“Can you sense the remnant?” Master Envermet asked, and Marsh let the real world fade.
She stared at the entrance, seeing nothing more than light and shadow as she tried to find the dark and twisted life force that would mean remnant.
“No,” she told them. “There is nothing.”
Henri and Izmay came back into focus as she blinked. Henri curled his lip. “I hope you’re right.”
He pulled his mule’s head around and kicked it into a walk. Izmay followed. Both of them were watchful and alert as they moved up the tunnel. Master Envermet turned to the rest.
“I want you to pair up, one sun-sensitive and one who can see in daylight. Roeglin and Marsh, you’re a team. Marsh, I want you to scan. Roeglin, don’t let her fall off.”
Roeglin gave a short huff of laughter. “Yes, Shadow Captain.”
Marsh nodded, and Master Envermet signaled they should follow Henri and Izmay. “Get moving. They’ll need advance notice if there’s anything you’ve missed.”
“Yes, Shadow Captain.”
He handed the lead rope to Roeglin, and Marsh closed her eyes. “Ready,” she said.
The mule jerked forward but settled into a steady walk as Roeglin led the way. The ground ahead was littered with fallen blocks of building material and stone as well as tangled undergrowth, but a path wound through it.
It was too well-trodden for Marsh’s liking, and she paid close attention to her search for life forms and hidden minds. The shadows became less available as they ascended, and Marsh’s mind drifted.
She could pull swords and shields from the air. Why not information? Surely, if her weapons weren’t truly shadows, then the shadows that connected her to the distant places they touched were merely darkened air?
Even when there was light, the shadows were still there. They were just invisible. Invisible air... Could she see where it touched?
If Henri and Izmay had reached the sunlight, could she ask the air to show her where they were? Were there tendrils of invisible shadow that connected them?
She tried it and was rewarded by the sight of the pair riding clear of the tunnel entrance. They came out at the base of what must have once been a tower.
The twisted metal of its skeleton reached darkened fingers to the sky, protruding through the overgrowth of vines. Much of the building had come down ages ago, but the lower levels were mostly intact.
Marsh shivered. It was an ideal place for any remnant or shadow monsters who wished to stage an attack. She asked the light to show her what was hidden but discovered nothing.
She frowned. Surely there had to be something.
There wasn’t, and they traveled into the early morning light unmolested. Sensing for life only revealed Henri and Izmay traveling ahead of them, the team traveling behind them, and Mordan ranging through the rubble to one side.
The kat was enjoying the scents and the warmth of the sun. She looked longingly at a broad, flat rock and thought about how nice it would be to stretch full-length across it.
Don’t you dare! Marsh sent, and the kat cocked her head.
Why not? You travel slowly. It would not be hard to catch up.
I need you to see what I miss.
The kat gave an unhappy sigh and cast one more look at the rock. She kept moving, though, and Marsh breathed a sigh of relief.
Checking the surrounding countryside revealed that she’d missed nothing during the brief interlude, and she began to wonder about the children. Were they in range?
Could the sunlight find them? She asked, but the threads of daylight stayed silent. She looked for their life forces but came up blank.
Dammit!
Take it easy. We will find them, Roeglin reassured her.
Yes, but will we find them in time?
They will be okay. We are not that far behind them.
We shouldn’t be behind them at all!
Agreed, but you need to focus. We’ll be no good to them if we are captured or dead.
That helped. Marsh took a deep breath and scanned the area around them again. There was nothing, nothing but the team and the two impi emerging behind them...and Mordan.
The kat had stopped to watch Kwame and Tabia’s people come to the surface. Once she was sure who it was, she slipped back into the undergrowth and kept moving. Marsh followed their life forces as they moved toward the sinkhole’s edge.
She saw nothing there to alarm her and refocused on the terrain ahead. How could she even be sure they were heading in the right direction if she couldn’t sense the children?
How did Aisha do it?
She wracked her brains, trying to remember. The little scamp had discovered her twice, and her ability to sense life was as limited as Marsh’s.
As far as Marsh could tell, the child had no way of talking to the shadows, either, so that didn’t explain it, but the kid had found a way. She tried to remember what Aisha had said but couldn’t remember.
Fine, she thought. I’ll just try to find her the same way I find Dan.
The kat’s presence grew stronger, as if Mordan had pricked up her ears at the idea.
Keep watch for me, Marsh told her and looked for the connection she shared with the kat.
When she found it, she took careful note of how it appeared in her head. Now for Aisha.
Now, why didn’t I think of that? Roeglin asked, peering into her mind.
Because you’ve been busy?
Shut up and concentrate, before—
I thought you were supposed to be scanning for danger. Master’s Envermet’s mind broke into their conversation.
Marsh snapped her head around to stare at him. Bells, she thought, and a small, hard smile curved his lips.
You can’t attach those inside my head.
There has to be a way.
I’ll teach you how to discover an intruder in your mind. You sorely need the skill.
Hey!
You scan. I will see if I can find the child through a link. He glanced at Mordan. The kat should be finding any physical trail they’ve left.
Mordan flattened her ears against her skull, but she lowered her head, and her tail twitched. The pride leader had a point, male though he was. She darted into the undergrowth and raced to get ahead of Henri and Izmay.
At the same time, though, Marsh sensed the kat trying what Master Envermet had forbidden Marsh to do—trying to link to her missing kit. Marsh wondered why the kat hadn’t tried it before, and the kat replied, Last time, they disappeared into a stone wall, and there was no link to follow.
She hadn’t thought to try again until now.
4
Aisha Found
They moved through a deserted ruin. Old paths and roads had cracked and deteriorated until the only ways through the rubble were those used by the raiders or the animals that had set up home there.
“It’s too quiet,” Henri muttered when they stopped for a late lunch of shroom bread and mouton cheese.
Mordan lashed her tail and paced angrily at the edge of the trail. We are close, she told Marsh, emphasizing her impatience with a growl.
“We need to eat,” Master Envermet told her, fixing her with a glare. “Your kits aren’t going anywhere.”
“How do you know?” Marsh asked, and he favored her with the smile he usually reserved for Aisha.
“Aisha’s presence hasn’t moved for the last hour, and it is anxious. My guess is she’s waiting for her brother.”
Marsh was instantly on her feet. “We need to catch up with them,” she told him. “What if something has happened?”
Master Envermet continued eating, regarding her with dark eyes. “Then her mind would feel different.”
“She might not know.” Marsh flipped the mule’s reins over its head and the animal snorted.
“I could order you to wait,” Master Envermet told her in mild reproof.
Marsh snapped a glance toward him. “And are you?”
He finished his sandwich and dusted his hands.
“No,” he managed around a mouthful of bread and cheese. “I’m coming with you.”
The rest of the team followed and Mordan bounced to her feet, padding swiftly to the trail she had found.
They passed not long ago.
By “not long ago,” Marsh had the impression the kat meant a single cycle, and part of her relaxed. A single cycle. The mules were making all the difference. That, and she didn’t know how long the children had spent in the tunnels, or where they’d come out onto the surface.
It was possible they’d traveled miles more than they needed to. Marsh decided she was going to wring both their necks when she got hold of them.
You’re going to get in line, Master Envermet told her.
I’ll race you.
Humans! Mordan’s disgust was plain. To want to harm your cubs when you’ve only just found them!
That’s not what we meant, Marsh protested, but the kat shut her out.
“Marsh, if you have the energy...” Master Envermet began, and Marsh nodded.
“I’ll scan.”
A short time later, she gasped, and the team stopped and gathered around her.
“There’s a town!”
“Where?” “How big?” “How far away?” “And the children?” all came at her in rapid succession.
“Two hours’ ride, and it feels as big as Shamka,” Marsh replied. She frowned and looked at Master Envermet for help. “I didn’t try to sense anyone specific.”
He hesitated a moment before answering, staring off into the distance as though checking something. “Yes, the town is about two hours’ ride, and Aisha is on this side of it, about an hour and a half away.”
He kicked his mule into a trot. “Less if we move faster.”
Henri and Izmay spurred their mounts past him, taking the lead until Mordan darted ahead of them.
“Smart-ass kat,” Henri grumbled.
They made the distance in a half-hour, slowing their mounts where a thick cluster of bushes formed dense walls between two boulders. Other boulders and the remains of ancient walls formed a natural circle that had only one entrance.
Henri slid from his mule and tossed the reins over a nearby sapling, his actions mirrored by Izmay. They took different directions, circling the campsite until they reached the only way in. When Henri went to take the lead, Izmay laid a hand on his shoulder.
He froze and she slid into one of the lengthening shadows, rippling into the dark and vanishing. Henri crept through the narrow entrance, reaching the campfire just as Izmay emerged from the bushes on the other side.
“There’s a cavern at the back,” she explained. “Plenty of room for us, but not the mules.”
Obasi spoke up. He’d been trailing quietly at the edge of the group, not part of them, but not excluded either. “There is another campsite over there.”
They looked where he was pointing, and Master Envermet signaled that Izmay and Henri should check it out. Obasi went with them, showing them what he’d seen while they’d been focused on the children’s hiding place.
It was the ground floor of what had once been a tall building. Pillars rose into the sky, and the broken edges of more floors formed ledges between them. Old walls held them up but were slowly giving way to time and the creeping vegetation.
Izmay and Henri looked at it, eyeing the space Obasi had found. The second floor formed a solid ceiling above a hollow area that gave way to broken doors filled by rubble. Inside, someone had partitioned off sections into makeshift corrals and added stone troughs for food or water.
The space in front of this stabling area had been worn smooth by countless travelers, and a fireplace had been dug and lined with stone several feet from the door. Wood had been gathered and stacked in a pile to one side, and a post-and-rail fence separated it from the outside world.
Someone had started piling stones at the base of the fence to create a low stone wall, which connected with the wall holding up the second floor. Looking at it, Izmay figured that if she hadn’t known any better, she’d think the building had once been fronted with large windows.
She shrugged, eyeing the enclosure. “The mules would be safe enough here. Nice work, Obasi.”
The young warrior smiled, and Master Envermet rode forward, leading the others over.
“It’s a good shelter,” he noted and ran a practiced eye over the partially collapsed second floor, and the supports that had been added. He also noted that stunted trees grew out from under the ancient structure, their twisted limbs supporting its remains. More vines formed walls and draped from the ceiling, providing a buffer against the weather.
Jakob dismounted and walked to where Obasi stood inside, running an experienced eye over the structure. “It will hold,” he told them when he returned, “and it’s obviously been used for stabling before. I’ll overnight with the mules.”
“Me, too,” Obasi agreed, leading his mule to one of the corrals.
“We’ll stay with you,” Gerry volunteered, and he and Zeb slid from their mounts.
“Me and Iz, too,” Henri said after he’d stuck his head inside the shelter. “There’s more room.”
He said nothing about needing privacy, but Marsh caught the sense of it as he led his mule inside.
Roeglin exchanged glances with Marsh. “Can you sense them now?”
They left their mounts at the shelter and returned to the children’s campsite. The sun was setting, and long shadows stretched through the ruins. Marsh stepped clear of the door and tried to touch Aisha’s mind.
You’re getting better at that, Roeglin told her, but Marsh shook her head.
“Wherever she is, it isn’t here.”
Master Envermet frowned. “I could swear...”
They moved into the campsite, avoiding the campfire. Roeglin held his hand over the coals.
“It’s still warm...” he noted, frowning and looking around. “It’s as if they’re still here, or they left a short while ago.”
Master Envermet wormed his way beneath the bushes, while Marsh searched the small area around the fire.
“Where can they be?” she asked.
“Well, they aren’t gone, but they’re not here.” He hauled himself out from under the bush and slowly straightened. “Oof. I am too old for this kind of thing.”
“Aysh?” Brigitte’s soft call blended with the twilight. “Are you hiding?”
Marsh frowned. Hiding? Why would the child do that?
“Aishaaa,” Brigitte called, turning on the spot.
Marsh was just about to scold her when one of the rocks giggled. Brigitte glared at it.
“You come out here right now, you little mischief!”
The “little mischief” did exactly that, but not before releasing Scruffknuckle from the stone she’d drawn him into.
“I didn’t want him hurt,” she explained as the pup bounded around them, scattering campfire ashes and leaving gray pawprints on their uniforms as he leapt up to say hello.
“Get down, pup!” Master Envermet reached the end of his patience at the end of the krypthund’s second leap.
Scruffknuckle circled his legs before sitting beside him and leaning against his calf.
“Master!” Aisha cried, running right past Marsh to wrap her arms around the shadow master’s legs.
He stooped to pick her up and hugged her tight before leaning back to regard her with a stern stare. She met it with wide blue eyes. “Don’t be mad,” she pleaded. “I want Gustav.”
He sighed and hugged her again before passing her to Marsh. “We want Gustav, too.”
Aisha’s face brightened. “We go get him?”
Master Envermet bent to look into her face. “Do you know where he is?”
Aisha closed her eyes and scrunched her face as she concentrated. After a short moment, she pointed toward the town. “That way.”
Roeglin looked around. “Where’s Tamlin?”
Aisha gave him a concerned look. “Is he in trouble?”
/> The shadow mage arched his eyebrows. “Oh, you are both in a lot of trouble, but not right now.”
“Later?” The little girl looked more hopeful than she had any right to be, and Marsh stifled a laugh.
Master Envermet tried to look stern but failed as he answered her question. “Yes. Later.”
His lips twitched into a tiny smile, and all sternness was lost. Aisha turned to Brigitte and held out her arms. Marsh passed her to the shadow mage, smiling as the little girl hugged her and then raised her face in appeal. “Trouble?”
Brigitte was laughing as she replied. “Yes, Aysh. You and Tams are in really big trouble.”
Aisha’s face fell, and she sighed. She looked momentarily disheartened, then her expression lightened. “Not now?” she asked in a hopeful voice.
The rattle of timber hitting the ground beside the campfire made them all jump. “Yes, now,” Henri rumbled, “but only if you stop Marsh from cooking dinner.”
“Marsh not cook!” Aisha pouted, and Henri gave her a mock glare.
“Marsh does so, too,” Henri retorted.
Aisha shook her head and crossed her arms. “Nope.”
Brigitte set her on her feet, and the little girl turned to face Henri. Before either of them could continue, however, Marsh knelt in front of her and laid a hand on the little girl’s shoulder.
“Aysh,” she said, giving the child a gentle shake to break her focus on Henri. “Where’s Tamlin?”
The girl shot a glance toward the town. “Looking for Gustav.”
“How long ago?”
Aisha’s face paled, and her blue eyes grew dark with worry. “Daytime. He said to hide.”
“You hid all day?”
Aisha gave her a solemn nod.
Brigitte opened her pouch and felt around inside it. It didn’t take her long to find what she was looking for.
“Cookie!” Marsh muffled Aisha’s squeal of delight with a hastily placed hand.
Unfortunately, that meant her hand got in the way of the cookie reaching the little girl’s mouth and Aisha swatted it away. “Don’t steal cookie.”
Marsh’s mouth dropped open. “I would never!”
“Would so, too.” Henri’s knowing voice reached her from across the fire.
Trading Into Daylight (The Magic Below Paris Book 6) Page 3