Trading by Shroomlight

by C. M. Simpson

  She nodded, pulling more energy from around them and pouring it into Aisha.

  “Sons of the Deep!” Izmay’s curse was all the warning she got before Perdemor landed beside her, pushing his way under her arm and disrupting her concentration.

  From the way the kit butted at her arm, he wanted her to use some of his energy, but Marsh didn’t dare. Drawing as she was from the world around her, she knew the kit had very little energy to give. Instead of accepting his offer, she diverted some of the power she was drawing into him.

  Perdemor hissed, swiping at her with an oversized paw.

  “Since when did you get so big?” Marsh asked him as he knocked her off balance. “How am I supposed to help your mistress if you won’t let me near her?”

  Roeglin shuffled over and someone else crouched in his place. Before Marsh could ask who they were, someone else dragged her to her feet and set her to one side. “We’ve got this.”

  She fought to get back to Aisha’s side, only to have Roeglin step into her path.

  “Let me through, Ro.”

  He shook his head and wrapped his arms around her. She stiffened, then his lips touched her ear. “They took Gustav.”

  Marsh stilled, and he let her go.

  “They what?”

  They took Gustav.

  How?

  Roeglin showed her. The how had been simple: More had arrived, and Gustav had led the charge to hold them back. He’d hit the front rank just as Tabia’s people had hit the rear and Mina’s pride started clawing its way along their flanks. Gustav had tried fighting his way to the prisoners as the mages with them had opened another gate. He’d been overwhelmed and dragged through with them.

  “How many did we lose?”

  “Ten or so before Mordan took out the first mage. The second one couldn’t hold it.”

  Marsh didn’t have to ask what had happened after that. She looked around for the kat and Roeglin jerked his chin to indicate a rock formation at the edge of the trail. “Someone almost stood on her tail.”

  Marsh looked up and saw the kat sitting on a narrow shelf of rock overlooking them.

  Dan?

  The kat yawned and looked down at her, giving her tail a lazy twitch.

  18

  Shadow Gate

  Aisha drifted from exhaustion to sleep. She woke screaming the next morning and was not comforted until she saw Zeb and Gerry for herself. After that, she clung to them until Mordan picked her up by the scruff of her shirt collar.

  The kat growled at Marsh when she went to intervene, but she didn’t object when Marsh followed. Aisha dangled from Mordan’s mouth just like a kit would in the same circumstances, but she didn’t look happy.

  Her small arms were crossed, and her face was set in an angry frown. Marsh was almost grateful when Roeglin fell in beside her. They followed Mordan to where the kat deposited Aisha between the two sleeping forms of Perdemor and Scruffy.

  They weren’t sleeping for long.

  “Scruffy! Perdemor!”

  Kit and pup leapt to their feet, Perdemor with a hiss of outrage and Scruffknuckle with a yap of joy. It wasn’t long before the pair of them had knocked Aisha from her feet and were fussing over her as if they were the ones who’d encased her in the stone cyst.

  Mordan let out a long-suffering sigh and flopped down beside them using her bulk to keep them partially contained. Marsh felt the weight of Roeglin’s arm across her shoulders and realized she was leaning on him.

  She stiffened, then gave a sigh of her own and stayed where she was. He’d tensed as if ready to lift his arm but relaxed when she didn’t object. Marsh was just thinking she could get used to it when Henri whistled.

  “Well, look who woke up on the right side of the bed today...even if it wasn’t her own. Ow!”

  Glancing in the direction of his voice, Marsh saw Izmay had Henri by the ear and was leading him away.

  “Woman, you and I are going to have words!”

  “Yeah? Promises, promises.” Izmay sounded as if she were looking forward to the idea.

  Roeglin chuckled. “Those two!” Marsh caught herself smiling too, right up until Tamlin spoke from beside her.

  “I’m fine this morning. It’s so nice of you to ask...or you know, even notice I’m here.”

  Marsh glanced at him in surprise, but the kid was smirking as he watched his sister with her pets.

  Familiars. Roeglin corrected the thought, and Marsh nodded.

  “Familiars, then.”

  Tamlin sighed. “I don’t suppose we get to eat soon?”

  Kwame answered that question for him. “We’re eating on the move. You’d better still have something in your packs.”

  Roeglin unhooked his arm, and both he and Marsh turned to face the Protector captain. Brigitte was standing beside Kwame, but her eyes were on Aisha. Kwame followed her gaze.

  “She looks better.” He nodded at Mordan. “Good work, kat.”

  Mordan lifted her head and yawned.

  Kwame shook his head. “We move out inside the next half-turn.” He gestured at Aisha and the kit and pup. “Make sure they’re ready.”

  Tamlin answered before either Marsh or Roeglin had time. “Will do.” He turned away. “I’ll get our gear.”

  He was gone before any of them could reply, and Marsh shrugged. Kwame gave the boy a stern look and walked away. Brigitte stayed, a small smile curving her lips.

  “Don’t go there,” Marsh told her and the shadow mistress’s smile grew wider.

  Three steps out, Kwame turned back and looked at Marsh. “You are needed.”

  She followed him, stepping away from Roeglin’s warmth with regret. With the number of druids in the cavern, how could she be needed?

  She found out not long after. The prisoners from the Grotto were in poor shape.

  “We need to get them back to Bisambe,” Tabia told them when they arrived, and she looked at Marsh like she had the answer.

  “Who’s Bisambe?”

  “Not who. Where.”

  Marsh sighed. “Fine. Where’s Bisambe.”

  Kwame explained, “It’s the first town we brought you to. Remember?”

  Marsh remembered. There’d been a cavern sealed off from the rest of the Grotto, one that had needed stone mages to open and close. It was also all the way over on the other side of the sinkhole, with an army of hostile raiders in between and on patrol.

  “How are we going to get them there?”

  “Not we, you,” Kwame told her. “The raiders aren’t the only ones who can open a shadow door.”

  Marsh’s knees went weak, and she stared at him. “You what?”

  “No. You what,” Tabia answered, moving forward and laying a hand on her shoulder. She looked at the prisoners sprawled along the trail. “We need you to do this.”

  Marsh shook her head. “I can’t. What you want is bigger than anything I’ve made before, and I couldn’t hold those open for more than a few heartbeats.”

  “What if you had help?” Izmay had obviously finished her “chat” with Henri and now appeared beside her.

  “How are you going to do that? None of you know how.”

  Izmay gave her a mocking smile, stepping into a nearby patch of shadow and reappearing on the other side of the line of ex-prisoners. Seeing she had Marsh’s attention, she stepped back into the shadows and reappeared beside her.

  “Yeah, and a few days ago, none of us knew how to do that either. We might not be able to figure it out for ourselves, but we can be taught.” She cocked her head. “Like the raider mages. I bet they learned that trick from somewhere and not on their own.”

  “But I wouldn’t know where to begin.”

  This time, it was Roeglin who interrupted. “You wouldn’t have to. I can just show them what’s going on in your fuzzy little head and they’ll take it from there.”

  It took Marsh a moment to process it, but she nodded. “Okay, then. Let’s start small.”

  “Just don’t exhaust yourselves,”
Kwame ordered. “The raiders know something’s gone wrong. Just because they haven’t gated in yet doesn’t mean they can’t.”

  Marsh nodded. “Noted.”

  She looked around and found an open space not far from where they stood. “We’ll need a quarter turn to work out if we can do it.”

  “A quarter turn?” Tabia sounded surprised, and Marsh shrugged.

  “It’s the best we can do.”

  Kwame sputtered.

  “What?”

  “We thought it would take longer,” he explained, and Marsh turned away.

  There wasn’t anything she could say to that. Roeglin and Izmay followed, and Zeb, Gerry, Brigitte, and Tamlin arrived shortly thereafter, anxiety in their eyes.

  “What is it?”

  “What’s gone wrong?”

  Henri and Jakob hurried over, looking concerned. “What’s up?”

  “We need to get these people somewhere safe,” Marsh explained. “And the only way we can do that is to open a shadow gate to the first place we stayed.”

  Their jaws dropped, and skepticism replaced worry. Marsh wasn’t happy to see it on the faces of the shadow mages since a lack of belief was the biggest obstacle to successfully wielding magic.

  At least Henri was true to form. “You can do this?”

  It gave her a chance to explain.

  “Not on my own, but I think the six of us can do it, and hold it long enough for everyone to get through.”

  “Including yourselves?” Henri pressed, casting an anxious look at Izmay.

  Marsh smiled. “Yes, including us. We’ll all open it, and then three will cross to the other side so they can keep it open if something goes wrong and breaks our concentration out here.”

  “And you’re going to teach us?” Brigitte pressed, clearly wanting to know how.

  “Roeglin?” Marsh prompted, and he stepped forward.

  “I’m going to show you how she does it as she does it, and you’re going to adapt it so it works for you.”

  From Brigitte’s raised eyebrows, that was news to her, but Tamlin grinned.

  “I’ve always wanted to see inside her head.”

  “Me too,” Henri agreed, but the way he said it put an entirely different spin on the words.

  Izmay punched him again.

  Marsh ignored them. “Let’s get started.”

  She focused on the assembly ground they’d gathered in just prior to their journey to Shamka, being careful to let Roeglin see how she pictured it, and then brought in the other sensations she remembered. There were scents and the way the air felt against her skin, the solidity of the stone beneath her feet.

  Someone gave a startled shout, and a spear flew toward her. Roeglin conjured a shield between them and Kwame gave an angry roar.

  “Brothers! We are Brothers of the Spear!”

  “Kwame!” Tabia commanded, but the warrior’s leader took a running leap through the portal that had opened.

  Marsh watched him land, holding the door open as they watched him tackle the spear-thrower to the ground. For a moment, they all held their breaths, then Kwame and the spearman broke apart, turning to wave.

  “You can close it now,” Tabia told her. “Kwame will tell them what to expect.”

  Marsh willed the portal closed and looked around at the other mages. “Did you get that, or should I do it again?”

  “Give us a moment,” Brigitte answered for the others, and Marsh waited as each one found a space of their own and focused on something none of them could see. The results were unexpected.

  Brigitte’s portal opened first, then Tamlin’s. They showed identical destinations—the assembly ground in Bisambe with the dining hall in the background, but before Marsh could comment, the portals shifted, drifting into each other and expanding.

  “Oh.”

  By then, Zeb had opened his portal, followed by Gerry and Roeglin. Those too hung as short-lived individuals before drifting to enlarge the portal in front of Brigitte and Tams. They all stared at it, their mouths open in wonder.

  “So that’s how you make them bigger,” Tabia exclaimed.

  It was news to Marsh, as well, but she didn’t say so—and Tabia had a question.

  “How long do you think you can hold them?”

  Roeglin gave the silent order for them to shut the gates down.

  “We don’t know,” Marsh answered, “and we don’t have the time to practice until we know our limits. Once we open the next portal, we’ll hold it for as long as we can, and warn you before we lose it.”

  Tabia frowned, not liking the implications.

  “We can’t wait for all the answers,” Marsh told the shield leader and gestured toward the ex-prisoners. “Not if you want them out of here before the raiders come.”

  Tabia met her eye and then nodded. “Stand by. I’ll get them ready to move.”

  “What about us?” Henri asked, coming to stand alongside Roeglin.

  The shadow mage gave him a devious smile. “You’re riding herd on Aisha, and Jakob and I are guarding the mages on this side of the portal.”

  Henri opened his mouth to protest, but Roeglin cut him off. “Unless you want latrine duty?”

  He made it sound like an offer, but Henri snapped his mouth closed and hurriedly shook his head. “Sir, no, sir.”

  Roeglin smirked. “I didn’t think so.”

  Henri went to fetch Aisha, looking pleased when Mordan came with them. “I got your kat,” he told Marsh. “That’s seven dinners.”

  Marsh stared at him. “For a kat?”

  He smirked. “How important is it that we don’t leave her behind?”

  Marsh rolled her eyes.

  “Fine. Six.”

  Before Henri could reply, Tabia tapped Marsh on the shoulder. “We’re ready.”

  Marsh looked at the others. “Ready?”

  “Where do you want us to open it?” Roeglin asked, looking as much at Tabia as he did at her.

  Tabia glanced back at the rows of ex-prisoners and gestured in front of them. “How about here?”

  Marsh nodded in agreement and they lined up along the line of her hand, but before they began, Marsh remembered she had one more thing to relay, “Brigitte, Zeb, and Gerry, you’re on the other side.”

  At first, she thought Brigitte was going to object, and she hoped the shadow mage would realize that she’d be the only one of Aisha’s closest circle who’d be through the portal with the girl. After a brief hesitation, Brigitte’s brow cleared and she nodded. “Fair enough.”

  They turned so their backs were to those who needed to go through, and Marsh wondered what sort of reception they’d receive. She only hoped they’d be able to handle it and concentrated on visualizing the assembly point.

  With Kwame waiting on the other side, they should be okay.

  Six identical portals opened, and Marsh willed hers to be bigger than it had been before—two mules high and four wide. She was vaguely aware of Roeglin standing in her mind and passing on the dimensions, even as he opened his own portal and followed her lead.

  They watched as the portals shifted and merged, growing larger again, and heard the soft murmur of amazement from those behind them.

  “Go through, mages.” Tabia’s words redirected the attention of those behind her to the mages stepping through to the assembly grounds. They also made people notice those waiting just beyond.

  Several gasps were followed by names of some they’d thought lost, and the crowd pressed forward on the mages’ heels. Marsh and the rest moved out of their way, keeping their focus on the portal. The raiders’ mages were able to keep their portals steady, so she expected to be able to do the same.

  Still, it was a relief when the portal stayed facing the same direction and open. Marsh focused on the way it felt in her mind and how it felt to keep it steady. She didn’t know how it worked for the others and wondered if Roeglin was taking the information and passing it to them so they had an idea of what to do.

  Mais ou
i, he told her and knowing he was in her head, relaying what she was doing to the others and keeping his part of the portal open, gave Marsh the courage to see what else she was capable of.

  For one thing, they needed any warning they could get against the raiders’ return. Holding one hand up as though it alone was what kept the portal running, she tried sensing past the lives massed before her, willing the magic to reveal anything out of sight beyond them.

  When she had a good idea of what lived in the cavern around them, she tried tweaking the shadow threads so that they would reveal if someone or something was hidden farther out. It was almost too much, and Marsh felt the portal shudder.

  She dropped the threads and focused on keeping the portal stable. Scanning for life forces would have to be enough.

  Roeglin snorted but didn’t share what he’d found amusing. Marsh watched the Grotto residents they’d rescued, and then the impi’s soldiers move through to the assembly point.

  We should be going after Gustav, she thought, and Roeglin took her hand.

  We will, but not until we’ve rested.

  His words made Marsh realize she was tired. She didn’t want to think of how the others must be feeling.

  Some are doing better than others, Roeglin reassured her, and she was glad he’d been monitoring.

  “Tamlin, go through.”

  The boy raised a hand in response and obeyed. Marsh felt the gate ripple as if he’d almost lost his grip on it. As he reached the other side, the portal steadied, and he went to stand beside Brigitte. She ruffled his hair, and Aisha wrapped her arms around his waist. The portal rippled again, but it held.

  You’re next, Jakob.

  The ex-caravan guard scanned the cavern and tunnel as he moved toward the center of the gate.

  “Quickly,” Roeglin snapped. “You too, Marsh.”

  Marsh caught the strain in his voice and didn’t stop to ask. She didn’t leave him behind either but tightened her grip on his hand. As she stepped forward, she jerked him after her, pulling him past her and diving after him as she released his hand.

  They hit the stone on the other side, Marsh tucking and rolling. Her hands hit first, and then she was tumbling. She didn’t make it back to her feet though, slamming into Roeglin and ending her journey on top of him.