The Tales of the Wanderer Volume One: A Book of Underrealm (The Underrealm Volumes 4) Garrett Robinson (poetry books to read TXT) 📖

Apok hesitated. It was a long, uncomfortable moment in the square before she spoke, but Kaita knew she had already won.

“No,” said Apok.

“Then be silent.” Kaita turned back to Dotag and lowered her voice. “We have the Telfers trapped. Apok is right about one thing. The humans will bring their armies. They will bring their fire. But if we kill the Telfers, no human will ever dare to break the bonds of the pact.”

Still Dotag did not look entirely convinced. He pawed at the pavement of the town square, eyeing the pile of bread and produce before him. “We have gone far enough for now. Many have died. More are hurt. We need to rest.”

“We need to kill them,” said Kaita, her voice rumbling with fury. “They will never leave these mountains until we throw them out. You lead this pack now. You must be strong. You must protect us from the humans. And you must do it now. The Lord will reward you for it.”

Dotag looked more reluctant than ever. But he tore his gaze away from the pile of food before him, looking up towards the western rim of the valley. At last he turned to the other trolls in the square.

“We attack.” Dotag tried to make his voice loud and commanding, but it rasped, weary from all his roaring during the battle earlier. “Gather the pack. We will destroy the humans’ home. We will rest when they are all dead.”

The trolls lumbered off to do his bidding. Dotag turned to Kaita, his expression full of doubt. But Kaita only smiled.

Maia’s body was burned in the center of the stronghold’s bailey with everyone in attendance. Ditra had Vera off to one side of her, and I stood to the other. When the flames began to subside, Ditra sent Vera away to join the rest of the refugees. With her went a dozen guards for protection. I could not help but think that a dozen more soldiers would be useful in the coming battle, but I said nothing. Ditra had to know it. But if we died, then Vera would be the last remnant of our line.

Not that it seemed to make much difference to Ditra’s soldiers. At first she asked for volunteers, but no one stepped forwards. I was shocked, until I realized the soldiers did not see the assignment as an honor—they saw it as fleeing from the fight. It astounded me, and I could not help but wonder if they would have been so eager to stay and die at their lord’s side if my mother had still been the Rangatira.

In the end, Ditra had to order a dozen of them to leave with Vera. The first tried to argue. She subsided when Ditra asked her if she thought Vera’s life was not worth saving—in which case Ditra would happily strip her of rank and send her out to face the trolls first. After that, she and the others went along quite meekly, if not exactly willingly.

Mag and I faced much the same resistance when we told Dryleaf to leave the city as well. The old man flatly refused until we threatened to tie him up and stick him in the back of a wagon. He could not help in a fight, and though his counsel was valuable, the time for advice was long past. We sent Oku with him. The hound trotted along at the heels of Dryleaf’s horse, looking back at Mag and I often. For once, he did not seem to understand what was going on, and it nearly broke my heart.

With Vera seen to, and all the other preparations at the stronghold underway, Ditra’s remaining rangers and I convinced her to rest. She retired to her chamber to sleep, but not before assigning a servant to find lodgings for Mag and me. “If I am being forced to sleep until the battle, then I will force you to do the same,” she said.

I was more than happy to obey. The battle in the city had not lasted long—certainly not as long for me as it had been for Ditra—but I was exhausted to the point of collapse. When they showed me to my bed, I paused only long enough to stow my bow and sword before I fell upon the mattress, fully clothed. I have some vague sense that Mag came into my room just before sleep claimed me. If she meant to talk, she left disappointed.

The blast of a horn woke me in an instant. I had slept for three hours, but it felt like no time at all. Groggy, I belted my sword on and slung my bow across my back, stumbling from the room to find Mag waiting for me.

“Did you sleep?” I said, my speech slurred with weariness.

“A bit,” she said. Her words were clear, and her eyes looked as sharp as ever. “Less than you, though yours looks to have done you less good.”

I waved her words away. “Leave off. Let us go to Ditra.”

We found her on the eastern wall, looking into the dale below. The night sky was dark above us, but the landscape was fairly well lit by the fires that still burned in the city, which reflected off the pall of black smoke hanging in the air. A chill wind blew hard into our faces, and I pulled my cloak tighter as I shivered. Ditra looked up at our approach and gave us a stiff nod.

“They are coming.”

I squinted down into the darkness. The burning city cast a tint across the world, so that everything was only visible in shades between black and crimson. But I saw no signs of movement down below, no indication of the trolls at all.

“Where?” I said.

“My scouts reported it,” said Ditra. “Rest assured, they will be here soon.”

“That prospect urges neither rest nor assurance.”

Mag laughed and clapped my shoulder, probably a