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

Mag and Yue set their torches down. We could retrieve them on the way back out. We continued down the tunnel until we reached the place where the guard had stood. I could see now that his head had been shaved close to the scalp, but he had a long, stringy beard. He stared up at me as I passed, his mouth slightly open. I ignored him.

Now we could see the vast cavern beyond the tunnel. It stretched for spans in both length and width. Laid out near its center was the Shades’ camp. There were several lines of tents, with two low campfires that I could see. Some figures walked around, but they seemed to be either fetching food or heading off to relieve themselves in some distant corner. I saw no posted guards. Kaita must have been convinced that hiding beneath the earth would keep them safe.

I tapped both Mag and Yue on the shoulder and drew them behind a large, jutting rock formation. I began speaking to them in sign, afraid of letting out even a whisper in this place. The Shade camp was a span off, but sound carried far on the harsh, rocky surfaces all around us.

“What now?” I signed.

“We need the officers’ tents,” signed Mag. “Kaita will be there.”

“What in the dark below are you two doing?” whispered Yue.

“Shhh!” I hissed. “We are signing. Do you not know sign?”

Yue grimaced. “I … do,” she said aloud. “But I have not practiced in—”

I put a hand over her mouth. “Please be silent. Follow along as best you can.” I turned back to Mag and resumed in sign. “The camp is like most camps. The officers will be in the group of tents near the other end. Past the soldier tents.”

Yue signed haltingly. “Past the sword tents?”

I blew an exasperated breath out my nose. “Soldier tents,” I signed again, emphasizing the motions.

Recognition dawned in her eyes. “I am hungry,” she signed confidently, though I believe she meant “I understand.”

“Let us circle their camp,” signed Mag. “I will go in. You will keep watch. If you see an enemy, fire an arrow at the ground near me. I will hear it and know to run. But they may hear it, too, so only shoot if there is great danger.”

I did not like it, but I had no better ideas. “All right,” I signed. Then I reached out and gripped her shoulder. “Be careful,” I whispered. “Remember, you promised you would run if we had to.”

“I remember,” she whispered with a smile. And then she signed, “And you should not be talking out loud.”

“All right,” I signed back. “Let us go.”

Sneaking around the camp was the easy part. The Shades were in the center of the cavern, and we never drew closer than a span away from them. I worried about our every footfall and the scuff of our limbs against protruding rocks, but I likely need not have. Even from this distance, I could hear the noises of the Shades, and they were much louder than any noise we were making.

We did not have to go too far before reaching a good position. Mag gave us one last nod before setting off towards the camp. She left her spear with us, exchanging it for a long knife Yue wore on her belt, which Mag now affixed to her own. Silent as an Elf, she crept forwards. I kept my eyes on her, holding my breath whenever she ducked out of sight and releasing it when she emerged into view again.

The first tent was the easiest. It was near the edge of the camp, and the flap side pointed outwards. I was afraid Mag might move straight into it, but she was wise. She stopped two paces away and waited, watching and listening. No Shades wandered near the tent, and Mag must not have heard any sounds from inside, for she soon crept forwards once more.

Like a shadow, she vanished inside. I could not hear it, but I could almost imagine the soft shunk of her blade sliding through the Shade’s eye, the brief sounds of struggling as she held them down while their body jerked, lapsed, and then lay still forever.

Mag emerged into view again. I could see blood on her hands. I held a brief hope that Kaita had been in the tent, but it did not seem so, for Mag did not return. But at least she had killed a Shade officer. That was something.

Mag did not wait as long before the next tent, and her impatience was almost our ruin. As she began to approach it, there was a commotion close by. Mag threw herself to the ground. Yue and I tensed, and I nocked an arrow.

From a tent five paces down the row, a Shade emerged. She stood tall and stretched, scratched herself, and blinked hard in the light of the campfire. Then she turned and walked towards the camp’s edge. Her path brought her perilously close to Mag, but she passed by, and Mag remained unnoticed. Soon the Shade had vanished into the darkness on the other side of the camp, and I lost sight of her.

Yue and I released a long breath at the same time. Mag stirred, rose from the floor where she had flung herself, and crept forwards on all fours. The flap of the second tent rose and then fell again, and Mag was inside.

This time the kill must not have been as clean, for I saw the tent jerk briefly. But it lasted only a moment, and then Mag came out again.

I leaned forwards, hoping she would come creeping back towards us. There were only a handful of officer tents in the cluster—there were fair odds, at least, that Mag should have found Kaita in one of the first two. But it did not seem so,