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

and soon it melted and ran down her cheeks. Her gaze was fixed to the northeast, where the cave and the Shades waited.

“Is everyone ready?” said Mag.

“Yesser,” said Dibu.

“Good,” she said. “We will be right behind Black Squadron. That means we will be the first to meet the enemy, when it comes to blades instead of arrows. Let me take the fore then. Focus on staying alive.”

“They say this is it,” said Li. Her voice shook. “They say this should be the end.”

“It will be,” said Mag, fervent but quiet.

She thought of her words with Dryleaf, about our plans to leave Kun’s army at the next large city we reached. She motioned Li and Dibu closer and spoke quietly enough that only they could hear.

“I have a question. Do both of you mean to see this war through?”

Li’s wandering eyes focused, and her brow furrowed. “What do you mean?”

“This war for Dorsea,” said Mag. “For all of Underrealm, I suppose. Will the two of you stick with Kun as long as it takes?”

“I plan to,” said Dibu, folding his strong arms. A moment later, Li nodded in agreement.

“That is good,” said Mag flatly. “You are both good at this. One should not be overly proud to be a good soldier, but one should not be ashamed of it, either. And you could both be great one day if that is what you want. But not me.”

Li snorted. “Ser, you must be joking. You are the greatest among—”

“I mean that it is not for me anymore,” said Mag. “I used to enjoy it when I was … well, not young. But younger. And when I looked back on those memories, I thought I would enjoy myself again now. But I do not. I am not meant for this sort of life anymore. One day, you might not be, either. When that day comes, I want you to try to recognize it. Because I will not be there to tell you. You are going to have to look out for each other.” She gave a sad smirk. “And for the lieutenant, I suppose.”

Dibu’s cheeks flushed.

“Well, not like that,” said Mag. “Although, I suppose like that, too. Come. It is time to march.”

The cold wind picked up, blasting them all. Nothing about Mag shivered but her cloak.

And so we marched. Four of Kun’s companies set out, leaving behind the fifth under Zhen’s command. Zhen himself stood at the northeast end of camp and watched us march away, his eyes never leaving the column.

I do not know how long he waited, as we all faded into the darkness before him. But I know it could not have been too long.

We reached the entrance to the tunnel in short order. I approached it with some trepidation, afraid that we might find the Shades had come out and formed up for a defense.

Yet the snowy field beside the boulders was empty. No soldiers waited for us with drawn blades, nor were there tracks to show they had come out at all. They were still inside.

We halted, and the column drew up. Kun summoned Mag, Yue, and me to him. Tou was also there, arms folded, glare fixed upon us.

“Well, Sergeants,” said Kun. “Where do we go next?”

I pointed. “Behind those boulders is the entrance to a tunnel leading to the enemy.”

“We should take care, Captain,” said Mag. “They may be guarding the entrance, hoping to hold it against us.”

“Indeed they might,” said Kun, smiling. “What I would not give for a wizard of any stripe. But very well. It might be best to drop a torch down first and see if we can spook them. If they fire arrows at it, we will at least know if they are waiting, and we can plan from there.”

“Yesser,” said Mag. “Let me do it.”

“Certainly,” said Kun, waving her forwards.

Mag took a torch from Dibu and crept up the hillside until she was above the boulders. She waited for the space of a heartbeat, and then she dropped the torch inside.

We all waited in dead silence. But nothing happened. I could see the light glinting around the edges of the boulders at the entrance.

“Nothing, Captain,” said Mag, her voice floating towards us in the night.

“Very well,” said Kun. “Two should drop down with shields and hide behind them at once. Two others should drop ropes at the same time, in case we need to pull them out quickly.”

“Bring a rope,” said Mag. “I can go in first alone.”

Before we could answer, Mag dropped into the darkness. I heard her boots land on the tunnel floor, and then another long silence.

“Nothing, Captain,” repeated Mag. This time her voice was heavy with the echoes of the tunnel. “They are not here. We can proceed.”

Kun turned his gaze on me in the darkness, and though he still smiled, his eyes were steely in the moonslight.

“Very well, Sergeant,” called Kun. “But while I can sympathize with the impulse to put yourself on the front line, you do yourself no favors by disobeying my orders.”

“My apologies, ser,” called Mag. “I will not do so again.”

“I wonder if I can believe that,” muttered Kun

We began to filter into the tunnel. My squadron went first, as Kun had planned. I dropped into the tunnel beside Mag before my archers, and in the brief private moment we had, I fixed her with a look.

“Mag, you have to stop,” I told her. “I know you feel guilty, and I understand. But you will not get yourself killed trying to make things right. Do you understand me? I will not have it. If you cannot think of your own safety, at least think of me, and of Dryleaf.”

“I am thinking of you,” said Mag. “Do not worry about me.”

I shook my head. “Do not give me a reason to.”

Then Jian dropped into the tunnel next to us, and I had to bite my tongue. I waited until all my