The Lost Library of Cormanthyr by Mel Odom Read Free Book Online Page B

Xuxa’s presence fade from his mind as the limits of the bat’s telepathic abilities were exceeded. Being separated from Xuxa seemed unnatural after all these years. Even when he dropped off to sleep, Xuxa’s mind-voice was generally the last thing he heard of an evening.
    Jaeleen reached the high ground near the dig site, choosing an area that was ringed by high rock and dense brush. Her chances of holding the position looked good. But the probability remained that the orcs would choose to starve her out.
    Baylee didn’t intend for that to happen. He smiled grimly as he scouted the terrain and spotted the advancing line of orcs. Apparently none of them saw him take to the trees. They concentrated their efforts on closing on Jaeleen, calling to each other in their rough tongue. Baylee could only make out snatches of conversation. Even his prodigious knowledge of languages, both spoken and written, was taxed to figure out the orcish communications. Despite having common roots, few of the orcs held a common tongue.
    The ranger moved through the trees with hardly a rustle. Exploring the elven environs of Cormanthor, in particular those in the Tangled Trees after Fannt Golsway had been invited by one of the elven families to pursue a lost cache of heirlooms thought destroyed when Myth Drannor fell, had schooled him in the ways of woodcraft. His mentor had only been partially successful in recovering the lost items, but in the months that Baylee had lived among the elves, he’d learned how to pass through the trees as if born there.
    He swung from the branches, and landed with sure-footed balance on chosen limbs, closing in on his target. The orcs had the advantage of being able to see in the night, but Baylee’s own abilities had been sharpened by long living in the wild. He hunted as easily by night as by day, moved as quietly. Catacombs often held no light either, save for torches carried along for that purpose. And those had to be used sparingly. He hadn’t always made it back out with benefit of light. So he’d learned to trust his other senses and his intuition.
    He hurled himself through the air again, landing on a thick-boled limb thirty feet above the ground. A pair of orcs ran through the brush, their path taking them beneath the tree he’d chosen.
    The ranger released a tense breath and focused all his attention on the orcs. Both of them neared the base of the tree. Baylee let himself down through the limbs hurriedly, avoiding dead branches that could break off and fall below to warn the orcs. He dropped the final six feet, having no choice if he wanted to arrive in time.
    He hooked his legs around one of the lower branches, then fell so he hung upside down. Both orcs heard him and tried to figure out where the sound came from.
    “Cat!” one of them yelled out in warning.
    The forest held a number of feline predators, including leopards. Baylee had witnessed them in his travels since leaving Ranger’s Way. He reached down and grabbed the second orc’s head. Hanging by his legs, making any use of his upper body strength was difficult. Still, he managed to cup the orc’s skull tightly and twist.
    The orc’s spine splintered.
    Baylee released the corpse and it collapsed to the ground. Evidently enough noise had been made to warn the orc’s companion. The creature turned around in surprise and nocked an arrow to the short bow it held.
    Hanging upside down from the tree branch, Baylee stared death in the eye. The shifting of the orc’s shoulder told him when the arrow was about to be released. The ranger threw himself to the side. The arrow fletchings slipped along the side of his face, letting him know just how close it had been.
    On his way to the ground, he flipped in midair and landed on his feet. The orc screamed out a warning to the others of its party. The sound of running feet started immediately toward Baylee.
    Seeing the human still alive sent the orc into a panic. The creature drew back to the