Easy Betrayals Read Online Free PDF

learned a thousand tales. But just as my old mentor predicted, I’ve wasted my learning on a life of iniquity, deceit, and moral ambiguity.” He grinned abruptly. “If only she could see me now, battling fiends and consorting with paladins. She might think I’d tinned out right after all.”
    “Do any of your tales offer insight into the catching of doppelgangers?”
    “Nothing as practical as that, I fear,” Belgin said.
    ‘Then I think it’s time I called on Tyr to aid us in our quest,” Miltiades said. Standing, the paladin raised his warhammer, his lips moving in silent prayer. The seething brown murk seemed to lift for just a moment, and his silver armor gleamed scarlet in the setting sun. Opening his eyes, he turned to face the old ruins, seeming to search the dusty arcades and plazas with a sense keener than mortal sight. “She’s in that direction,” he stated with confidence. “Tyr has granted me a seeking spell, and I can sense the lariat that binds the doppelganger.”
    “How far off?” Rings asked, scrambling to his feet.
    “Not far,” Miltiades answered. He glanced over his shoulder at the ruddy glow along the western horizon, the only hint of the sun they’d seen in hours. “If we move fast, we can confront the doppelganger before darkness falls.”
    The four glided through the ruins, intent on their goal. They trailed quietly down a narrow alleyway drifted knee-deep in soft sand, crossed the shell of an old barracks house, then padded across an open boulevard lined with shattered columns. The stump of a round tower rose ahead of them, above the low rooftops and dunes. Miltiades raised his hand and crouched low behind a ruined colonnade. The others followed his lead.
    He nodded at the tower and whispered, “In there.
    Remember, she’s caught by Noph’s magical rope. If you can lay hold of it, she’ll be powerless to resist, and we can take her back to Waterdeep.”
    Rings glanced at Belgin. The sharper returned his gaze without expression, and the dwarf silently nodded in agreement, drawing his axe from his belt loop. She won’t be standing trial if Rings or I have anything to say about it, he decided. They weren’t being paid to pass judgment, only to execute the judgment their unknown employer had decided upon.
    “We’re ready,” Belgin said.
    Miltiades stood and vaulted over the stone block, dashing for the splintered doorway as if his armor of silver plate was a light cloak. Belgin and Rings ran after the paladin, while Jacob brought up the rear at a more cautious pace, keeping an eye on the dismal ruins and howling sand behind them. The great paladin stormed the dark tower like a righteous hurricane, the pirates only a step behind him.
    They caught Eidola in her natural shape. Gray and gaunt, she was a skeletal creature draped in loose, leathery flesh. The lariat still circled her neck, although she’d carefully coiled the trailing end and secured it by her side. Hissing in rage, she crouched like a monstrous spider and whirled to face Miltiades as the paladin charged straight at her.
    “Insolent human! What must I do to teach you to stay out of my path?” she howled.
    “Surrender, monster! We have you trapped!” Miltiades shouted. He leaped forward, attacking in a deadly hail of hammer blows. Lithe and quick, the gray creature eluded the first rush, and then there were two Miltiades, identical to each other, flailing away with silver hammers.
    Belgin checked his own rush, Rings hesitating as well. “Which one is real?” the dwarf roared in frustration.
    “I am!” cried one Miltiades.
    “Don’t listen to him!” answered the other.
    The sharper looked at the dwarf and said, “Don’t tell me you didn’t expect that.”
    Scowling, he circled the battling paladins, rapier at the ready. Rings grunted and followed his lead. Behind them, Jacob filled the doorway, watching the fight as he tried to gauge which one to strike at. Belgin glanced around the room, measuring the