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

looked up into his enraged, bewildered expression, and she forced a smile upon her face. “You are so close, Dotag,” she said eagerly. “You have come so far. The humans cannot hope to stop your pack now. Finish it. Kill them!”

She struggled against Mag’s spear, but Mag, expressionless, only squeezed tighter. Kaita began to gag, the wood pressing into her windpipe.

“You … you did this,” said Dotag. His shoulders heaved. “You … you—”

He straightened and threw his fists wide, unleashing a roar that startled everyone in the hall. Then he charged. I saw Mag hesitate for just a heartbeat, and for a mad moment I thought she was going to let Dotag crush her and Kaita together.

Instead, she wrapped an arm around Kaita’s neck and leaped to the side, dodging just as Dotag’s fist came crashing down where they had just been standing. Both women fell. Mag tried to get back up, but Kaita was fighting her now. She could not free herself from Mag’s grip, but her struggles kept either of them from getting to their feet.

Dotag roared and attacked again. Mag had to roll away. Without Kaita to hamper her movements, she was able to shoot to her feet and strike. Dotag screamed and reeled away. Mag had sliced his right ear clean off.

But Kaita had been given the reprieve she needed. Her eyes flashed, and even as Ditra cried out for archers to stop her, she took her mountain lion form. I was the only one who managed a shot—it flew straight through the crowd, piercing her flank. She yowled, but she did not stop. In a blink she had slithered through the press of trolls, out the door and into the bailey beyond. Another flash of magelight, and then I saw a raven wheel away above the heads of the trolls, screaming in frustration as it vanished into the sky.

Mag stood stock still, watching. Had it not been for the battle-trance, I am sure she would have been shaking with rage.

Dotag hardly seemed to know what to do with himself. His thick fingers probed at the wound in the side of his head. I thought it would enrage him further, but instead he only seemed confused. He looked down at Mag, but he did not try to attack her. He looked at the rest of us in the hall, taking in the many flaming arrows raised and flasks of oil ready to throw.

At last he turned back to his pack. “The mountains are still ours! Fight! Kill them!”

He whirled back, ready to plunge into the midst of Ditra’s troops. But he only got two steps before he realized that not one troll had moved to follow him. They were looking at him instead, their faces impassive, studying him like a beast in the mountains. He stopped and turned.

“Fight!” he roared, louder than before. Still they held their ground. Dotag snarled and lunged towards them, smashing his fists against the floor. “I lead this pack. I lead! Challenge me, or obey!”

“I challenge you.”

One of the trolls—another female—stepped forwards. She was thick and tall, and imposing despite the small burns on her skin. And I did not need to speak the troll’s language to hear the hatred thick in her voice.

“I, Apok, challenge you. You let yourself be tricked by the humans. You followed their counsel when Chok told you not to. You killed Chok to serve the humans. You will lead us to ruin. I, Apok, challenge you.”

Dotag looked truly terrified now. But he stumped towards her, spreading his shoulders to appear thicker and bigger than before.

“Get back!” called Ditra. Her soldiers needed no second urging; they backed as far from the two trolls as they could, pressing against the far edges of the hall. Only Mag remained where she was, still staring off where Kaita had flown. I pushed through the crowd and seized her, drawing her away from the trolls.

“Come,” I murmured. “We will find her again.”

We barely got out of the way before Dotag snarled and charged Apok. He leaped at her, swinging both fists with all his might. But Apok stepped out of the way and used his own momentum to slam him into the ground. She struck him twice before he managed to roll away—but when he came up, it was with a powerful blow that flung her back into the wall. She slumped down, and I saw cracked stone behind her.

Dotag pressed his advantage. As Apok fought for her feet, he struck her once in the face, sending her head crashing against the wall again. He struck her twice more, both in places on her torso that had been badly burned in the battle. Apok roared with pain. She lashed out, and the nails of her stubby fingers raked the place where Dotag’s ear had been. He recoiled, falling back a few steps and giving her the chance to gain her feet again.

Mag’s arm tensed in my hand. I gripped her tighter, and she turned to look at me. “Leave it,” I said quietly. “This is their affair, and they will brook no interference.”

“If that one wins …” she tilted her head towards Dotag.

“I know,” I said. “But we have no choice.”

Apok approached Dotag cautiously. They were both grimacing, showing each other their teeth. But Apok held herself firm, her gaze fixed on Dotag, whereas he was shifting back and forth, looking about. He might have been searching for some advantage, but he looked like he was trying to find an escape.

Finally Apok attacked again. Dotag ducked her first blow, but her second crashed into his jaw. He went sliding back across the stone floor and came to a stop amid the wreckage of the keep door, curled up like a babe in a cradle. The Telfer soldiers in the room gasped, and there was a murmur among the trolls.

But it was a ruse. As Apok approached, Dotag struck. He had snatched up a piece of the broken iron grid that