Other threats? Marsh wondered, and the wolf showed images of...creatures, some large, some small, all with skin or carapaces a burnished red. What are they?
The wolf gave a mental shrug. He did not know where the monsters came from. He and the pack merely hunted them from existence when they found them. They destroyed the herds and made the humans look for retribution or flee in fear.
They were not good for his territory, and the pack would not tolerate them.
Marsh could understand. She sent feelings of acceptance to the pack leader, and he returned them.
She was pack. He lifted his head, taking in the guards and mages arrayed before him. They were all pack.
Master Envermet relaxed, and the wolf surveyed him with benign amusement.
Of course, he had known the shadow captain was there.
It was news to Master Envermet, and Marsh stifled a smirk as he stiffened with surprise. The wolf turned back to her, sending images of the pack curled around the fire and the humans that slept.
We will keep watch, he told her, and the shadow captain nodded.
Thank you, Marsh replied and sent a wave of gratitude toward him.
The wolf reflected happiness and broke the connection between them, leaving Marsh aware of his size and proximity as she came back to herself. Mordan leaned on her, indicating she should stay where she was as the other wolves advanced.
They need your scent, the big kat explained, and to feel your presence inside.
At first, Marsh didn’t know what Mordan meant, but as she met the eyes of each wolf when it came to stand before her, she understood. They wished to hunt with her and hear her howl if she called for them.
It was strange the way she spoke to them. This was not the way of the humans they knew.
Marsh regarded the last wolf with surprise, and it licked her face before turning away. That one had been more...coherent...than the others. Was there a druid nearby?
The wolf did not answer, but it ducked its head, breaking the connection as it turned away.
So much for wanting to hear Marsh’s howl as she hunted.
We are never far, the wolf assured her, and was gone.
Fine, Marsh thought. Keep your secrets.
Seeing that had been the last, she pushed to her feet and turned back to the team.
“They want to...” Marsh let her words roll to a stop.
Either Master Envermet had already relayed the message, or the team had figured it out on their own.
It wasn’t hard, Roeglin told her, and she could see why.
The wolves wove in and around the guards’ legs, sniffing each one as they went and allowing the guards to ruffle what parts of their fur weren’t soaked with blood and gore.
Mordan caught her sense of distaste. They will be clean when they return.
When they return? Marsh had barely formed the thought when the pack disappeared back into the shadows.
Master Envermet looked at her. “Where are they going?”
“To clean up,” Marsh told him.
“Good.” He looked around at the team. “We’re camping here tonight. The wolves will keep watch. We’ll find the mules in the morning.”
“Want to find them now!” Aisha argued, and Master Envermet turned to her.
“No. They will be fine until morning, and it’s too dark.”
“Not too dark for wolves.”
“Mules are scared of wolves.”
“Oh.” Aisha fell silent and then yawned.
Tamlin hugged her close. “See? You need to sleep.”
“Do not.”
“Do too.”
“Hungry.”
Tamlin sighed. He glanced at Master Envermet. “Are we sleeping here?”
The shadow captain looked around the blood-spattered camping space and sighed. “Roeglin, how secure is the space behind this wall?”
“With the wolves, it will be safer, but there is a site a half-hour’s walk from here.” He paused, frowning. “The other groups of raiders were heading for it when they heard the shadow...remnant...attack.”
He gave Master Envermet an apologetic look. “The second group was a lot closer than I thought. They’d have met with the runners either tonight or in the morning.”
Henri stared at him in shock. “You had time to read a man’s mind?”
Roeglin met his look and shrugged. “Master Envermet asked me to scan for the minds around us. It seemed a waste not to at least look inside.”
Master Envermet gave him an appraising stare and then nodded. “We’ll move camp.”
He turned to Mordan. “Tell the wolves.”
Mordan gave him a long green stare, and Master Envermet raised his eyebrow. “I am pack leader here.”
The kat glanced at Marsh, and Marsh sighed. “You know it, Dan.”
Mordan lashed her tail with irritation and glared at Master Envermet.
The shadow captain sighed. “All the women in my life. All of them.”
Dan did not dignify that with an answer but stalked into the night. Is the pack leader going to stack the bodies? she sent to Marsh, knowing full well the shadow captain was linked.
“That is what I have pack for,” Master Envermet replied, and the guards stared at him. He looked at them and smiled. “Mordan has just reminded me that we have bodies to clear up.”
Henri groaned but grabbed the nearest remnant, wrinkling his nose. “These are putrid,” he complained, dragging it into the dark.
“I don’t think they bother bathing,” Gerry replied, following him.
Henri’s cry of horror and surprise jolted through them moments later, and they rushed to see what had caused it, Izmay in the lead. They found him hacking wildly at one of the remnant corpses, the blade making odd crunching noises each time it struck.
It sounded more like he was crushing cockroaches than hacking at near-human flesh. His face was white and his eyes wild as he shattered the creature attached to the remnant’s spine. Master Envermet’s face hardened.
“Search for more. The raiders, too.”
They found the bugs on every second or third remnant body but none on the raiders.
“Search wider,” the shadow captain ordered. “I don’t know what these are, and I don’t know how long they stay attached after death, but I won’t risk them roaming loose.”
Marsh refrained from pointing out that there were probably more attached to the remnant that had fled, and it didn’t matter what he risked.
“I mean bugs without hosts,” he snapped. “Like ticks looking for a new source of food.”
The idea made Marsh shudder, but she said nothing more as they worked to move the bodies to a bowl formed by the remains of another building.
Walking through the night was just like walking through the caverns but without a roof overhead, and the team moved with easy surety as they cleared the battle site.
“I still don’t know if it’s ever going to be okay for camping,” Izmay observed, indicating the gore spattered over the ground and rubble.
“Maybe it will make travelers move to a safer site,” Master Envermet said. He smiled at Marsh. “If we’re to re-open the trade routes, we’ll need another waystation here.”
Marsh blushed. As much as she wanted to see the trade routes opened, she wanted something else more. The ruins around her held the secrets of the ancients, and she had so many questions.
What had they been like? What had they done to create the remnant? What treasures lay hidden in the rubble?
Master Envermet laughed. “You’ll still need a safe base of operations to explore from,” he told her, reminding her also that he had no morals when it came to what others were thinking.
She scowled and went to help move the remaining bodies.
“Make sure you search those,” Master Envermet ordered when she lifted a dead raider by the shoulders.
Marsh did as she was asked, taking the man’s pack and weapons before going through his pockets.
“It seem
s a shame to leave his boots,” Henri commented when she was almost done, and she jumped.
She’d been so focused on what she was doing that she hadn’t noticed him come over. She’d thought he’d been coming back for another body.
“There are going to be folk who need them,” Henri explained. “I’m pretty sure the raiders don’t let their slaves keep their footwear.”
Marsh gave him a puzzled look. Henri sighed.
“First rule of prisoners,” he explained. “Take their footwear. They can’t run away as fast.”
“I’m not even going to ask how you know that,” Marsh told him, but she did as he suggested and took the boots. “I’m not stripping him.”
“No,” Master Envermet agreed. “We don’t have time for that, but take the boots. Henri makes a good point.”
Again, Marsh wondered how people knew this.
“I wasn’t always a shadow mage, Leclerc.”
She followed their connection, wondering what he meant, only to find the way into his skull completely blocked.
“Now is not the time.” His voice was mild, but the words came through gritted teeth.
Marsh left him alone.
They finished the grisly task of moving the bodies and pushed what rubble they could over them, but there were too many to bury, and Master Envermet curled his lip in frustration. “That’s going to bring every scavenger for miles.”
Roeglin studied his face. “We don’t have time.”
“Even raiders deserve better.”
“True. Maybe when we’re done.”
They returned to where Tamlin and Aisha were waiting. They hadn’t been idle, and Marsh eyed the neatly tied bundles of sticks with surprise. Tamlin nudged one with his toe. “Have to do our part,” he told her.
Henri nodded in approval. “Good thinking.”
“Very,” Master Envermet agreed. “Roeglin, the other campsite, if you would.”
The boy smiled at the praise and picked up the sticks, then Roeglin led them along the trail.
They traveled by moonlight for half an hourglass, then the shadow mage led them from the main path into a ruin made of solid stone. Marsh wondered what it had been, and if it had been recently repaired.
“No idea, and, yes, I think so,” Roeglin told her.
They looked up at the walls as Mordan slunk inside, the kat’s disgust becoming apparent a few moments later. It is a lair of sadness, the kat informed her, and Marsh saw the sturdy doors and solid walls set along the back wall.
“They kept their prisoners here,” Marsh relayed, and Master Envermet nodded.
“It will be secure enough for the night,” he replied.
“We don’t have to dig latrines!” Henri noted, sounding pleased, and the others echoed the sentiment.
“Marsh, you’re on meals,” Master Envermet told her. “Roeglin and the apprentices can help. Brigitte, if you, Gerry, and Zeb can find water?”
“Yes, sir.” The mages hurried to obey their order, and Marsh was surprised to discover a primitive kitchen set halfway between an open fireplace and the doors leading to the slave pens.
The supplies in the raiders’ packs were perfect additions to the locked stone chest Aisha opened. The child was delighted to be able to help, laying her small palms on the stone and removing it from around the sturdy iron lock that kept the lid closed.
Henri gave her a speculative look. “Remind me to use timber on anything I want to keep you out of.”
Aisha beamed at him. “Okay. Use timber.” She grinned, and Henri looked worried.
“What aren’t you telling me?”
The child’s smile grew wider. “I’m not telling.”
It didn’t take Marsh and Roeglin long to turn the dried meat and root vegetables from the chest into a stew, and the wolves appeared shortly afterward.
Marsh was relieved to see their fur was clean, albeit damp.
Henri wasn’t happy. “I don’t suppose we can tell them to sleep outside,” he began but subsided when the nearest wolves laid their ears back and dropped their heads, their tails straight out behind them.
“I didn’t think so.” He gestured at the fire. “Why don’t you go and warm up?”
This earned him pricked ears and waving tails as the pack trotted over to lie beside the fireplace. Henri and Jakob had made a roaring blaze, and Master Envermet closed and barred the doors as soon as the last wolf had arrived.
He looked at Marsh. “That is all of them, isn’t it?”
Marsh glanced at Mordan, and the kat sleepily opened her eyes. All the pride are here, she confirmed. The pack, too.
Master Envermet looked relieved. Marsh looked at the wolves.
Are they hungry? she asked the kat.
A brief conference between Mordan revealed that the pack leader and the wolves had eaten before returning. Human food is...not as satisfying, was the kat’s translation of the wolf’s response.
Marsh refrained from asking, “As satisfying as what?” and the kat was not forthcoming.
She served the others, doling out the traveler’s bread from the raiders before taking her stew over to the fire. Roeglin was already sitting beside Aisha, with Tams on the other side of his sister. Marsh found a place next to the boy and settled beside him.
He gave her a wary glance, and she wondered what he’d done.
He’s not sure if you’re still mad at him, Roeglin informed her, and Marsh ducked her head.
Let the little rat stew, she thought, and Roeglin chuckled.
“Not fair, you two,” the boy scolded. “That’s like talking behind our backs.”
Aisha lifted her head. “Rude,” she told them, even though she had no idea what her brother was talking about.
“Too bad,” Marsh told them. “It was a private conversation.”
“About us,” Tamlin accused, and Marsh’s cheeks flushed. “See?”
She thought about denying the accusation but decided not to lie.
“Some things we talk to each other about before we discuss them with you,” she told the boy.
He glared at them both and went back to his supper.
Marsh breathed a silent sigh of relief and concentrated on her meal. Master Envermet broke through their thoughts a moment later.
“We need to find the assassin’s camp,” he said, and Marsh froze. “I want to make sure he was traveling alone. Idris had more than one sibling.”
“How do we know he wasn’t the last?”
“We don’t, and that’s why we’re going to check. They had to have come from somewhere. If we can find some clue as to where they lived, we could make sure they were no longer a threat. This time you were lucky, and the kat warned you. What if she’s busy the next time?”
Mordan rumbled an agreement, and Marsh sensed her approval for Master Envermet’s status as pack leader had increased.
“What about Gustav?” she asked, and the shadow captain’s eyes darkened.
“I don’t think we’re going to reach him before they get to the raiders’ base.”
Henri cursed, but Master Envermet ignored him.
“It saves us from looking for it afterward,” he explained, as though that were a good thing.
And you don’t think it is?
Marsh considered it and decided the shadow captain had a point. It wasn’t like they could go back to the caverns and raise an army. Whatever they were going to do to bring the raiders down, they didn’t really need more people than they had...she hoped.
I do, too. Master Envermet’s voice was sober. Out loud, he said, “Apprentices, it is time you went to bed.”
They had decided to sleep around the fire, rather than take the raiders’ quarters or occupy either of the two cells that had held the raiders’ captives. The two children looked at each other, and then at where the bedrolls had been neatly laid out in the cavern just beyond the fire. Their faces said it all.
Neither of them wanted to go to bed, but neither of them argued, either. At least, Tamlin di
dn’t. He stood and took his bowl over to the washtub, then crawled into his bedroll. Aisha, on the other hand, had no intention of sleeping in her bedroll.
She slipped off the rough log she’d been sitting on and walked over to the pack leader.
“Aysh...” Master Envermet tried, but the little girl ignored him. She slid to her knees and looked into the big wolf’s face.
To Marsh’s surprise, the pack leader lowered his head and met the child’s gaze. His eyes went from hazel to green as she laid a hand on his neck.
Whatever passed between them, Aisha was happy. She gave a pleased wiggle and snuggled against the wolf’s shoulder. He gave a heartfelt sigh and shifted slightly to curl his body around her.
Master Envermet looked from the child to Marsh and raised his eyebrow.
“I don’t suppose...” he began, and Marsh raised her hands, shaking her head as she did so.
“No. With all due respect, Master, there’s not a hope in all the Deeps.”
16
The Assassin’s Nest
They woke early, eating cold breakfast and taking all their gear with them. Master Envermet had Aisha reform the storage chest around the lock.
“We can’t take it with us,” he explained, “and I’m not sure we’re coming back. Best to leave something in case we do.”
That made sense and they’d stowed the supplies they couldn’t carry in the storage chest before asking Aisha to lock it again. It hadn’t taken her long, and they’d left the camp soon after.
“Do you think the wolves will help us?” Master Envermet had asked, and Marsh had sought Mordan.
I know where it is, the kat huffed, her tail flicking with irritation.
“Oh. Mordan, please lead the way,” the shadow captain amended, and Mordan cast him a baleful look.
If he is sure he wouldn’t prefer the wolves...
Master Envermet picked the thought out of Marsh’s head and shook his head. “No, Mordan. I forgot hoshkats have a better sense of smell.”
The kat stared at him a moment longer, flicked her tail once and padded silently along the trail to the point the assassin had fallen. Blood still stained the ground, but she surveyed the first raiders’ camp briefly, her nostrils flaring, before padding around the rubble.
Magic Below Paris Complete Series Boxed Set (Books 1 - 8): Trading Into Shadow, Trading Into Darkness, Trading Close to Light, Trading By Firelight, Trading by Shroomlight, plus 3 more Page 130
