A Soldier's Life - 394 - Heart of the Storm (edit 5-21-25 +250 words)

Chapter 394: Heart Of The Storm

Evie had been excited to finally get some serious lessons with her new blades, and I had been hoping to see what a Queen’s Champion was capable of. However, this was not meant to be today, as the crew raced across the deck. The blue sky quickly darkened into blackness, and cheap glowstones appeared in sconces on the deck. The minimal light and shadows gave it an even more sinister look. The captain and first mate were arguing in their native language, which was not helping the confidence of the passengers or crew. 

I looked behind us and noted that two of the three ships we had taken sanctuary with in the bay were following. One appeared to have already stowed its sails, while the other was racing toward us, hoping to sprint across the remaining distance of the Shadow Belt before the storm got too deadly. My stomach suddenly lurched as the Sensible Seahorsedropped from the crest of a wave. The monster wave seemed to have appeared out of nowhere. I felt weightless for just a moment, and then heavy as the ship crashed into the trough of the wave. A huge amount of spray covered the deck from the bow as the wind whipped the wash toward us.

Passengers and crew stumbled as I picked up Evie from the deck. “Blaze! Get everyone below! Lesna! Give them light before you go!” Lesna, stumbling but focused, formed and cast a brilliant globe of light that stuck just beneath the crow’s nest. She was all too happy to scurry down the stairs to our cabins after her display of magic. The captain yelled in thanks but was preoccupied.

“You mean we are not training this morning?” Benito asked cheekily. It was rare for Benito to come up with a good comeback. Of course, it had to be when our lives were in danger.

“Just you, Benito. I want you to cycle through all the sword forms twice and do fifty pushups every time you notice a mistake,” I snapped back, sounding serious. Benito’s jaw dropped, but Blaze grabbed him rather than explain that I was joking, and my four companions disappeared below. As we crested the next wave, I could see we were surrounded by a growing number of waves that dwarfed the first.

The first mate started yelling for the passengers to get out of the way and return to their cabins, but I stayed against the railing for now. I wasn’t sure if I could do anything, but I wanted to stay in case danger presented itself. Kyrenic carefully walked down the rail to stand beside me. He clearly wanted to talk, but had to shout because the wind was now whipping the sails as sailors scrambled among the rigging. He nodded toward the captain and the first mate, who had resumed their argument.

Kyrenic yelled over the cacophony of noise. “It doesn’t look good. The First Mate had lobbied to wait to cross, but the captain was certain we would have time before a new storm took root.” A light but hard rain started to fall as the ocean around us darkened. Lights on the trailing ships were only visible when we both crested waves now, but it was oddly reassuring that they were there, sharing in our misfortune.

“This is all caused by the ley line?” I yelled back. I was hoping for a yes, as I didn’t want this to be the work of Leviathan, Kraken, or some other horror from the deep, dark depths of the ocean.

“I am no weather mage, but I have heard them talking about the phenomenon at a few parties in court. Ley lines are like a river of aether; when something interrupts the flow among the lesser ley lines, it ripples back to the largest. From what I was told, the one that runs underneath the Shadow Belt is one of the largest,” he yelled as the rain went from small stinging drops to thick pelting drops. The only thing I could think that could be strong enough to interrupt the flow of the ley lines was dungeons. I had not read anything about dungeons causing this type of phenomenon, but then again, the library in Godok was incomplete.

Seeing things worsening quickly, I decided to go below. “I am going to join my companions!” I yelled back. I don’t think he heard me, but understood my intention as he walked himself along the rail to the bow where his cabin was.

I burst into my cabin, dripping wet, to find all my companions huddled there. “It is going to be a bumpy ride, but the captain will get us through.” I was not entirely sure, but I thought it best to give them hope. My stomach was knotted as I identified the oddity, and I looked at Lesna, “Can you feel that?”

“The turbulent aether?” She said back nervously. I nodded as I felt my aether stirring restlessly through my body. If I hadn’t practiced and received training in channeling and shaping, I wouldn't have noticed it.

As the ship tilted hard to starboard, I caught Evie as she was tossed across the room with a panicked yelp. The others managed to brace themselves. Evie gripped me ferociously in fear, and I set her to hold the support for the hammock with a supportive smile. The truth is, I was scared as well, but I couldn’t show it as the others were looking to me for reassurance. I had no defense against this indomitable force of nature. There was no enemy I could kill—or anywhere I could hide us all safely.

Minutes seemed like hours as the Sensible Seahorse rode the carnage outside. I couldn’t imagine being in the crew on deck in this storm. They had been pulling down the sails when I went below to save them from the winds tearing them apart. With how the ship was being jerked about, I had no idea how they were remaining on deck.

A thunderous crack of lightning caused the hair on my arms to stand on end. But that was just the first of many. It soon sounded like we were in the middle of a storm of lightning. The ship jolted and reverberated, and I guessed one of the masts had been struck by an errant bolt. I didn’t know when she had come over, but Evie was gripping me tightly again, and I wrapped one arm around her while my other arm steadied me on the seat at the small table.

From the fear in my companions' eyes, I didn’t think any of them would ever board a ship again. If the ship capsized, I was already considering escape options. I told my companions to remove all their armor and weapons and stored them away. If we needed to swim, I wanted them to be unencumbered. I couldn’t put Evie in my space, but with some restorative potions, I could quickly store the others.

The tension kept rising with the tumultuous storm’s increasing intensity. The ship was not only being tossed on the waves, but the old hull was groaning in protest with every abrupt change. Then something unusual happened. The three glowstones we had lighting the cabin brightened for just a moment before dimming again. It wasn’t long after that that the waters outside seemed to calm, and the Sensible Seahorse settled.

“Wait here,” I said as I left the room to explore above. The dark clouds seemed to be fleeing, allowing a clear twilight sky to take their place. Exhausted sailors were beginning to unfurl the sails and set out. The foremast was splintered and charred from a lightning strike. Lesna’s light still shone brightly, and she must have invested a lot of aether into it for it to last so long. Most disturbing was how the ocean waters looked eerily calm, with only small ripples.

The captain was yelling orders in the background while talking with Kyrenic as I looked for the other two ships that had been trailing us. They were nowhere in sight. “Where did all the waves and ships go?” I asked aloud in confusion. How could the waters calm so drastically, and so quickly?

Kyrenic’s wet boots thudded on the deck as he approached. How he heard me from so far away remains a mystery. “Both ships were sunk. The captain lost his first mate and seven sailors in the storm. He has asked me to go among the passengers to ask if they have any scrying spells to look for men in the water. He will not spend long searching, but he will make the attempt.”

“My companions do not, but he can borrow this,” I said as I produced the spyglass from my belt. It obviously could not fit based on its size, and Kyrenic’s eyebrow arch told me he noticed the discrepancy. My generosity stemmed from my gratitude for being alive and a desire to keep the karmic scales balanced.

He turned the device over, studying it. “Telhian?” He questioned.

“It is,” I confirmed, but I was not planning to give him more information about the device.

I quickly explained how it functioned. After I finished, Kyrenic nodded, “Fascinating artifact. The Telhians once had the best artificers in the world. Deciphering and twisting dungeon runes to their will,” he said appreciatively.

“What happened?” I asked, showing interest, but I already knew the answer.

“I was taught that their expansionist drive and hubris made them a target. Their enemies could not compete with them on the field of battle, and they were becoming an relentless juggernaut. So, their enemies resorted to subterfuge and assassinations. In the span of a year, every Telhian artificer and researcher of renown was killed,” he said unsympathetically. “It was called the Great Purge in Tegairosian histories.”

“Why is it noted in the Tegairosian histories?” I asked. I knew seven kings and queens ruled Tegairosia, and it was one of the older kingdoms on the continent.

Kyrenic smiled knowingly, “Not just the Telhian Empire’s enemies participated. At the time, our northern borders abutted lands claimed by the Telhian Empire. I cannot see into the past, but I assume the Heptarchy decided to participate in the purge and help neuter the Empire before it became truly unstoppable.” Kyrenic left to deliver the spyglass.

I watched as the Kyrenic handed the spyglass to the captain and gestured to me. The captain nodded appreciatively, and it was run up to the crow’s nest. With no wind to move the ship, he had time to search the waters for survivors. Over the next few hours, as night set, we didn’t locate any survivors, and only a few crates and three dead bodies from the other ships.

When the wind slowly returned to fill the sails, the crew scrambled to move us out of the accursed Shadow Belt. It was almost surreal as it only took a few hours under sail to spot land. We had been blown south, and it took another few hours to reach Delpsa. The lights of the city were visible in the night, and by dawn, we would reach the city.

The city sat atop a high hill overlooking the Shadow Belt. The docks were stone fingers on the beach just beyond a high artificial breaker. When we tied off, most of the passengers disembarked, and I guessed more than a few would not be returning, even though this was not their destination.

The captain was only going to stay long enough to patch his broken mast, and local Gorgiphian shipwrights swarmed the deck. Without being able to afford a mage who specialized in woodcraft, we were told it was going to take four days to repair the damage.

We were supposed to sail around the peninsula and up to Nausis next, but we could also travel through the Kingdom of Gorgiphian on foot, according to the maps, about 500 miles. The southern kingdoms were generally older and safer to travel through.

I put it to a vote with my companions and, not surprisingly, they decided to remain on land even though it would add a few days to our trip. We found a horse trader north of the city, and I was surprised to find Kyrenic, planning to do the same as us.

“Did the captain return your spyglass?” He said in greeting, a smile plastered on his face.

“He did, after land was spotted,” I returned his wrist shake. I thought you were returning to Petos, and your Queen?”

“Her castle is actually in the north, in Thypera. At this point, it will be faster to ride north and cross the bay. Are you still headed to Nausis?” he asked congenially. 

“We are. We never got a chance to test each other, and you are more familiar with the roads than we are. Would you be willing to guide us?” I asked. The knight possessed an innate charisma that I lacked, as well as extensive knowledge of the region.

“I plan to cross the bay in Bybros, but I would entertain company until then. There is only one stretch of road that is dangerous, but I always welcome companionship.” He nodded toward Evie, “I don’t even mind if it takes an extra day or two because of your daughter.”

“We will meet you in a few hours north of the city. We need to resupply and purchase horses.” I also needed to secretly retrieve Ginger from my dimensional space.

“Understood,” Kyrenic said, and we shook hands and parted.

Lesna studied him as he walked away from us. “He has an aura, you know. Nothing sinister, but there is a cloud of spellcraft around him.” I watched him with my aether sight as Kyrenic walked his recently purchased riding horse away. Maybe there was a haze around him, but it blended in with the morning light. It was something I would have to explore further.

Four hours later, I was riding Ginger with my companions and Kyrenic north of the city. The roads were ancient stone but extremely well-maintained. Our pace was steady for the rest of the day, and we diverted to a small inn off the road in one of the many small towns dotting the roads. In the darkened stables, the aetheric haze around Kyrenic was easier to see in the fading daylight, confirming Lesna’s assertion. I hadn’t studied auras, but his did not feel threatening.

After the horses were settled, we had little daylight remaining, but Kyrenic asked, “Care for some exercise?”

Benito already knew our companions would not bet with him, so he asked Kyrenic, “I will wager five silver Eryk wins.”

Kyrenic cocked his brow in amusement, and I thought he was going to say no, but instead offered a small smile. “Five silver it is.” Kyrenic drew his runic long sword, and I drew magebane…

© Copyrighted 2024, 2025 by AlwaysRollsAOne

No Permission is given to translate, copy, or repost this original work of fiction. If you are reading this on a site that is not my Patreon it has been stolen without my permission and is a violation of DMCA. Remember, this work is the result of my creative effort and is protected by copyright law. Removal or altering of this notification is an acknowledgment you are aware you are in violation of DMCA.