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

His bulging eyes glinted up at me, though he hardly raised his head. “I think you should both hear it at once.” He hardly stuttered, as he had last time, and he did not whine.

“A moment, then,” I told him, and turned back towards the crowd surrounding Mag. Pushing my way through them, I put a hand on Mag’s arm and spoke quietly. “If you are done playing the grand hero, I think we should return to the inn. I could use a meal and a bath. And that boy Pantu wishes to speak with us.”

“Sky above, yes,” muttered Mag.

We excused ourselves from the crowd. They did not wish to see us go, but Mag got rather insistent, and then at last, Yue commanded them all to be off to their homes before she started making arrests. I gave her a grateful nod before we left, but she stepped close for a final word.

“I will not deny my gratitude for your actions, nor your right to a warm meal and rest,” she said. “But I would speak with you again before you leave Lan Shui.”

“Why, constable,” I said, feigning surprise. “We would be honored. I thought you could not wait to be rid of us.”

Her familiar scowl returned. “We shall see if I end up changing my mind on that count.”

I laughed, and she stalked off. Mag and I went to Dryleaf and Pantu, who now stood alone on the torchlit street.

“Well?” I said. “Here we are. What do you have to say for yourself, boy?”

“And why have you said nothing before now?” said Mag sternly.

Pantu avoided our eyes again at that. “I … I am sorry for what happened before. I was too ashamed to come speak with you right away. But I realized you needed to know something. About the weremage.”

I tensed, stepping closer to him. “The one working with the Shades?”

He nodded. “Yes, that one. I know little about her—but I do know where she is going. She told all of us. She said her next destination was the town of Opara, in Calentin. They—the Shades—they are up to something there. She never said what it was, but it sounded important.”

The boy’s words struck me like a hammer blow between the eyes. Mag, too, suddenly wore a grim expression, though hers was mostly out of concern for me. My heart must have shown on my face, for Pantu looked at me curiously.

“What is wrong?”

“Nothing,” I said. “Thank you very much for telling us this, Pantu. You did the right thing.”

He nodded and turned, heading off into the town. It was as if he had forgotten Dryleaf was there. But the old man did not seem to notice, much less mind, for he only kept beaming in the general direction of the two of us.

“Do you see what I meant?” he said. “A good boy, if sometimes misguided.” He swallowed hard and put out a searching hand to shake. “Now then, ah … I understand I have the honor of addressing the Uncut Lady. Is that correct?”

Mag suddenly looked just as confused as she had seemed grim a moment ago. Without thinking, she took Dryleaf’s wrist and shook, frowning down at him.

“I … have been called that, yes. But please, call me Mag.”

“It would be my highest honor,” said Dryleaf. “Sky above, to think I should have lived to see you in person. Or, to meet you, I should say.” He gave a hearty laugh, and Mag gave a weak one as she tried to join him. “You are even better than in the stories.”

“You are very much too kind,” I told him. “Truly, I mean that. But come. Let us walk you back to the inn. It is late, and surely you are tired.”

Dryleaf frowned at me—not out of anger, but with a sudden, strong interest. “It is late, but I am hardly weary. You are trying to cut our conversation short. Why?”

I opened my mouth, trying to summon a lie. But above us, a raven called, and I looked up at it. The bird perched on the edge of a nearby building, staring at me unblinking. My nerves tingled, a sensation that crept up and down my limbs, leaving me anxious and wishing to move. Whatever lie I had been dreaming up fled my mind.

“Pantu’s words trouble me,” I told him truthfully. “If the Shades are truly in Calentin, and if they are plotting something there … well, I wish to find out what they are doing, and why, and then I wish to stop them as quickly as I can.”

“We should search their hideout,” said Mag. “We hardly had any time to investigate it, the last time we were there. And I do not think Yue will begrudge us a little look about the place now.”

“I would be surprised to find anything there,” I told her. “But for lack of any better ideas … yes, let us go. In any case, I wish to ride for Opara in the morning.”

“Agreed,” she said. Together we turned and set off down the street, but we had not gone two steps before Dryleaf, who I had entirely forgotten, piped up behind us.

“Wait!” he said. “Wait for me!”

I clapped a hand to my forehead. “Sky save me, I am sorry. Of course I will walk you back to the inn.”

“The inn?” said Dryleaf, stepping briskly up beside me. “Do not be silly. I will come with you. I would not wish to delay you for an instant, and it would be my great pleasure to accompany the Uncut Lady on one of her adventures, even such a small and uneventful part of the tale as this.”

I looked over my shoulder at Mag. She shrugged. “What harm could it do?”

“I will try not to take that as an insult,” said Dryleaf, his bushy eyebrows shooting skywards.

“Very well,” I told him. “It will be our pleasure to have your company.”

“Of course it will,” he said, beaming. As we