Chapter 26: Tavern Brawl
The mid-afternoon sun was blocked by clouds as we walked. The plan was to escape the humidity in the tavern, which was a massive stone cellar.
Firth had heard of it from a local, probably one of his women at the brothel. It was in the lower city. The streets were empty of people as we walked. More and more fled west every day, squeezing the city of regular people.
Wylie asked, "Any news on the reward for reporting the new dungeon?"
Firth, always informed, responded, "Nope. They probably hoped we would all die out here so they don't have to pay out."
Mateo interjected, "It's the Adventurer's Guild that pays. It will take them a week to travel there, a week to explore it, and a week to return. And then ten months to review their notes before they pay out." That got a lot of chuckles, but I was unsure if it was directed at the Adventurer's Guild or bureaucracy in general.
Felix sounded appalled. "So we're not going to see the gold for a year, then?"
"Just worry about staying alive," Firth said. "When it gets paid out, Adrian said each man is looking at between 50 to 80 gold. It will happen, just be patient."
Kolm, our company pseudo-blacksmith, said, "I'm going to get some enchanted boots so my damn feet never hurt again." This started everyone on their wish list for what they would buy. Surprisingly, Firth said he was going to send it all back to his family and not spend it in a brothel. It would set them up for life and get the kids a good education.
Wylie asked, "What about you, Eryk? What are you going to do with your peasant fortune?"
I hesitated, then said, "I think I will get on the road and head back to my own country after my term is done and spend it there."
Firth smirked. "The Telhians are not so bad. A little more racist than most Kingdoms, but you are human." He paused and pretended to look at me seriously. "You are human, Eryk? Did anyone check?" He said in mock seriousness.
Felix said, "I don't know. His cock looked a little large in the showers last night. Maybe he is half-orc."
Wylie joined in on the fun banter, defending me. "It only looked large
because you compared it to your own, Felix. It was completely normal."
The good-natured jesting went back and forth until we arrived and descended stone steps into a large basement under what appeared to be a lumber warehouse. The large room was well-lit, with dozens of tables and many men sitting...not many women I could see. Middle-aged female
servers moved among the tables, serving city guards, locals, and a few men of the army. Firth pointed at an empty table, and we headed over as he said, "I was told to order the house stew with goat's milk bread. They have a soft ale and thick stout ale for options."
As we sat, one of the servers took our order. The house stew was a massive bowl of vegetables and various meats, enough to feed a family of four. As I ate, I figured the stew was just whatever they had left over from the
previous day's meal in the kitchen. I got the pale ale and was not a fan. It was extremely bitter.
The goat milk bread had a thick crust and dense texture, but it soaked up the stew juices and was amazing on the taste buds. I ordered a second serving with the stout, somehow finding a way to pack it all in. The stout was heavy but not as bitter. My two stews, two loaves, and two ales ran me 14 copper. I tipped four copper coins. Tipping was not a normal practice, but it was understood and appreciated by the middle-aged woman serving us.
When we finished the meal, the cards came out.
I just observed while the others played. It seemed almost like UNO. The first player to get rid of his cards won. The cards were marked with Roman numerals, which was strange since the magic tablets used Arabic base ten numbers. The numbers were only written slightly differently, and I had already gotten accustomed to them. Wylie and Felix were trash-talkers the entire game. It seemed to me like a lot of effort was invested in a game with no coin at stake.
I guessed the cool, dry underground stone room was maybe half full, 120 patrons or so. It was just after mid-day, so maybe it got busier at night. A
woman in skimpy clothing came out and set up on a small stage. She had a large harp and strummed it before singing. She had a beautiful voice, and I focused on her for the entire song with my eyes closed. The words were not
Latin but flowed marvelously together. When she stopped, I asked, "What language was that?"
"Probably elvish. I wasn't paying attention," Firth said, his eyes and focus across the room. Then, there was a loud crash a few tables away, drawing everyone's attention. A local had spilled his ale on an army regular. The
curses started flying freely. And then fists. I asked, "Are we leaving?"
Firth chuckled. "No. We'll wait for the city guard to ask for our help and then join in the fun."
I didn't understand until the fight started spreading, and a man in a city guard uniform came to our table. "If you are Legion, then we could stand for some help." He didn't wait for an answer as he waded in.
Firth laughed and said, "This was what she said would be dessert. Come on. Focus on the regulars." I think that meant the regular army. Soon, half the room was in a brawl. I followed my friends and got an elbow to the stomach to start. I promptly showed him what I had eaten for lunch. As he backed up, covered in vomit, I grabbed the man's hair and drove his forehead into my knee. My knee hurt, but the adrenaline was flowing, and I had just lost most of a very good meal, so I was a bit angry.
I stayed toward the rear, cleaning up the perimeter as I watched my company wade through the other men. It was like they were adults dolling out discipline to children. Firth was doing the most damage. He would
incapacitate a man with two quick jabs before spinning the dazed man over to the town guards. I had learned a lot in training but I was rusty with my hand-to-hand skills. It took a few strikes to my body before I got angry and let loose, the instincts drilled into me from months of training.
When it was over, I had a bloody lip and some bruises on my body, Wylie had a swollen black eye, and Mateo had a knife in his shoulder—just a small knife for cutting fruit, fortunately. We had not really won, as we were more like the enforcers during the fight. By my estimate, fifty town guards hauled away about thirty regular soldiers and ten locals. Firth was talking to a guard captain while complimentary ale was brought to the rest of us. I needed to wash the acid vomit taste from my mouth, so it was appreciated.
Watching Firth talk and remembering how he fought, I asked, "Does this happen a lot when Firth takes you out?"
"More often than not," Felix said. "But he's always expecting it and gives us a heads up before it starts."
I thought about Firth. He spent a lot of time away from the company in larger cities, supposedly visiting the brothels, and maybe he was. But he was always the most well-informed legionnaire, just as much as Castile, Adrian, and Delmar. But he didn't talk with them like Konstantin did, so where was his information coming from? He was also older than Adrian
and Delmar, so why was he not one of Castile's lieutenants? He was just as good of a fighter as them.
It all seemed very fishy to me. I thought about asking him, but instead planned to ask Konstantin. I trusted him enough to see if he knew anything, and Konstantin was probably the most observant man in our company. I drank the entire mug in a long pull and stood. "I'm going to check the shops. Try to find some good deals in the 'city is about to be attacked'
clearance section." Mateo got the joke first and laughed as I waved goodbye and left.
Instead of going directly back to the bakery, I went to the bookstore in the upper city. I wanted to see if there were other books on spell forms for the protection affinity. The owner was happy to see me but only helped marginally. There were other books, but he did not have any for protection. He did have a higher affinity healing book, but that would not help me anyway; I was happy with the self-healing spell form, and was not even
sure I could learn it. My affinity was 19, and the minimum suggested was
20. I would still try. I was going to leave, but he stopped me. "I don't have the other spell form books, but I do have a spell reference book. It
describes the lower affinity spells for protection."
"I can't afford to purchase it, but can I look at it for a few minutes?" I asked hopefully. He considered and nodded.
Any spell could be imprinted as a spell form on a core. They created books on spell forms for the most useful spells to make imprinting them as easy as possible. I took the spell list book, sat in a chair, and carefully paged through. It had a fancy script, making it hard to read. At least it had an index.
There were two branches, the protection branch and the guardian branch.
The protection spells focused on the self, while the guardian focused on others. I ignored the guardian side of the index and found the arcanearmor
spell. The spells were listed in the rank of difficulty, so all the spells above in the index should be available to me with a 30 affinity.
ProtectionfromScrying
ImmunitytoNon-magicalflames Faithful Spectral Hound
WardofConcealment
WardAgainstUndead
I went to the ward of concealment first, but it was not for a person. It concealed an object in an invisible field. The wardagainstundeadwas stationary, too, used to prevent the undead from entering doorways.
Spectral hound sounded promising, but it was more of a guard dog while you slept and couldn't attack. Protection from flames, I discounted immediately. The last one was a possibility. Protectionfromscryingwould prevent people from tracking me. I could leave the legion before my five years, and they would not be able to find me. But there were two problems with that choice. I had no spell forms to guide me to imprint the spell, and it would probably take a long time to get the spell forms and learn them. I would probably be better off just finishing my five-year term.
I thanked the owner of the bookstore with a ten-silver tip. I went to the
same meat pie shop and got two pies again. When I picked up my clothes, I gave one of the pies to the old woman's family. I also explained that I was relocating to the upper city and would not require her services again. She was disappointed and said I was a nice young man and hoped I lived a long and fulfilling life. I thanked her for her blessing and went to find Konstantin.
He was not in the room he was using on the second floor. As I came down the stairs, Olson, the other scout, entered. "Have you seen Konstantin?" he asked.
"No, I just checked his room. I don't know where he went," I replied.
Olson grunted. "Well, pack up your gear. Konstantin and I are to track
everyone down and get everyone up the estate. Dinner will be ready there in two hours. Castile wants to address everyone. The directions are simple; just follow the main thoroughfare to the castle, then keep the outer wall to your right. You will pass through a guard checkpoint into the inner
courtyard orchards. The estate is on the far side of the trees. If you get lost, just ask for directions to the orchards from the city guard."
"Should I head there now?" I asked.
"Yes, Eryk. If you get there first, you might be able to get one of the few private rooms," he said, a little irritated he had not found the other scout.
I started packing as quickly as possible, moving the still-hot meat pie into my storage when he left. Private room? Hell yeah. I could talk to Konstantin later.
Chapter 27: I Call Dibs
As I made my way down the main thoroughfare, lugging a sixty-pound pack, I decided to take a quick stop in the Legion Hall. The other two
companies and half of our company were stationed here. I wanted to see about requisitioning some gear, mainly a new spear. After training with a stick last night, I was anxious to get a real spear back in my hands.
I noticed Linus in the common room, and he waved me over. "Eryk, how are you doing? Heard about your little scuffle when Mateo came in to get his wound looked at."
"How is he doing?" I asked.
"Fine, we closed it up. Has Castile talked to you yet?" Linus asked, his face slightly creased in concern.
"No, I was headed up to the estate to pick a bed. Olson said we were moving up there, and dinner was in two hours," I said, thinking that maybe something was wrong.
Linus' eyes went wide. "Bastard! He said he would tell me first. There are only three private rooms after Castile, Delmar, and Adrian take the larger
rooms." He was about to leave, but paused. "Castile will tell you tonight, I am sure. But I heard you are going out with Mage Durandus' company
tomorrow. They do not have a porter. I was sorting potions you were going to be taking with you a few minutes ago."
"Why?" I asked, confused.
"I'll let Castile explain it. It should just be for the day." He had a guilty expression as he rushed off to pack his gear.
I went to the armory and was told I could grab what I needed, and it would be recorded in the log as I left. I walked by the unstrung bows and paused. There were a dozen, and a few of them were worn and had blood stains on them. Would they really let me check out a short bow? I had learned a
little this morning, could pick the best of the bunch, and knew each was worth a good amount of gold from Regis.
I strung one of the thicker ones, tested the draw weight, and nodded. I could feel my sore muscles, but it was a good pull weight for me. I unstrung it and grabbed four spare bow strings from a box and a quiver with
seventeen arrows. Quivers, I had learned, were either small or large, 17 or 34 arrows full. The small quiver was for mobility, and the large was for extended battles. But Regis mentioned that when they pack the quivers, they put the better arrows in the small quivers. The arrow lengths were the same since the Legion only used short bows. I would have checked each
arrow, but I didn't have time. I was racing against Linus for a private room.
At the rack of spears, I quickly selected two regular spears. The pilum were the throwing spears used by the regular army, only used for piercing. A regular spear had a more durable shaft and a leaf-shaped spearhead that could pierce and slash. I would have to come back for a shield tomorrow.
It only took a moment for me to check out, and they didn't even comment on the bow. He even helped me bundle everything together with twine to make it easier to carry.
Loaded down with all the gear, I made my way to the upper city. I thought more than a few times about putting the heavy gear into my storage space rather than carrying it, but I suffered through it in case I was spotted. I think I beat Linus out of the Legion Hall, but I rushed down the street toward the orchards since I couldn't be sure. I probably looked a fool, but I would hopefully be a fool in my own room.
The main road ran about a mile before meeting up with the inner city wall. I kept this wall to my right and soon found the gate, trees easily seen beyond. The city guards here had special tabards on. When I approached with my gear, they did not even question me as I passed. I turned and asked, "Am I the first one?" I realized I probably sounded like a little kid hoping to be the first in line for ice cream.
The older guard nodded with a grin. "Castile's company, I'm guessing by the armor. We were told you were coming. Yes, you are the first one
through this gate. There is another gate toward the Count's castle, though." I was surprised they were so friendly, and I would have been polite and chatted, but I could see Linus fast walking toward us with his own massive pack. I turned and walked the stone paths across the orchard.
I noticed the trees were not apples, but peaches or maybe nectarines. I was not going to pause to find out. The path led straight to the estate. The
estate was a stone two-story building. It was not huge and surrounded by flowering trees. If I remembered correctly, it was a guest house for visiting
dignitaries. I made it to the large door and barged inside. I paused to find Delmar in the foyer. I was sweating and burdened. He cocked an eyebrow.
"I was told there were a few private rooms," I explained. "It's first come, first served, correct?"
He chuckled. "Yes, the ballroom that way had fifteen beds dragged in. Most of the servant rooms on this floor have three beds, but..." He paused for dramatic effect. "The maid's room off the kitchen has one bed and..." He did not finish as I moved toward the kitchen to the right. I could smell the food being prepared and moved through the doors. The door was
narrow, and I struggled, probably comically, with my weapons and gear. I must have looked the fool. I burst into the kitchen to find a shocked Lirkin, our company cook, working by himself.
"Eryk? I take it you're not here to help. I think what you are looking for in the hallway there," he said with a knowing smirk, pointing with his knife.
I went to the hallway, dropping my pack so I could fit in the passage. I found a narrow stair to the left going up and a door to the right. I opened the door and found a closet-sized room. A bed took up the entire left side, and a small desk and armoire to the right. Maybe three feet were between
the bed and desk, but I had a large window shaded by a massive tree on the tiny wall. I tested the mattress, and it was the most comfortable mattress I had felt in all my time in this new world.
I got all my gear inside and collapsed into the mattress. I sighed as it formed around my body. A floral fragrance wafted up from the mattress, probably the perfume the maid had used. The room was not nearly as humid as outside, and I would keep the window and door shut during the heat of the day. I started to unpack my things, claiming the small space for my own.
The armoire was full of dresses and a change of bed sheets. The dresses were all identical, probably her uniform as a maid. The bottom was full of women's clothes. I guessed whoever she was; she was not important enough to be given time to pack her things. I found her perfume and personal possessions in the desk drawers. Besides using a puff of perfume to check the scent, I stored everything of hers respectfully away in the bottom of the armoire.
I leaned my weapons against the closed armoire: two short swords, two spears, the bow, and a quiver. I would use the desk and bed, and that would be it. I put my heavy pack on the small desk and planned to use the bed until dinner was ready. Instead, Lirkin called, "If you don't mind, I would appreciate your help."
I sighed and went to the kitchen after removing my armor. I heard Linus talking with Delmar, then rushing up the stairs. I was glad I was not the only one acting childlike. Then again, these would most likely be our sleeping assignments for the next few weeks.
I was actually helping Lirkin prep for breakfast, as he already had dinner under control: roasted lamb with an apricot-cinnamon glaze, couscous with diced tomatoes and roasted garlic on the side. My mouth was watering as I peeled potatoes and kneaded dough for him. I was happy to see all the jars of spices I had liberated from Varvao were in the kitchen.
The best part of helping prepare the food was sampling it. I soon heard others entering and Delmar directing them. Lirkin noted, "The larder is down those stairs there. It wasn't completely stripped, and if you want to
cool off, it's very cool and dry down there. Just don't be getting drunk from the casks of ale and wine." He smiled knowingly.
I finished the last potato. I still had to rinse the skins next, and then it would be marinated with vegetables and spices for a portable lunch
tomorrow. The potatoes would be diced and fried with eggs and peppers for breakfast. I asked, "Lirkin, why didn't you take the room off the kitchen?"
He grinned madly. "I took a child's room on the second floor. The bed is like a cloud." Admittedly, that made me jealous. My bed was soft, but it
was for a servant. At least I was isolated from the company and would have privacy to study and quiet to sleep.
Adrian came in an hour later and called for dinner, and we brought it out to the men in a fancy dining room. Everyone was crammed at the table, made to seat 12. I got jeered at because I got the maid's room and I was covered in flour. As plates were filled and people ate, I noticed Castile was the only one not there. When we finished eating, a cask of weak ale was brought out, and large mugs were filled. Then Castile made her appearance with
everyone satiated and happy.
"I hope everyone is settled in and happy with your inn accommodations," she said to cheers. She smirked. "Well, if the other companies want to hog
the Legion Hall, they can have it! We will live in luxury on the hill!" More cheers.
She grew serious. "The dungeon discovery is confirmed." Silence and then cheers. Every name of my role has been submitted. You can collect your
share at the Adventurer's Hall in the capital under a Truthseeker." There
were mild cheers. She broke into a massive grin. "Everyone is due 75 gold and 68 silver." The place got extremely loud at the pronouncement.
"Now to business. Tomorrow will be our last patrol south. We will eventually switch to work with the city guard on overnight patrols. During the day, we will keep our rotation on our section of the wall." She paused to let it sink in.
"Our new accommodations will also require us to patrol the orchards at night. We will rotate which four men stay here and which sixteen go to the city to help the city guard every night," she explained. The math meant six people got the night off. Well, probably four, because I doubted Adrian and Delmar would do patrol work, but maybe I was wrong. There wasn't so much cheering at that.
Delmar stepped forward. "Since you will all be well rested, we will pick up our standard conditioning and weapon training." This got a chorus of boos. "I will post the times in the foyer!" he yelled over the cacophony of heckling. "Dismissed!"
Castile caught me. "Eryk, you're with me for a moment."
Castile took me into a study where all the books had been stripped off the shelves. She smiled weakly. "You have done well so far under strenuous circumstances. I have an assignment for you. Mage Durandus' company will explore the storm tomorrow, and I am loaning you out to him. He does not have a porter, and we have pooled potions for him to take."
This sounded terrible. Trudging through the swamp infested with giant frogs…what if we got surprised by one of those massive snakes? I asked weakly, "What is the storm?"
Castile frowned. "We don't know. It has not dissipated and could be a number of things. An aether geyser from a ley line. A summoning. A new
dungeon forming. A powerful being playing with magic. Whatever it is, we need to ensure it is not dangerous to the Empire."
I just nodded and was told to be at the Legion Hall at first light.
Chapter 28: The Storm in the Distance
I took an oil lamp back to my room in a haze of thought. I was being passed off to another company like a traded commodity. That storm was also miles into the swamp with no easy access. It would not be a one-day trip unless the mage had some magic to make it so.
I was happy to find my room locked from the inside. The window did not have a lock, so I jammed a dagger in the seam and leaned my weapons against it just in case before pulling the blinds. I stripped to my
underclothes and lay on the soft mattress with a groan of satisfaction. I placed the lamp on the small shelf over the bed, pulled out my griffin pillow and my clean blanket, got comfortable, then took out the spell form book for healing. All nice and comfortable, I started to study.
The spell forms were to help guide the process. The true process was about intent and what I wanted the permanent presentation of my affinity to be.
The critical factor was not manifesting the wrong spell form. Once it was done, it could not be undone, and I would have to live with it. I studied the book intently, losing track of time.
I woke with a start. Delmar was banging on my door, saying I needed to get moving. I had studied well into the night and had not gotten a lot of sleep. I sent everything to my space and unlocked the door. An impatient Delmar was waiting. "Come on, Eryk. I'm to be your escort to the Legion Hall." He looked around. "Did you not pack last night?"
"I was told it was just a day trip," I said defensively, even though I knew it was not.
"Dragon's balls." He pushed into the small room and started packing for me. He set up my pack with the necessities and said, "Get three days of hard rations at the Legion Hall. Make sure they're all wrapped and sealed in wax leaf. The last thing you want is to get sick out there in the swamp. Take two canteens, one large and one small." He held up my small metal canteen. "Use this small one to boil your water for five minutes before drinking, or have Durandus purify your water. Otherwise, your arse will be spewing for days." He looked at my array of weapons, and I looked guilty when he noticed the bow.
He inspected the bow, and I offered weakly, "Thought I would have time to practice. This bow has a left-handed grip, so I thought it might help my
aim." That was true, but most bows could be used by either hand. I found this one had grooves for a lefty. Maybe it was the custom, or the last owner had altered it.
"Konstantin said you were a terrible shot. You had trouble hitting stationary targets and would be hard-pressed to hit a moving one. It is a
nice bow, but leave it behind. Your strings will probably get too wet to use it anyway. Leave your two short swords as well. They will weigh you down, especially if you have to swim." He handed me my leather chest piece. "Leave the rest of your armor here." He finished packing and gave me the now lighter pack. He had completed everything in five minutes. I had a bed roll, one spare set of clothes wrapped in my oiled legionnaire cloak, my tarp for a tent, three pairs of socks, the two canteens, and flint and tinder.
As we walked in the dark to the Legion Hall, Delmar talked. "Durandus
likes order. He expects his men to march in time and maintain silence on the move. Do your best not to anger him."
"What type of magic does he wield? And why was he sent here?" I asked, preparing mentally.
"Excellent questions. Durandus was once a soldier in the army. Under duress in combat, he developed a powerful air magic spell form that
shielded him inside a bubble, making him invincible for a time. After that, he was assessed and sent to the Mage College. He came out a powerful water and air mage and was given the command of a company. He is here
because he made an enemy of a duke. That usually happens when you tell a First Citizen 'no.'" He did not elaborate further.
We made it before first light. In the common room, a number of legionaries were in full gear with half packs, waiting. Delmar dragged me to the larder and ordered. "Six ration bars sealed in wax leaf, three bags of dried fruit and nuts, and that sausage." He pointed at a large link. The civilian behind the counter sensed the urgency and got everything together.
Everything was on the counter, and Delmar helped me pack it. "The
sausage is your breakfast. Eat the bags of fruit and nuts between meals to keep your energy up. And Eryk, try to come back alive. Getting a good
porter replaced takes months," he joked, smiling and clapping me on my shoulder.
I went out to the common room and found Durandus' four lieutenants getting everyone assembled for the march. Delmar had not been kidding when he said we would march in ranks and silence. I realized how spoiled I had been in Castile's company. Our company was more like a family. This seemed like a formal job, but maybe the other men would lighten up when we took a break. Durandus approached me and we studied each other.
He was tall, maybe 6'2", and he had immaculate clothes and a meticulously trimmed beard and stache. That was only notable because all of his men
were clean-shaven. It made me self-conscious about the face nest that I trimmed infrequently with a knife.
"Store these." He tapped four racks of potions. Ten lesser healing, ten cleanse poison, ten greater healing and ten stamina recovery. It was a
fortune's worth of potions, and they all had expiration dates on their wax seals. I now knew this meant they were made by an alchemist and not from a dungeon, as dungeon potions never expired.
I moved the potions into my storage, and everyone moved outside. They must have been waiting for me. As we started moving, I munched on the sausage. The first thing I noticed was this company had forty men. I thought a mage detachment from the Legion of the Lion had around twenty- three to start. To me, this seemed like a large company. I inspected the composition: ten archers, ten men with full-body shields, ten men with round shields and swords, and ten men with spears. Everyone carried a short blade. I was made to walk at the rear of the formation, like the tail, so I didn't mess with their practiced organization.
Durandus walked in the front and set the pace. I wondered why Durandus didn't send out any scouts, but that became obvious three hours into our march. The mage ordered the shield wall forward and the spear men at the ready. A single giant frog was two hundred yards down the road. It moved into the road and looked intently at us. Durandus ordered a flight of spears, and as they struck, he fired a bolt of lightning at the frog. Two swordsmen with shields went forward to confirm it was dead. The encounter took less than five seconds. As we marched past, the spearmen collected their weapons. The frog was left smoldering on the side of the road. I deduced
the mage had some type of scrying of far-sight spell or spell form.
I was impressed with the coordination and speed of the company. Where our company was filled with experienced individuals who worked well as a team, Durandus' company was a fighting unit. Durandus knew healing spells, so I suspected the men were not skittish about getting injured. We reached the two poles in the ground that lined up the storm's location. They were not needed, as the dark clouds and occasional lightning remained. I checked the alignment anyway, and it looked like it had not moved in the two days since I had been here.
We were allowed to rest, and I gratefully sat and pulled up my ration, unwrapping the wax leaf. The block's exterior was a dry baked cracker covering a dried mixture of fruit, meat, and grains. It took a lot of water to wash down the dry, dense ration. I remembered the meat pie in my storage; it would still be warm, but I would save it. I also ate a bag of the trail mix, since Durandus was still studying the swamp and the storm in the distance. No one talked to me as I ate, and they just whispered amongst themselves so as not to disturb the mage. I felt like I was on an island. I was just the
extra guy they needed to carry their luggage.
Suddenly, Durandus came to a decision. He was leaving six men at the road to guard gear. The rest of the men would be heading into the swamp. I waited, smirking a little, as Delmar had already cut my gear down to the minimum needed.
We started our trek with four spearmen leading the company through the waters. The water was not deep where Durandus directed the men to walk, and I asked him, "Can you see how deep the water is with magic?"
I had forgotten to keep quiet, but he replied, "Yes. I have a water sense and sense life ability. We will not be taken by surprise, and will take the easiest route." I almost asked if his life sense ability worked on undead, but with his stern and somewhat condescending tone, I ended the conversation without asking.
The swamp water was lukewarm, and I found it odd that I didn't see any fish or smaller frogs. Just an endless wave of insects. But the insects left me alone if I was within fifteen feet of the mage, so I tried to stay close to him. Even wading through the water in armor, the men attempted to maintain their disciplined formation. I also figured out that Durandus' company was selected for this mission because his spell skill set was the
best for the environment. I just hoped he realized water conducted lightning and didn't fry all of us by mistake.
It was slow progress, and after hours of trudging, we were maybe halfway there. The evening sky was coming behind us, and the dark storm was in front. Being closer, I was certain the storm clouds were expelling rain as well as the occasional lightning strike. The roil of thunder was still muted but progressively louder the closer we came. At least the storm appeared to have scared away all the monsters, as we had not seen a single one.
We climbed onto a small island maybe fifty feet across, and the mage- ordered defenses set for the night. At least I could just sit in the middle of
the island and eat. Durandus studied the storm, and I asked, "Do you know what it is yet?"
He glanced at me. "Unfortunately, I do. A storm giant is raising a mountain from the swamp. Probably to form a lair."
Chapter 29: Making a Friend
I paused as Mage Durandus was gazed at the storm, then asked tentatively, "So we are done? We scouted. Found the reason for the storm. Are we going to head back now that we know what is causing it?"
He did not respond for a long moment. Then Mage Durandus said slowly, "No. I think we will investigate further. There appears to be only one
giant." He turned and left, moving to his tent, which his men had erected for him. He was definitely not a conversationalist.
I was left there wondering, whatisastormgiant?It did not sound good. A giant that could call lightning and raise a mountain in a swamp did not sound like someone I wanted to meet. I set up my tent in the middle of the island. One of the shieldmen was doing the same. "Leonidus," he said, holding out his hand.
"Eryk," I responded, grasping wrists with him. "So why does everyone have a stick shoved up their ass?"
He scrunched his face as my analogy didn't quite translate. "You mean, why is no one talking to you?" I nodded. "It takes a while for them to warm up. If Durandus was not around, we might be more prone to conversation. I overheard you talking with Durandus and that he wants to keep going."
"What is a storm giant, anyway?" I asked, finishing my tent setup and laying my oiled cloak on the damp ground to protect my sleeping bedroll. I was planning to change into my dry clothes so I could sleep comfortably, but Leonidus motioned for me to wait.
"Give the mage a moment to think. He will dry everyone's clothes before we sleep." My eyebrows went up. He finished his tent and said, "Never heard of a storm giant before. We have fought hill giants on two occasions. One grabbed my shield mate and ripped him in half." He shuddered at the memory.
We didn't talk for a while as we prepared our respective sleeping areas. Delmar had been right on what I needed to pack. I started gathering twigs and dead wood for a fire, but Leonidus stopped me. "No fire. Not out in the wild. Draws the creatures in, and we hate fighting in the night." He took a small black pouch out and tossed it to me. I opened it to find a glowing
oval rock inside. I looked up, curious. He answered my unspoken question. "It's a glowstone." My face was still blank, so he continued. "It has stored aether in it. Gives enough light at night to take a piss without tripping over every damn thing. Durandus got everyone one, so night marching was easier. You can borrow mine for the night in case you need to piss."
"Thanks. How long does it last?" I asked, putting it back in the bag.
"It lasts a few days. Durandus recharges them. Kyle, one of our bowmen, can do it too, but he's usually a pain about it and tries to get something in return," he replied.
Since Leonidus was talking, I said, "After the giant frog was killed, I didn't see him give the essence to anyone."
Leonidus sighed. "Yeah, we heard Mage Castile hands out the essences. What Durandus doesn't consume himself, he sells. He has a large estate near the capital. He wants to marry a First Citizen." He leaned in close and said, "About two months ago, a duke offered him his daughter if he paid the tithe on her behalf for her to gain the status of First Citizenship. He refused, saying if he was going to give away half his estate for a woman,
she better not look like a pig." Leonidus checked to make sure the mage wasn't coming to smite him, then said, "At least, that's how we heard it happened."
He had some soft jerky and cheese as I ate my dry ration. As we got more comfortable with each other, he offered, "I'm guessing that is why he wants this storm giant. The essence it would yield probably has a magic affinity to it. He wants to improve his power over the aether affinity for lightning." I nodded, remembering High Mage Dacian was hunting the bulette for the
same reason. The powerful just wanted more power.
I noticed one of the other legionaries had a metal fishing line and a small spell form that sent a blue shock down the metal wire to stun the fish.
Leonidus had noted that it was Kyle who could also charge the stones, so this must be him. Kyle worked with a partner who had a net, and they
quickly had six fish for themselves. The fish were flat and black and swam on the bottom of the muddy swamp, so that was why I had not noticed them during our travel in the muck.
Contrary to Leonidus' advice, they started a fire, cooked their fish, and then extinguished the fire. They did not offer any to anyone else. Leonidus did say Kyle was a bit of an asshole. I drank half a gallon of water to get my dry ration bar down while Leonidus showed me a trick for the wax leaf. If you cut it up into four sections and then rubbed the wax off, it left a soft
fibrous sheet good for wiping your arse. He admitted that some legionaries got the ration bars just to make toilet paper and tossed them away, not eating them.
As the sun set, Durandus came by and dried everyone's clothes. The water was not evaporated but pushed toward the ground, causing a puddle underneath you. The smaller bugs of the swamp seemed to wake up as the light disappeared. The humidity lessened slightly, but I was still sweating non-stop. I folded my sleeping roll around me. I pulled out the glowstone, refilled my canteen from my storage space, and then pulled out the healing affinity book to study.
I risked it because I felt some urgency. Locking in a spell form was more likely to happen in a stressful situation, and there was no more stressful situation than fighting for your life against a giant. I still managed to get a fair amount of sleep, as I did not have to participate in the watch rotation. The cold water in my canteen was a godsend as I sweated through the early night.
I had just put my book away to sleep when a shout came from the sentries. We all scrambled to put on armor and aid the ten men on watch on the perimeter. A massive island was moving toward us in the moonlight.
Durandus stood ready, and one of the archers announced, "It is a giant tortoise. Hold positions, and it should pass without attacking." We were all tense as the island loomed closer and finally veered away.
Getting back to sleep did not take long for me, knowing we had good
sentries on watch. The camp noise woke me, and I dressed. One man was handing out salve for bug bites. The men who were on watch took more than a few. Now that the sun was rising, the small bugs were fleeing, and the large fist-sized insects buzzed. I was one of the first to pack up and
unwrap my breakfast ration bar. I was already sick of them, but a few men had gotten their own rations wet on the walk through the swampy water. I ate half of it before switching to the trail mix. My canteens were empty by the time I was done eating.
We soon moved on toward the flashes and low thunder. I guessed it was just over three miles remaining. As we trudged through the water, following the mage's direction, the air turned misty and then to rain. The closer we approached, the heavier the rain became. I did not think approaching something that could control Mother Nature like this was wise.
The ground switched from swamp to mud, and we started to climb a mud- slick hill. The rain was heavy at the top of the mud hill, but it gave us a
view down into what I would describe as a caldera. This was not a volcano, but that was the same shape. No rain fell inside, and we all stood dumbfounded as a giant of a man, easily over twenty-five feet in height, called down and directed lightning into the expanding earthworks. The lightning stuck, and the earth surged and rolled away like a wave.
The mage seemed to consider our next action. I was just glad the
monstrous giant had not spotted us. Finally, the mage said to no one in particular, "He is not building a lair…No, he's digging for something." Our heads barely peeked over, but he signaled everyone back. He called his four lieutenants to him for a strategy session. I was not privy to the words exchanged.
Orders were given. We were to wait on the mud-soaked lip of the crater. When the storm giant was resting, we would attack. It was terrible because we ended up in the heaviest rain on the lip of the crater. I took out my cloak, but that just meant all my dry clothes were not going to be protected from
the heavy water. I huddled in my cloak, hoping that whatever the attack plan happened to be, it would go well.
The storm giant seemed tireless, and I could feel the muddy earth surge underneath me every few minutes as he moved it. If the mage was correct and he was searching for something, I wasn't sure what it might be. It started getting dark, and a whisper came down the line, "He's resting.
Shield wall ready!"
No one had told me what my role in the fight would be. Staying at the back and handling the wounded sounded like a good plan to me. I even pulled two of the full healing potions and one of the lesser to my hand from the dimensional space.
The shield wall headed straight toward the giant, with the spearmen behind them. Mage Durandus followed this group at a distance. To the right, the
swordsmen lead the way with the archers behind. It was clearly a flanking maneuver by Durandus. I moved behind the archers.
The giant noticed us and watched, unconcerned, as we made our way down the muddy slope. Keeping their ranks in the rocky mud was difficult, but they did an admirable job. The sky roiled above us and grew thicker. A lightning bolt flashed down toward the shield wall, but the man it struck glowed, and the bolt raced into the ground, not affecting anyone.
So, the mage did have a plan. If the giant's lightning ability did not work and we were close to the range, we could possibly take down the towering man. I could tell the failed attack had emboldened the shield wall as they drew short swords. The giant seemed to consider, then picked his own weapon off the ground. "Weapon" was an understatement. It was as thick as a man and nearly nine feet long. The giant twirled it easily, and you could hear it whistle in the air, even in the storm conditions.
A second lightning strike occurred amongst the archers. Once again, it had no effect, going into the ground, but I noticed Durandus stumble slightly.
Was the spell drawing aether? That could be bad if it drained him before we engaged.
The shield unit reached the bottom of the crater, and the spears were thrown on command from the ranks behind them. Only two penetrated the giant's thigh and chest. He roared in anger and charged the shield wall. The giant built speed, and instead of swinging his sword, he went into a feet-first slide. His massive frame bowled through the shield wall and even past the spearmen. He had taken a few slashes, but quickly stood. The mage was
now directly in front of the giant, a malicious grin on his face.
The giant roared as he swung the massive sword, but Mage Durandus stood confident. A ball of energy flared around him before the sword connected. Then that ball of energy, and the mage in the center, was sailing through the air two hundred feet to my right. Far away from everyone. The giant pointed at the archers, and a lightning strike came down again. This time,
the man it struck exploded and tossed the men who had been around him to the ground. My ears were ringing, and I had some gore on me from the exploded archer.
I was halfway down the mud-soaked crater. The shield wall was quickly forming again to face the giant, with the spearmen rotating to the back for another volley. I needed to decide if I should get the potions to the archers
or go and try to get Mage Durandus back on his feet. If I lived through this, I decided I never wanted to fight a giant again.
Chapter 30: Losing a Friend
Our mage was out of commission, and it looked like the storm giant was unhappy with our interruption. I hustled down the slope and slid on the mud to the downed archers. I quickly administered the three potions to three different men who appeared alive upon a quick inspection. I was too focused to be affected by the gore and strewn body parts as I worked. The metallic smell of blood filled my nostrils, but that was because I had pieces of flesh on my face and armor.
Getting more archers back in action, in my mind, was important. I wanted to move away from the congestion of soldiers in case the storm giant decided to explode someone else with a bolt of lightning, so I worked quickly and then separated myself from them as they recovered.
The archers were already organizing and firing arrows again. I noticed the storm giant attacking with an overhead swing. The blow from his sword crumpled the soldier with the tower shield, driving the legionnaire into the ground with a sickening thud and crunch, like a foot crushing an aluminum soda can.
Shit. There was no way I was going to risk getting close to the giant to use my dimensional space, not with that sword's reach. I started running away from the battle. The mud made it difficult to sprint, but I built up some speed. I just hoped the freaking mage was still alive when I reached him. With the screams of men and the clash of battle at my back, I ran. I pulled out two full healing potions out of my space.
I tried to mimic the storm giant's slide as I reached the mage. The ground may have been muddy, but it also had many rocks. My canvas pants tore, and the rocks dug into my flesh, but I stopped in the perfect position to administer the potions.
Fuck! He was bleeding from his mouth and eyes. His arm was at the completely wrong angle, too. I would be wasting two potions on him if he was already dead. It looked like blood was still flowing, so maybe his heart was still beating—fuck it. I popped both seals on the vials and poured them into his throat. He gurgled, and then he started coughing. Before the healing got too far, I wrenched his arm back into the mostly correct position. He grunted in pain but didn't wake.
I could not wait for him, and I was off running again. I thought about running up the muddy crater and into the swamp, but decided we could win if the mage got back on his feet. Also, with the giant's long legs, it would be very easy for him to catch me in the swamp.
As I ran, a flying head nearly hit me on my sprint back to the archers. I recognized the head as it flew by. That was Leonidus, with a shocked expression on his face. I looked at the main combat; only three shieldmen remained and six spearmen. Nope, one of the shieldmen was missing the top of his shield and his head. The body crumpled, with no brain to give it direction. Rest in pieces, Leonidus, my friend.
The storm giant had dozens of arrows in him and half a dozen spears, but he looked like he was speeding up rather than slowing down. Rich red blood flowed from his wounds, but when you are twenty-five feet tall, you have a lot of blood to spill. Two archers I had not tended to were dead when I reached them. I forced a healing potion down the throat of another groaning archer. The swordsman unit was still intact but had not advanced on the storm giant.
I couldn't blame them; their smaller shields were useless against a
telephone pole-sized sword. Even the body shields of the shield wall were useless. They could have hampered the flanks of the giant and helped their companions but had instead remained here. I guessed it was because
Durandus was not here to give orders.
Finally, everyone who was alive was attended to. I figured out that the archer who had exploded was the archer unit's leader, one of the four lieutenants. The storm giant had chosen the optimal target. Since it had this much intellect, I was reconsidering staying. I watched as the giant executed the last shield and spearmen and turned toward us, bloody and
angry. I had dropped my own spear long ago when I had been knocked to the ground by the lightning bolt. Well,maybenotthatlongago,I laughed to myself, wildly uncontrolled. It had been what, maybe two minutes?
Fuck, I was losing it. I didn't think I was going to live through this.
Then the ground under the giant heaved, and tendrils of muddy ice started to work their way up the giant's legs. Durandus was back on his feet. Well, mostly on his feet. He looked unsteady as he directed his magic. The giant called another lightning strike down on the mage, and it dissipated into the ground, not affecting him. He took a step toward Durandus, and I thought
there was no way ice was going to hold the storm giant, but that was not the mage's plan. Durandus had made massive mud ice cubes on the giant's
bare feet.
The giant stumbled in the awkward footwear. Durandus screamed at us, "Advance, you fools! This will only hold him 'til I run out of aether!" They hesitated for a moment before obeying. The remaining archers were building up a steady rhythm of arrow strikes, even if the arrows barely penetrated. I moved up the slope of the crater to get some weapons from
the fallen archers, as close-range combat was not on my mind. If the giant reached the mage, running would be my only choice. Hopefully, the giant would be too injured to pursue.
Durandus had not used any lightning attacks on the giant, which was probably smart. If it could call lightning itself, it was likely immune. The giant was struggling but getting closer to the mage, who was not remotely healed yet. His arm was still hanging loosely, and he was swaying on his feet. The giant paused for a heartbeat, considering the advancing swordsmen, the mage, and the pesky archers. Then he made a decision that surprised everyone: he flung his massive sword helicopter-style at the tight formation of swordsmen.
I heard the whoosh as it spun, and two men were hit squarely in the chest. One man was cut in half, his intestines spraying the field, and the other was struck by the handle and thrown away in a crumpled mess. The blade did not slow as it continued into the row of archers. The blade had rotated, so it struck flat-side into the concentrated archers. Men screamed as they were flung aside like rag dolls. I was in shock and paralyzed as the hope of victory was snatched away from us.
The mud-ice prison was creeping up the giant, who was now on his knees. The remaining swordsmen were close to the giant, and we had four archers still upright. "He is immobilized and unarmed!" Durandus yelled weakly. "Finish him!"
I was spurred to make a decision. I grabbed a bow and two quivers, and moved to help the archers. When I reached the downed men, I pulled out more potions to heal who I could. Now that the giant no longer had its sword, I could get close to the monstrosity and kill it with my dimensional
space. The last six swordsmen engaged just out of its reach, and the archers
fired steadily. One arrow pierced an eye, and the giant lunged in anger to grab a man, uncaring about the sword blades stabbing his massive hand.
The giant squeezed his fist, and the man popped and oozed out of his armor like a grape being crushed. The dead soldier was also now a projectile.
The giant glanced at the mage before throwing the body at the closest swordsman, who had no chance to dodge. The throw's speed told me he would not live through the impact. Both bodies rolled thirty feet before skidding to a stop in the mud. The giant made the hand motion for lightning again, but what he called was tiny compared to before. The swordsman struck had no defenses, though. Mage Durandus was too focused on encasing the giant to shield him from the lightning. The swordsman did not explode, just crumpled to the ground, charred and smoking.
I gave an injured archer a potion. We had three swordsmen and five archers remaining. Mage Durandus was focused on the giant, who was waist-deep in frozen mud. The giant looked pitiful in his rage and started slamming his fists into the icy mud. But it was like concrete, and he only took small
chunks off with his bloody fists. If he did free himself, we were all fucked. I looked at the mage; he looked pale and no longer had the energy to scream orders.
I took my bow and quiver and joined the fight. At thirty yards, I missed my first five shots. I was rushing and not aiming as my heart beat crazily in my chest. The other archers were searching for arrows in their companions' quivers, having run out of their own.
I finally hit on my sixth shot. It was a shoulder strike that barely penetrated. I was useless as an archer. I dropped my bow and moved toward a spear nearby. With the creature immobilized, I moved to its flank, looking for an opportunity. It was not needed as the giant slowed, leaking from dozens of wounds. It was all about making sure it bled out now. The archers continued ranged attacks until we ran out of arrows.
What we did to the creature wasn't pretty, but it eventually stopped moving. Durandus ordered a man to stab his uninjured eye. He moved cautiously, and the sword sank in without resistance or movement. We had won the fight.
I looked around the battlefield and promptly vomited, not from the gore but as a pent-up emotional release after running on adrenaline for endless
minutes. The landscape was covered in body parts, and innards were everywhere. The mud was red with the giant's blood, which had apparently run out. The shieldmen and spearmen's bodies had been brutalized. It was a literal meat grinder. My canteen was up at the lip of the crater, so I just spit to get the taste of vomit out. Durandus hobbled forward eagerly with
his essence collector in his hand. His device was only the size of a dinner plate, smaller and more intricate than the one Castile used.
He placed it on the chest of the giant. The device worked, drawing in an ethereal blue smoke from the body. The mage murmured in delight, even though only seven of his men remained alive. I knew by its size that it was an apex essence, and I guessed by its strong glow it had a magic affinity. It disappeared in the mage's mouth as soon as it had fully formed on the collector. His broken body savored the essence as it was consumed.
I sat down heavily. I may have played the role of support, but we would have all been dead if I hadn't gotten the mage back on his feet. We would
have all been dead if the giant hadn't also been near aether exhaustion when we launched the initial attack. I couldn't fathom why the mage risked the
lives of forty men for an essence.
After the essence was consumed, Durandus started giving orders. "Give me the rest of the healing drafts," was the first. He consumed half of them
before giving the rest to the injured men.
Durandus moved among his dead men and used the collector on them. I could tell the other men found this slightly off-putting. We all just worked on stripping the bodies of their gear and getting ready to bury the men.
Durandus pocketed every essence he was able to collect.
I looked forward to going back to the city. We were not returning, though. Now healed and functional, Durandus addressed everyone still alive. We had one spearman, five archers, and three swordsmen. "Well fought today against imposing odds. That was a creature of immense power, and our teamwork brought it to its knees and ended its life. Now, for the good of
the Empire, we will spend a day trying to figure out what the giant was digging for. If we do not find anything in a day, we will return to Macha."
I was learning to appreciate being in Mage Castile's company.