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

Go now. If Rogan wishes for you to continue your work in Tokana, then you had better scurry off. I shall finish what you could not.”

“When Rogan hears of this—”

“Oh? And will you tell him?” Riri gave a derisive bark of laughter. “The once great Kaita, scurrying to the heels of her master when she is defeated. I think you will not. I think you will try to forget that this ever happened, out of shame.”

Kaita fumed, her breath coming hot and fast, a haze settling over her vision. Almost she reached for her magic again. Almost she transformed and attacked. Never mind defeating Riri—she wanted to kill her.

She smiled instead.

“Very well. You wish to fight the Uncut Lady? You are welcome to her. I wish you every chance of success.”

Riri arched an eyebrow. “What are you playing at?”

Kaita did not answer. She turned and stalked out of the room, throwing the door open so that it slammed against the wall outside. Two guards stood beyond, both of them looking nervously over Kaita’s shoulder. They must have had strict orders not to enter unless Riri called for aid, but it was clear they had wanted to. They stared, dumbfounded, as Kaita swept past them.

The low stone hallway ran a short distance before reaching a double door. Kaita flung these open to reveal a large main chamber, the centerpiece of the fortress. It was no grand place—not as finely decorated as the Shades’ fortress at The Watcher, and not as venerable as their former stronghold in the Greatrocks. It had been built long ago by kings whose names were long forgotten—forgotten because they never rose to the greatness of Roth’s generals in later days. Only recently had the Shades reclaimed this place for their own use.

Many of Riri’s soldiers sat in the hall now, eating their evening meal. At the loud crash of the doors, most of them looked up, and the rest followed suit as the hall slowly fell silent.

“Hear me,” called Kaita, her voice ringing in the still air. “Hear me, my siblings. Your father loves you, as he loves me and all his children. And if his love has a flaw, it is that it leads him to trust those who are not worthy.”

Footsteps came down the hall behind her. Riri was coming.

“Father would want you to survive,” Kaita went on, more quickly now. “And I say this: if you wish to live, abandon Riri. She is a fool, and she will throw all of your lives away. But if you remain, and if any of you live, your father’s mercy will remain—in me. Go north. Find me in Tokana. I will welcome you with an open heart, ready to return you to our father’s embrace.”

Riri skidded to a stop behind her. Kaita turned and smiled, pleased to see the look of shock and fury on Riri’s face.

“What under the sky are you doing?” growled Riri. “This is worse than insubordination. It is treason!”

“Bold words from one who refused Rogan’s orders,” said Kaita. “Strike me down, if you think you can. But you had best pray word of it never reaches Rogan or our father.”

Riri’s hands tensed. For a moment, Kaita thought she would actually try it. But finally Riri thrust a finger towards the chamber door leading out.

“Go. Never let me see your face again, lest I plant a dagger within it.”

“No, you never will see me again,” said Kaita. “You will die shortly after I leave, after I continue my service to our father. You think you have grown strong since our youth, and that I have remained the same. But I did change. I have grown wise, while you have remained foolish. Farewell, Ririti. For the last time.”

Kaita turned and swept from the stronghold.

“Why did Riri hate her so?” said Sun.

“They knew each other when they were girls, as you will have guessed,” said Albern. “Their feud began then, and it worsened the older they grew. That is not always how it goes, of course. Many times we make enemies in our youth, only to reunite with them later and laugh at old, petty grievances. But that usually requires our paths to draw apart for a time, only to reunite when years of wisdom allow us to see our early days with a more honest eye. Kaita and Riri never had that chance. They were never apart for long, and their conflict worsened each time they clashed.”

“They were not sisters, were they?” said Sun. “I have no siblings, but I have known others who do. They fight more than it seems possible two people can fight.”

Albern chuckled at that. “I have seen the same. But no, they were not.”

They journeyed now through green lowlands, across fields that stretched for leagues to the west and east. In the west they met suddenly a great spur rising up out of the land—Sun recognized it from the story Albern had already told her of Lan Shui. To the east, the land climbed into the foothills of the Greatrock Mountains, which stood imposing above them, reaching for the sun, which was still climbing into the sky. The cool air had warmed now, and Sun had cast off her cloak and opened the ties of her outer skins as she walked, trying to keep from overheating. A raven soared above them. Sun glanced at it and was unpleasantly reminded of Kaita, and the way she had stalked Mag and Albern from the air for so long. She shuddered and returned her attention to the road.

“It is all so different,” murmured Albern. When Sun looked up at him curiously, he waved his arm at their surroundings. “The landscape, I mean.”

“When was the last time you were here?”

“Longer than a while, less than an age,” he said, chuckling. “Some time after the Necromancer’s War, but not long after. Leaving for such a length of time makes all the changes seem far more