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

stood in a position of rest at the other end of it. She had not invited him to sit down. “The Shades,” said Ditra. “I care nothing for the strangers.”

“I have not found them yet,” said Maia. “But I believe I am drawing closer. Then again, so are the strangers.”

“How?” demanded Ditra. “You are my lead ranger. You were born to this land. How are they keeping up with you?”

Maia shrugged, projecting a nonchalance he did not feel. “I do not know, Rangatira. They seem to know the area fairly well. Certainly at least one of them has been here before.”

Ditra found herself troubled by that, though she did not know why, and she did not greatly wish to speculate upon it. “Well, you must avoid them if you can.”

“I have, so far,” said Maia. “It has sometimes been a near thing. But I may not be able to avoid them forever. We are on the same trail, after all, and it is leading us both to the same end.”

“Then you must beat them to it,” said Ditra. “Mayhap you should take others with you.”

“No,” said Maia. “That would only slow me down.”

“You do not seem to be moving particularly fast,” snapped Ditra, slamming down her mug. A bit of ale splashed over the side of it onto the table.

Maia said nothing, but only clasped his hands behind his back.

Ditra gave a disgusted snort and stood, making her way over to the window. She stared out into the sky. Another snow was falling, heavier than it had been in the last few days.

“Find the Shades,” she said. “Before the strangers can. We have to end this before it begins. We cannot engage in an open battle with the trolls.”

“Of course, Rangatira.” Maia bowed and left the room.

Ditra stayed at her window a long while, looking out into the gusts of white flakes.

I cannot let this come to open war, she thought. But she feared it might already be too late.

I suppose it was foolish of me to hope that we could go on forever without encountering a troll. But I did hold that hope, and it proved to be wrong.

We were investigating yet another destroyed village. This one was only an hour’s hard ride from the sight of Kahaunga’s walls. The trolls had slain a score of people in the attack, throwing Kahaunga even deeper into panic. It was hard to tell if the trolls were growing more bloodthirsty, or if more people were dying because more people were fighting. Now that the trolls had started to kill, townsfolk were less likely to simply abandon their homes. Many fought to keep them.

Whenever they did, they lost.

We crept up on the village stealthily, though in truth we were not as cautious as we could have been. This was the eleventh village we had investigated, and we had not found trolls in any of them. So although we dismounted a good distance away and approached the village on foot, I did not range very far ahead of Mag to scout the place.

That almost proved disastrous.

Mag and I were picking our way through the buildings when we heard it: the heavy thud of a foot on stone, and a great snorting, snuffling sound. It was close—within half a span, certainly. Terror nearly stopped my heart.

“Oku, kip,” I whispered, motioning furiously to the dog as I dragged Mag out of the street and out of sight. We ducked into a half-wrecked home with a massive hole in the wall. Part of the ceiling hung down into the main room.

We waited a long moment. A sharp crack sounded not far away—a timber breaking. The troll was digging into another building, likely breaking it apart just like the one we were in now.

“They left one behind?” whispered Mag.

“Or it returned,” I whispered back. “From the reports, it sounded as though this raid was quicker than most of the others. This troll might have snuck away from the rest of its pack, hoping to find some foodstuffs the others left behind.”

“Mayhap we should ask it.”

I stared at her in horror. A smile crept across her face.

“I am joking.”

“Do not do that.”

Oku growled low in his throat.

“Kip, Oku.” He subsided, and I turned back to Mag. “We must get out of here, and as quietly as possible. It sounds as though it is a little distance off. We should be able to get away without it spotting us.”

“This could be our chance, Albern,” said Mag. “We could follow it back to the others, and from them, to the Shades.”

“We cannot risk being discovered,” I said harshly, my voice a little too loud. “You do not know these creatures, Mag.”

“The entire reason we came out here was to find trolls.” Mag pointed through the hole in the wall. “There. I have found one.”

“We came to find a trail. Letting a troll see us would be beyond foolish.”

“There have been nearly a dozen trails, and they have not led us anywhere. Now we have—”

I covered her mouth with my hand, my eyes wide. She fell silent. I swiveled back and forth, listening, while Oku quivered beside us.

“What is it?” Mag hissed, her voice muffled by my fingers.

“I do not hear the—”

THOOM

The wall on the other side of the building crashed inwards. Shards of wood and plaster showered us. A wooden beam as thick as my leg flew by, missing me by a handbreadth. The troll’s stubby fingers reached in, probing for us. It roared in fury.

“Run!” I screamed, dragging Mag out the door. “Oku, kip!”

The hound fled, yelping in panic, and we were just behind him. I heard the troll crash into the building where we had been hiding, but I dared not turn back to look. Mag’s arm was still in my clutches. But suddenly, to my horror, she yanked herself free and stopped in the middle of the street.

I skidded to a halt, and Oku did the same.