A Soldier's Life - 7 - Welcome to the Legion

Chapter 7: Welcome to the Legion

I looked at the door several times before deciding to just do it. The forty-foot-long storage room had two wide aisles and deep shelves filled with various items. Many of them were covered in layers of dust. I grabbed two large legionnaire backpacks and headed to the provision aisle first. My dimensional space was unaffected by time, but all these items already had a long shelf life. The shelves were neat and organized as I began filling the two packs.

I packed one sack of peppercorns, three bags of sea salt, five jars of berry preserves, six sacks of flour, two large bags of dried mushrooms, two large bags of potatoes, a bag of onions, two massive blocks of hard cheese, a dozen thick links of hard salami as large as my forearm, two large bags of sugar, and four sealed jars that I was fairly certain were yeast.

After checking the door, I moved both of the stuffed, extremely heavy food backpacks to my dimensional space. Then, I grabbed two more backpacks and went to the clothing aisles.

I took two heavy black oiled cloaks used as rain gear, two heavy black wool cloaks with soft linens for warmth, two heavy wool blankets for horses, six loin wrappings, a dozen pairs of wool socks, six light undershirts, four linen pants, six leather belts, and two pairs of boots that were already broken in.

The clothes were bulky and filled the two backpacks, so I sent them to my dimensional space after rechecking the door. At the end of the aisle were large twenty-gallon casks. Most were marked as water, but a few were marked as rum or whiskey. I looked at the doorway again, and seeing it was still closed, I shifted one rum and one whiskey cask into my dimensional space, followed by two water barrels. I only had enough remaining aether to open my dimensional space one more time. Reluctantly, I thought it best to conserve it, even though there were more useful items in this storeroom.

I suppose I should actually carry something out as well. I grabbed a satchel and a few more items: a black leather-bound ledger with lined pages, small vials of ink and quills, a bag of apples, and a large bag of candied nuts to snack on.

I walked down the weapon aisle, adding some knives for cooking and two quality short swords, when the legionnaire poked his head in. “You done yet? The horses are out front.” I nodded and hustled out of the room.

“Do I need to show what I took?” I asked, indicating the room.

“Nah, not out at a crappy outpost like this. Most of the shit in here is spoils. The legion patrols the trade routes north of here, and stuff just finds its way here. In the larger cities, the clerks are more stringent. Marta just lets us take whatever when we come through here.”

“I thought her name was Elaina?” I asked, walking out with him.

Elaina and Marta both run this resupply outpost for the Legion. Marta is a retired legionnaire, and Elaina is her daughter,” he explained. “There are not many legionnaires in the Western Empire, just the army guarding the wilds.”

I followed him outside, where the other legionnaire was already mounted. The man who had come to get me mounted a horse, leaving me a large red mare. Two large empty saddlebags were draped across the rump. The two soldiers laughed as I tried to mount the horse, still wearing my backpack and satchel, and holding my spears. Finally, the older man said, “Wylie, help him, or we will never leave.”

The younger man dismounted and in good humor, helped me fill the saddlebags and secure my spears and three short swords so I could mount the horse unencumbered. “This is a fine mount, well-trained. I can tell this is your first time in a saddle. Firth will not have the patience to wait on you, so I will do the best I can to teach you as we go,” Wylie consoled me.

I was soon uncomfortably in the saddle and trotting out of the fortification. I asked Wylie as I bounced in the saddle, “I didn’t know the legion rode horses.”

“Most don’t,” he replied. He sighed, seeing my awkwardness. “You need to move with the horse, become one with it. Otherwise, you’re going to have a miserable ride. You’ll get the rhythm of it eventually.” He spent the next hour of the ride teaching me how to handle the reins, move with the horse, and guide it with my heels. The horse was definitely well-trained, responding to my uncertain commands. When he thought I looked somewhat capable on the horse, he picked up the earlier conversation.

“Most legionnaires are not large battle-fighting units. We are used for guards for the royalty and mages, and for small garrisons in cities. Our company’s charge is to protect Mage Castile.”

“How is she as a commander?” I asked.

Wylie paused, considering what to say. “She has a bit of a chip on her shoulder. She takes on the more dangerous missions but gets things done.”

I decided to broach a concern for me. “I heard that the mortality among her legionnaires is high.”

Wylie winced, not denying it. “Yeah, you could say that. There are twenty-six of us. The veterans have been around for a while, but the new recruits tend to get themselves killed or severely injured frequently. You don’t need to worry, though. With your spell form, Castile will keep you out of the more intense encounters—I mean, she probably will,” he added with uncertainty.

I shifted in my saddle, starting to get uncomfortable and finding no way to alleviate it. Firth turned to us with a grin I did not like. “Let’s teach the boy a light gallop.” He spurred his horse forward, and Wylie shook his head, gave me an apologetic look, and kicked his horse to follow.

When I got my horse moving, I bounced around like crazy. I could not find the new rhythm. The weapons, although secured, were swinging slightly and tapping my back. When Firth mercifully stopped, my inner thighs were burning and cramping. He motioned for us to get off and walk to rest the horses. As soon as my feet touched the ground, I collapsed, unable to hold myself up as my legs cramped uncontrollably.

Firth chuckled, and Wylie smirked slightly. “Don’t worry. You’ll get used to it; Firth isn’t the bad sort. That was just over an hour. He will let you walk it out before making you do it again.” And we did.

I fed my mare an apple from my satchel every time we went walking. I think she felt pity for me, but reading horse body language was not a skill of mine. I named her Ginger after her reddish-brown coat, and she seemed to like the name.

The swamps began to fade into scrub plains, and mountains appeared in the distance. Firth turned and said, “Sorry, recruit. We are going to push to Formica to get there before dark.”

Wylie chuckled, “He must like you. He said sorry.”

The town was a spread of buildings without any walls around it. A large pen of horses was near the edge of town. That’s where we went. “Show the recruit how to care for mounts,” Firth commanded with a hint of impatience. Then he turned and left for one of the larger buildings.

Wylie showed me how to unsaddle and groom the horses, as well as where to look for chafe marks to treat with a salve. Once he thought I understood, he patted me on the shoulder, saying, “You got it, good luck,” and left me.

It took almost an hour to do the three mounts. I gave Ginger an apple, which caused all the horses to line up requesting one as well. I had to cut the apples into quarters to get all of them. My supply of apples was down to three when I was done.

It was late in the evening, and I guessed I should head for the large building that Firth and Wylie went to. Entering it, I found a large common room where legionnaires were lazing about and drinking. I did not see either of my road companions, so I asked the nearest legionnaire where I could find Mage Castile. He looked me over and pointed to a door in the back. Even with months of training, I felt almost unwelcome as no one gave me a second look.

I knocked on the door, and a harsh female voice responded. “Enter!”

I opened the door to find a middle-aged woman hunched over a map on the table with two older legionnaires flanking her. She gave me a hard stare. “Yes?”

“Legionnaire Eryk Marko reporting,” I said, somewhat uncertainly. As my training had been cut short, I had never gone through the protocols or etiquette for someone in the legion.

“About time. Delmar, go get the potions.” One of the men left the room, and the mage paged through some sheets on the table. She finally stopped at one, looked at me, and said, “Seventeen inches?”

I assumed she was referring to the size of the space. That sounded about right. I nodded. She continued, “Good. Your most important job is to hold the potions for the unit. They will not lose their efficacy in a dimensional space. You will also hold the unit’s funds for the company’s pay. Delmar will make sure every copper is accounted for.”

The man she had called Delmar returned. He placed a small black wooden chest on the counter, opening it, he pulled out wooden slotted trays. The potion vials were round, with a large cap. On the cap was a lot of script. I did not have time to examine it before I was ordered to place the two trays with 25 potions each into my space.

I did so, and after they disappeared, Mage Castile smiled, erasing the age lines on her face. “Excellent. Adrian, get the unit’s ledger and chest.” The man left once more and returned with a much heavier chest. “Legionnaire, add these,” she ordered.

Much like the potions, the coins were seated in trays, like poker chips. One tray was full of large gold coins, and the remaining five trays were small silver coins. I did my best to estimate how much a 17-inch cube could hold and not go over that amount. The thin ledger was last, and Castile watched me hawkishly as I added the book.

With everything in my space as a tight-fitting cube, I looked up at the smiling mage. “Excellent. Now, retrieve one of the blue-green potions,” she ordered. She held up her hand. “Just the one potion.”

I thought about it, and she shook he head, disappointed. “How do you have a dimensional space and not know how to use it? Remove the trays again.”

I did so under the glare of the mage and two men. “This time, when you store the tray, differentiate each potion in your mind. Sometimes touching them with your aether helps—but I am no spatial mage.”

I was sweating as I blushed my hand across the potions and took a mental image and inventory. When I stored them this time, it felt different, like I was storing multiple things instead of one object.

I grinned, and Castile smirked. “Good. That is actually harder to do than you think. Now, search your dimensional space with your mind. Choose just the potion you want to bring out—highlight it, if you will. I can tell you are opening your entire dimensional space every time you put an item in and out. That is a massive waste of aether, and from this,” she tapped my sheet, “you do not have any to waste.”

I was getting a lesson in magic. I only had an aether pool of about twelve and had used two aether every time I accessed my space. I did as she asked and focused on the tray of potions, and selected a single potion. I reached out and willed that one object out of the dimensional space. It appeared in my hands.

I beamed, realizing I had achieved it by using only a small amount of my aether. Previously, it felt like rummaging through a closet, but now it was more like simply reaching in and grabbing an item from a shelf—much more efficient and quicker.

Mage Castile smiled approvingly. “Good work. Practice removing and placing potions in the rack in your space. In battle, you should not hesitate to pull the correct potion. Failure could result in someone dying.” Her face turned serious. “Delmar here is our logistics officer. You will be held accountable if anything is missing from the unit funds or potions.” She pointed to the other officer. “This is Adrian. He is responsible for the men’s assignments.”

“Come on, kid,” Adrian said, softly. “Let’s get you settled.”

I was almost twenty-five, so I wouldn't say I was a kid. Actually, I had been in this world long enough to have a birthday. My stomach churned nervously as I wasn’t sure if I would have another.

Adrian introduced me as the new porter for the company in the large common room. Many eyes assessed me, and under the gaze of so many veterans, I fidgeted nervously. I had the unit’s money and healing potions, so I hoped I was someone everyone would want to be on good terms with.

Adrian led me upstairs into a modest room equipped with two simple bunks. “The army usually uses this building,” he explained, “but there is no garrison currently here. Rest up; we leave at first light.”

“Where are we going?” I asked.

“We are searching for a baron’s son who got lost in these mountains. His small adventuring team was looking for a griffin nest. The story is he wanted to give his father a griffin egg for his birthday. Instead, we are probably searching for his remains,” Adrian told me honestly. He smiled, seeming to sense my unease. “Don’t worry, only one nesting pair was seen in this area. It’s not like we’ll have to deal with a flock of those creatures.” Adrian left me alone.

I picked up my backpack and got my bedroll. The bunks were just planks, no mattresses. I rolled it out and removed my armor. My thighs were raw from the ride, the muscles knotted. I tried to rub them out, and two legionnaires entered the room. Their things were already on the bunks.

“Damn, if you need some time alone, we’ll be back in half an hour,” one of the men said.

The other guy laughed. “Half an hour? I bet this one just needs a minute.”

“I’m just trying to loosen my muscles—first time riding,” I explained while massaging my thighs. “Name is Eryk,” I said, standing and offering my wrist.

He looked at my hand doubtingly before grinning and shaking wrists. “Just joking. I am Mateo, and this is Felix. We are to keep an eye on you and help you settle in. Adrian said you were raw and pulled before you finished training?” He sat on the hard bunk.

“Yes, I was shipped off as soon as I got my dimensional space.” I continued to stretch while we talked.

Felix spoke next. “Well, you got into a fine unit. It has a bad rep due to our high mortality, but that’s mostly the new recruits.” He put his hand over his mouth like he was saying something secret. “Don’t worry, Eryk. It is our good to keep you safe—at least until you run out of healing potions.” The pair laughed at his joke, but it didn’t make me feel any better.

They set up their own beds and soon lay down. I took out the candied nuts and started eating. It was late, and no one offered me a meal. My two roommates took liberties with the salty-sweet treat, and before long, the nuts were gone. Hopefully, I had earned some points by sharing.

They talked about the company and the mage commander. The best part was that Mage Castile had her own essence collector. She kept all the magical essences for herself but rewarded the men of the legion with all the physical ones and sometimes the mental ones. The men were also paid ten silver coins a week instead of the standard five silver and forty copper coins that conscripted legionnaires normally earned. However, Felix seemed to think that was mostly because Delmar wanted to make his bookkeeping job easier by just giving the men a large silver a week.

I ate an apple before falling asleep, wondering what tomorrow would bring.

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