Doppelganger (44 page)

"Do you want to go back in?"

"No, I'd rather sit out here in the mud." Mirage snorted and got to her feet. "Enough of this. Maybe some sects would tell us suffering is good for the soul, but I think the Goddess will understand if we forgo this in favor of not catching cold."

The rain, which had been showing every sign of blowing through quickly, changed its mind and camped out over the road they were taking. It did not improve Miryo's mood. She had hoped for a while that it would be possible to teach Mirage the words and pitches of a spell, and that this might be the answer to their problems—or at least the right idea—but she finally had to concede defeat. Her doppelganger was trying, but she didn't have the ear, or the voice.

Well, at least twenty-five years of study accomplished
something.
Even if I can't use it
.

She found she was chewing on one thumbnail and made herself stop.
Fine, so that idea won't work. Think of another one. You haven't tried everything, and maybe something you think is completely outlandish will turn out to be the answer. You'll never know until you try
.

Of course, trying might well kill her.

But if I don't try, I'll still end up using my magic by accident. I know I will. I almost bit my tongue off last night, trying to keep myself from interfering with the rain. During the fight with Wraith, it felt so
good
to pull power. Even though I didn't really have it under control I'm going to get us killed.

For a while she rode with the fond fantasy that the Primes knew the key to solving it all, and were keeping it from her out of a spiteful desire to undermine the Goddess's gift. She particularly enjoyed the idea of hitting Shimi over the head with something large and heavy; the Prime was one of the few reasons she still wasn't sure about joining the Air Ray.

Shimi wasn't a truly bad person, though, and there could definitely be worse Primes. Miryo still remembered Ikkena-chashi, the Earth Prime who had preceded Koika during the first two years Miryo had been at Starfall. That woman's heart had been carved out of stone—assuming she had one to begin with. And Ashin would make a
miserable
Prime. Her temper got the best of her much too often. Shimi would likely be succeeded by Naji, though, who was the current Heart Key, and who would make a very good Prime when the time came.

And thinking about that is getting you
nowhere.
Stop wasting time
.

A fat splat of water hit Miryo in the face at that exact moment, and she bit back a swear word. Then, with a sigh, she bent her mind once more to the task of finding a way to stay alive.

At least we've got trees over our heads. That makes it better. Sort of.

Just keep telling yourself that.

Mirage stared fixedly at a spot between Mist's ears and did her best to ignore the rain. It was doing nothing to lighten her mood.

Travel conditions were becoming increasingly worse as they moved into the foothills of western Abern, where the road was, often as not, a thin sheen of slick mud over slate. Mirage cast a watchful eye to her right. The path dropped away into a short, crumbling slope, and then flattened out into a streambed. With the dry weather lately, flash flooding was a distinct possibility. And that was the last thing they needed today.

Then they rounded a bend in the road, and Mirage changed her mind.
No
, this
was the last thing we needed today
.

Three Cousins, mounted on horses, were in the road, blocking their path.

Lightning cracked overhead as the two groups stared at each other.

"We have a message," the center one said at last, pitching her voice to carry through the worsening rain. "Will you hear it?"

After a moment, Miryo nudged her horse forward, until she was just in front of Mirage and Eclipse. "I will."

"From the Primes: 'We gave you one final chance in hopes that you would understand and return to us. We grieve that you chose to ignore our words. Now we are forced to take steps on our own.'"

Mirage didn't wait to hear a single word more. She lunged forward, grabbing the bridle of Miryo's horse, and kneed Mist sideways off the trail.

She took the Cousins by surprise. Mirage risked a single glance behind her as she threw her weight backward in the saddle; they were still on the road, in disarray. Then Mist's footing slipped and Mirage had to concentrate on riding her horse down the soaking wet, disintegrating slope.

Somehow they made it to the bottom in one piece. Mist gave a convulsive leap as she bit the foot of the slope and cleared most of the stream; to her right Eclipse had ducked low over the neck of Sparker, who was doing the same. Miryo's horse floundered through the water behind them. And then Mirage heard shouting on the road above.

She looked back and up in time to see a knot of Cousins appear on the path, behind their original position, and plunge down the slope after them.

Void it. They had reinforcements.

Eclipse swerved right, and Mirage followed him. Dead ahead the land climbed sharply up again, and even if the horses could manage it in this rain they would lose too much time.

Mirage was worried. All three of their horses had been on the road for a long stretch without real rest; how would they hold up in an extended chase? Already Miryo's gelding was falling behind.

Then a roar up ahead drew her attention forward.

The land in front of them dropped away again. The gully wasn't nearly as steep, but it was filled nearly to the top with rushing, churning water: flooding from the rain. Mirage gritted her teeth and cued Mist with her heels; the only way across was to jump.

Mist cleared it. An instant later, so did Sparker.

And then, behind them, a crack, a horse's scream, and a squelching, rolling thud.

Mirage reined Mist in so hard the mare stumbled. She looked back over her shoulder, and her worst fears were confirmed.

Miryo's gelding was flailing in the mud, screaming in agony; one foreleg was clearly broken. Next to him, facedown and unmoving, was Miryo.

And just past her, on the other side of the stream, ten or twelve Cousins.

Mirage knew what she had to do. But she sat there, motionless, staring at the form of her fallen double.

Miryo wasn't moving.

"Come
on
!" Eclipse roared.

The Cousins would be clearing the stream any second.

"Move your Void-damned ass!"

Mirage closed her eyes.
Warrior have mercy. I do what I must
.

She slammed her heels into Mist's sides, and the mare leapt forward, into the teeth of the wind, away from the stream. Away from Miryo.

Leaving her to the Cousins.

Not all of them stayed behind at the stream. Mirage heard splashing, and guessed that at least a couple had not made the jump; of those who did, some reined in around Miryo's fallen form, and the rest pursued the Hunters across the muddy ground.

Eclipse led the way, up a gentler slope and into the shadows of the trees beyond. Mirage was hard on his heels. They slowed as they passed between the first trunks; one misstep in here and their horses would go down. The only bright side was that it would slow the Cousins just as badly. And the two Hunters were more accustomed to riding under bad conditions than the witches' servants; in wooded terrain like this, they had the edge.

The chase stretched out, with pursuers dropping away one at a time, fanning out to cover the area more thoroughly in case the Hunters diverged from their course. Mirage was numb inside; she let Eclipse choose their way without even paying attention to what he was doing.

She'd left Miryo behind.

There had been a dozen Cousins there. Not odds Mirage favored. Had she ridden back to the stream, even with Eclipse at her side, she would have gone down.

But she had left Miryo behind.

The betrayal stabbed her, a razor-edged knife twisting in her gut She could go back; she
would
, later, and try to rescue her double. But at that moment, when Miryo had gone down, Mirage had ridden on. Leaving her behind.

Light pierced her eyes. The clouds that had blanketed the sky all day were breaking up; rain still fell, but in the west the sky was clearing enough to let the sun through. It was later in the day than Mirage had thought And they had just ridden out of the trees. Up ahead Eclipse twisted around in his saddle to look back at her.

"Have we lost them?" he asked.

They both reined in to listen and heard a crashing not too far behind. "No," Mirage said grimly. "Although most of them are gone."

The two Hunters urged their horses forward again, making for another small wood visible in the distance. They had not covered even half the ground to it, though, when behind them three Cousins broke free of the trees and sighted them with a triumphant cry.

The Cousins' horses were fresher than either Mist or Sparker. Mirage, looking ahead, realized that they would not make the next patch of trees in time.

An unpleasant grin crossed her face; she was barely aware of it.

She cued Mist to slow ever so slightly, so that the lead Cousin would catch up to her sooner. Up ahead, Eclipse did not notice. Mirage kicked her left foot clear of the stirrup for just a moment, and then hooked her toe back in from the other side, so that the stirrup was twisted around.

The first Cousin had almost drawn abreast.

Mirage suddenly pulled her horse up short. As she did so, she swung her right leg clear of the saddle; her left foot in the twisted stirrup and her hands planted on the saddle's cantle gave her a pivot point for a roundhouse kick that took the Cousin completely by surprise. Mirage's foot slammed into the woman's shoulder and threw her backward, clean out of her saddle and onto the ground. Her last sight, as she whipped her right leg around to drop herself back in the saddle, was of the woman rolling into the path of the second Cousin on their trail.

Eclipse had finally noticed what she was doing. He was pulling Sparker around in a circle, but Mirage kicked Mist forward and caught up to him. An unpleasant thud behind them told her the fallen Cousin had tripped up her compatriot's horse.

Which left just one.

They reached the wood. Mirage reached up for a low-hanging branch and pulled herself out of the saddle and into an elm. Eclipse had anticipated this one; he grabbed Mist's bridle and kept the mare moving forward, deeper into the wood.

The Cousin raced closer.

Stupid. One Cousin against two Hunters?

The woman didn't stand a chance. As she rode under the tree, Mirage dropped. The horse reared at the unexpected weight on its hindquarters. As she and the Cousin fell, she made sure the other woman ended up on the bottom. Her head slammed into a rock. Mirage didn't even have to knock her out.

She took a moment to scan the muddy field they'd just left. Some distance away, she could just see a Cousin rising unsteadily to her feet, cradling a broken arm.

There was no one else moving.

Mirage turned and jogged deeper into the trees to find Eclipse.

"I'm going with you."

"
Void
you are."

Eclipse grabbed Mirage's arm as she took hold of Mist's bridle. "You, alone, against how many Cousins? You're good, Sen, but not that good."

She gave him a quick grin, even though it was the last expression her face wanted to assume. "I'll be quiet."

"You'll be
dead
. And that's what they want."

Mirage shook her head. "Miryo's the only one who can kill me, remember? Ashin confirmed it. And according to Miryo, they can't magically force her to kill me if she doesn't want to. A spell like that has to have something to work with."

"So then they lock you in a cell until her magic kills you both. Great alternative."

Mirage wrenched her arm free of his grip with a violent twist. "What do you want me to do? Let her rot in their hands? Run away? Warrior damn my soul
black
if I do. I left her there on the field because I didn't have any other choice, but now I do. I can sneak up to them, and try to get her loose."

"Let me go with you, then."

"No." Mirage shook her head emphatically. "Two people are more noticeable than one."

"And two people can kill more other people than one can."

"I hope to kill as few people as possible. Besides, Kerestel," and she took care to soften her tone, "I need you to do something else."

"Ah. Here comes the thinly disguised excuse to keep me away."

"It's not an excuse. I
need
you to go back to Silverfire."

He stared at her. "What? Why?"

"The other doppelgangers. Jaguar needs to know about them, and about me. The Primes will learn they exist eventually—if they don't already know—and they will find them. That can't be allowed to happen. If Miryo and I go down in this, those girls have got to be around to keep trying for an answer."