After a couple of loud snuffles, she raised her head and leapt onto a nearby ledge. There she closed her eyes and sniffed again.
This way, the kat told her decisively, leaping down from the ledge and padding swiftly through the grass and bushes at the edge of the ruin.
She lifted her nose again and her body tensed. Hurry!
Marsh and Tamlin began to run, barely aware of Izmay calling them from the lunch site. Neither of them answered, not even when Henri’s distinctive bellow bounced off the buildings around them.
“He’s going to bring every remnant in the place,” Tamlin grumbled, and Marsh agreed.
Neither of them stopped to answer, though. They raced after the kat, barely keeping her in sight as she rounded the corner of what might have been an entrance to a courtyard shared by four buildings.
As she made the turn, Mordan roared, and Aisha raised her voice in a childish scream.
“No, Dan! Stop!”
Marsh and Tamlin came around the edge of the building and skidded to a halt, unable to believe their eyes.
“Aisha!” Tamlin cried, overcoming his shock and racing forward.
Marsh joined him, both pulling blades from the clear sky around them, both drawing extra layers of armor over their own. Aisha stepped in front of them, her hand raised.
“Stop! Dis...this is Tok.”
At the mention of its name, the monster behind her twitched its antenna, its mandibles moving in what might have been protest. Aisha glared.
“Is so too Tok.”
The creature—Mantid, Marsh corrected herself, remembering seeing them on the journey out—the mantid waved its forelimbs, gesturing uncertainly at the kat and then at Marsh and Tamlin. It chittered again.
“Are so, too, friends,” Aisha told it and gave Marsh a meaningful glare. “Aren’t you, Marsh?”
Marsh lowered her blade. “Aysh?”
The child gestured at the mantid again. “This is Tok. He comes from far away, where the bad monsters hurt him and his friends.”
She paused, patting the mantid on the hard carapace covering his chest. When she spoke again, her voice held a note of pleading, “He just wants a safe place to stay.”
Marsh swallowed. “I don’t know if Roeglin is...”
Roeglin most certainly is not, Roeglin told her, his mental voice conveying both horror, disbelief, and shock. Aisha Liliana Danet, THAT is not coming home with you.
But Roeglin! The child’s wail of disappointment was audible both inside Marsh’s head and outside it.
No, I mean it. Don’t make me come out there.
Would you? Aisha asked, her voice a mix of hope and mischief.
I’ll tan your hide if you make me.
No fair! Aisha pouted, and Marsh almost laughed, save that the mantid chose that moment to interrupt.
I apologize for the fright, he informed them, his presence flowing over the link between them and Aisha.
Judging by the kat’s hiss of surprise and Tamlin’s gasp, he had included all of them in his broadcast.
I am... The chitter that followed explained why Aisha had settled for Tok. The mantid’s name was not a sound a human throat could replicate. But you may call me Tok.
The rattle of rubble and startled shouts signaled the arrival of Henri and the rest of the caravan guards.
“STOP!” Aisha screamed, and this time her voice was accompanied by a mental shout that had them covering their ears and ducking.
Even the mantid reared back.
Marsh turned to face the newcomers. “This is Tok,” she told the wide-eyed Obasi, Brigitte, Izmay, and Henri. “I think we’re going to be neighbors.”
The mantid gave them a sense of the affirmative, followed by a tentative, Perhaps in time, we will be friends.
Judging by Henri’s rapid intake of breath, the creature had broadcast that more widely. He turned to Marsh, mouth agape, and pointed at Aisha with the tip of his sword. “You, uh...you need to keep a better eye on her,” he blustered.
Marsh turned to the mantid, speaking aloud for the benefit of the others in the courtyard. “Is neighbors acceptable to you?”
As long as we can live peacefully, the creature replied. Perhaps in time, we can trade? it added hopefully. We have discovered a wide variety of underground fungi.
Given that they were some distance from the caverns and would probably not receive any extra supplies before winter, Marsh nodded. “This we can discuss.”
I will contact you at the next light, the mantid began, and suddenly turned its head. ALERT!
Its warning came just in time. There was an all-too-familiar scream, and the remnant attacked. From the direction of the wagons, they heard more cries, accompanied by wolf growls. Mordan and her cubs vanished into the rubble and shrubs.
Roeglin!
I’m coming.
Marsh hoped it was more than just him, but he didn’t confirm it. The remnant hadn’t come for them, she realized a short moment later when five of the once-humans ran toward the mantid. Aisha surprised her by launching spikes of stone from the nearest rocky outcrop at the same time as she lifted an upraised palm and skewered another of the remnant.
“You. Leave. My friend. ALONE!” the child cried, and Marsh recognized the start of a full-blown temper tantrum.
“Uh, Tamlin?”
“Oh, merde times ten. ALL the merde,” the boy muttered, hurrying toward his sister and slashing at another shrieking remnant. His blade caught in the monster’s ragged clothing, and he tore it clear. “Marsh! They’re bugged.”
“Bugged?”
“Brain bugs! Puppet bugs! Whatever the Deeps you want to call them. They got them!”
“Merde!” Roeglin!
We’re coming. The Library is secure. We will be there soon. Let me see where you are. I’ll shadow-step.
I thought you could see...
Unlike some, I ask first.
His comment brought a bubble of laughter to Marsh’s lips. He didn’t mean her. The person he did mean, however, was screaming as only an angry child could. Her small hands flashed in sharp movements, and the stone answered.
Tamlin ducked another storm of spikes that parted around him and skewered the remnant on either side. “Leave. My. BROTHER. ALONE!”
Boulders lifted from the ground.
Ro!
“I see it.” The sound of his voice so close was almost her undoing. She caught the shift of movement as one of the remnant decided she was an easier target than the child and the mantid, who were barricaded by shifting stone.
“Brigitte, the boulders!”
“Got it, Ro,” the shadow mistress replied, smashing the boulder to one side.
Marsh stared. “When did you...”
“I heard what Obasi said to you at the other fortress—that if you were exposed to it, then...” She shrugged, pulled a spear of daylit shadow from the air, and impaled a charging remnant with it. “It’s just like shadow, only a bit heavier.”
Roeglin shook his head. Pretty sure that’s not how it works, he murmured inside Marsh’s head.
Brigitte brought up a shield of shadow and blocked an attack from another remnant, made an upward movement with her palm as Aisha did, and impaled another attacker from below.
Well, don’t tell her that, Marsh told him. She’s doing just fine.
I don’t believe the monastery missed it.
Screams rose from the direction of the wagons, and they weren’t remnant screams. Roeglin pulled shadow and blocked another attack. Pivoting, he stood so his back was to Marsh.
“It’s good to see you,” he told her as he parried another strike and kicked the remnant in the stomach. It toppled backward.
An unearthly shriek split the air behind them. “Scruffy!”
“Poutain!” Tamlin swore. “Hang on, Aysh. I’ll get him.”
“No, no, no! I’ll fix!” the child yelled, and both Roeglin and Marsh finished their opponents and spun to see what had happened.
The pup was
down but rolled unsteadily to his feet. The fur down one side was matted and bloody, and he wobbled.
“I’ll get the pup!” Roeglin shouted. “You get...”
He gestured vaguely at Aisha as a large shape soared over them, then Mordan’s roar drowned all other sounds. The kat landed astride the pup, covering him with her body and knocking him to the ground.
“She can’t fight like that,” Marsh shouted as a dome of shadow encased hoshkat and pup.
Aisha screamed in frustration and a second dome covered her, stopping her headlong dash for the dog. “Tamlin, I hate you!”
Now, there’s something I never thought I’d hear her say, Marsh thought.
“He’ll be okay, Aysh,” Tamlin shouted. “I promise.”
Marsh hoped the boy was right.
The remnant turned from the domes, noticed the mantid no longer had its protector, and charged.
“Save the bug!” Roeglin shouted, and Brigitte, Izmay, and Marsh ran to intercept the incoming attackers.
There weren’t as many as there had been, and the three of them made short work of what there was. The “bug” took out two on its own, but its height put it at a severe disadvantage, and it couldn’t stop all the incoming attacks.
Marsh wondered how it had ever survived in its own world.
We fought in numbers, each with a battle brother. Mine is protecting the wag-on.
The word formed awkwardly but the picture did not, and Marsh worked out the reason for the alarmed screams she’d heard earlier.
Are they...
They are safe. My people stand guard with yours. I told them we could hold.
We need a healer.
I will ask Obasi. Again the word was lost in translation, but Obasi’s image was not.
With the last of the remnant occupied, Tamlin released the dome covering the kat and the pup and his sister.
“I’m sorry, Aysh,” he whispered, helping her to her feet and steadying her as she reached for Scruffy.
The child didn’t reply, but her hands lit green as she sobbed. “Be okay, Scruffy. Please be okay!”
Marsh stumbled over to kneel beside her and hoped they hadn’t gotten to him too late. The remnant had opened his side, and his flanks rose and fell with ragged rapidity. It was a sure sign of an animal in distress.
“Please, please, please,” Aisha begged.
Marsh watched the wound close and noticed when the pup’s breathing settled.
“Aysh,” she murmured, laying her arm across the girl’s shoulder. “Aysh, he’s okay.”
When the green continued from under the girl’s palm, she shook the child gently but firmly. “Aysh!”
The snap in her tone made Aysh start, and she looked up. “I’ll fix,” she whispered, and Marsh pointed at the pup. “Kiddo, you already did.”
“Scruffy!”
Marsh wasn’t sure what was worse, the pitch or the volume, but she was glad anyway. The pup would be okay. She stretched out a hand and ruffled Mordan’s fur. “Thank you.”
The kat gave her a quick rasp with her tongue and called for her kits, staring anxiously into the ruins around them until the three appeared. She relaxed at the sight of them and nudged Marsh to her feet.
I will take care of your cub. Talk to the…mantid. She pulled the word from Marsh’s mind as she pictured the bug-man.
Marsh rose to her feet and looked for Tok. Roeglin was talking to him, the mage’s eyes blazing white as he looked up at the mantid. Marsh had a sudden sinking feeling.
31
Death and Allies
Marsh was swept into the conversation as soon as she approached.
We had no choice but to flee. When we arrived here and realized it was the world Death calls her home, we rejoiced. Our world is gone, but if our invaders come here, surely Death will return to protect it.
“Death?” The term left Marsh and Roeglin puzzled. The only Death they’d heard spoken of as a person existed in children’s tales, carried a scythe, and came to escort the spirits of the dead to whatever future lay beyond.
And that one was a “He.” Whoever Tok was referring to it wasn’t a children’s character. The mantid must have caught some of her puzzlement because he explained, The one who took the war to the stars. The one who fights it still. Surely, she will come to defend her own.
Tok’s voice asked them to confirm his theory, to tell him that he hadn’t made a mistake in bringing his people here. That the risks they’d taken to creep through the portal hidden beneath the ruins weren’t for nothing.
What portal?
The general calls it his insurance, Tok replied and raised his head to survey the world around them. Shifting uneasily, he added, You should get your people to cover, the child especially. She is overtired.
It felt as if he were criticizing their parenting, and Marsh bristled. To divert herself, she returned to the points he’d raised. It felt like she’d only been told half the story, and it rankled.
What general? She demanded. Where beneath the ruins? What are you talking about?
But the mantid did not answer her directly, and footsteps crunched on the rubbled path leading to the courtyard. “Marsh! Captain Leger! You’re safe!”
Captain Leger? Marsh crooked an eyebrow as she and Roeglin turned to greet the one calling them.
To Marsh’s surprise, Xavier looked better than she remembered, and Terrence was wearing armor and carrying a sword. Roeglin caught her look and smiled. “There have been a few changes,” he told her, and added, “You’ll like them.”
“Uh-huh.”
He wound an arm around her waist, and they waited for the pair to approach. At first, Marsh wondered why they didn’t become defensive when they saw Tok, and then she remembered what the mantid had said about his people protecting the wagon. Perhaps the time of trade and friendship wasn’t as distant as it seemed.
Obasi followed. This time, he gave Tok the half-bow the Grotto warriors reserved for their leaders. The mantid inclined his head in response, and Marsh felt some of her tension ease. Perhaps it would come by winter when they’d need to supplement their stores, or the mantids might need something more.
As if catching her thoughts, Tok inclined his head toward her. We will speak later, the mantid promised. Now, you need to return to your home and prepare.
But we don’t know what we are preparing for, she protested.
The mantid regarded her with his multi-faceted eyes and blinked, a flexible coating covering his eye and then retracting the lid so he could see again. You need to find the portal and secure it, it advised, speaking to both her and Roeglin.
Don’t you remember where it is?
The mantid tilted its head first to one side, then the other, and then it lifted its chin and emitted a sharp whistle. Before she could wonder what it had done, more mantids appeared from the direction of the wagons.
What followed was a rapid-fire conversation of clicks, whistles, and mangled gutturals. Marsh had the impression of words being spoken just beyond her hearing, and Roeglin frowned. Before either of them could protest, Tok turned to them.
We buried the paths we took to the surface. They did not take us through the building I can see in your mind. We could not find our way back to the portal if we wished to. We are sorry.
Marsh scowled at him, and the thought crossed her mind that the mantid might perhaps be too afraid to aid them. Thinking about it, though, she decided it might not be the case. If she’d been fleeing the horrors the druid had described, she might not remember which paths she’d taken either—especially if she’d destroyed the tunnels behind her.
Who knew what changes a cave-in could make? Well, she did, but that wasn’t what she meant.
“You’re tired,” Roeglin observed. “We’ll speak with Tok and his people later. I’m sure we can arrange for trading before this season is fully gone.”
Agreed, Captain. We will meet before your winter comes in full.
From the shudder than ran through the m
antid’s body, it had caught some of what “winter” meant and was dreading its coming. It turned away.
I wish you fortune in your hunt for the portal and in your preparations. We will be ready when you call.
Thank you, Roeglin replied, and Marsh found herself feeling left behind again.
“Call for what?” she asked.
Roeglin pulled her close, his lips brushing her hair. “For help,” he whispered. “They have offered to help us if we need them when we close the portal.”
The portal. It dawned on Marsh that they might indeed have rid the Devastation of its raiders, but her words to Izmay about something coming to mend its supply lines had more weight than she’d thought.
They’d taken out one enemy, but what if they’d traded it for something worse?
Author Notes - CM Simpson
January 25, 2020
Well, it’s out later than I’d planned, and much later than you expected, so I really appreciate you being here and am grateful and amazed that you’ve read this far.
These last two months have been a bit of a rollercoaster, but finally smoothed out over the last fortnight. So much has happened that much of that time is now a jumbled blur. I’ve had the flu—twice!—, and mum tripped over her new dog and broke her femur, dad got run into while visiting her in hospital and there was something else, but I can’t remember it—which is probably a good thing...
My head is still spinning, but things are a lot better, now.
As I write this, I’ve just finished the final chapter of this book and turned it in to the editor...who was nice enough to not come after me with a big stick for being four days over the most recent deadline I told her, which was over a month later than I wanted to finish...which is why, as soon as I finish writing these notes and seeing how the cover’s coming along, I’ll be starting Book 7, the second-last book in this series.
I’m still having trouble grasping it.
This year has flowed by like quicksilver and, as Halloween approaches, I wonder where on Earth it’s gone to—and how it’s managed to pack so much in, in such a short span of time. If I can catch up with it, I’ll ask it.
Trading By Stormlight (The Magic Below Paris Book 7) Page 25