A Soldier's Life - 455 - I Have A Son? (edited 9-14-25 +800 words, ending changed)

Chapter 455: I Have A Son?

In the morning, we were all summoned before Maveith and his council. I stood behind Evie with my hands on her shoulders, while Blaze and Benito flanked us. Lesna was nowhere to be seen, but Baelira stood behind Benito. Maveith’s seneschal, Oberth, spoke for the people as Maveith sat majestically on a plain wooden throne. “It has been determined that we will render all possible aid.” Fenlorian and the other Sentinels were stunned, and he sneaked a glance at me and I shrugged like the outcome was expected.

“What does your aid include?” The High Sentinel asked in disbelief, turning back to Maveith.

Oberth looked to Maveith, who took over speaking. “We agree to supply our entire stock of aether restoratives and will let the Sentinels determine fair compensation from Sanctuary.” I wanted to facepalm. “We hope you can provide artifacts that will help my people harvest our dungeon.”

Fenlorian nodded in agreement. “We will endeavor to ship our artificed glassware from Sanctuary here to extend the life of the elixirs. I will also leave behind members of Sentinels who have dimensional pockets where time does not pass.” Oberth hastily took notes, and Maveith nodded in gratitude.

Maveith continued, his face serious. “A call was also sent to every clan family for anyone willing to join the fight against the demon-led Nashasari. I do not know how many will answer my call, but our ship can only take two hundred of my people to Nausis. If there are more than that number of volunteers, we will need help in transporting them, and we hope you can return them to Stone Mountain Island after the demon and Brotherhood threats have been dealt with.”

“We are glad the noble Goliath people understand the imperative danger and will leave five weather and water mages behind to assist you with your warship moving through the water to combat the pirate slavers,” Fenlorian said respectfully, and the High Sentinel bowed deferentially to my friend. “And this is yours now as a gift,” he said, as another Sentinel unwrapped the collector and presented it to Maveith. Maveith’s eyes widened slightly, but he regained his composure and just nodded in thanks. His mannerisms were becoming more king-like, something I could never do.

“We thank you for your generosity,” Maveith intoned. “We will make use of it immediately. Please enjoy our hospitality as long as you are in our city.”

“As you know, we must rush news to the nations to raise more war banners. We plan to sail at sunset,” Fenlorian said grimly.

“Fenlorian, can you wait two days?” I asked. “I will join them in the dungeon, and it will give Maveith time to hear back from the towns and villages. It will let us know how many goliaths we can expect and how many ships we need to send to transport them.”

Fenlorian didn’t need much convincing, having gotten far more than he expected from the goliaths. “Agreed. Perhaps I can tour your alchemy college in the meantime? I know the master alchemists of Sanctuary would be willing to visit to share their expertise on extending the life of potions. Perhaps even the glassworks and artificers.” Although the aether restoratives were valuable, they had a finite shelf life and required a porter with a dimensional space to keep them. What Fenlorian was offering was a way to extend that life and make it a much more valuable trade commodity.

“We welcome their teachings.” Maveith grinned at me, breaking his regal posture. “Eryk, would you like to see the improvements to the dungeon?”

I nodded to my friend, grinning back. “Baelira, care to come with us?”

“Can I come too?” Evie said, breaking my hold on her shoulders as she turned around.

"It is a small dungeon and only four can enter,” I replied disappointedly to Evie. She narrowed her eyes, and I knew I would have to work on my acting. “You can explore the city with Blaze and Benito, though. The Goliath people are friendly and skilled craftsmen, but most do not speak Elvish.”

Baelira nodded her agreement to join us, and we went to join Maveith. Maveith left his throne to approach, grinning as he did so. “A road to the dungeon has been built, and it should only take half a day to reach. A runner was sent to hold the reset.”

Two goliaths in the black Sentinel armor followed Maveith, Baelira, and me to the dungeon. When I took Ginger out of my dimensional space for the run, Baelira’s jaw dropped. I gave a slight smile. “I don’t think you two have met, this is Ginger.” Clearly, her mind was struggling as I swung up into Ginger’s saddle and leaned forward to give her an apple, which she devoured. Ginger nudged Maveith, either greeting or perhaps requesting a second apple.

I was the only one mounted, but Maveith broke into a jog. I asked, pointing back at Maveith’s guards, “How many suits of the dungeon sentinel armor have you recovered?”

“Five complete sets. We have fifteen helms now, but the maze only drops them once a month,” he replied.

“Really? There are ways to encourage a dungeon for better rewards. Entering with less than the maximum is the easiest way, according to the records,” I said silently. We spent the journey with me trying to rely on everything I had learned about dungeon management, to Maveith, who listened intently and asked numerous questions. They had chosen not to inform the Adventurers Guild of the dungeon and were slowly learning how to maximize the dungeon harvests.

The road was not wide, but it was well built as we wound our way up the mountain. We passed two small covered guard towers on the road, manned by soldiers with bows. Maveith explained their presence, “manticores are still a problem, but we also want to deter outsiders from finding the dungeon.”

The dungeon town was built into the slope and had a dozen buildings and dozens of goliaths moving about with purpose. A palisade had begun to take shape, but Maveith explained it would take time to haul trees out from the dungeon, which was still easier than hauling them up from the jungle. Hides were being tanned, meat was being smoked, and other items were being crated for transport in carts. Maveith received a warm welcome as soon as he was recognized.

Two goliaths in the black sentinel armor pulled Maveith aside, and they talked briefly. From pieces of conversation, I thought they were upset that the dungeon was being held open for an outsider. Maveith handed over the collector, which seemed to mollify and excite the goliaths. When Maveith returned, he said flatly, “Tarnak and Vekkas are not happy about not joining us, but if you think Baelira, you and I can clear the dungeon alone, I am ready.”  

I looked at Baelira, and she nodded. “I think you will be surprised how easy it will be with Baelira. Her ability to slow opponents will make this a cake walk.”

“Cake walk?” Maveith said, puzzling out the meaning as we walked toward the entrance.

“It will be easy, like eating cake,” I clarified.

“I can eat a lot of cake,” Maveith replied, grinning. I missed the big guy.

We entered the dungeon as a trio. Maveith was equipped in his full black sentinel regalia and looked imposing. The matte black finish of illusory heavy full plate armor seemed to soak the light in. It could be maintained as an illusion or made substance with more aether investment. His large sentinel shield would be a body shield for me. We paused in the entry room. “I will enter the first room, and if I get in trouble, you can help,” Maveith said, grinning.

Maveith stunned me in the blood caterpillar room. Apparently, his sentinel boots were unaffected by the sticky threads, and he moved through the room with impressive speed and grace, crushing the heads so the silk spinnerets could be harvested. Baelira and I watched him finish the room in minutes. He was covered in gore, but when the chest appeared, his armor vanished, and all the gore splashed to the ground.

“Damn, Maveith, you can clear the dungeon alone,” I said, impressed. I thought he might even be faster than me now.

“Not the last two rooms, the shadow cats are good at working together, and the hydra is a formidable opponent. But maybe I will try to clear the maze alone in the future, as you suggested, for better rewards,” he said humbly.

I used the collector on the caterpillars and gave all the lesser nature essences to Maveith. Maveith gathered the caterpillars in a large sack, then walked back to the exit and tossed them out. The goliaths had developed a taste for grilling insects and they would harvest the silk. These were smaller than the ones we had fought when we discovered the dungeon.

“Baelira, open the chest. There is usually a nice cloak inside, and it will be sized to the person opening it,” I called to her. Baelira looked to Maveith, who nodded. She opened the chest and pulled out an impressive full-length gray cloak.

Maveith came over and inspected it appreciatively. “It is the artificed version. A cloak of warmth. It is very durable, and when you feed it aether, it emits heat inward. It appears only three or four times a month for my people.” Maveith looked at me, his deep voice grumbling. “I think you are right, the more difficult we make the delve for ourselves, the better the rewards.”

Maveith nodded to Baelira, handing her back the cloak. “It is yours, Baelira. It is resistant to normal fire, but not aetheric created fire.” The gray color was darker than her Sentinel robes, but it didn’t clash as she wrapped and fastened it. The robe flowed around her like it had a mind of its own to avoid hampering her movements. I wished I had opened the chest.

The mountain goat maze was even easier. Maveith’s shield stopped any charging goats in their tracks, and Baelira’s spell to thicken the air made their movements sluggish. It took us time to track down the sixteen goats, but eventually we did. We planned to harvest them on the way out, but I divided the sixteen major constitution essences among us, with Maveith getting six and Baelira and me getting five.

I was eagerly heading toward the center of the maze. I felt disappointed when I saw the tree. The golden fig tree had fewer figs, and they were smaller than I remembered. “Maveith, do you harvest the figs every time?”

“Always,” he said quickly.

“Let them grow for two or three days. You can always clear the third and fourth rooms and leave them untouched. Larger figs mean more and bigger seeds for alchemy.” We all collected the figs anyway, and the sack went into my space, so I had a supply to take with me. The chest was left unopened as we worked. I had assumed Maveith would want to open it for a chance to get goliath sentinel armor. “Maveith get the chest contents so we can move on.”

“Eryk, you should open it,” Maveith said insistently. I wasn’t going to say no, so I raised the lid. I had been hoping for the helm, but instead I was disappointed to find heavy leather boots and coins. The dull black leather matched Maveith’s armor, but I couldn’t wear them since it would disrupt my earth speak ability. “They are sized to you, Eryk. You will be very happy with them,” Maveith said, beaming.

“I won’t be able to use my earth speak ability through my feet,” I replied, not picking them up.

Maveith frowned. “The boots are very powerful on their own. They boost my speed and allow me to walk on surfaces unimpeded.”

“How much speed?” Baelira asked, edging toward the chest.

“They are sized for me,” I said, picking them up quickly and making them disappear with a covetous, playful grin at Baelira. “Let’s clear the last two rooms and return to Eternis.” I wouldn’t mind doing another pass for more figs and essences, but I also did not want to risk missing the Salty Maiden. With the Sentinel mages, they would be weeks faster than if we had to find passage on another ship.

The jungle room was quick, and while Maveith was harvesting the two cats for their pelts, I collected some flora. The cats had each yielded major power essences, and Maveith and Baelira each took one. I was hoping to obtain the hydra essence or the magic attribute essence from the hydra chest as my next share of the essences. The jungle chest had the dungeon healing potion and an invisibility potion.

“I do not have any more dungeon healing potions. Does anyone mind if I take this one?” No one objected, and Baelira took the invisibility potion and Maveith the remaining coins for his people. “When was the last time you killed the hydra?” I asked.

“We haven’t attempted to kill it,” Maveith said.

“Why?” I asked, shocked. Maveith had a number of his people in the sentinel sets. They were walking tanks with the armor as long as their aether held out.

“It is too dangerous for the rewards,” Maveith said defensively. I could tell this was a divisive topic, so I just nodded in understanding. Maveith didn’t want to risk his people by being greedy, and I could respect that. With Baelira and me here, he didn't object to taking on the hydra.

“We should try to take it down without using my dimensional space. Dungeons tend not to like me using it, and we may get better rewards,” I said. Maveith looked a little uncertain but nodded in agreement.

Although Baelira was awed by the Hydra’s massive size and hypnotic serpent heads, the fight was surprisingly manageable. She was able to slow the entire creature down, every head. Maveith and I flanked it on either side, splitting its attention. As Maveith smashed one of its heads with his hammer, I wielded Heartseeker on the other side like a glaive with slashing attacks.

After each of us disabled two serpent heads each, the victory was a forgone conclusion. When all the heads were limp and regenerating, I moved in and used Heartseeker to piece the tough hide and its heart. I was rewarded with a spray of blood for my trouble, and I cursed Lepidus for not fixing my shields before we set sail. An artifact that instantly cleans would be welcome. A beast this size pumped a substantial amount of blood that was now soaking my clothes.

The beast had been unmolested for two years, and the aetheric essence was thick when I used the collector on it. It was no surprise that it formed an apex healing essence. “Is that?” Baelira asked covetously.

“Apex healing essence? Yes,” I said, tossing it to her.

“My healing affinity is too weak for a spell form. It would take dozens of these to make a difference,” she said, holding it while her eyes were fixed on the pearl colored sphere with its moving golden swirls.

Maveith had opened the chest, pulling out another apex essence, ruining my plan to get the better of the two. Maveith held up the large white pearl, something any mage would covet—an aether pool essence. If we were dividing the loot fairly, then we should each get one. I knew which one I wanted, so I decided to share one of my secrets with Baelira to secure it.

“I have the convergence affinity, and my spell form helps me get manyfold the benefit from essences. I would prefer the aether pool essence,” I told her sincerely.

“That explains a lot. Don’t you have a healing spell form as well?” the elf asked, turning back to me.

“I do, but the aether pool essence can…” I started to explain.

“Take them both,” she said, tossing them to me with a smirk.

I was a bit speechless, but like the chest, I didn’t complain. I took the aether pool essence right there and would take the healing first thing tomorrow. As the essence worked to enhance my core, it no longer felt like it was wrapped too tightly, like the tension had finally been eased on it. Maybe my core was ready to open a new aspect.

I was motivated as we harvested everything we could in the room. Maveith pruned the bushes for tea leaves, I caught some of the fish, harvested them with the collector, and gave those minor essences to Maveith and Baelira. After spending an hour in the Hydra room, we quickly backtracked, harvesting what we could carry and packing my dimensional space. We exited the dungeon, and I dumped everything in a warehouse for the goliaths to process while Maveith dropped two large packs that he carried. Baelira dropped a smaller pack containing the goat horns.

Ginger was not excited to see me as I was covered in dried blood. My skin itched, and my clothes and armor were crusty. “Ginger, do you want an apple?” I said, coaxing her to me. She approached quickly, and I held my hand under her mouth. She trusted me and inhaled the offering. She shook her head, confused, and kicked out as her body spasmed. I knew she would be fine, as Baldo had taken essences before. As the major constitution essence worked through her system, she looked at me accusatorily. “Trust me girl, you will thank me.” She didn’t look as convinced.

I unsaddled her, rubbed her down, and walked her back to Eternis with the others in the morning. Ginger, well rested and resaddled, went back to wait in my space until I needed her again. Maveith was beset by Oberth and his other advisors as soon as we entered Eternis and was pulled away. I found my companions resting at the inn and handed out the other four major constitution essences to Evie, Lesna, Blaze, and Benito.

“You gave them all away?” Baelira asked after they left.

“Yeah. So?” I said.

“But your convergence spell form?” she indicated her confusion.

I nodded, seeing her point. “More essences will come in time; friends are a rare commodity. It might only give them a slight benefit, but it is my way of showing them how much I value their friendship and loyalty.” The elf studied me for a long time, and I could tell she was processing something in her head. She gave me a slight nod before going to her room.

The Salty Widow was ready to sail, and we were informed the outgoing tide was at sunset. Maveith was there to see us off, and he had a large pack on, and Myra, Zorana, and his father were there with his daughters.

I walked up to him to say our farewells. “It was good to see you and adventure again, friend,” I said, clasping his wrist.

“I am coming with you,” Maveith said, grinning.

“Your children…” I said, insinuating he couldn’t leave them.

He looked back at his family. “By going, I am protecting them. If I didn’t go and the demons arrived, my daughters would be doomed. Myra understands.” He smiled at her. “Although she was insistent last night, I give her another child before I left.”

“Too much information, Maveith. I don’t need to know about your sex life.” I said, explaining. Maveith frowned.

“Are you jealous? You and Raelia are quite loud.” Maveith said seriously.

“Nevermind,” I said giving up. “Your shadows coming too?” I said, indicating the two goliaths in dungeon sentinel gear.

“They are. They will serve as my captains and prepare for the arrival of our soldiers in Nausis,” Maveith said. “I plan to travel with you to the Heptarchy. Oberth thinks my presence will help the cause and wants me to test the trade waters.”

I couldn’t help but smile. Having Maveith at my side again was welcome news. “How many volunteered?” I asked.

“So far, just under two thousand, but we still have yet to hear from the further villages,” Maveith said heavily. He knew what war entailed, and many of his people might not return. “We have informed the High Sentinel, and he guaranteed there will be ships to get my people to Nausis. While they wait, they will train together. My people are unfamiliar with fighting in large units, but two of the High Sentinel’s men are staying behind to train them. Oberth will handle my other duties while I am gone,” he said, sounding relieved at the last.

“I am happy to have you with us.” We climbed the ramp together after Maveith and I said our goodbyes. Zorana hugged me and asked me to make sure her brother returned safely. I received a similar request from Myra. I would do my best.

The weeks on the Salty Widow were filled with combat training on deck and studying at night in the dreamscape for me. Evie loved facing off against Maveith in front of the Sentinels, and I didn’t have the heart to tell her that he was slowing down his speed not to overwhelm her. He defeated her every time, but she thought it was closer than it actually was. In the dreamscape, she did take the compilation of the First Legion again, but never asked me any questions, so I assumed she never got to the part where they established a gate back to Earth.

These dungeon sentinel boots lived up to Maveith’s hype. Although they weren't as powerful as the ring of surefootedness, my footing on slippery surfaces was firm. The slight boost to foot speed made them really valuable, irritating Maveith as it pushed me past him again in our spars. I was able to channel my earth pulse through them, but it required twice the aether and had half the range. Still, I swapped out my earth drake boots for the artifact boots.

When we finally saw land after weeks of sailing, we were still a week away from reaching Nausis, following the coastline. When Nausis finally came into view, it looked the same as when we left it just under a year ago.

Word must have traveled that the Salty Widow was sailing into the bay as Varek stood on the docks. He was the grizzled recruiter for the Death Hunters in the Nausis. Behind him stood six men, one human and five elves. They were likely the new recruits destined for Sanctuary. They were about to be very disappointed.

Varek, the gruff recruit, looked surprised at the number of Sentinels disembarking. Fenlorian paused in front of the recruiter, “What did you find for us?”

“High Sentinel? Why?” He started to say, perplexed. He then realized he hadn’t answered his order’s leader. “Two weak necromancers, three craftsmen sick of the world, and one veteran who wants a little peace.”

I was right behind Fenlorian, eager to step onto solid ground, and overheard. It was easy to tell who was who from their appearances. My eyes scanned the group of five elves and one human, settling on the veteran. His sharp eyes met mine, and there was a familiarity in them I couldn’t place. He carried malice behind those eyes, and it was aimed solely at me. I sensed danger from him—an intense feeling of threat. I missed the conversation going back and forth between Varek and Fenlorian as the High Sentinel explained what had happened on Sanctuary.

There was something wrong with the veteran elf, and his hand resting on the hilts of his sheathed weapons was not easing my sense of danger from him. Blaze came up behind me. “Do you want me to find us a ship to the Heptarchy?” I gave him a slight nod, and the elf’s eyes narrowed.

Baelira came up behind me and rested her hand on my shoulder to get my attention. “Do you want me to get us a suite at an inn for tonight?”

“Yes, get us rooms together and take the others there to settle in.” The veteran elf and I hadn't taken our eyes off each other. He gripped the sword at his hip, his knuckles turning white. I thought he was going to attack me, but instead, he turned on his heel and walked away.

Varek turned to yell after him. “Aelthorn, where are you going?”

Something was not right. I could sense the hatred from the man, but he was smart enough not to attack me in front of so many allies. Whatever his intentions, I didn’t want to be looking over my shoulder. I broke away from the Sentinels as they came off the ship and started to follow him with the intention of confronting him. I sensed he knew I was following him and seemed pleased. I looked back to see if my companions had noticed me leaving—no one except Varek was watching us disappear into the crowd.

I moved to catch up to Aelthorn. He turned into an alley, and I sent out an earth pulse to make sure he was alone. With the range halved to thirty-five feet with the sentinel boots, I felt a little blind but didn’t see anyone else. I stepped into the alley and approached the elf. He had stopped at the end of the alley and was waiting for me.

“No closer, Eryk Marko,” he said confidently. He had drawn his runic weapon and held three thin throwing daggers in his other hand. He seemed too confident, and if he knew not to let me approach, then he knew about my ability.

“You know me, but you are not familiar. Who are you?” I asked, my hand resting on my own blade. I layered air shields in front of me in anticipation of an attack and pulsed earth speak to make sure no one was coming at me from behind.

“We have met once before. I am Alhar Larethian of House Caelorian, and I am your judgment,” he said stiffly.

I was deeply confused, as the name didn’t trigger any memories. His face seemed to twist and relax, like some kind of morphing disguise spell was being released. It took me just a second to remember the face from back in Macha. He was the elf who had cornered me at the aqueduct.

“I don’t have any void magic,” I said with a half smile, recalling our encounter. He had me dead to rights, and that was when I brought Raelia out with her partially formed fireball. The fireball consumed this elf, but he seems to have recovered.

He smiled grimly. “I know. Raelia has told me all about your tricks. I was sent here to deliver the message that if you do not come to attend her immediately, you will no longer be welcome in her presence.”

I frowned. “I cannot do that. I have other obligations I have to attend to first.”

“I saw your other dalliances at the docks. You do not deserve Raelia or to sully the Glavien House any longer. You will never see her or your son!”

He spat the last as he threw each dagger rapidly and charged. My mind was still locked onto his last two words, which caused a brief hesitation on my part. My aether sight saw a spell form and rush at me, but whatever it intended to do was brushed off by my mind fortress. The thrown blades never reached me either, as my aether shield held. With my protection affinity being raised, the air shields were even stronger.

The daggers still released an acidic smoke, but my aether sight and purify self kept it from blinding me. He probably thought I would be at least partially blinded as he darted to his right, in case I targeted him with my dimensional space.

I didn’t kill him right away as I was still stunned by his pronouncement. I drew magebane, and Boris’s blade appeared in my other hand. The narrow alley gave him an advantage since he was smaller, but my blades had longer reach. He was fast and thought he had the advantage, but I was faster and not impaired.

I tested him with two dozen exchanges in a few heartbeats that resulted in him losing his aether shield in a flash and taking two wounds, a deep cut to his hip from Boris’s blade, and a cut on his forearm from magebane—that was the strike that mattered, and he was realizing it now. He stepped back, confusion in his eyes. I guess Raelia hadn’t told him all my secrets. “Is Raelia okay?” I asked earnestly as he realized his predicament. His leg was already soaked with blood from the deep wound, and whatever magic he had was inaccessible.

His hatred radiated at me. “I am not going to ask again, Alhar Larethian. Is Raelia safe?” I said, steely. I wanted answers, and I was going to get them.

He spat at me. “I did nothing to her. It’s you who put a child in her and abandoned her and the boy.” He reached for something at his belt, but I stopped him. He disappeared into my dimensional space, and my aether crashed. This was clearly a misunderstanding, and he needed to calm down. I sent out another earth pulse to confirm I was alone, and Alhar didn’t have any allies nearby.

I lowered my blades numbly. “I have a son.”

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