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

I knelt, elbows on my knees, and made sure her withering glare was on me as I continued.

“You are a spiteful, hateful person, Kaita. I suspect you always have been. Your own choices are what brought you to this cave. It is true that you fell under the influence of cruel people. But so did I.” There was no hiding the note of bitterness that had crept into my voice. “And I did not turn into the sort of detestable scum that you are. It was your choice to turn that hatred outwards, to let it become violence.”

Kaita looked ready to rip my skin from my body if Mag’s spear had not been poised to strike. “You are a useless whelp,” she spat, “and you always have been. You abandoned everyone who could have made you into something great. And you think you are better than me?”

I arched an eyebrow. “Which of us has the arrow ready, and which is on her back?”

“You would be nothing without the sow at your side!”

The dizziness from Mag’s strikes had passed. Kaita slapped Mag’s spear away and rolled aside, her eyes filling with the dark glow. But Mag swung the spear around with the momentum of Kaita’s blow, slamming the flat of the blade into her head.

Kaita fell facedown on the ground, gasping. Mag stepped up and put her foot on the back of her neck.

“You are wrong,” said Mag simply. She was not in her battle-trance. She did not need it. And I suspect that she wanted to feel every emotion and sensation of this moment. “You could not be more wrong. Albern is better than you, in the only way that matters.” Her gaze met mine. “In many ways, he is better than me. And he always has been. But as for you … you and I have been enemies since before I knew who you were. You have been trying to hurt the ones I love since the first day I saw you. You could have turned back whenever you wanted, gone on to find another path. But you chose each step you took, and every one brought you closer to this place, and this time. And once you took Sten from me …”

Her voice shook. And I saw the trance start to come into her eyes, sliding across her face. But it stopped, and she pushed the mask away, letting the tears flow.

“You should have slit your own throat that day. It would have saved us all a great deal of time. You could never have escaped me once I decided to kill you. And you would have served your Lord better as a corpse than alive. Then, at least, he would not have lost everything we have taken from him already. And he would not now be destined to lose everything we will take in the future.”

Kaita screeched, “I will rip you apart in the dark below, you—”

Mag drove the spear through her heart.

Kaita spasmed beneath her boot, her fingers clawing at Mag’s ankle. But she could find no purchase. She tried desperately to reach the spear, but Mag twisted it, and Kaita’s arms fell to the ground. Her eyes were wide as she kept gasping like a fish flung onto the shore. Her form started to shift, her eyes glowing black. But Mag had struck her too hard, too many times. Shock and the Mystics’ trick kept her from sealing her wounds, or from taking another form. And yet still she tried.

Mag squatted beside her. Kaita tried to strike, but Mag caught the wrist—just to hold it, not even squeezing. A pace away, Oku stopped growling and sat back on his haunches. He cocked his head as he looked down at Kaita’s jerking form.

“Fare well,” said Mag. “Sten is avenged. You may see him briefly in the darkness below, while he is resting, and before the evil ones take you. I am sure it will put him at peace. That is the only service you have left to render.”

And Kaita died.

I will not lie to you, Sun. It felt good. Oh, I know it did not solve anything. It did not bring Sten back, nor did it lessen the pain of his absence. I understand why people say that revenge is not the answer.

But neither should they say that it does not feel good in the moment. Because it does.

And some people just need to die.

Mag, Oku, and I turned and left the cave. We did not look back at her. Not even once.

Captain Kun was in what remained of his camp, holding council.

It was dawn. In the day and a half that had passed since the Shade attack, his force had rested, recovered, and reclaimed as much of their supplies and possessions as they were going to. Now he was discussing his plans with Tou and the remaining lieutenants. He was listening to them as they spoke. But mostly, he was thinking of Zhen, of his sister’s eyes in his nephew’s face, staring at an empty, uncaring sky.

Kun was torn. He knew it was his duty to lead the army to safety, to a place where they could resupply themselves and avoid starvation in the icy wilderness. But part of him wanted to go after Mag and I. He wanted to assemble a small group to hunt us down. And he wanted to lead the hunt himself, though that would endanger his forces.

It was not the right thing to do, but he wanted to do it all the same.

There came a hail from outside. One of Kun’s guards had issued a challenge. The council all paused, looking towards the tent’s large door. Tou glanced at Kun, and Kun met his gaze.

After a moment, the tent flap opened. In stepped Kun’s guard, along with a tall archer of Feldemarian