Seth watched the feathered grass sway as dozens of rabbits moved about beneath the golden stalks. There was the faintest glitter to the soft grass heads.

  This circular meadow was directly over a sealed entrance to the Below, so the meadow grass was full of mana. A good number of the rabbits eating the magic grass would be magic beasts.

  Seth held Duvessa's bow with an arrow nocked as he waited for the others to get in position. Right on time he got waves from Owen, Booth, and Duvessa. Blaise was a few moments later. He didn't see anything from Mau, but decided not to wait.

  Duvessa sent her summons in. Seven long, thin snakes disappeared into the grass. Owen and Booth had catchpoles ready. Blaise had a loose net draped from her spear.

  Seth cast the Lure spell on an apple impaled on an arrow, and fired it into the grass near the others. He aimed for the area Duvessa's summons were supposed to be.

  Immediately he pulled out the magic training whistle, and blew very softly. He focused on the rabbits and commanded them to be calm, and stay still.

  Mau complained when he blew hard on the whistle, so he was trying to be more subtle with the command. Magic beasts were unaffected, but he didn't want to scare them with a loud whistle. Seth couldn't hear it, so he'd have to judge his success based on how the rabbits reacted.

  The non-magic rabbits should stay still, and the magic rabbits should go to the Lure.

  And they did. He couldn't see them clearly in the tall grass, but he guessed there were at least eight of them. They'd have all they needed if they could catch even half of the rabbits.

  Abruptly, the largest of the rabbits thumped a hind foot and dashed off faster than Seth could see. The others soon followed, but Duvessa's summons had managed to sneak up on three. Long black snakes grabbed the rabbits and tangled them long enough for Owen and Booth to each grab one. Duvessa grabbed the third, but let go when it kicked her.

  "Ow!" Duvessa cried out as the rabbit bolted away. She jumped after it and into a bush.

  Most of the magic rabbits ran away from the humans, and towards the path Mau should have set traps already. The normal rabbits held still, until Seth needed to take a breath, and then they scattered too.

  "Don't let go, no matter what," Owen said, struggling to get a better grip on the rabbit he'd caught and stuff its head through the loop of the catchpole. The shadow snake was still wrapped around it. "Buggers are fast. We got no chance of getting close again."

  "But it kicked me!" Duvessa said. "I didn't know bunnies had claws. It scratched me and it hurt!"

  Blaise tried to head off a pair that headed for the trees in Mau's direction. She wasn't fast enough.

  "Use your summons, Duvessa! Slow them down!" Seth called down to her.

  The normal rabbits had scattered. Most of the magic ones had, too. Seth readied another Lure. If he could confuse or distract the rabbits before they left the meadow, or lure them back into it, the others might get another chance to grab one.

  Duvessa crawled out of the bush and glared at the tall grass with her hands on her hips. "I don't know where it went! It's hiding now and it still has my catchpole!"

  Seth nocked the Lure arrow and scanned the meadow. He thought one of the magic rabbits had paused at the edge of the forest, but he couldn't see it anymore. He couldn't see the one Duvessa had let go of either. Should he fire the lure next to the other one? Will that make the pull to that spot stronger? Or was he better off firing it near the trees, to pull back rabbits that had fled that way?

  "Duvessa!" Booth screamed.

  Seth pulled back on the arrow without thinking and his eyes snapped to Duvessa.

  Seth didn't see anything and wondered why Booth was so panicked. Then he realized a large creature had crept out of the bush directly behind her.

  It was green, and blended perfectly with the bush behind it. If not for the fact that it had stepped into the yellow grass, Seth might never have spotted it. Its bulbous eyes and triangular head were tilted, as if it were trying to figure out what Duvessa was. It moved slowly as it crept out, but Seth knew how insanely fast a praying mantis could strike.

  This one was nearly human sized.

  Duvessa whirled around at Booth's cry, some instinct warning her of where the danger was. She stood eye to eye with the giant insect known for eating its prey as it still lived. Duvessa froze.

  Owen threw his rabbit and pole at Booth and scrambled towards Duvessa, pulling his sword. There was no way he'd make it in time.

  Blaise charged also, shouting and waving the spear. She probably hoped to distract it.

  Seth fired the Lure arrow at it. The apple made the arrow flight short and inaccurate. He fumbled for another arrow briefly before dropping the bow and preparing a spell.

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  "Duvessa, run!" Booth yelled, still kneeling in the grass. "Don't look at it!"

  The mantis' arms snapped out faster than Seth could see. It grabbed Duvessa by the shoulder and jerked her towards it. Duvessa was screaming now, too.

  Reginald the Second descended on the mantis' head like a meteor. He was nearly double in size, and the shadows around him twisted weirdly. The mantis let go of Duvessa to fend off Reginald. The shadow raven pecked the insect's eyes and battered its head with his wings. The mantis struck out at the raven in retaliation.

  The moment Reginald broke Duvessa's line of sight to the mantis, Duvessa scrambled away.

  Seth took an extra second to tighten his focus. He did not want to hit Reginald or Duvessa. He aimed a powerful Wind Blade at the body of the mantis and successfully struck. The spell cracked the carapace and sliced into the body.

  "Don't look it in the eye!" Booth yelled.

  Owen was there an instant later, hacking at the monster with his sword from the side. He quickly severed both legs on that side and hacked at the crack that Seth had opened. The mantis couldn't disengage from Reginald to meet the new threat.

  Once Blaise arrived too, they made short work of it.

  "Away from the bushes!" Blaise said as she backed up. "There might be more!"

  "Mantids are territorial," Seth called down. "There should only be that one. Once we move out a bit, there could be more though."

  "Good eye, Booth," Owen said. "I didn't see it at all until you called it out."

  "Then get over here before I lose these things. If they keep kicking like this, one of us is going to have broken bones," Booth snapped. He was holding one of the rabbits by the hind legs and it was kicking viciously.

  "Are you all right?" Blaise asked, and crouched down to get a look at Duvessa's injuries.

  "Ugh, what an ugly thing," Duvessa groaned. "I got poked and scratched, but nothing too deep, I think."

  Owen fretted behind Blaise, leaning over to see Duvessa for himself.

  "Owen!" Booth yelled. "Get over here! She's fine! I'm not!" The rabbit he was holding by the feet had nearly escaped. Booth was barely hanging onto it by a single foot. He was kneeling on the other rabbit, but it was squirming aggressively.

  Seth scanned the meadow one more time from his vantage point before collecting Duvessa's bow and walk-skidding down the outcropping. He jogged up to Booth and helped him and Owen get the two captured rabbits into a canvas bag.

  By the time they were done, Duvessa was on her feet and smoothing out her hair.

  "You okay?" Seth asked. "I can give you some healing if you need it."

  "I am fine. A few bruises will help me remember to stay alert," Duvessa said. She raised her arm and adjusted her coat. It had holes in the shoulder and a tear along the sleeve.

  "Are you sure? The guards your grandmother sent might have different opinions," Seth said. Honestly, she'd been lucky. If Reginald hadn't done what he did… "Actually, what happened with Reginald? He got way bigger and looked different."

  "You have a familiar, you don't know?" Duvessa asked, looking at him from under her raised arm.

  Seth glanced in Mau's direction. He spotted her sitting calmly at the meadow's edge, looking at the dead mantis. "I don't. Should I?"

  "It's a feature of familiars to gain mana and power when their master is in danger or very frightened. The familiar will jump to protect their master in whatever way they can. It's one of the reasons Nana is fine with our adventures. She knows Reginald is looking out for me," Duvessa explained. She sighed at the damaged sleeve and lowered her arm.

  "Reginald didn't do any of that during Chicky-Chicky," Seth said. He didn't see any blood on Duvessa's clothes. Maybe it was just bruises and a torn coat.

  "He was outside. I don't know if he did or not. Mau defended us though." Duvessa nodded her head firmly.

  "Yeah, she did. She didn't get bigger or anything though." Seth plucked one of the feathered stalks of grass. "And I don't think she got more mana or anything."

  "Reginald the Second is a summons. A special one, but still a summons. Of course his reaction was more apparent." Duvessa watched him shred the feathered grass. "Should we keep any of this? There's mana here, yes?"

  "Please don't eat the magic grass, Duvessa," Blaise said with a sigh.

  "Mau, did you catch any?" Seth called out.

  She cocked her head, considering, and then shook it. Seth interpreted that as an 'almost'. He probably hadn't given her enough time to get set up.

  Well, two wasn't bad. Seth glanced up at the sky. "We have a choice. We can leave this meadow and back up a ways, and see if the rabbits come back in half an hour or so, or we need to start back."

  "Do you think the rabbits will come back?" Blaise asked. "I figured they'd be gone for good."

  Seth twirled the grass. "This is magic. It has mana in it, and the rabbits need that to become magic beasts. They'll be back. I just don't know if it'll be today. They might stay away for a few days."

  Booth walked up as they were talking, Owen just a step behind.

  "They won't be back today," Owen said. "At least not before we gotta go."

  "Okay," Seth agreed. "We'll take one more good look around and make sure the rabbit Duvessa almost caught isn't hung up on anything, and we'll head back. I think we might be a bit late as it is."

  They were a bit late, but the guards didn't scold them. They put the rabbits together in a cage and headed to Laureli.

  It was dusk when they arrived at the thorny hedge that surrounded the village. Sturdy wooden gates would be closed after full dark, but for now were open and unmanned. The road through was paved with stones, unusual for such a small village. Beside the gates on either end of the village were covered lookout towers. There was no one manning them now.

  Laureli was part waypoint, part crossroads, and mostly a farming village. There were about a hundred houses in the village proper, along with a blacksmith, general store, leather worker, and other individual artisan shops.

  The carriage rolled through unimpeded and stopped beside the barn of the only inn in the village. The woman guard hopped down and headed inside.

  "Where is Thurstan's place? Is it close to town?" Blaise asked quietly.

  "The Lord's place is down that road." Seth pointed west. "About a half hour walk. Mariglade is that way." Seth pointed north east through the town.

  "You won't be going to either," the male guard said just as quietly, and smiled politely at Blaise's startled expression.

  "We'll be staying here," the woman guard told the kids as she walked out of the inn a few minutes later. "There's room, so it'll be boys in one room, girls in the other."

  "Excellent! I'm famished. Let's go eat," Duvessa declared and marched inside.