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

by C. M. Simpson

  “I don’t know,” she admitted. “I haven’t really had time to think about it.”

  In truth, she’d been trying not to think about it. She just wasn’t ready to face that reality yet. Tamlin didn’t understand.

  “Why not? Wasn’t there other stuff you had planned before you rescued us?”

  Marsh snorted. “There was a lot of stuff I had planned before the shadow monsters attacked our caravan, and none of it really fits anymore, so it’s not just you and Aisha. It’s everything. Everything has changed.”

  He gave her a sly look. “And Roeglin?”

  “Don’t you have to see what Brigitte wants you to do for lessons today?”

  Muffled laughter from those closest told Marsh how many of the others had been listening in, and she blushed.

  “Leave the lessons until we camp,” Master Envermet broke in. “I want you both alert for the road.”

  Marsh caught Tamlin’s scowl and knew what the boy was thinking: Aisha was having lessons.

  Aisha needs to go to bed earlier than you. From the way Tamlin’s shoulders jerked, Marsh knew the boy had just received the same message, but Master Envermet wasn’t finished.

  Brigitte wants you to study with Marsh, he added, speaking to Tamlin and delivering Marsh her orders at the same time. You need to learn how to control the lightning.

  It made Marsh wonder if Master Envermet meant himself or Brigitte, and judging by Tamlin’s scowl, the boy was wondering the same thing. Neither of them said anything, though, and Master Envermet kept walking, Aisha by his side.

  Watching them, Marsh was sure they were deep in conversation, but neither of them said a word. As if he was listening, the shadow captain turned his head so she could see the gleaming white of his eyes. Shortly afterward, Aisha followed suit, a secretive smile curving her lips.

  “Well,” Tamlin commented after they’d turned back to the front, “that was disturbing.”

  “Yup.”

  They looked back along the four-wide column of the caravan and then at the crumbling buildings around them.

  We will warn you. Mordan’s reassurance came unbidden, and Marsh relaxed.

  The kat’s vigilance, however, did not stop her from scanning the ruins, and she was pleased to see Tamlin doing the same. Along the caravan’s flanks, the warriors shared their restlessness, but the journey continued unhindered.

  They reached the first waypoint as the shadows lengthened and unseen creatures stirred among them. The back of Marsh’s neck itched and she clenched a fist at her side, trying to keep calm. She felt like she was being stalked, yet neither Mordan nor the wolves gave a warning.

  Nothing stalks you here, the kat assured her.

  Marsh might have felt comforted, but the kat’s tone was wary. Why was that?

  She got the impression that Mordan could see the question but refused to notice it.

  “Typical!” she muttered and didn’t acknowledge Tamlin’s sharp glance of worry.

  “Yup,” he agreed and sighed. “Typical.”

  Master Envermet raised his fist in a signal to stop and beckoned Izmay and Obasi forward. As much as she wanted to know what was going on, Marsh stayed where she was, and Tamlin stayed with her

  The warriors moved in close to Master Envermet, bending their heads to listen to his instructions. Aisha stood as though forgotten beside them. She lifted her chin, turning her small face from side to side as she listened to the conversation above her.

  At one point she scowled, and Master Envermet laid a finger across her lips. The scowl got deeper, but the child stayed silent.

  “It’s empty,” the child declared the minute the shadow mage lifted his finger away.

  Master Envermet’s eyes widened and he lifted his brows. “It’s what?”

  “It’s empty,” Aisha stated firmly. “No one’s there.”

  Now she had the attention of Izmay and Obasi.

  “How do you know?” Izmay demanded, and Aisha met her gaze unflinching.

  “No heads inside. Nothing.”

  “What about animals?” Obasi asked. He gestured toward the structure. “It’s such a nice place. Why aren’t there any animals in there?”

  Aisha wrinkled her nose. “It smells bad.”

  Marsh and Tamlin took a step toward her. Smelled bad? How in all the Deeps would the child know that?

  “What about monsters?” Izmay asked. “Are there any of those?”

  “No!” Master Envermet snapped as Aisha’s brow furrowed, and he shook the child hard.

  She gave a startled cry and looked up at him, her eyes sparkling with tears.

  “I’m sorry,” he told her, “but it’s dangerous to look inside their minds. Their madness could make you mad, too.”

  “Could not,” Aisha argued, and he shook her again.

  “Look!” he commanded, kneeling down in front of her and catching her eyes with his own.

  After a moment of staring into the captain’s gaze, Aisha leaned her forehead against his and closed her eyes. Master Envermet placed a hand on either of her shoulders, and the two of them stayed like that for a very long moment.

  “No!” Aisha suddenly exclaimed and pulled away. She slapped Master Envermet’s head. “No, no, no.”

  He didn’t let go of her. “No looking in the monster’s heads,” he ordered as she lashed out at him with a foot.

  “No!” she cried, trying to break free. “No, not... No.”

  “Aisha!” he snapped, shaking her again. “Aisha.”

  His eyes flickered white. “Aisha,” he repeated, his voice soft and penetrating.

  The child stilled just as Marsh and Tamlin reached her.

  “What?”

  Master Envermet’s face was awash with concern. “Are you back now?”

  She nodded, the alarm leaving her expression as she registered his face and then saw Brigitte coming to a halt behind him. “I’m good.”

  He released her and she stepped around him, raising her arms to the shadow mistress in appeal “Up?”

  As Brigitte lifted the child into her arms, Master Envermet rose to his feet, dusting his knees. He caught Obasi’s and Izmay’s eyes and jerked his head toward the fort. “Go.”

  The two leaders returned to their teams and led them away from the caravan shortly thereafter.

  Marsh watched them leave, seeking her link with Mordan.

  We are with them, the kat replied before Marsh could ask. They are safe.

  Master Envermet signaled for two of the Grotto warriors to take guard points. They were part of the dozen left behind. Of the four shadow guards, Izmay had left Brigitte.

  The shadow mistress had set Aisha on her feet again, and Tamlin had moved to stand with his sister. Marsh came close and was happy when neither of them moved away.

  The refugees shifted restlessly, but Master Envermet walked through them, checking on a tired-looking parent, dropping a reassuring hand on a young man’s shoulder, speaking with the anxious as he passed.

  “The wolves are watching,” he told them. “They will warn us of any danger.”

  He looked at Marsh. “If you and the boy would ask the shadows what other sentients are out there?”

  We might need the extra line of defense, he added where no one else could hear.

  Marsh nodded.

  “You know how it’s done?” she asked, and the boy gave her a look of scorn.

  “I taught you. Remember?” he snapped.

  Marsh blushed. Now that he mentioned it, she did remember. “Fine. You do the left and rear. I’ll do the right and front.”

  He shrugged. “Makes no difference to me.”

  Marsh heard the satisfaction underneath the studied indifference of his tone and looked away so he wouldn’t see her smile. Closing her eyes, she reached for the nearest shadow threads, seeking who else might be hidden in the nearby ruins.

  There were no sentients. Marsh thought about that, then asked the shadows another question. Are there remnant?

  To he
r relief, there were none of those either. She’d just registered that none of the shadows had shown her the scouts who’d gone into the “empty” raider camp when shouting erupted from within its walls.

  It was accompanied by a loud screech. Several of the travelers gasped, and all of them scrambled to their feet. Master Envermet hurried to the head of the column, drawing his sword as he did so.

  Brigitte let go of Aisha’s hand, and the little girl took a step to one side. Marsh noticed Aisha stood close to a large rock, even if she showed no sign of hiding inside it. She was about to tell her to get into the stone when she remembered that the child had survived several days on the surface with just Tamlin for protection.

  It was hard, but she stayed silent. Let her decide when she needs to hide, she thought, and Master Envermet’s chuckle bounced through her mind.

  It’s hard, isn’t it?

  Marsh frowned. Yes.

  She pulled a blade and buckler from the shadow and moved forward to join him. She wasn’t happy to feel Tamlin moving alongside her, but she didn’t say anything about that either.

  Master Envermet did. He’s been training with Izmay and the others.

  Marsh hadn’t been aware.

  We had to keep him out of trouble when we were following you.

  Huh. So they’d taught him how to attack the monsters with a sharp stick. Typical.

  A sword is a little more than a stick, Marsh.

  A sword? Marsh glanced at the boy and saw he carried the same weapons she did. Well, and since when was that a good idea?

  It’s what we let you run around with.

  Nice. Marsh didn’t have anything to say to that.

  A second screech split the air and she jerked her head to the front, focusing on the open gates of the camp. Shadows flew through them.

  Not literally, but... Marsh blinked. What in all the Deeps were those?

  The gathering dusk hid many of the details, but Marsh caught an impression of misshapen shadows, red carapaces, many legs, and...terror?

  That was odd. She called on the shadows again.

  No, the terror was definitely coming from the oversized shadows with their armored hides and not the scouts. Stretching further, she felt Izmay’s fear and a sense of revulsion, but no real terror. The enemy had been met, and it had fled.

  Marsh tried to get a better view of the creatures that had run from the scouts, but the sun was failing, and they were moving too fast. They’d scurried onto the path, taken one look at the large group of humans a scant hundred yards away, and bolted for the shelter of the nearest ruin.

  Marsh called on the shadow threads to show her what they were. When the shadows answered, she almost lost the connection in horror.

  The face she was shown had surely not come from anywhere in the Deeps or even the Devastation. Membranous mouths rippled in panic, showing hints of red teeth, but the faces they were set in...

  Marsh swallowed her initial revulsion and forced herself to study them. They were triangular, like...like the cave mantids prowling the foliage outside Kerrenin’s Ledge, or maybe the wolves. And their eyes!

  It was strange to see eyes on stalks and stranger still to watch as one eye was kept resolutely forward while the other looked back at the humans gathered on the road. She swallowed again and made herself concentrate on the rest of them.

  Their bodies were segmented—also like the cave mantids, but flatter—and they ran on four legs while holding their belongings in their ha...claws? She turned to Master Envermet and realized she didn’t need to say anything.

  The damned man was inside her head, seeing what she saw and watching her reaction with quiet amusement.

  “What’s so funny?”

  He shook his head and refused to explain. “See if you can read more than their emotions.”

  Marsh licked her lips and swallowed again. “Sure,” she replied and did exactly that.

  The red mantids were still running, their terror increasing as the two-legged human monsters gave way to the small, savage four-legged ones. Those, they knew, would tear their limbs out from under them.

  Master Envermet’s command came as a relief. “Aisha, tell the wolves not to hunt them, but please ask Bristlebear if he can spare some to watch where they go.”

  Marsh focused on the creatures’ emotions and gradually let her hold on the shadow threads slip. It took the monsters several minutes before they noticed that the wolves were no longer chasing them.

  When most of them would have dropped into a walk, one made a series of whistles and clicks and signaled they should keep running. Some protested with chitters of their own, but none of them disobeyed.

  The lead—mantid?—kept them running until they’d put another decayed building between them and the humans on the road, and then let the rest drop into a walk. It was still anxious, though. There were other monsters stalking the night.

  Master Envermet snorted. Marsh caught his amusement at being called a monster, but she didn’t let him distract her completely. The mantid was puzzled. The human monsters had shown no sign of taint, and it had sensed none of the Masters’ influence among them.

  How could that be?

  How are you hearing it so clearly? Master Envermet’s voice intervened.

  A startled hiss crackled across Marsh’s mind, and she lost her connection to the mantid. The sudden emptiness left her weak at the knees, and she swayed. Tamlin dropped his sword and grabbed her arm, steadying her.

  “You okay?”

  “You monitoring them?” she asked, and he shook his head. “They ducked into one of the buildings and went through a hole in the back. The shadows can’t reach them.”

  “I thought the shadows touched everything,” one of the closest ex-prisoners commented, and Marsh shook her head.

  “Not everything. They can be stopped by barriers of solid stone and distance.” She paused and looked at Tamlin. “Was there a door?”

  He frowned, thinking about it, and then replied, “No, but one of them moved something to block the gap.”

  “So they know about the limits of magic.” Master Envermet pursed his lips.

  He did not look happy, and Marsh didn’t blame him. She thought about how tall the mantids were and recalled how small the brain bugs had been and sighed. Their bug problem looked like it had just gotten bigger.

  Yes, Master Envermet agreed. A lot bigger.

  4

  A Temporary Refuge

  “We plugged the hole, and the rest of the compound is clear,” Izmay reported a short while later.

  Bristlebear dipped his head, and Aisha’s eyes glowed green. “Bear says the Crunch Beetles have gone deeper and will not return.”

  The wolf licked her hand in approval and took a couple of steps toward the fort. He looked at Master Envermet and whined.

  “He says the herd should be taken inside the walls. The pack cannot protect them if they stay in the open.”

  Master Envermet’s jaw dropped, and he looked hastily around. Claude Bisset and Evan were closest. Considering Evan had been one of the guards, Marsh was glad to see that the Kerrenin’s Ledge farmer seemed to accept him.

  The man caught her eye. “I know what he risked,” he told her and turned his attention back to Master Envermet.

  His gaze fell on Bristlebear as he changed focus, and he frowned at the wolf. “I’m not sure how I feel about being called ‘herd,’ though.”

  The wolf wrinkled its lip, giving a wolfish smile—and Marsh wondered again if Bristlebear had partnered with a druid.

  Or two, she thought, remembering Silvermoth. The she-wolf was almost as intelligent as Mordan, and both wolves showed the same bad attitude as the kat.

  And, if they were paired with a druid or two, where were their humans?

  It wasn’t a question she could ask, though. Master Envermet surveyed the caravan and waved his hand over his head. “The scouts say it’s clear. Let’s go.”

  He pivoted on his heel and headed through the open gates
of the compound, passing Izmay and Obasi as he went. The guard and warrior fell in beside him, and their seconds, Henri and Akachi, took their places, facing out as the caravan filed past.

  The rest of the guards spread along the flanks of the caravan, keeping their eyes on the shadows until everyone was beyond the gates. As the rear-guard moved past them, they closed the gates.

  “Makes you wonder what they were afraid of,” Henri muttered.

  He was just about to drop the locking bar in place when a sharp yip stopped him. He glanced at Akachi, and the Grotto warrior shrugged.

  Henri sighed and pulled the gate open enough to peer back along the trail. “We better let ‘em in, or they’re gonna howl all night—and I need my sleep.”

  As he said it, Bristlebear pushed through the gate, nudging it slightly wider. The wolf gave him a long, slow look and then sauntered past. He was followed by the big silver female Marsh called Silvermoth.

  The big female also looked him over, and Henri wasn’t sure she liked him. He held the door and watched as the rest of the pack strolled past, each wolf giving him a once-over as it went by.

  Akachi watched the whole process with raised eyebrows. “Wow, you sure made an impression.”

  “You say that like it’s a good thing,” Henri growled back.

  Akachi laughed. “Nope. I’m saying it like that’s the kind of impression I never want to make, and I’m wondering how I can avoid it.”

  Henri shot him a filthy look and peered out into the gathering night. He’d just started pulling the gate closed again when Scruffknuckle bounded through the narrowing gap.

  The pup barked happily at him and bounced around his feet. Henri sighed and signaled for Akachi to leave the locking bar where it was.

  “We forgot the kat,” he stated just as Perdemor raced inside, leapt high into the air, and knocked Scruffknuckle onto his side.

  The pup gave an outraged bark fringed by a snarl, and the two of them rolled into a clawing, snapping ball. Akachi pressed himself closer to the wall and gave a frightened exclamation as Mordan slunk inside.

  “About time, kat,” Henri snarled, and the kat laid her ears back.