The Sprite & the Fairyhunter:  Quality Time

 

Room 7 (The Doppelganger)

 

            “You don’t have to stand THAT far away.”

            “What?”

            “I said, you don’t have to stand that far away!”

            “WHAT???”

            “I SAID…”

            “Speak up, babe, I’m too far away to hear you well!”

            Neena sighed as she disabled the wyvern arrow trap in the door. It was probably better that Adrian stood that far off…after all, she HAD told him that 10 feet in a dungeon was too close and Olidammara wasn’t above letting lightning strike twice. She signaled for him to return and he started forward, crossing through the two rooms he’d backtracked through.

            “We good now?” he asked as he got closer.

            “We’re good,” she agreed. “All we have to do now is…”

            Without warning, the door flung open and a figure hurled out toward Adrian. He barely had a moment to yell out in surprise before he was tackled. Neena jumped up, dagger in hand and waited for her chance to sink it deep, but frowned. For some reason, it was almost impossible to tell Adrian apart from his attacker.

            When they both stood up, she understood. Adrian was apparently attacking (or being attacked by) himself!

            Oh, gods, she thought, I didn’t see which one came through the door! “Adrian!” she gasped. “I can’t tell the difference between you!”

            “Stab him, not me, Mothwing!” they both shouted to her.

            “WHICH him?” she demanded, looking around the combatants for any sign of a difference. “Gimme some sort of sign!”

            The two pushed back and one of the Adrians glared angrily at her. “Surely you know your own husband!” the one demanded, while the other drew his bow.

“You want a sign?” he said, shooting at the other. “HERE’S your sign! I’m the one that DOESN’T have the arrow stickin’ out of him!” He shot again, putting another arrow into the other Adrian. The shot one fell to the ground and the other came toward her. She backed away and drew both Frost and Flame from their sheathes and pointed them toward him.

“I’m warning you…” she began.

He sighed and started numbering things off on his fingers. “You hate begin sprite sized, even though you ARE half sprite and half dryad, fairies killed your father, we both live with a Highlander and his sprite wife, and, about 10 minutes ago, I was hotter than that sword for you until we saw the talking turtle…uh, tortoise.”

“A doppelganger can detect your thoughts,” she said warily.

“Not when their subject is dead,” he pointed out. “So, if I WASN’T really me, I wouldn’t know any of this now because I wouldn’t know what I know without knowing what…wait. He wouldn’t know what I KNOW I know…because he’d know that…no, that’s not it. I don’t know what HE knows, but…”

Neena laughed and sheathed her swords again. “Forget it, honey…there’s no mistaking you for anyone else once you open your mouth.”

He grinned proudly. “Well, yeah, because…” He paused with a look of one who has the fleeting suspicion he’s being made fun of. “Huh?”

“Next door?” she asked, innocently batting her eyes.

“Next door,” he grumbled…

 

 

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