The Tales of the Wanderer Volume One: A Book of Underrealm (The Underrealm Volumes 4) by Garrett Robinson (elon musk reading list TXT) 📕

the Shades’ colors. And something tells me you are not quite as surprised by this news as you are trying to appear.”

Mag shrugged. “How could we know? The weremage dwelled long in Tokana. We had no reason to suspect her involvement with them.”

“Hm,” said Tuhin. “Or mayhap you thought the Rangatira would not let you join the hunt, if he knew you were in fact hunting Shades.”

Mag’s expression of innocence was perfect. “Would he not?”

“Hm,” said Tuhin again. Then they rolled their eyes. “Since we have, in fact, cleared out a hidden stronghold of Shades, I suppose I have done my duty, and I need not press the matter.”

“We thank you,” I said. “But we are, in fact, after the weremage, and that mystery remains. Unless she is one of these two.”

It was only then that I realized Riri had gone very quiet. She looked no less enraged, but she had stopped trying to pull away from Mag. Her eyes went from Tuhin to Mag, and then to me, calculating, assessing.

“I think that if she was disguised as one of these two, she would have taken a more dangerous form already, trying to kill us,” said Mag.

“You cannot be sure,” said Tuhin. “And you have forgotten someone else.” They gave a small smile.

I frowned at them. “Who is that?”

“Me,” said Tuhin. “You lost sight of me for a moment there. It would have been easy for her to replace me, if she was nearby, and watching. If you are going to hunt a weremage, you must always be alert, and never trust anyone—least of all the ones you feel certain about.”

An uneasy feeling crept through me. “But if you were her, you would never tell us this.”

“Unless it were part of a grander ploy,” said Tuhin, raising their brows. “I could be luring you into a false sense of peace. Why, after this, I imagine the two of you would march me straight to the Rangatira, where I might be able to strike him down.”

“Except the Rangatira has his own wizards to detect that sort of thing,” said Mag.

Tuhin gave an exasperated look. “But the weremage might not know that, and I rather wish you had not mentioned it in front of the prisoners.”

Oku pulled his attention away from Mag for a moment and trotted to Tuhin. Tuhin knelt to greet him, and Oku sniffed at their wounded shoulder. He gave it one brief lick and then went back to Mag, whining at her again.

“Oku seems to trust you,” I said.

“I could fool him, too, if I were particularly skilled at magic,” said Tuhin. “There is only one way to ensure we know who the weremage is.”

“Please,” interjected the younger Shade woman in my grip. Her eyes had begun to brim with tears. “I only served them for the coin, I do not—”

“Shut your mouth, girl,” said Riri harshly.

“This is ridiculous,” said Mag, looking annoyed. “The weremage would never tell us everything you have.”

“They are masters of deception,” said Tuhin.

“They are not the weremage!” said the younger girl, tossing her head at Tuhin. “She left!”

“Hoko!” cried Riri.

“She might have appeared to leave, but remained behind,” said Tuhin. “You would never know, girl. There is only one way to tell for certain.”

“What is it?” I said. “Though I suppose you will tell us, and then tell us that we cannot trust what you have told us, because you could be the weremage.”

“You are getting the idea now,” said Tuhin, grinning broadly.

They came towards me and the younger Shade—Hoko, she had been called. She recoiled, but Tuhin ignored it.

“There are two points just behind the temple,” they said, pointing to their own head. “Just here, where the skull dips. As I understand it, the magic passes through there, no matter what form the weremage takes. And if you strike them—”

They lunged forwards, striking with their uninjured hand in a chopping motion. Hoko reeled under the impact. But nothing happened—no glow in the eyes, and no shifting of her form. Tuhin strode towards Riri next.

“Do not touch me, kingsworn scum,” snarled Riri.

But Mag held her still, and Tuhin struck her just as they had done to Hoko. Riri grunted at the blows, but again, nothing happened.

“That is most interesting,” said Mag.

Then she moved almost faster than I could see. First she shoved Riri in my direction, and I caught the woman’s arm in surprise. Mag struck Tuhin twice, once in each temple, before I realized what had happened. Tuhin nearly fell over from her strikes, but somehow they kept their feet. Their gaze looked unfocused for a moment.

“Yes,” they said weakly. “Just like that.”

“Chao!” I said indignantly.

“No, she was quite correct to do so,” said Tuhin, raising a hand. “I could have been the weremage, and I could still be, if I have been lying. You should bind my hands for the journey home.”

“I will keep you close,” said Mag. “You will not escape us unless I want you to. Assuming you are, in fact, Tuhin, where did you learn this skill?”

“I was never a Mystic, but I have served alongside them many times,” said Tuhin. “This is a trick I learned from their mage hunters.”

Suddenly a memory came to me. I, too, had traveled with a Mystic—Jordel, who had also been a mage hunter, once. I had seen him do something I would have called impossible, if I had not seen it myself. He pressed his fingers to the temples of Xain, the wizard, and forced him to use his firemagic.

I met Mag’s gaze. “I think they are telling the truth. I have seen something like this before.”

“You should bind me regardless,” said Tuhin.

“I have already said you cannot escape from me if I do not wish you to,” said Mag.

A thought struck me. “Tuhin,” I said. “You are trying to warn us about yourself. But you have said nothing about Chao. We both lost sight of her. She could be the weremage, for all you know.”

Tuhin grinned. “I wondered when you