I can see through your eyes when you’re this unshielded. Deeps-be-damned scary, but impressive. With that, he was gone.
Marsh caught the flash of movement as the third raider came at her, sword upraised. She prepared to block with the shield and run her blade through his chest, but the chance never came. The sound of hooves rumbling over the cobbles interrupted them, and three darts slammed into him.
One shattered his skull, and the other two drove deeply into his chest. They dissipated shortly after, but the damage was done, and the shocked look on his face froze there in death.
Marsh looked for the other raiders and was in time to see Tamlin being hauled toward the nearest front door. She wondered if they’d open it for the raider, but didn’t wait to find out. The boy was hanging as limp as a sack of shrooms from the raider’s hands.
The other raiders were hard-pressed by the lightning-fast attacks of the kit and the pup, but they were mostly focused on the kat stalking them. Two were moving back to where their leader stood with his prisoner, and two more were taking wild swipes at the creatures harrying them.
A fifth and sixth lay in pools of blood in the street. Marsh noted the crushed head of one and the missing throat of the other and knew Mordan and the youngsters had two more kills to their credit. It made her sad, but she was grateful.
She ran forward, shouting to draw some of the attention off Scruffy and Perdemor. She succeeded in drawing glances from all of them, then promptly lost their attention as the Shadow Guards swept by on their mules.
Some of the raiders tried to run, and others turned to face the charge. They all fell beneath the blades and hastily thrown darts of the riders. Mordan pounced as the mules swept past, taking out one raider who’d gone down but had not been killed.
His body fell limply from her jaws, then she leapt toward the man who held Tamlin. The door had opened to his furious pounding, but it slammed closed again at the sight of the kat charging toward it.
“You will pay for that!” he screamed, dropping Tamlin and raising his sword as he turned to face the oncoming beast.
He fell before Mordan could reach him, two shadow darts shattering his armor and pinning him to the door. Mordan slid to a halt and then stood over Tamlin’s still body, roaring her defiance to the night.
The door cracked open behind her and she spun, snarling. There was a startled yelp from beyond it, and the sound of someone scrambling away. A crash followed, then the sound of shattering ceramics and frightened oaths.
The kat cocked her head, then nudged the door. It swung open and she lifted her head to look inside, her tail swishing idly. A glance over her shoulder showed her that all the raiders were dead.
She had the boy, and the girl was safe. The kat rumbled with worry. The girl was still tied, but she could not leave the boy. It was concerning. She reached across her link to the pup and the kit. Both were making sure the raiders were dead.
Still rumbling, Dan touched Marsh’s mind, reminding her of the child’s plight.
She’s going to be so mad at you, Marsh replied.
The kat gave the equivalent of a mental shrug. She had the boy to think of. He could not be left unprotected, given he was the one the raiders had come for...and speaking of which...
Mordan lifted her head and snuffed the air, searching for any sign of others, and wondering where the two males who thought they led the pride had gone.
As she searched for them, Master Envermet and Roeglin were crouched on either side of an upstairs door. The house overlooked the street in which the battle had taken place, and the room would have offered a perfect view of the fight.
They’d used the sounds of battle to cover the noise of their entrance, and they’d used the mind mage’s focus on keeping Tamlin’s abilities subdued to stalk the edges of his mind. What they found there had tested Roeglin’s strictures on killing.
He wondered if he could call lightning in the man’s mind, then remembered it would be a bad idea while he was in there. Master Envermet nudged him and slowly shook his head. Roeglin stifled a sigh.
They slid out of the mage’s mind, keeping just enough awareness to know which room he was hiding in.
11
Battles of the Mind
Master Envermet looked at Roeglin, and the younger mage stood back from the door. You ready?
At the shadow captain’s question, Roeglin nodded, and his eyes turned white.
Now, he stood at the edge of Macey’s mind. The man was still unaware of his presence, but he was no longer focused on Tamlin. He was focusing his energy on a large mirror to one side of the room. Roeglin had to stop him before he could activate it, and Master Envermet had to open the door.
They’d both tried to turn the handle, using the cover of rumbling hoofbeats to hide the sound, but the door was firmly locked, and the key was in Macey’s pocket...on a string...attached to his belt.
Roeglin cursed their luck, and they decided on a more direct approach—not that they had much choice. They needed to get to the mage before he brought more raiders to the town, and that was what he was preparing to do.
Roeglin slid into his mind and prepared to stop him. Master Envermet used a fist of shadow to smash the door off its hinges. It opened with a thunderous crash, sending shards of wood flying and shattering the stone around it.
At the sound of the intrusion, the man turned. Roeglin rode his mind and knew when he decided to alert his masters rather than try to run. He sent a jolt of energy through the man’s head that disrupted the start of his spell.
The response was instantaneous.
Scarlet vine-like tendrils dropped down around Roeglin’s mental presence, some seeking to encircle him and others trying to stab him.
Master Envermet! he shouted, shielding himself in armor made from the shadows in Macey’s mind. The tentacles slammed into it and bounced off, but they came back. Now Roeglin wished he did know how to call the lightning into someone’s mind.
He tried to keep watch on Macey as he fought to break free of the tendrils that held him. When the mage tried to activate the mirror a second time, Roeglin sent out another pulse. A tentacle smashed through the armor shrouding his body, piercing his leg and hooking deep into the flesh.
Roeglin screamed, his outer shell dropping to the floor as agony flooded through him. In any other situation, the pain would have been enough to jolt him out of Macey’s mind, but this time he was stuck fast.
The tentacles surrounding him held him firmly, refusing to let go.
Roeglin felt his shield crack and pulled more shadow to it, trying desperately to work out how Marsh called the lightning. He needed to...
Marsh! Roeglin thrashed against the red coils tightening around him. If it weren’t for the armor he’d called to surround himself, they’d have crushed the mental breath out of him—and he didn’t want to think of where that would have left his mental presence, given he couldn’t make his way back into his own body.
Another tentacle shattered the armor and slammed into his side.
By the Deep’s dark ass, I can’t leave you on your own for a second! Marsh’s shout of outrage was accompanied by a roar and Master Envermet’s exclamation of surprise, but Roeglin barely heard them over his own cry.
Dan! Get the— Never mind...
Roeglin flinched as blades sliced through the tendrils holding him—blades and teeth since Mordan was doing her best to tear them apart. Master Envermet had gone after Macey and driven a shadow blade into the center of the man’s mind.
The mirror flickered, and the connection died before it opened.
Roeglin didn’t see much more because Marsh yanked red tentacles away from his body, and Mordan grabbed him with her mouth and leapt back along the connection he’d made. Roeglin wondered that it was still there.
He was rapidly fading when the kat brought him back to his own skull and set him gently down. Marsh followed shortly afterward, and Master Envermet stepped lightly in and then back out. Roeglin swore he hea
rd the sound of breaking glass followed by splintering wood.
Marsh’s voice intruded. “Your turn, Aisha.”
Roeglin became aware of warmth spreading over his side and leg while Marsh’s mental presence sat beside him, soothing ravaged pain centers as the child healed him. Sometime during the process, the kat left.
Roeglin groaned, slowly becoming aware of his surroundings. He opened his eyes to see Aisha sitting beside him, the kat looking over her shoulder. There was a weight on his leg until Scruffknuckle lifted his head to look into his face.
Seeing he was awake, the pup gave him a happy grin and thumped his tail. Boots rattled on the stairs, and he winced. Master Envermet’s voice came from just out of view.
“We’re in here, Marsh.”
Roeglin tried to sit up, only to have one small hand and one very large paw push him back down.
“I’m okay,” he tried to protest, but Marsh dropped to her knees beside him.
“You are every kind of Deeps-be-damned fool imaginable!” she shouted, and he flinched.
That made her stop, but Roeglin regarded her warily nonetheless. Her lips quivered, and she pressed them together.
“I don’t know whether to kill you or kiss you,” she managed after she’d stared at him a few moments longer.
Roeglin wanted to suggest the latter, but he wasn’t sure he dared. She took a breath and was about to say something when Master Envermet intervened.
“Marchant, you need to see this.”
She fixed Roeglin with a fierce glare and poked him in the chest. “Don’t move.”
Roeglin closed his mouth and tried to nod, but his head hurt, so he closed his eyes instead. She was gone when he opened them again, but he heard her.
“What in all the Deeps is that?” The question was filled with a depth of loathing she hadn’t used before.
“I don’t know.”
Roeglin heard the scrape of metal and a sharp indrawn breath, followed by the sound of something being crushed by a hard and heavy object. The banging went on for some time after the cracking sounds turned squelchy.
“Ugh,” Marsh said, then added, “Are you sure you don’t know what that is?”
“It looks like some kind of tentacle bug.” Master Envermet sounded mystified.
There was a sudden banging and then silence. When he spoke next, the shadow captain sounded pained. “Did you have to?”
“Yes.” Marsh was unrepentant.
Master Envermet sighed. “I wonder how many more of these we’ll find.”
Roeglin cracked his eyelids in time to see Marsh get to her feet. She came and looked down at him, then glanced at the shadow captain. “I don’t know, but I think we should search everyone, just in case. I don’t know what it is, but it doesn’t belong on a human.”
“Agreed.” Master Envermet’s tone was wry. “I’ll speak to Rocko.”
“Why not Liam?”
“Because Rocko is in charge of keeping the peace.” His mental voice was much clearer. Liam needs to keep a low profile, and we don’t want to draw attention to him.
“He needs to be checked before we send him to the caverns.”
“Agreed.”
“And his family.”
“Yes.”
“And everyone else.”
“Shadow Mage Leclerc!”
“Yes, Master Envermet?”
“What are you doing still here?”
Marsh went, and Roeglin relaxed with a soft sigh. He tensed again at the sound of Master Envermet’s boots coming nearer. When they stopped beside him, he looked up into the shadow captain’s face.
Master Envermet stretched out his hand. “You are a very lucky young man,” he said as Roeglin accepted his help to get to his feet. “Without the link between you, you’d have died.”
A chill washed over Roeglin’s skin and he shivered. He was still feeling slightly sick from the encounter.
“What did you find?” he asked, and Master Envermet indicated the crushed remains of some kind of bug.
“It looks like some sort of giant flea or tick. I found it attached to Macey’s spine.” He frowned. “If I didn’t know any better, I’d say it had sent tentacles up his spine and into his brain, but for what purpose, I don’t know.”
“You think it was controlling him?”
“I don’t know about controlling, but it was certainly protecting him.” He took a step and then paused, cocking his head toward Roeglin. “Controlling...” he mused. “That’s a terrible possibility.”
He draped Roeglin’s arm over his shoulder and steadied him down the stairs. “Come on, kat. Bring my apprentice.”
“No!” Aisha shrieked. “Bad Dan. Put me down!”
There was a soft thud and a shuffling sound as Aisha presumably hit the floor and got to her feet. A moment later, Roeglin heard her patting the big kat.
“Pick me up,” the child demanded, and Mordan grumbled. The patting got louder and Aisha repeated her request. “Up.”
The kat rumbled again, but Aisha sounded content when she spoke again.
“Thanks, Dan.”
Roeglin turned his head to see, and a wave of dizziness almost sent him to his knees. He stopped and let Master Envermet support him. Henri was waiting at the bottom.
“She’s got them all lined up in the street,” he reported, and Roeglin didn’t need to ask who.
Master Envermet ducked out from under Roeglin’s hand and pushed him at Henri. “Here. Take this.”
Henri caught Roeglin at the last minute and gave him a curious look. “What did you do to yourself?”
“Nearly got killed inside someone else’s head.”
Henri snorted. “Well, that explains the mood, then. She’s in a real stinker of a temper.”
Again, Roeglin didn’t need to ask who he meant. Marsh hadn’t looked very happy when she’d walked past him upstairs. It figured she wasn’t happy now.
“Did you get it done?”
“What?” Roeglin asked, his voice like old paper.
“Whatever it was you went up there to do,” Henri explained. “I take it there was a reason.”
Roeglin almost managed a smile. “Yes,” he rasped. “We got it done.”
Henri rolled his eyes. “Keep your secrets,” he said, disgusted, and helped Roeglin outside. The shadow mage raised his eyebrows when Aisha rode past on Mordan. So that was what that was all about.
“Yup.” Aisha sounded smug. The kat twitched her ears, her expression daring him to comment.
Roeglin decided silence was the better part of valor.
The townsfolk were not impressed, but Marsh was adamant. She went over each of them, running her hand down their spines and up under their hairline to make sure there were no more creatures attached.
Master Envermet transmitted the image of what he’d seen to every mind and they all waited to be declared clear, their horror lapping at the edges of Roeglin’s awareness. None of them wanted such a thing anywhere near them.
When she was done, Marsh dismissed the villagers and looked at Master Envermet. “Shadow Captain?”
He quirked an eyebrow at her, as though amused she would hand his command back.
“Yes, Shadow Mage?”
She scowled. “What would you like us to do next?”
“We need to sleep,” he told her, and Rocko stepped forward.
“The campgrounds are empty,” he offered, but Master Envermet shook his head.
“Thank you,” he told the man, “but we have imposed on your hospitality long enough.”
He glanced at the sky. “Dawn is not far away. We’ll travel until we find a safe campsite and rest early.”
Rocko bowed his head. “As you wish.” He glanced at Macey’s house. “How much of a mess is there to clean up?”
Master Envermet followed his glance. “He’s dead,” he answered shortly.
One of the other villagers stepped forward. “You’re welcome to stay here,” the man told them. “There are no raiders due
for a week.”
Master Envermet studied his face and then smiled. “No, thank you, Master Olderman. We would hate to impose.”
He stopped and looked at the man. “Unless you think you’ll need our protection?”
He indicated the bodies in the street. “Will there be reprisals?”
The man followed his gesture and paled. “Not if we clean up well enough,” he replied. “These men were never here.”
He stopped and cocked his head, a small smile creasing his lips. “Besides, if there are, we’ll be a lot happier knowing you and yours are coming to rescue us.”
“How do you know?”
“Well, you are looking for the raiders, are you not?”
Master Envermet nodded, and the man continued, “Then you will always be coming for us since everyone goes to the same place.”
Master Envermet nodded. “We will not let you down,” he promised and swung into his saddle.
Henri helped Roeglin mount, then transferred Aisha from Mordan’s back to the saddle in front of Brigitte. When he went to help Tamlin, the boy froze.
“I’ll lift you onto your mule,” Henri told him, “and we’ll get your sister to take another look at your wrist in the morning.”
Tamlin regarded him for a long moment, then let Henri help him into the saddle. Izmay came alongside him.
“In case you slip,” she told him, her expression daring him to argue. The boy cast a glance at Henri, but the big guard waved at Roeglin.
“I have to keep him in the saddle,” he explained, then jerked a thumb at Marsh. “And her. They’re both nearly dead on their feet.”
“They both nearly died,” Tamlin retorted, and Marsh wondered how much of the battle the boy had seen.
Marsh slumped in the saddle and wondered if they wouldn’t be better off returning to the campsite.
That’s where we’re going, Master Envermet told her, but we won’t be telling them that.
His words were accompanied by an image of the too-curious villagers peering at them from behind their shutters, and Marsh nodded. She slumped in the saddle, letting Henri guide the mules where they needed to go.
Trading Into Daylight (The Magic Below Paris Book 6) Page 8
