and close-set eyes. The mottled gray-green skin showed lighter against the onset of night.
Baylee turned instinctively to protect Jaeleen. He flipped his hand, dropping the length of sling and seating the round stone. He whipped it around his head and took a step forward. He released the stone before the orc had covered another three paces.
Moonlight glinted off the upraised axe in the orc’s hand. Then it disappeared as the stone struck home, shattering the creature’s low forehead between its eyes. The orc dropped to a suddenly silent heap on the forest floor.
Baylee seated another stone as two more orcs crashed through the wilderness and came at him. He glanced over his shoulder to check on Jaeleen, finding her in full flight a half-dozen paces away.
And you risk your life for someone such as that, Xuxa rebuked.
It wasn’t like I thought about it, Baylee responded, falling into cover beside the oak tree. It was a reflex.
Faugh! You humans would do better off going into season once a year and having done with it. At least there would be an end to such foolishness and it would not insist on being a constant part of your everyday life.
Baylee snapped another stone toward the approaching enemy. The stone bounced from one of the orcs’ chests with a metallic thud.
The orc stumbled and almost fell. Hoarse gasps exploded into the clearing as it fought to recapture its breath. The creature’s companion ducked into cover, drawing back the string of its bow. At least eight others moved through the forest around Baylee.
The ranger turned and ran after Jaeleen. His longer legs gave him the edge over the orcs for the moment. As he ran, his mind raced, laying out the terrain for the coming battle. Giving up the dig before he’d fathomed the truth of it was not an option. His muscles responded somewhat sluggishly, his body already taxed by the days of traveling through the brush and the day spent working his way deep into the earth.
