The other mantid chittered, ending its words with a rasp of its legs against its thorax.
K’tch says you would need to direct the power of a storm into the portal in order to destroy it.
“Or I could just bury the exit point beneath a ton of rock,” Marsh murmured, eyeing the cavern and the passage on either side.
She glanced at Roeglin. “That would solve your access point problem too, wouldn’t it?”
The shadow mage gave her a nervous look and dipped his chin in agreement. “Let us hope it won’t come to that.”
Before they could discuss the situation any further, Aisha re-emerged from the tunnel, Tamlin by her side. The injured kit walked behind her, staying beside Henri and giving the warrior the occasional questioning glance.
Marsh groaned. “Oh, no. Tell me he didn’t.”
Roeglin snickered. “That would be the most ironic, wouldn’t it?”
Henri, for his part, seemed oblivious to the fact he now had a kat following his every step.
“We heading up now, boss?”
Roeglin shook his head and gestured at the corridor beyond the portal’s frame. “We need to see where that goes.”
“Do we?” Aisha asked, and Roeglin gave the child a wary glance.
“Yes, we need to know where the monsters might come out if they go that way instead of this way.”
“But we can’t walk through the portal,” Marsh added. “We need a way around it.”
“I can do it,” Aisha told her, coming over and laying her palm on the wall beside the doorway’s red stone.
Before Marsh had time to respond, the cavern’s natural rock had moved aside, forming a perfectly arched stretch of tunnel around the framework.
“Dere.”
Catching the more juvenile speech, Marsh cocked her head. “You feeling okay, Aysh?”
Aisha opened her eyes very wide and nodded. “Yeeees.”
Tamlin snorted, but the little girl kept her eyes on Marsh.
Marsh returned the look. “Uh-huh.”
The effect of those two syllables was instantaneous. Aisha scowled and stamped her foot.
“I am fine. Fine like you and Roeglin and Brij and Tams.”
“Hey! What about me?” Henri interrupted before Marsh could respond.
“You’re always fine,” Aisha told him. “Izmay says so.”
That brought sputtered laughter from the rest of the team, and Marsh felt Tok searching for the reason. She let the mantid find it, and the insectoids started laughing, too.
Izmay slapped Henri on the arm. “You had to ask!”
She was blushing, but she was smiling, too.
Roeglin alone stayed silent. He was staring pensively at the empty portal.
Marsh noticed and sobered. “What’s wrong, Ro?”
He scowled. “Now they know,” he replied. “They know we’re here and that we’ll fight. They know our capabilities, too.”
That is correct, Tok confirmed.
“And next time, they’ll come in numbers,” Roeglin added.
The mantid dipped its head in acknowledgment. Of course.
“And you did not warn us.”
Until now, I did not know how close the portal was. The mantid sounded apologetic. And I did not know if they had followed.
Etk’k whistled and clicked at him, and Tok shuddered in apology.
Etk’k is correct. It is something we should have known. He gave a soft whistle of regret. We were hoping to arrive somewhere far from human habitation.
“Given that they have been taking our people and our creatures,” Marsh retorted, “how likely was that?”
Tok repeated his apology, his antennae flattening to one side before drooping. The other mantids moved closer to him, making noises Marsh thought were meant to be comforting. K’tch touched her antennae lightly to Tok’s and he whistled acknowledgment.
“Your coming doesn’t matter,” Marsh told them. “These…Ookens were already here. They were already coming because we had stopped their supply lines.”
She gestured at the tunnel beyond the portal. “We need to know if they could have come through and observed us. The wolves and Mordan can tell us if there’s a fresh trail.”
The kat’s disgusted affirmation made her smile.
I can tell to the heartbeat how long ago they came…if they came. She wrinkled her nose. They have a very distinctive scent.
“And can you tell if they took anyone in the meantime?” Marsh asked.
Of course. Their scent isn’t strong enough to defeat me. The kat sounded offended that she’d asked.
Marsh gestured toward the tunnel. “After you.”
Mordan stalked forward, but Perdemor and his siblings pushed past to accompany her before Marsh could move a single step.
Roeglin laid an arm across her shoulders. “I guess that shows you, then.”
She shrugged clear and stalked after the kat and her kits. The others followed without a word, the mantids splitting into two groups.
Tok and K’tch moved with them, but Etk’k and another mantid remained behind. Master Envermet stayed with them. “Henri, Izmay, if you would,” he murmured, and the two warriors stepped away from the tunnel. “We need to watch the portal.”
“I don’t see why Aisha can’t just blanket the Deeps-be-damned thing in stone and be done with it,” Henri grumbled.
Master Envermet eyed the warrior with surprise. “It’s an idea,” he allowed. “I’ll ask her to do just that when she gets back.”
“But you don’t think it’ll work?” Henri asked, and Master Envermet shook his head.
“I think they will have a means of blasting their way through.”
Henri curled his lip. “That doesn’t mean we have to make it easy for them.”
“No, it doesn’t,” Master Envermet agreed, laying a hand on the warrior’s shoulder and eyeing the portal.
They watched as Marsh and Roeglin disappeared around a bend in the tunnel. It seemed to take forever before they returned, and when they did, it was at a run. Their appearance was followed by a sudden rumble and the telltale cloud of dust from a cave-in.
Mordan skidded back around the corner after them, Aisha clinging to her back and giggling hysterically while Tamlin ran alongside.
“If Dad wouldn’t tan my hide,” the boy was saying between breaths, “I’d put you over my knee.”
For some reason, that made the child laugh more.
She chuckled. “Your face!”
Mordan came to a stop beside Marsh, the look on the kat’s face making the meaning of her chirping growl plain. Marsh wrapped her arm around the child’s back and lifted her off.
“What did you do?” she asked.
“She dropped the tunnel on the other side of the portal,” Tamlin explained. “Said it would stop the ‘bad monsters’ from getting out.”
“And?”
“We were standing in it at the time.”
“Not my fault!” Aisha protested. “It should have stopped!”
“Stopped?”
“Oui,” Tamlin commented, poking her, “It should have stopped, but it didn’t.”
Aisha pouted. “Don’t be mean.”
Marsh held the little girl up in front of her and Roeglin.
“Don’t you ever do that again,” she told her.
“Ever!” she added as Aisha stared back.
Aisha looked at Roeglin.
“At least, not without a lot more warning,” the shadow master added.
Brigitte laid the flat of her hand against his shoulder and gave him a none-too-gentle shove. Marsh elbowed him in the ribs, then set Aisha firmly on the floor.
“Look what you did to poor Mordan. You owe her a bath!”
That earned her a wounded look from the kat.
Marsh shook her finger at the hosh. “I mean it, Dan. You are not coming into anyone’s room until you’re clean.”
She surveyed the other animals.
“None of you are.”
“You need a good scrub, too,” Marsh told her. “Your mother would kill me if I returned you to her in that state.”
“Would not.” The little girl pouted.
“Would so, too,” her brother confirmed, and Master Envermet had to agree.
With that settled, they made their way into the tunnel around the portal frame. Master Envermet waited until they’d reached him before he put forward Henri’s suggestion.
“I was wondering if we shouldn’t try to block the portal with stone,” he said, earning a sharp look from Roeglin.
The shadow mage looked from the captain to Aisha and then at Marsh. “What do you think?”
“I think they’d break through,” Marsh replied, echoing Master Envermet’s assessment. She added, “But it’s worth it if it slows them down.”
Henri snickered, and the mantids cocked their heads.
“What?” Marsh demanded.
“You sound exactly like him,” Henri told her, indicating the shadow captain.
Master Envermet rolled his eyes. “So, are we going to try it?”
As he asked the question, they heard the sound of rock grinding as it moved. Master Envermet’s eyes widened, and Marsh and Roeglin turned in time to watch a curtain of stone descending over the door and its frame.
“Need a heartbeat,” Aisha told them, ducking back into the tunnel she’d created around the frame.
Marsh and Mordan followed, pausing at the tunnel’s exit to watch as the little girl blocked the other side of the portal.
“There!” Aisha said with satisfaction as all evidence of the portal vanished behind a wall of light gray stone. “All done.”
“Block this tunnel, too,” Marsh told her. “Just to be sure.”
Aisha put a hand on her hip and cocked her head. “Uh-huh, and what did your last slave die of?”
From the tunnel beyond came the sound of Henri’s startled laughter. It stopped abruptly with an oof as if he’d just had an elbow driven into his ribs.
Marsh groaned. Of all the people the child could have chosen to emulate…
“Insolence,” she told the child. “Now, seal the Deeps-be damned tunnel before I kick your tail.”
Aisha giggled and focused on the ceiling overhead. The tilt of her head showed she was watching as Marsh and Mordan left the tunnel, but only when Marsh had rejoined Roeglin did she mutter quietly to herself.
Roeglin sputtered with laughter, and Master Envermet snorted.
Do I want to know? Marsh asked them in the privacy of her head.
Well, she asked, “Which army,” Roeglin began and broke into laughter.
She did? Marsh couldn’t keep herself from smiling.
We’re not supposed to be listening, remember? Roeglin reminded them, still chuckling.
Aisha’s voice interrupted Marsh before she could think of anything to say.
“All done,” the child declared and walked over to Mordan. “Time for your bath.”
There was glee in her tones as she buried her fingers in the fur of the kat’s scruff, and Mordan shot Marsh a reproachful look.
Like this is my fault! Marsh protested, but she couldn’t argue with the kat’s logic.
It is your cub
18
Keeping it Clean
The mantids took their leave at the uncovered tunnel.
We believe this leads out to the Devastation, and we will find our path back to our nest, Tok informed them.
He waved his antennae as though testing the air. And night is falling. Your people will be worried. We will meet in the morning.
He paused, inclining his body toward Roeglin.
With your permission, of course.
Of course, Roeglin allowed. Your presence and your counsel will be welcome.
With a happy flick of his antennae, Tok led his people into the tunnel.
Henri gave Roeglin an anxious look. “Should we go with them? Iz and I would be fine to make our way back.”
Roeglin frowned, considering it. “Perhaps not this time,” he decided, “although I might ask them to show me the exit so we know which way the Ookens might come from.”
‘You don’t think they’ll come at us from out of the Library?” the soldier asked.
“I think they’ll come at us from every direction they can,” Roeglin told them. “We need to know what those directions are.”
Henri grunted his agreement, and they returned through the tunnels to the Library stairs.
“I’m glad we don’t have to try to climb back up there,” Gustav noted, indicating the grate as they passed beneath it.
“No, but we need to go back and secure it,” Roeglin told him. “I’m not saying they can’t get past it if they have a mind to, but—”
“I know,” the old soldier interrupted him.
“Why make it easy?” they chorused, their voices joined by everyone else.
“I’ll go back and do it, boss,” Henri offered.
“We’ll go with him,” Zeb agreed, laying a hand on Jakob’s shoulder.
“Thanks, man. Thanks a shroom-shagging lot,” the ex-caravan guard muttered, but he didn’t look like he minded.
“You are very welcome,” Zeb told him, breaking away to follow Henri and Izmay as they turned to descend again. Brigitte followed without a word.
Marsh and the rest made their way through the guards’ foyer and into the Library. Marsh hesitated. “I’ll stay and make sure they lock it,” she offered, but Roeglin shook his head.
“Brigitte’s with them,” he explained. “I’ll ask her to make sure.”
Marsh nodded, breathing a sigh of relief. It only took a momentary flare of white for him to contact the shadow mistress and receive her confirmation.
“It’s done.”
Marsh smiled her thanks and looked at Aisha and the kats. The smile faded, and she sighed. “You know I have to deal with this, right?”
Roeglin put his arm around her waist and pulled her close. “We have to deal with this,” he told her.
Master Envermet snorted. “I’ll let the kitchens know you’re going to be a little late,” he informed them and pointed at where Scruffknuckle and Perdemor had almost reached the Library door.
The way the kit and pup were moving told Marsh they had no intention of waiting around for a bath.
“Scruff!” she called. “Perdemor! Come back here.”
Mordan chuffed in amusement as the pair of youngsters returned, disappointment in their every line.
Gustav and Jakob arrived as she and Roeglin were heating the water.
“What?” Marsh had asked when Mordan had cocked her head in question. “You don’t think I’d try to wash you in cold water, do you?”
From the look on the kat’s face and the twitch of Mordan’s tail, she’d been thinking exactly that. Scruffknuckle huffed out a deep sigh and flopped down on his stomach, resigned to being bathed.
“Let Jakob and me take care of that,” Gustav told them, summoning a small ball of flame.
“By all means,” Marsh told him, stepping away to give the two soldiers room to work.
Brigitte arrived with two druids and some soapweed. “This should make it easier,” she explained, setting down a bundle of clothing beside the cleaning supplies. She smiled, stripped out of her robe, and snapped her fingers at the nearest cub.
“Come on, kitty. Time for your bath.”
The kit lifted his head and flattened his ears to the side, only to have Mordan pick him up by the scruff of his neck and carry him over to the shadow mage. The big kat dropped him at Brigitte’s feet and then walked over to Aisha.
She didn’t give the little girl time for protest, but gripped the collar of her tunic and pulled her under the next water outlet.
“Hey!” Aisha protested.
“Hey!” she shouted again, when Gustav and Jakob turned the
water on, drenching them.
“Wanna get naked?” Roeglin asked, waggling his eyebrows at Marsh.
The mischief on his face made her laugh, and she stripped out of her armor and clothing. “Come on, Scruff. Let’s get you clean.”
The pup glared at her, while Roeglin stripped out of his clothes. He gave a yip of surprise when the shadow mage lifted him off the ground and staggered under the next outlet.
“Deeps, pup, but you’re getting big,” Roeglin told him, turning under the water until they were both soaked.
“I told you they’d forget.” Master Envermet’s voice reached them from the edge of the communal showers.
Marsh looked over to see the shadow captain, Henri, and Izmay place several piles of clothing on the shelves in the dry changing area opposite.
“Yes, you did,” Henri grumbled, reaching into his belt pouch and pulling out several coins. He dropped them into the shadow captain’s outstretched hand. “You really did.”
Izmay laughed and slapped his shoulder. “I brought us clothes, too,” she told him.
“As if losing a bet with the captain wasn’t enough.”
“I’ll be getting naked…”
Henri rolled his eyes. “You’ll be getting clean and dressed, too.”
“Picky, picky, picky,” Izmay teased and looked at the remaining cubs. “Come on, you two. I know you can understand me.”
The injured cub got to his feet and padded slowly over to Henri, and Izmay sighed. “Fine.”
She turned to the other one. “You coming or not?”
The kit returned her sigh but walked into the next empty stall, where she waited patiently until Izmay had soaped her all over and then rinsed her fur clean. As soon as she figured she was done, the kit dabbed Izmay on the nose with her tongue and stalked back out.
Izmay was about to follow when one of the druids who’d come with Brigitte stepped forward with a towel. “Come here, cub.”
The cub looked the woman up and down, sighed again, and allowed her to rub it dry. Seeing it was well taken care of, Izmay turned to the more important task of washing the tunnel dust and Ooken remains out of her hair.
Marsh’s lightning might be effective, but it wasn’t the tidiest means of killing she’d ever seen.
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 Page 180