“Fine,” I said. “But if you wish to sneak up on them, you have to take off your armor. Leave it here at the entrance, and we can recover it when we come back.”
“I can move quietly with it on,” she groused.
“Not quietly enough,” I said. “Come, Mag.”
“Fine.” She undid the straps that held her scales tight to her body and shucked them off, dumping them by the tunnel entrance with a heavy clank. Then she turned and stalked off into the darkness, one hand on the wall to her right. Soon she had vanished.
“All right,” I said. “Get your flint, and let us have some light.”
In no time, Yue and I had the torch going. Once it was lit, I used it to light a second, which I gave to Yue. Together, side by side, we headed down the tunnel after Mag. She was gone in the darkness ahead of us, and we kept our pace slow, to let her have plenty of space from the glow.
But it was not long at all before Mag came running up to us out of the tunnel ahead, emerging into the torchlight so suddenly that my heart jumped. We stopped short, and my hand strayed to my sword.
“What is it?” I said, my voice hushed. “What is wrong?”
“Nothing,” she whispered. “I spotted a Shade guard ahead. He has a lit torch, which made him easy to see from afar.”
Yue and I shared a glance. “Well, if there was any doubt that they went this way, that ends it,” said Yue. “Now what?”
“He looks to be standing at the entrance to a larger cavern,” said Mag. “If we can remove him, I believe we will reach the Shades’ main encampment. Then we can find and slay Kaita.”
I sighed. “It might be easiest with an arrow. But if there are other guards within sight of the first, it may raise the alarm.”
“That is a risk we shall have to take,” said Mag. “I cannot approach him undetected, for he trains his eyes on the tunnel. And if he raises the alarm, you get your wish: we retreat to Kun and the others.”
“Hooray,” I said, my expression deadpan.
Mag smirked. “Spoilsport. Now go and end this fool.”
“And there is no chance I can persuade you to go tell Kun, now that we know for certain the Shades are here?” I said, knowing the answer already.
“None at all,” said Mag cheerfully.
“All right,” I said. “Take my torch and give me some space.”
She did as I asked, and I advanced into the darkness of the tunnel. Soon I saw what Mag had seen: a faint glow of torchlight reflecting from the rocky walls around me. It made my going easier, and I was able to take more care with my steps, reducing the sound of my passing to no more than a mouse’s scurry.
Soon I had the Shade in sight. He did indeed seem to be standing at the entrance to a much more massive cavern. That had to be where the rest of the Shades were. This guard was staring down the tunnel, and it felt as if he was looking right at me. But he held his torch in his hand, rather than finding some way to prop it against the wall behind him. It made his vision in the dark almost worse than useless.
I sighed and nocked an arrow. The angle would be hard. I could not fire too high, or I would strike the tunnel ceiling. But if I fired too low, the curve of the flight would carry the arrow into the floor instead of my foe.
I drew. I sighed. And I loosed.
The arrow sank perfectly into the Shade’s throat. Jian would likely have scolded me if she saw me aim for anything but the chest, but I was trying to keep things quiet.
The torch fell from his hands, and he clutched at his neck, seizing the dart and trying in vain to stanch the sudden gout of blood. Slowly he collapsed to his knees, and then to the floor.
I held still for the longest moment I have ever experienced in my life.
No alarm sounded.
Sighing in relief, I turned and stalked back down the tunnel. Mag and Yue’s faces were tense as they watched me emerge from the shadows.
“The door is clear, and no alarm raised,” I said. “But we had best be quick. They have to change the guard sometime, and then we will be discovered.”
Mag and Yue set their torches down. We could retrieve them on the way back out. We continued down the tunnel until we reached the place where the guard had stood. I could see now that his head had been shaved close to the scalp, but he had a long, stringy beard. He stared up at me as I passed, his mouth slightly open. I ignored him.
Now we could see the vast cavern beyond the tunnel. It stretched for spans in both length and width. Laid out near its center was the Shades’ camp. There were several lines of tents, with two low campfires that I could see. Some figures walked around, but they seemed to be either fetching food or heading off to relieve themselves in some distant corner. I saw no posted guards. Kaita must have been convinced that hiding beneath the earth would keep them safe.
I tapped both Mag and Yue on the shoulder and drew them behind a large, jutting rock formation. I began speaking to them in sign, afraid of letting out even a whisper in this place. The Shade camp was a span off, but sound carried far on the harsh, rocky surfaces all around us.
“What now?” I signed.
“We need the officers’ tents,” signed Mag. “Kaita will be there.”
“What in the dark below are you two doing?” whispered Yue.
“Shhh!” I hissed. “We are signing. Do you not know sign?”
Yue grimaced. “I … do,” she said aloud. “But I have not practiced in—”
I put a hand over her mouth. “Please be silent. Follow along as best you can.” I turned back to Mag and resumed in sign. “The camp is like most camps. The officers will be in the group of tents near the other end. Past the soldier tents.”
Yue signed haltingly. “Past the sword tents?”
I blew an exasperated breath out my nose. “Soldier tents,” I signed again, emphasizing the motions.
Recognition dawned in her eyes. “I am hungry,” she signed confidently, though I believe she meant “I understand.”
“Let us circle their camp,” signed Mag. “I will go in. You will keep watch. If you see an enemy, fire an arrow at the ground near me. I will hear it and know to run. But they may hear it, too, so only shoot if there is great danger.”
I did not like it, but I had no better ideas. “All right,” I signed. Then I reached out and gripped her shoulder. “Be careful,” I whispered. “Remember, you promised you would run if we had to.”
“I remember,” she whispered with a smile. And then she signed, “And you should not be talking out loud.”
“All right,” I signed back. “Let us go.”
Sneaking around the camp was the easy part. The Shades were in the center of the cavern, and we never drew closer than a span away from them. I worried about our every footfall and the scuff of our limbs against protruding rocks, but I likely need not have. Even from this distance, I could hear the noises of the Shades, and they were much louder than any noise we were making.
We did not have to go too far before reaching a good position. Mag gave us one last nod before setting off towards the camp. She left her spear with us, exchanging it for a long knife Yue wore on her belt, which Mag now affixed to her own. Silent as an Elf, she crept forwards. I kept my eyes on her, holding my breath whenever she ducked out of sight and releasing it when she emerged into view again.
The first tent was the easiest. It was near the edge of the camp, and the flap side pointed outwards. I was afraid Mag might move straight into it, but she was wise. She stopped two paces away and waited, watching and listening. No Shades wandered near the tent, and Mag must not have heard any sounds from inside, for she soon crept forwards once more.
Like a shadow, she vanished inside. I could not hear it, but I could almost imagine the soft shunk of her blade sliding through the Shade’s eye, the brief sounds of struggling as she held them down while their body jerked, lapsed, and then lay still forever.
Mag emerged into view again. I could see blood on her hands. I held a brief hope that Kaita had been in the tent, but i
t did not seem so, for Mag did not return. But at least she had killed a Shade officer. That was something.
Mag did not wait as long before the next tent, and her impatience was almost our ruin. As she began to approach it, there was a commotion close by. Mag threw herself to the ground. Yue and I tensed, and I nocked an arrow.
From a tent five paces down the row, a Shade emerged. She stood tall and stretched, scratched herself, and blinked hard in the light of the campfire. Then she turned and walked towards the camp’s edge. Her path brought her perilously close to Mag, but she passed by, and Mag remained unnoticed. Soon the Shade had vanished into the darkness on the other side of the camp, and I lost sight of her.
Yue and I released a long breath at the same time. Mag stirred, rose from the floor where she had flung herself, and crept forwards on all fours. The flap of the second tent rose and then fell again, and Mag was inside.
This time the kill must not have been as clean, for I saw the tent jerk briefly. But it lasted only a moment, and then Mag came out again.
I leaned forwards, hoping she would come creeping back towards us. There were only a handful of officer tents in the cluster—there were fair odds, at least, that Mag should have found Kaita in one of the first two. But it did not seem so, as she turned and crept towards a third tent.
“Dark take it,” growled Yue. “This cannot last forever.”
But things seemed to be going well so far. Who knew but that Mag might wipe out the Shades’ leadership in one fell swoop, and Kaita along with them. The only foe she would not be able to dispatch so quietly would be the brute woman. But Mag was smart enough to know that. She would not even try.
She was smart enough to know that, was she not? I certainly hoped so.
As Mag neared the third tent, I settled back on my haunches to wait. It was growing uncomfortable sitting on the cold, hard stone of the cave. But my whole body jerked with fright as a cry went up from the opposite end of the Shade camp.
“Awake! Awake! Foes! Awake!”
My gaze flew to the source of the noise. I could not see who was shouting. Mag, sky bless her, did not hesitate. She turned and began fleeing back towards Yue and I, keeping low.
The Shade camp erupted into frenzied activity, like an anthill kicked by a restless child. Blue-cloaked warriors poured from the lines of tents, drawing their weapons and looking wildly around.
There. Finally, I could see who was shouting. At the other end of the camp, the brute woman came into view. She towered over those around her, and her shaggy mane of hair swung back and forth as she scanned the darkness.
“Enemies!” she roared. “Enemies in our midst! They are murdering your officers. Find them!”
“What in the dark below?” hissed Yue. “How did she see Mag from the other side of the cave?”
“I do not know,” I growled. “But we have to get out of here.”
Mag reached us just at that moment. “I do not know how they saw me,” she said. I could hear the frustration in her voice.
“And I gather you did not find Kaita,” I said.
“No.” She almost spat the word.
“Well, we will have another chance. But not now. Run!”
We fled through the shadows, sprinting for the cave entrance. I was terrified we might find it guarded. Mayhap the Shades had discovered the slain guard, and that was how they knew we were here. But there was no one there. The corpse lay right where we had left it. And with all the Shades rushing to the officers’ tents, no one was looking in our direction. I scooped up the fallen guard’s torch as we ran by.
“I do not understand,” said Mag.
“Mayhap it was the weremage,” said Yue. “She could have been … oh, sky, I do not know, a bat or something. Mayhap she saw you and told the large one.”
“She would have come after us,” I said. “Or raised the alarm herself.”
“Well then, you know more about it than I do,” snapped Yue.
“We have to get back to camp,” said Mag. “If we tell Kun, and he summons his troops quickly enough, we can still wipe them out before they have a chance to run.”
“Oh, now she wants to tell the captain,” I said.
All three of us could not help a bark of laughter as we sprinted through the blackness.
Kaita heard screams. Her head snapped up. She whirled in the darkness and sprinted back down the tunnel towards the Shade camp.
All day she had been exploring the passages tirelessly, but she had nothing to show for it. One of them had gone on for what felt like a league before abruptly reaching a dead end. She had not gone far down the third, the one she was still in now, but it had not seemed promising. She could not smell any fresh air, and it had seemed to plunge ever deeper and deeper into the earth.
But all these thoughts fled her as she pelted down the tunnel towards her allies. Soon enough, she came leaping into the grand cavern, where she found the Shades in chaos. Tagata was there, standing near the officers’ tents near one end of the camp. In her arms, she cradled the corpse of one of her captains, one whose name Kaita could never remember.
Magelight flared, and Kaita resumed her human form. “What happened?” she cried. “Tagata, are you hurt?”
“I am not,” growled Tagata. “But they killed Harnel and Selnir.”
Harnel, that was it, thought Kaita. “Who killed them?”
But even as she asked the question, the answer came to her in a flash. She knew she was right when she saw the mounting fury in Tagata’s gaze.
“Mag and Albern,” growled Tagata. “As I was resting, I received a message from the Lord. He told me they were here, now, slaying our kindred. Thank goodness I received word from him before they took more.”
A chill ran up Kaita’s spine. If she had stayed and rested, as Tagata had urged … they might have found her. It could be her corpse in Tagata’s arms right now. She wondered bitterly whether the Lord would have foreseen that, and whether he would have warned Tagata in time.
But then again … if Mag and Albern had come, then they were alone. They were isolated from their allies. Kaita had the magestones, and she could—
“Tagata,” she said quickly. “When did they leave? I could still catch them while they are alone.”
“No, dear one,” said Tagata softly. “Too much time has passed. They will have returned to their allies now. I am sorry.”
“Dark take them,” growled Kaita. “Will I never get my chance?”
“You will. Have faith. But for now, there are more pressing matters.” Tagata’s expression grew grim. “They are going to bring the Mystics down upon us. Everyone is preparing to march, but we do not know where. We cannot leave the way we came. That is where the Mystics will come. Have you found another exit?”
“No,” snarled Kaita. “Only paths farther down into the earth, and the southern passage that leads right to—”
She stopped short as an idea struck her. And she could see the same thought reflected in Tagata’s savage smile.
“Ready the march,” said Kaita. “We make for the south passage.”
Mag led the way back to Kun’s camp, with Yue and me close behind. On the northeastern end of the camp, Chausiku still stood his sentry post.
“Hail!” called Mag in the darkness. “Three rods.”
“And two wings,” called Chausiku. He had raised his bow at the sound of her voice, but now he lowered it again. Relief was plain in his expression as we crept up out of the darkness. “I am glad to see you safe, Sergeants.”
“As are we,” I said. “No trouble here while we were gone?”
“None,” said Chausiku. “No one seems to have noticed a thing.”
My mouth twisted. “That is well. But remember—do not lie on our account. If anyone asks you what happened tonight, you tell the truth, do you hear?”
Chausiku lifted his chin slightly. “I hear you, Sergeant.”
It was not an agreement, but I decided to let it be. With any luck, he would not need to fac
e such a choice at all.
A campfire still burned at our end of the camp, where our tents were set up at the end of our squadrons’ lines. Mag made to walk straight past them, heading for Kun’s tent. But a sudden shout stopped us all in our tracks.
“Hail, Sergeants!”
We froze. Then, slowly, we turned. From the shadows between our tents stepped Kun. Behind him was Tou, a furious expression on his face.
The captain’s smile was as thin as new-frozen ice.
“And where, pray tell, have the three of you been?” he asked sweetly.
“Captain,” said Mag.
“Am I?” said Kun.
Mag, Yue, and I exchanged a glance. “Ser?” said Mag.
“Am I your captain?” said Kun. “Because one obeys one’s captain. And yet the three of you have gone to scout for the enemy alone after I explicitly ordered you not to.”
That, of course, is the sort of statement for which there is no safe response, and so we said nothing. At Kun’s side, Tou looked furious enough to burst into flames. Only deference to his captain seemed to be keeping him silent. I did not doubt he wished to say many loud, angry things to us, and would when Kun had gone.
“Well?” said Kun. “You are all uncustomarily silent. Sergeant Telfer, at least, has a clever tongue that hardly ever stills. What am I to make of you? This is the sort of thing that carries heavy penalties. Limited rations certainly, mayhap stocks, if we had them. Lashes would not be out of the question if anything disastrous should occur as a result of your transgression. Even execution, were the consequences dire enough. I say this not to hound you with empty threats, but to convey the severity with which I must now consider your case.”
Mag rallied, speaking in a calm voice. “Ser, we apologize for going against your orders. But our venture bore fruit. We found the Shades. They are trapped, and we can wipe them out if we act quickly enough.”
Kun studied her for a moment, his eyes sometimes flitting to Yue and me on either side of her. When he spoke, it was not in response to her.
“Do you know that, when you first arrived, I was positive you were Shades?” he said. “I was convinced of it. The first thing that shook my conviction was Sergeant Baolan’s arrival. And then we fought together against the enemy, and I watched you kill them with my own eyes. My last vestiges of doubt vanished, and I thought that was the end of it. Yet now I see things clearly for the first time after a long while spent in the darkness.”
The Tales of the Wanderer Volume One: A Book of Underrealm (The Underrealm Volumes 4) Page 80