Trading into Darkness

by C. M. Simpson

  There! They were going to step from here…to…there, through the shadows and the dark from one point to another, because the shadows were connected just like the caverns were.

  Her foot hit the ground and she stumbled, and then she remembered to open her eyes and ran smack into the rock formation she’d been picturing in her head. It was like running into a cavern wall; exactly like running into a cavern wall. Marsh heard Aisha give a squeak of protest as she bounced off the rocks and dropped like a stone.

  Beside her Mordan twisted mid-stride, breaking Marsh’s grip, and hitting the formation side on before landing on all fours.

  “Bad Marsh!” Aisha muttered, pulling herself free of Marsh’s arms. “Bad, bad Marsh.”

  When Marsh didn’t reply, the little girl hesitated and then moved over to touch Marsh’s face. Marsh tried to get up, but couldn’t find the strength. She felt as wrung out as a wet dishcloth.

  “Give it a minute, kid,” she said, her voice slurring with fatigue as she tried to get Aisha to come into focus. “I need…”

  What did she need? Her head spun, but Marsh fought it. She needed to be away, by all the Deep.

  “I help,” Aisha said, laying her other hand on Marsh’s forehead. “Ouch.”

  Yeah, kid. Ouch. Marsh thought as Aisha’s touch sent echoes of agony ringing through her head. Even the emerald glow coming off the kid’s hands was painful. Why did she have to glow? Her irritation turned to concern when the glow shuddered and then went out.

  “All gone.”

  Not quite, Marsh wanted to say since her headache was still there, but she heard voices and knew they had to move. She had to get them under cover. They hadn’t come this far only to be caught again.

  Again, Marsh tried to get to her feet, but again her body refused to cooperate—and Aisha was no help. The kid had settled across her chest and was a dead weight. Marsh wanted to tell her there wasn’t any time for cuddles, but she figured there wasn’t any time for that, either. Instead, she reached out to the shadows.

  “Cover us,” she said, hoping Mordan had either curled up close enough to share their blanket of shadow or found her own hiding place nearby.

  The shadows rippled, but they would not come. Marsh’s head pounded with effort, and she tried again. Maybe asking nicely?

  “Please cover us.”

  But the shadows would not listen, and the two figures, one in the dark armor of a shadow mage and one looking more like a caravan guard, saw them. Marsh’s spirits sank, and then the shadow mage let out a shout of surprise and ran toward her.

  “Marsh!” He turned excitedly to the man with him. “Patrik! She made it! They made it! They’re here!”

  For Shadow’s sake, he didn’t have to sound so surprised. Of course, she’d made it, and just what was he doing here, anyway?

  “Roeglin?”

  Marsh couldn’t figure out why in all the Deeps he was so excited, and she couldn’t stay awake to ask. Fatigue rolled over her and sucked her under as he reached her, his look shifting from excitement to frustration.

  Just how much trouble was she in, anyway?

  And why in all the Deep did he think she needed him?

  19

  The Missing

  “Of all the bone-headed, bone-deep stupid, idiotic, infuriatingly—”

  “You done yet…Master?” Marsh asked, spraying Roeglin with crumbs.

  She was starving, and he’d split the supplies he’d been carrying between her and Aisha. Of course, he’d refused to give her the cookies until she’d eaten the shroom-bread and cheese. He didn’t seem to care how much faster they’d have restored her energy.

  On top of that, she already knew just how dumb she’d been; she didn’t need him to tell her again! If he kept it up, she wasn’t going to feel sorry about it; she was just going to get Mordan to eat him.

  She saw Roeglin’s eyes flash white.

  Nice. He still didn’t sound happy, but at least he’d stopped trying to yell at her and whisper at the same time.

  “We’re going when you’re done,” he told Marsh, handing Aisha a cookie.

  “Hey!”

  “She’s finished her roll.”

  Aisha waved her cookie and took the biggest bite she could stuff into her tiny mouth.

  “Showoff!” Marsh muttered when the child grinned at her through a mouthful of crumbs.

  But she finished off the second roll that Roeglin had insisted she eat and then stuck out her hand. Smirking, he placed two cookies in it.

  “Hey!” Aisha wasn’t impressed, but Roeglin turned to her, one finger upraised.

  “She had two rolls, so she gets two cookies.”

  He was trying to sound reasonable, and Patrik snorted.

  “It’s like dealing with my kids,” he remarked. “Same old, same old.”

  Marsh stopped chewing. It was hard to protest with a mouth full of cookie crumbs, so she glared.

  “If the shoe fits,” Roeglin told her, catching her look. She turned her glare to him.

  Smart ass.

  I can hear you, you know.

  So he could. That had possibilities. Marsh wondered what she’d have to think about to discourage him from looking inside her head…and then she wondered if she really wanted to stoop that low.

  You could try, he said, but later. Right now, we have to move.

  Marsh stood up and dusted cookie crumbs out of her armor. As she did, she caught a whiff of herself after three days of exertion and no bath. Oh, by the Dark. How could Roeglin even stand being that close to her?

  He didn’t reply, just picked up his pack, set Aisha on her feet, and glanced at Mordan. The hoshkat got to her feet and stretched, yawning to show an impressive set of fangs. Patrik stared at her, and kept staring as the kat padded over to Aisha and nudged her. The little girl turned to Roeglin.

  “Up,” she demanded, patting Mordan’s back. “Dan says up.”

  Roeglin obliged, setting Aisha on the kat’s shoulders. Once she was settled, the five of them started moving back down the trail Marsh had taken just a few short days before. At least this time her hands weren’t tied. The journey seemed to take a lot less time, and soon they were moving past the grotto where Marsh had spent her first night of captivity. She was glad when they didn’t stop.

  The way she calculated it, they had at least a day’s journey ahead of them, and the next part of it would take them through the junction not far from Madame Monetti’s mansion. And that reminded her…

  “Did you get a hold of Madame Monetti?”

  Roeglin shook his head.

  “No. We tried when you disappeared. Monsieur Gravine sent a squad down to look for you, but she swore black and blue that you hadn’t been there and there was nothing to prove otherwise. They searched but didn’t find the passage leading to this one, and then Madame Monetti kicked them out. Said she was insulted by the way she was being treated, and that the founder would be hearing about it. Without proof, they had to leave.”

  “But you knew I’d gone there…”

  “And I was held up interrogating the raiders we’d managed to capture.” He looked torn. “I’m the only mind mage in the caverns, Marsh. I go where I’m most needed, and I don’t always get to choose. Monsieur Gravine decided he needed me to question them.”

  “And you couldn’t say no?”

  “I asked him to wait, but he didn’t, so I came after you, as soon as we were done.”

  From the shudder in his voice, “done” hadn’t been pleasant. He shook it off, though, and continued.

  “She said she’d never heard of you, hadn’t seen you, and asked if you were a courier for Kearick. Apparently, he should choose his people better and ensure he makes his deliveries on time. I told Monsieur Gravine she was lying, and he had us search the junction and the trail rather than press the point. It also gave him an excuse to station a squad at the junction near the Monetti place, but that was the best he could do without evidence. She’s still respected in Ruins Hall.”
r />   “She was.” Patrik sounded grim, his voice making Marsh jump. The big farmer had been traveling in silence up until that point. Now his voice was hard with determination. “I’ll make sure folk know exactly what she’s done. Her lines of supply will dry up, and she’ll have no choice but to run to the raiders or admit what she’s done and make amends.”

  Given those options, Marsh was pretty sure what the woman would do.

  “And we could catch her when she ran.”

  Roeglin shook his head.

  “We’ve got you. We don’t need any other evidence, because I can pull the memories from your head at the trial.”

  “And what then?” Patrick asked.

  “Then she’ll be executed,” Roeglin said, the utter calm in his voice coming as both a shock and a relief to Marsh. “We don’t have the people to spare to guard prisoners, or the resources, and we can’t let them go, knowing they’ll come back and do more harm.”

  The reality of it made Marsh feel just a little bit ill, but she couldn’t think of a real alternative. Roeglin was right; they didn’t have the resources to allow themselves the luxury of imprisoning someone who wanted to do the community harm, and the idea of letting them go so they could return with stronger forces and use their knowledge of the caverns against everyone was ludicrous.

  Patrik had no such qualms.

  “I’d say dispense with the trial for any of them,” he said, and Roeglin laid a hand on the man’s arm.

  “Trials and questioning help us find out if there are any worth saving.”

  “They’re not the ones who need saving.”

  Privately, Marsh agreed with him, but she didn’t say so out loud. Roeglin had to have a reason for what he was saying. If he did, though, the shadow mage didn’t bring it up. He just patted Patrik on the shoulder and kept them moving down the tunnel.

  They were an hour’s walk away from the junction when Mordan stopped, curling her lip in a warning snarl. Marsh looked down the tunnel, moving to the cover of the shadows at the edge of the tunnel before crouching, and asking the shadows to show her what was coming. Roeglin mirrored her actions, dragging Patrik into the shelter of a cluster of shrooms standing tall on the other side of the path.

  When he’d dragged the man into their shelter, they faded from view, and Marsh realized the shadow mage had called the shadows to cover them. Before she could think to do the same, the shadow threads answered, bringing her pictures of a heavily armed and armored group riding down the tunnel. Marsh held her breath.

  Just how many raiders did Madame Monetti have holed up in her mansion, anyway?

  She tweaked the threads, wanting a closer look at their faces, and gave a shaky sigh of relief. She’d seen their leader before, but not at the head of a group of raiders. She’d seen him leading the charge against the raiders at the farm, coming in behind Monsieur Gravine to take out the raiders trying to beat their way into the barn.

  The man beside him had helped the farmer and his family out of the shadows at the back of their house and been the first to lay a hand on Mordan’s head in friendship. The woman beside him had been one of the guards to greet her when she’d first arrived at the mansion.

  Marsh slowly rose from behind the rocks, signaling Roeglin to do the same, and calling the hoshkat to her side.

  “Friends,” she said, walking forward.

  Mordan stuck close to her side, dividing her attention between Marsh and the road ahead. If Marsh hadn’t known any better, she would have thought the big kat was nervous.

  “Stay close,” Roeglin told Patrik. “We’re about to meet some Protectors. They’ll help us.”

  “I’m glad to hear it,” came a voice on the path behind them, and they whirled to face it.

  At first, the woman’s shape was an indistinct outline, but as they turned, it became clearer, the outline firming into flesh. The first thing Marsh noticed was the crossbow aimed at the center of her chest. The second was the way the woman released the tension on the string and lowered it.

  They stood, staring at one another for a long moment, and then the woman smiled.

  “I was hoping we’d meet you. Monsieur Gravine said we should look for you on the path.”

  He had?

  “The raiders summoned shadow monsters to cover their trail. We blocked the tunnel to make sure they did not follow.”

  The woman’s smile faded.

  “That is good to know. Monsieur Gravine said the raiders got away with some of the prisoners. We’re going after them.”

  As she spoke, Marsh heard the sound of hoofs on the trail behind them. Turning slightly, she saw the riders the shadows had shown her. Roeglin followed her look.

  “Captain Orelia,” he said. “I am glad to see you.”

  “And I you,” the man boomed, sliding from his mule and coming to greet Roeglin with outstretched arms. “I thought we’d lost you.”

  “Did you get them all away?”

  The man’s face darkened.

  “It’s as Petrine says; the raiders escaped with some of their catch.” His eyes shifted to Patrik. “At least they have one less than we thought.”

  As if on cue, Patrik closed the distance between them.

  “Tell me,” he said. “There were two boys. They were with me in the field when the raiders came. One would have been sixteen, the other twelve. They would have asked for me…”

  His voice trailed off as the captain shook his head.

  “There were several youngsters, but they were all claimed by their parents. I’m sorry. You’re not the only parent to be missing children. It’s why we’re going back.”

  As he spoke the last sentence, he turned back to the mule and swung into the saddle.

  “Monsieur Gravine says we must hurry.”

  He turned his attention to Roeglin, leaving Patrik to stare at him in disbelief.

  “What did you say about shadow monsters?”

  “They must have released a score or more into the tunnel behind us.” Roeglin gestured toward Aisha. “The girl brought down the entrance and blocked them out. I don’t know how you’re going to get through.”

  The captain gathered his reins and glanced over his shoulder.

  “A contingent of rock wizards arrived while you were out chasing your gi—” He caught sight of Marsh and cleared his throat. “Trainee! We brought two of them with us, along with a half-dozen of your shadow-mage friends.”

  Roeglin looked past him, but the mules were lined up two abreast, and he soon returned his attention to the captain.

  After a moment’s silence, the captain continued. “We’ll go after them hard to try to get everyone back,” he said, digging his mule in the ribs and starting forward, “and we’ll take out the shadow monsters on the way.”

  Marsh remembered the chorus of howling noise that had assaulted her ears back in the tunnels and hoped Roeglin’s estimate of a score or more was still accurate.

  Don’t worry, he assured her. I can see your memory. It’s close.

  Marsh could only hope it was close enough to not get the patrol killed.

  Give me a little credit.

  But he didn’t say it out loud, taking Patrik by the arm instead and leading him to the side of the path.

  Mordan followed the movement, eyed the mounted squad, and moved off the trail too, taking herself behind a clump of rocks despite Aisha’s protests that she couldn’t see. Marsh followed them and stood in front of the rocks, hoping her scent so close to the kat’s would help calm the mules. She glanced back at the scout who had confronted them on the trail and saw the woman shift back into shadow and vanish into the dark.

  As the captain drew alongside them, Patrik darted out onto the path, frightening the mule and causing it to shy. The captain gave a startled yell, cursing as he brought the animal back under control. Roeglin hurried after Patrik, trying to grab his arm, but Patrik shook him off.

  “I’m coming too,” he said. “They’re my sons. My responsibility.”

  Ste
adying the mule beneath him, the captain shook his head.

  “I’m sorry, but no. You’re not equipped and not armed.”

  “I can borrow a sword. I know how to fight.”

  The captain dug his heels into the side of his mule, nudging the animal past Patrik.

  “No,” he said.

  “You can’t stop me following you,” he said, shaking Roeglin’s hand loose, and turning to walk alongside the mule.

  The captain ignored him, apparently content to have the farmer walk beside him. Patrik did not notice when the scout slipped out of the shadows behind him, but he crumpled beneath the blow from her staff. The captain drew the mule to a halt and glanced back at Roeglin.

  “Will you be able to manage him?”

  Roeglin looked from the fallen man to the captain and shrugged.

  “We have help coming.”

  Marsh did her best to keep her expression neutral. Help? That was the first she’d heard of it, but she nodded when the captain glanced her way, watching as the scout melted into the dark. After giving the pair of them a very doubtful look, the captain shrugged.

  “As long as you’re sure you can manage,” he said.

  They both nodded, and Marsh noticed that Roeglin’s face was a blank as hers.

  The captain frowned but nudged his mule into a walk and then a trot.

  “Safe wanderings,” he said, not looking back, and the double column of soldiers trotted by.

  Marsh caught sight of the rock wizards as they passed, and the darkly garbed shadow mages, but neither group acknowledged them, and she didn’t recognize anyone among them.

  20

  In Search of Madame Monetti

  Marchant waited until the last of the soldiers and mages had passed them and continued out of sight down the tunnel before she turned to Roeglin.