Free The Shadow Companion by Laura Anne Gilman

wearing off,” Gerard suggested, trying to figure out how quickly they could cover the ground between them and the knights.
    “Our men still can’t move, not with those things around them. We’ll be easy prey if we try to lug them out.” It was almost as though Newt knew what Gerard was thinking. The tension inside him had never really died down. It wasn’t a pleasant feeling, making his skin feel tight around his body, but it took his mind off everything else, so he focused on it,trying to feel the extent of it from the skin on down into flesh and bone.
    Ailis shifted, and a rock, dislodged by the motion, rattled down the hill. None of the spider-things seemed to notice, but Sir Ruden’s head moved, slowly, in their direction. It was too far away to be certain, but his face seemed to have expressed a weary kind of relief.
    “You said that the things didn’t leave the village?” Newt asked.
    Gerard nodded. “They waited until the first knight rode into the village, then they came out of hiding.”
    “Like they were waiting?” Ailis asked nervously.
    “Like they were under orders,” he responded.
    “A pack. A trained pack, without the ability to do anything on their own?” Newt was in his element here. “Right. We need a distraction, something to drive those creatures away, and give us a chance to rescue the knights.”
    “We need magic,” Ailis said. “ Real magic.”
    “Can you do it?” Newt asked her.
    Ailis’s gaze met his and didn’t let go. “I can do it.”
     
    “Wait, wait!” Gerard was speaking to himself as much as to Newt, so the stable boy didn’t take the bossiness badly. He, too, knew the moment wasn’t right.
    Ailis hadn’t done anything yet. They had left her by the rock, working through her limited collection of spells and trying to find something that would do the job. The young men had crept on their bellies like snakes until they were as close as they dared to go.
    “Wait…”
    “I know,” Newt hissed.
    Newt was finding it difficult to keep his attention on the knights. It wasn’t Ailis that was distracting him, either; he believed that she knew what she was doing, and watching her wasn’t going to make things happen faster. Something else began to twitch at the back of his neck—and the something was probably the thing he and Ailis had felt earlier. Something was still lurking, watching them.
    Newt was used to being watched. The dogs he cared for used to watch him slavishly, waiting for a sign, a command, a hint of food. The horses he helped train and groom watched him for continued assurance that they were safe. This was different. It was not like having Merlin watch him, or Ailis, or evenSir Matthias, the few times he’d come under the knight’s eye. It was curious and intense.
    Ailis finally caught his eye; she was unbraiding her hair, running her fingers through the thick red strands, letting the wavy mass fall in front of her face and obscure her from sight.
    The strands started to move, gently at first, then more wildly, as though a heavy wind had come up, causing her hair to fly all around her head. But around them, the air was entirely still. Her hands raised up and parted her hair so that she could see what was happening. Her face was alight. Her grim smile made it appear as though she was enjoying this—all the danger, all the risk.
    Newt had long suspected all users of magic were crazy. This confirmed it. Even sensible, practical Ailis fell victim to it, to the point where she was willing to defy Sir Matthias in order to do more, perform larger, more aggressive spells.
    That had been what they were discussing when Gerard found them. Ailis had actually been ranting, and not really talking. And while he agreed with her on most points—especially when she complained about Gerard acting as though he was older, wiser, and better than everyone else—Newt couldn’t let goof his own discomfort when it came to her using magic, or anyone using magic. He didn’t