Magic Below Paris Complete Series Boxed Set (Books 1 - 8): Trading Into Shadow, Trading Into Darkness, Trading Close to Light, Trading By Firelight, Trading by Shroomlight, plus 3 more

by C. M. Simpson

  He reached for the space where Marsh’s hand rested, but Roeglin stopped him. The mage looked at Marsh. “Ready?”

  She nodded and slid her fingers into the slots, feeling the stone shift slightly when she reached the bottom. Just as Roeglin had done, she flexed her fingers. The door opened into the short corridor they remembered, and they followed it to the large, hollow chamber beyond.

  The padlocks on the grate remained in place, blocking the nine-foot drop into the pit. Three yards across, it secured the six-foot opening but still gave a clear view of the bottom of the pit and the three empty archways opening into it. None of them could see down the tunnels leading away from the arches, but that they had expected.

  Marsh took a deep breath and looked at Roeglin. “Shall we?”

  There was a snort from behind them, and Henri said, “Oh, sure. Let’s. After all, it’s not like you have company or anything.”

  Marsh blushed in spite of herself, but Roeglin sighed.

  “What’s the worst that could happen?”

  Gustav groaned. “You had to ask.”

  Roeglin flashed him a grin and bent to lift the edge of the grate.

  “I could do with a little help,” he suggested, as Tok and the other mantids moved forward to assist. “How did they deliver anyone down here?”

  Evan gulped, his eyes wide. “I think they just opened the grate and pushed them in,” he said.

  Roeglin stared at him and then looked down into the pit. “The mages can shadow-step there,” he declared and frowned, “but the rest of you might need a rope.”

  Marsh stepped forward and held out her hand. “I can take people through,” she told them.

  Tok came to peer over her shoulder. It is not too far for us, he noted.

  He cocked his antennae forward, letting them wave gently over the opening. After a moment, he added, And we won’t need to return this way. There are other paths to the outside.

  As long as you can fit. Marsh kept the thought to herself, and if Tok heard it, he gave no indication.

  Evan came alongside her. “I’ll go with you,” he said.

  “And I’ll take Aisha through,” Tamlin stated, reaching for his sister’s hand.

  Tok looked into the hole. We’ll go first, the mantid offered. We can defend those arriving and keep a watch on the tunnels.

  “Do you have the energy to take me as well, boy?” Gustav asked Tamlin.

  The boy looked him up and down and then nodded.

  “And can you show me how, while you’re at it?” the old soldier pressed.

  Before Marsh or Roeglin could intervene, Tamlin shook his head.

  “No, but I can have Aisha show you, and we can practice later.” He cast an uncertain glance at Brigitte and Marsh and Roeglin. “That’s if it’s okay?”

  Brigitte also looked at Marsh and Roeglin. “It’s up to you,” she advised them. “Both children are up to this.”

  Marsh nodded. “Look now and practice later,” she agreed, “in case you tire yourself out.”

  Gustav frowned as though puzzled as to how that would happen, but he didn’t argue. Marsh figured he’d work it out soon enough…if he could actually make the magic work. So far, the man hadn’t shown any interest in learning more than the limited fire magic he could manage.

  Are you ready? Tok asked.

  Marsh stepped back to give the mantids access. “Yes,” she replied.

  She and Roeglin watched as the large insectoids gripped the edge of the pit and lowered themselves through the hole headfirst before dropping the rest of the way to land lightly on the floor.

  This shadow-stepping is of interest to us, Tok commented as he moved away from the opening and stationed himself facing one of the doors.

  The other mantids mirrored his action, each choosing a different archway. The fourth mantid filled the remaining gap, although what it had found to focus on was out of sight. Marsh only hoped it wasn’t something that would kill them.

  She relaxed when the mantids settled to stillness and nothing else moved.

  It is safe, Tok assured them. I sense nothing in the passages beyond.

  Mordan went next. One moment, the big cat was there, and the next, she had padded forward, vanishing into thin air and reappearing in the center of the circle below. The kits and Scruffknuckle moved with her, and Marsh wondered when the four of them had acquired Tamlin’s ability to step through clear air.

  I showed them, Aisha explained, her voice gliding along the link between them.

  Master Envermet rolled his eyes as he stepped out of the darkness and knelt beside the child.

  “Care to show me?” he asked, and their eyes flashed white.

  “I didn’t see any shadows,” Gustav murmured, and Tamlin chuckled.

  “Shadows are just air that’s in the dark,” he told the man and offered Gustav his hand.

  The captain took it, obeying when Tamlin said, “Walk with me.”

  Marsh watched them take a step and vanish. Izmay held out her hand to Henry and Xavier, taking them to a point to one side of Tamlin, Gustav, and Aisha. Zeb followed with Jakob, leaving Marsh and Roeglin to go last.

  With one last look at the empty corridor and silent cells, they exchanged glances and stepped through the shadows to the center of the arena. It was bigger than it looked from above. The fourth mantid, she discovered, was keeping watch on a door they hadn’t seen.

  “Do you know where it leads?” Marsh asked, but Evan shook his head. She sighed. “Well, I guess there’s only one way to find out.”

  She strode purposefully forward, stopping just short of it when Henri caught up to her and wrapped a hand around her wrist.

  “Let me.”

  Marsh hesitated, scanning his face.

  Henri translated for her. “If there’s anything waiting, it’s better me than you,” he explained.

  The door opened onto a set of stairs leading up.

  Henri started up the stairs and looked back at her. “Want to hazard a guess where these are going to lead?”

  Marsh pulled a sword and buckler from the shadows and followed him. “I know where I think it’s going to lead. That doesn’t mean I’m not going to take precautions.”

  He nodded and started moving up. Marsh caught the play of a faint smile over his lips as he went.

  Smartass, she thought.

  Just be careful, Roeglin warned.

  Like I’d be anything else.

  In the end, care wasn’t necessary, although the door hidden close to the library entrance was a surprise.

  “I didn’t know they had another way down,” Evan told her when she returned.

  Henri snorted.

  “I didn’t!” Evan protested. “I don’t want anything sneaking out of here! If I’d known, I’d have said!”

  “We believe you,” Roeglin said, laying a reassuring hand on his shoulder, but Marsh didn’t miss the brief flash of white that said he’d checked.

  She turned to face the doors. “Any preferences?” she asked.

  Tok stalked over to inspect the three, but before he’d finished investigating the first, Mordan strolled out of the second.

  There is a strange scent in this tunnel, she informed Marsh. It is strongest this way.

  She flicked her tail, her eyes briefly going to Tok. I smelled the passage of these, too.

  “Mordan says she picked up a trail down that one,” Marsh explained when she found all eyes on her. She nodded to Tok. “She said she could smell that you had passed that way, too.”

  The mantid’s antennae did a surprised flip that was echoed by his companions, and the four of them hurried to the passage the kat had come out of.

  16

  The Threat from Below

  As soon as they stepped through the arch, they discovered a passage that looked like it ran around the circumference of the pit. Roeglin gave a soft whistle and held up his hand.

  “Henri, Izmay, take our left. Zeb, Jakob, go right. I need to know.”

 
My people will join you, Tok said, and one of the mantids moved to join each pair of humans. They can relay what you find.

  Henri’s mouth tightened as he looked up at the mantid that joined them.

  I am K’tch, it said by way of greeting.

  The insectoid that joined Jakob and Zeb gave his name as Etk’k. Both waited for the humans to take the lead.

  Roeglin looked at Xavier and Evan. “You don’t have to come with us,” he told them. “You can take the stairs back to the surface and let them know what we’ve found so far.”

  The men exchanged glances and looked back at Roeglin.

  “We’d rather stay if it’s all the same,” Evan told him. He gestured at the closest tunnel. “Time we saw what happened to those we betrayed.”

  That last word came out as a croak and he cleared his throat after, his skin burning a deep red.

  Xavier nodded in agreement, his face the same shade.

  Roeglin studied their expressions before nodding. He said nothing in return, though, just turned and walked into the corridor.

  K’tch’s voice touched their minds. We have met each other and are returning. Henri says to relay that the tunnel goes beneath the stairs but has no openings into it or the center.

  “Understood,” Roeglin replied, his eyes gleaming white as he spoke. “Can you, Henri, and Izmay investigate the first tunnel, and Zeb, Jakob, and Etk’k the second?”

  It shall be so.

  Marsh felt the mantid’s mind leave and forged ahead. As she did, she realized she hadn’t seen the children since Mordan had led the way back through the arch. She reached along the link.

  Dan, are the cubs with you?

  The kat’s reply came back immediately. Of course. They cannot be left unattended.

  Marsh blushed at the kat’s reproof and toyed with the idea of scolding the two youngsters. She brushed it aside as Roeglin’s fingertips touched the back of her hand.

  “Ready?”

  She nodded, returning the touch before blending with the shadows. “Time to become a ghost.”

  “You’re lucky the children know who you are,” Roeglin informed her.

  “And that they’re not likely to panic,” she reminded him.

  They cautiously made their way along the tunnel, shadow blades drawn and shields ready. The tunnel curved slightly left, but they had only traveled for a short distance before they heard the sound of soft footsteps.

  Roeglin hesitated, raising his hand to signal a halt.

  Go ahead, he instructed Marsh. I need to know what we’re walking into.

  Done. Marsh glided forward, her shadow-blended steps making no sound on the cavern floor.

  Behind her, Brigitte dropped back to guard the rear, and Evan and Xavier readied their blades. Marsh moved swiftly, starting to feel the strain of staying blended with the shadow. The tunnel felt subtly wrong, but she couldn’t work out why.

  Following the sound of the footsteps, she moved steadily toward them. The steps seemed to be getting closer and sounded as though they were coming from in front of her. Marsh was all too aware of Roeglin riding behind her eyes—and Master Envermet keeping him company.

  She reached a junction of tunnels.

  Wait there. Roeglin’s order was short and abrupt. Stay out of sight.

  As if she’d do anything else.

  I know you.

  Well, there was that.

  Marsh shook his presence away and moved close to a wall. The footsteps were drawing closer, even though they no longer sounded like they came from the tunnel ahead. The tunnels that joined the chamber gave two potential points of origin.

  The only problem was that it sounded like there were steps coming from down both of them. Worse than that was the soft skitter she could hear behind them, as if not everything headed her way was human. She sank into the deep shadows by a wall and waited.

  A few feet behind her, Roeglin, Evan, Xavier, Tok, and Brigitte did the same.

  The footsteps drew nearer, then suddenly stopped.

  “There’s a chamber ahead.” Henri’s hoarse whisper cut the black, and Marsh relaxed. Now, she understood what had happened.

  “Tok, can you let the others know we’ll meet them at the junction?”

  As soon as her words hit clear air, the footsteps stopped.

  “Marsh?” Zeb’s soft call reached her from the closest tunnel.

  “Ahead of you where the three tunnels meet.”

  “Well, not quite,” he said a few moments later.

  The sound of his voice made Marsh jump and Zeb chuckled, stepping out of the shadows on the opposite side of the chamber.

  “Sorry, Marsh. Etk’k said there was a presence ahead. He didn’t say it was you.”

  “Mantid guards my head every night,” Marsh grumbled. “You’d think he’d recognized what my head felt like.”

  “He says that’s not how it works,” Zeb relayed. “That it can be hard to tell what head waits for you when there is so much else to focus on.”

  “Yeah, and K’tch says the same.” Henri’s voice interrupted them, and the big man stomped around the corner.

  He was followed by the mantid warrior. The creature flexed its antennae toward the single tunnel leading away from them.

  The cubs and their guardians are not far, K’tch informed them.

  Marsh felt her heart unknot.

  Aisha? she sent along the link she had with the little girl.

  Hurry up, Marsh! We’ve found something! At the excitement in the child’s tone, Marsh dropped out of the shadows, landing with a light crunch on the stony tunnel floor.

  Now that she was paying attention, Marsh noticed the floor leading into the room showed signs of wear. As she crossed the junction to the tunnel leading out, she saw it showed even more wear.

  “They brought them through this way,” she murmured.

  Henri snorted. “Now tell us something we don’t know.”

  “Or they all came and went this way,” Jakob offered.

  “You’re thinking they didn’t take anyone away?” Xavier’s voice was full of horror.

  “It’s a possibility,” Henri agreed. He looked around. “But if that was the case, they’d need somewhere to stash the bodies.”

  Evan gasped, and Roeglin scowled at Henri.

  “What?” the big ex-guard demanded. “All I’m saying is that it’s a possibility.”

  Izmay rested a hand on his shoulder. “It’s a possibility that we didn’t need to hear right now. Let’s hope for the best.”

  Henri sighed. “Yeah, I suppose you’re right. Besides, I don’t see anything like a burial pit or smell—oof!”

  He stepped a little farther from Izmay, rubbing his ribs. She scowled at him for a moment longer, then smiled at Evan. “We won’t know until we look.”

  She followed Marsh into the tunnel.

  “Where are the kids?” she asked, coming alongside.

  “With Mordan,” Marsh told her, not caring that her voice said exactly how she felt about that.

  Izmay snickered. “We’d better hurry, then. Maybe get there before they find us some trouble to get them out of.”

  She kept moving while she was talking, and Marsh nodded. Keeping Tamlin and Aisha out of trouble was a full-time task, even with the kat taking point.

  Rude! Aisha commented, having picked up the conversation along their link.

  So’s listening to a conversation that doesn’t concern you.

  Did so!

  Yeah, well, Marsh couldn’t fault the kid on that one. The conversation kinda had been about her.

  You know what I mean.

  Yup. Aisha’s brief acknowledgment became excitement. We found something!

  What?

  “Hurry. The kids have found something.” Roeglin’s urgent whisper reached her, just ahead of the hurried footsteps that followed. Marsh and Izmay kept moving forward, blades ready, but slightly faster than caution would dictate.

  Aisha and Tamlin were crouched on either side o
f a stone doorframe that had been built into the tunnel walls. Made from precisely cut blocks of a reddish-colored stone, it framed the corridor beyond.

  “That doesn’t look like it goes anywhere,” Jakob mused.

  “The tunnel or the door?” Henri demanded. “Because that tunnel has to go somewhere.”

  “You want to step through and prove the point?” Jakob challenged, and Henri’s face turned thoughtful.

  He eyed the doorway carefully, coming close enough to touch what it was made of.

  “That’s like no stone I’ve ever seen,” he noted. “It feels strange.”

  “That’s not really stone,” Marsh observed, tilting her head one way and then another. “It’s… It looks more like crystal.”

  She raised her fingers to touch the smoky pink surface, but Tok reached out a clawed hand and pushed her gently away.

  It is better not to touch, he advised.

  Henri pulled his hand away as though he’d been burned. “You coulda warned me!”

  You are not psychic, the mantid told him. You can do no harm.

  “Well, what can she do?” Henri demanded belligerently.

  Draw attention was Tok’s succinct response.

  The others came over to inspect the gate, but the mantids hung back, conversing in a series of chirps, clicks, and scrapes.

  Marsh felt her nose wrinkle as though there was some kind of scent in the air. She couldn’t define it, though. It seemed to come and go.

  After a few moments, Tok cocked his head.

  Where did the kat say she detected our scent? he asked.

  “From here,” Aisha answered, pointing at the door.

  She walked down the corridor, moving her hand to indicate the floor. “Along here.”

  The mantids turned their heads as the child walked past them. Marsh frowned, following Aisha’s progress.

  “Where are you going?”

  “Nowhere,” the girl answered, coming to a halt before a section of wall. She turned her attention from Marsh to Tok. “It stops here.”

  Tok looked at Mordan. The kat had risen to her feet as the child moved away from her place by the door. Now, she padded after her.

  The mantids’ scent goes from the gate to the child. It stops at the wall. She paused and cocked her head, tail swishing slightly. The scent of the Others is stronger there than elsewhere, like they stayed in that place longer than anywhere else.