The Fourth Secret: A Fantasy LitRPG Adventure (Divine Apostasy Book 4) by A. Kay (best short books to read .TXT) 📕

Izac’s Mage killed us. He hid up there, out of reach. Then trapped us outside.”

“We should have expected it,” Clarysa said.

Ruwen realized that while his parents had sat in the temple revival queue for a year, the memories of dying out here were less than an hour old for them.

“How did you beat the Mage?” Clarysa asked.

Ruwen wanted an explanation about the terium and the killing, but he also feared the answers. The difficult conversation was inevitable, so rushing it seemed pointless. The revelation had tossed them over a cliff, and eventually they would all hit the ground. If his parents wanted to discuss other things as they plummeted downward, so be it.

“I launched Lylan—” Ruwen stopped himself. His parents had no idea who any of his friends were. Trying to make his explanations shorter, he summarized. “There are four people you need to know about. Sift is my best friend and an Adept in the Steps. Hamma is a priestess with the Wisdom of a Judge. Lylan is a Shade and as quiet and serious as a shadow.”

“We met Hamma in the revival baths,” Clarysa said. “A really nice priestess.”

Ruwen nodded. Now wasn’t the time to discuss his relationship with Hamma. “And last there is the friend of my soul.”

You don’t have to come out if you don’t want to, Ruwen said to Rami.

Ruwen felt Rami push herself out from behind his ear and leap into the air. The small Bookwyrm flapped her wings slowly as she hovered in the air. Ruwen triggered his Glow ability and the surrounding area brightened.

“This is Rami,” Ruwen said. “She is the most special Bookwyrm in the Universe.”

Ruwen’s head, neck, and chest warmed from Rami’s hug, and she bent her graceful neck in a small bow to his parents.

Clarysa gasped. “Rami, you are beautiful.”

Colyn nodded. “I agree. It is a pleasure to meet you, Rami.”

Do you want me to form a group so you can talk to them? Ruwen asked.

Not now. You three don’t need more excuses to delay what’s coming. I’ll talk to them after the dust settles.

Rami returned to her perch behind Ruwen’s ear.

“A lot has happened to you,” Clarysa said.

Ruwen sighed. “I don’t even know where to begin.”

Colyn smiled, and they all walked again. “How about how you killed that Mage? It still bothers me he bested us.”

Ruwen thought back to that chaotic fight, and his terrible idea that had saved them. “I launched Lylan from my Inventory and she blew the Mage off the roof.”

After a few seconds, Clarysa spoke. “That is amazingly clever, and just like you to think of it. I noticed your Void Band, which means Uru knows, too.”

Ruwen collected his thoughts. “I wanted to Ascend as a Mage.”

“Really?” Colyn asked. “You never mentioned it.”

Even as upset as Ruwen felt, his dad’s sarcasm made him smile. “It took me a while to adjust to Ascending as a Worker. I’ll even admit to wishing I’d paid more attention to your fighting lessons. But I’m proud to be a Worker now.” Ruwen said the last statement almost like a challenge.

Colyn nodded. “You should be.”

“I thought you’d only be a Mage,” Clarysa said.

Ruwen stopped, confused. His parents stopped as well and looked at him. “That isn’t the response I expected.”

Clarysa pulled Ruwen’s shoulder, and they began walking again. “That’s because Uru has kept us safe from wars for millennia, and Workers, especially those with Void Bands, only use their abilities for the common good now.”

“In war,” Colyn said. “They are force multipliers and highly respected. To be honest, I’m upset she honored you like this. If what she says is true, it will only put you in danger. Uru has taken so much already that—”

“Colyn, no,” Clarysa said. “Not now.”

Colyn shook his head. “I can’t keep all these secrets anymore, Clarysa. How do we justify the terium without explaining everything else?”

Clarysa looked down. “I don’t know.”

“Because we can’t,” Colyn said gently. “He deserves to know. Everything.”

They walked in silence until a minute later, Clarysa whispered. “Okay.”

Colyn stopped and hugged Clarysa. “I know it’s painful, sweetheart. But maybe this will help with the nightmares.”

“Is there somewhere private we can talk?” Clarysa asked. “Very private.”

Looking at the map, Ruwen located Bliz and Tremine near the portal to the Shattered Sun. Sift was in his room with Lylan, and Hamma was with her father near the revival baths. Ruwen wondered how that reunion had gone. Or if Hamma had even told her father who she was.

Ruwen didn’t see who he needed right now, but that didn’t surprise him. “Follow me,” Ruwen said to his parents.

It took them ten minutes to reach the lake which Ruwen used to tell his parents how he’d met Sift and his first days in the Black Pyramid. He left out the Harvesting part in Blapy, as he wanted to explain that in private. Survey and Stone Echo made Ruwen’s map useless as it displayed a mass of dots. Fish, he assumed, as he toggled off both abilities. It didn’t matter, as he couldn’t do this himself.

Rami, could you see if Shelly is here and if she’ll let us inside her shell?

Rami jumped from behind Ruwen’s ear and dived into the water.

Be careful in there, Ruwen said, worried that a fish would swallow her.

The water roiled and the three of them stepped away from the water’s edge. An enormous shadow emerged from the lake and Ruwen increased the brightness of Glow. Shelly came into the light, water dripping down her immense form. Rami perched on the giant turtle’s head.

Clarysa gasped.

“Mercy on my soul,” Colyn whispered.

I found her, Rami said.

I see that. Thank you.

“This is Shelly,” Ruwen said. “She’s soulbound to Sift.”

Shelly placed her front leg on the shore and Ruwen climbed up it, waving at his parents to join him. Rami returned to his ear, soaking the hair on the side of his head. Cold water ran down his neck and he brushed it away.

In less than a minute they were safely in the shell and back under