A Soldier's Life - 462 -

Chapter 462:

The red-scaled shield was both functional and artistic. Its spell form wasn't as impressive as I had hoped. It performed as advertised, but it required a heavy flow of aether to activate and a steady flow while it was in use. When I activated the titan artifact in my cabin, the stained wood and ancient cobweb ceiling also fell within its area of effect. Startled shouts from Baelira next door told me that the artifact had emitted a long, cleansing aura, not just a personal shield. I cut off aether to the shield, finding nearly half of my aether had been drained.

Other surprised voices shouted from above, and I sighed. I sent an earth pulse into the device and searched the complex runes. I couldn’t tell much except that it was likely a mix of void and materialism spell forms. I could only speculate that the materialism was how the artifact decided what counted as dirt, somehow drawing from the activator, and the void spell form eliminated the dirt. Just the fact that this artifact used the void affinity made it valuable.

Just like my purify self spell form, the aether used depended on how much material was eliminated from existence. I studied the artifact for some time while the commotion outside settled. There was no way to decrease the range of the artifact from what I could tell, as it was dependent on the size of the runes. Maybe I could have better intent on what I want cleaned, but it would still require a lot of aether due to the range. Perhaps if I had a few years, I could replicate a smaller artifact with the same effect. Giving up on its usefulness, I sent it to my space.

I did notice one unusual thing: the salt air was much crisper smelling, and the stench of myself and the cabin was gone, so the artifact had purged the air as well. Maybe it was not so useless after all. I checked in with my companions to explain what I had done, but Baelira had already figured it out. Maveith had been up on deck, and I might have to use it again to cleanse my friend while he slept.

I spent some time studying the aetheric disruption spell form for the energy affinity. My 17 was far from reaching the minimum 40 affinity to learn it, but I wanted to be prepared for when it happened and also needed a distraction from thinking about my son.

In the morning, I was on deck with the rising sun and froze when I saw the captain talking with an elf on the stern deck near the wheel. Alhur turned and gave me a self-satisfied grin at seeing my shock. He looked calm, not tense, and not ready for a fight, but I still approached cautiously. “How are you here? Why are you here?” I asked flatly.

My tone took aback the captain. “Your friend said he wanted to surprise you.” My hard stare had the captain retreat and leave us to sort out our reunion.

“I go where I want to go. No one can stop me,” he said dismissively.

I rested my hand on my sword. “Are my friends alive?” I asked. They should be leaving on the Salty Maiden this morning with the Sentinels.

Alhur seemed to bask in my angst. “Probably. I left them a nice little note and a letter for them to deliver to General Glavien about my absence—and your delay.”

“How are you here?” I asked, not lifting my hand from my weapon.

“I could tell you I escaped the king’s dungeon, and eluded being found out, and then boarded this ship with no one knowing. But that would be a lie,” he said teasingly. He looked upset when I didn’t ask for the truth, so he continued without prompting. “Let’s just say my lineage allowed me to convince King Torvane that I shouldn’t be his prisoner.”

I looked at the shore about two miles away. “Well, you can still swim to shore and head back to Bartiradia.” My statement cracked his confidence as he looked slightly unnerved. I forgot he didn’t know how to swim, but I didn’t care. I was prepared to throw him overboard.

He held up both palms, signaling surrender. “High Sentinel Fenlorian and King Torvane’s revelation of events was—illuminating and disconcerting. I decided to represent Bartiradia’s position to the Heptarchy and the Telhians in person.” He said the Telhians with unhidden malice. “I know when grudges need to be set aside to combat a greater threat.”

“I am supposed to forget you tried to kill me?” I said, somewhat amused. The sun was coming up, and Maveith’s tall frame exited from the cabin doors. Identifying Alhur, he immediately approached his boots, pounding the deck, drawing the hammer on his belt. The crew scrambled for distance from the impending fight and the captain was at a loss on what to do.

“Well, you did try to kill me first,” he said, grinning. He sighed, seeing his humor not well-received. His interpersonal skills were about as good as mine. “I gave an oath to King Torvane that I would not harm you or set events in motion to harm you,” Alhur said, as if that made it all better.

Maveith’s deep voice was icy, but he only had his sentinel boots and belt on. “Why is he here?” Maveith clearly had the same thought as I did, and that Alhur had killed Bentio, Blaze, and Lesna.

“He said he got released for good behavior by the king,” I said, and Alhur looked amused and shrugged and nodded in agreement. Maveith relaxed his grip on his hammer, and I rolled my eyes as he missed the sarcasm.

 “I am now an ambassador of the Kingdom of Bartiradia, and King Torvane is aware of my intent to travel with you. My letter, which your friends are delivering, makes it clear that I am traveling with you. If I disappear, I don’t think the Glavien family will look too kindly on you when you arrive. Your relationship with Raelia would be ruined,” he said, thinking his argument triumphant.

“Which is just what you want,” I said accusingly.

“I admit, I did not think you worthy—and still do not. But High Sentinel spoke very highly of you and your contributions. If you are telling the truth about your long life—then half my argument for despising you is mute,” he smiled at his joke. Yes, he definitely had crap humor.

“And what is the other half?” Maveith grumbled in my defense.

“Not important,” Alhur said furtively. I responded with a frown. “If we can agree not to kill each other until we reach Petos, that is good enough for me.”

The morning sun was in my eyes, so I switched to aether sight as I studied the assassin. “I can agree not to kill you as long as you don’t interfere with me and my companions.” Baelira took that moment to appear on the deck with Evie. Alhur’s eyes flicked to Baelira, and he had a small frown. He turned and descended to what I assumed was his cabin. With Maveith, we explained Alhur’s mysterious appearance.

The next four days, we didn’t see Alhur on deck at all. Maveith, Baelira, and I practiced for an hour in the morning and he evening. We all took turns with Evie as well. She was a competent fighter for her age and had the speed of an adult but lacked the strength to match a true warrior. With her focus, it would come with time. She was almost thirteen and had to deal with a lot in her two years on Desia.

I let Evie into the dreamscape every other night, and half the time she worked on the slow aging spell form, and the rest of the time she studied various texts that I lost track of. I tried to get her to focus on a spell form for he 20 air affinity, but she had wanted a flight spell that required a 40 affinity. She was more patient than I, but I don’t think she understood how many essences it would take to raise her affinity—or how she would obtain them.

The crew of the Tipsy Mermaid was well trained, responding to commands quickly and without question as orders were called to adjust the sails and make the most of the little wind we had. I was on the stern deck on our third morning with the captain present, confirming our heading parallel to the shoreline.

“I don’t mind you punching out my crew, but I would prefer you let me dole out discipline on my ship,” he said in passing. He was referring to last night when one of his sailors made a lewd comment to Evie, thinking I was not within earshot. I broke the sailor's jaw and knocked him out. Fortunately, another crew member relayed the events as they happened and didn’t fabricate anything.

“I apologize, I didn’t give you the opportunity, captain,” I said, and he waved off my concern.

“The Death Hunters are good for all of us, and Jakob deserved it. I will leave him Petos since he causes too much trouble for me anyway. If he weren’t my nephew, I would have grounded him after his maiden voyage,” the captain replied.

“Is Alhur still on board?” I asked.

“He stays in his cabin during the day and comes on deck at night to practice with his blades,” the captain said. “Sorry about letting him aboard. He seemed so earnest in surprising you.”

“Not your fault. That King Torvane didn’t make me or Fenlorian aware is where the blame lies,” I said.

Relieved, the captain noted, “Kings and their hegemony, am I right?” I just grunted in response.

A call from the crow's nest on the fifth evening had men scrambling to the deck. I moved close to the captain to listen in as the unease spread among the sailors. “They are adjusting course to intercept us. We will not be able to outrun them,” his first mate with a spyglass informed the captain. If they even had one mage on board, they wouldn’t take long to catch us.

“Pirates?” I asked.

“A Brotherhood Corsair, but it has been months since we have seen one,” the captain said, with a modest unease. “They usually just sail close and then turn away—some type of intimidation. There hasn’t been an actual attack in decades.” He sounded hopeful, but there was a note of fear that this would be the first.

Half the crew worked on the sails, while the other half grabbed bows and weapons. Alhur came on deck, dressed in black, and strode toward the captain. “Attack?” he asked seriously after giving me a glance. 

The captain pointed. “Nashasari ship. They are awfully far north for this time of year. It is unlikely they will attack; they just want everyone to remember they exist.” Alhur frowned, looked at me, and silent words passed between us. We would ignore grudges for a common enemy.

No battle occurred, though. The Brotherhood warship sailed parallel to our course about half a mile away, and the serpent warriors crowded the deck with weapons ready. After three hours of shadowing us, they turned away and sailed south. I really thought they would attack, and from Alhur’s look, so did he.

“They are being seasoned,” Alhur said thoughtfully to no one in particular. I just happened to be in earshot. “The crew was green and the warriors young.”

“You have remarkable eyesight,” Maveith replied, removing his helm, and his black armor vanished. Several crew members were impressed with my friend’s artifact.

“A minor spell form,” he replied humbly, but his eyes were on Maveith’s for his magical display.

I risked supplicating myself to Alhur for a favor. “What is my son’s name?”

He turned to me, his eyes judging me, but he did not tease me or banter. “Marcus, after your family name, I assume.” My mind caught on the name. It made it feel more real having a name. “If you have need of me, you know where to find me,” Alhur said, addressing the captain before departing the deck. We didn’t see Alhur for the remainder of the voyage.

We sailed into a bay filled with black, white, and red stone buildings that ranged from three to seven stories. There was no wall around the city, but evenly spaced stone towers lined the coast and the shoreline. The city was at the center of Heptarchy, and the absence of walls symbolized that it was open to everyone.

I read what the dreamscape had about the Heptarchy, but I wasn't an expert. Each of the seven kingdoms was independent, with none claiming Petos and the surrounding lands and towns. Petros was an amalgamation of the kingdoms and a center for trade, education, military training, and cooperation for the Heptarchy. It was clean and famously safe for all people.

As the ship approached the docks, Alhur jumped ten feet to the docks. Baelira looked slightly impressed at the athleticism. “He must really hate the water,” she muttered.

“No, I just think he wants to be the first to present the threat to the Heptarchy,” I said, watching his long strides take him into the heart of the city. So much for presenting our case together.

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