A Soldier's Life - 386 - The Dead of Night

Chapter 386: The Dead Of Night

I needed to remind myself not to be mad at Evie, at least not openly. She was already in shock, and I didn’t want to wreck our rapport. Blaze exited his room first, tightening his leather bracers. He looked to me for an explanation. “We are leaving now, we are not waiting till morning.”

That was all he needed as Blaze sped down the stairs with Benito and Sylph to ready the horses. Castile was next out of her room. She looked ready for a fight even though her hair was a mess. “It is not the matrons but we are leaving now.” Castile looked confused and approached me to whisper.

“What has you spooked? It is going to look suspicious if we leave now.” She said softly.

“Evie used her power. Anika has awakened. A drunk noticed her leaving the grave, but by morning, the word will spread, and they will figure it out.” I told her grimly.

“Pluto’s abyss!” she hissed, and Evie moved to hide behind me. I let her hide under my cloak for the moment. “I will watch the streets as we prepare. What direction are we headed?”

“We will find a way to cross the river and head northeast toward Gesedmuria,” I said. It was the only direction that made sense.

“There are barges that ferry horses and people across the river,” a faint voice echoed from a corner. I nodded to Lesna.

“Selene, you and Helena head to the piers and see if you can arrange passage across the river. Lesna, go with them,” I ordered, and everyone obeyed. 

I took a deep breath and turned to the girls. I calmly told them, “Everything will be fine.”

“I don’t want to go back,” Evie said abruptly. I was confused for a moment, thinking she was referring to Earth, but I realized she didn’t want to be sent to my storage. Her hand was locked with Lexi’s.

“You don’t have to, but if danger arises, it will be the safest place for you,” I said resignedly. I couldn’t store Lexi, but Evie was still fair game. After losing Anika and Karina, she needed an adult she could trust, and that was me for the moment. I didn’t have time to convince her at the moment. I helped the pair pack their things quickly and stored both satchels. They had so little, it was a distressing reminder that they had been displaced and their childhood stolen.

Most of the horses were antsy when we reached the stables, having been woken so late, but Ginger was happy to see me. “Are we taking the two extra?” Blaze asked. He had Anika’s and Karina’s horses saddled and ready to go.

“Yes, take them all,” I confirmed. Castile came out of her spell fugue and shook her head, indicating the warriors had not been alerted in the city. Hopefully, no one would believe the drunken man, or maybe he had already passed out for the evening. When someone discovered the disturbed grave in the morning, it would not take them long to figure it out.

We walked through the lower city, leading the horses. I was certain the residents were not happy with the clacking of the hooves on the stone. The few drunken tribesman in the street gave us a wide berth as they tried to find their way home. We passed a pair of warriors with the crest of a rearing bear on their armor, but they only nodded to us as we passed. 

Selene had secured passage on the largest barge. It would allow us to make the journey with everyone in one trip. The ferryman was off rousing his crew and would be here soon. My blood froze as a voice from another ship at the docks spoke. There was very little light at the docks, but my aether sight clearly showed me who was speaking. “We planned to take them all alive, you know.” Kaede’s Elvish was heavily accented. 

The black and white catkin stepped up on the gunwales on his ship. I could see Castile’s shadow chains racing across the ground, ready for a fight. Blaze had readied an arrow, and my other companions were drawing blades. I had forgotten that the adventurers had sought refuge with an Elven captain. I was just our bad luck that their ship was next to the barge we were hiring. Kaede must have joined them after he was healed.

“There is no need for a fight,” another man said, coming from a cabin on the boat. “We are returning to Yuetsen and do not care about the otherworlder children.” His voice echoed in the night air as soft waves lapped at the boats. It appeared that we were lucky that this group was not aware that Evie was a necromancer. 

I relaxed slightly. “How did you end up finding us?”

Kaede smiled; at least I assumed it was a smile, since all his predatory teeth were displayed. “You were clever. I followed your false trial, and we lost a day. Our mage said the tracks were not created by magic, and we argued for a time. If we meet again under less tense circumstances, I would like to know how you accomplished it.

The human added, “When we found your true tracks, figuring out where you were going was easy. The Shiunyuet was the only likely destination based on your direction. Fabian knew barges travelled upriver regularly. You only arrived half a day before us.” He offered a smile but I did not sense he was being friendly.

“I am sorry for the loss of your companion,” I said flatly.

“Same to you,” he replied unemotively. “I am Dominik Reiner, and this is Kaede.” I didn’t offer them my name and just nodded. The ferrymen arrived, and the adventurers and Kaede watched us until we untied and crossed into the darkness. Kaede was just a tracker, not an adventurer, but I got the predatory feeling from him.

Castile stood next to me as the lights of the city faded. Everyone else was spread across the barge, preparing for the ride. “They don’t know one of the otherworlders in a necromancer yet,” she said.

“I know. We need to put some distance between them. The city didn’t have any Adventurer’s Hall, so we may have some time to get some distance,” I replied.

“Word will eventually reach the Adventurer’s Guild in Gramney; she will not be safe there either,” Castile said, a little discouraged.

“I am not killing her,” I said bitterly. I could tell Castile was aggravated by my resistance.

“You don’t have to.” She sighed. “You can still take her to Death Sentinels.” When I didn’t say anything, she reinforced her point, “You should take her to the Death Sentinels.”

“She is coming with us, Castile,” I said, ending the argument.

Castile tried to be diplomatic with her words. “If someone is found to harbor a necromancer knowingly, they will share their fate. If she tries registering as a necromancer, they will require her affinity to be assessed.” That was all she said as she turned and went to take the reins of her horse. I felt boxed in by my morals—was Evie the innocent girl I perceived her to be?

The barge thudded into the dock on the far shore. Only a few unoccupied buildings stood here as we prepared to ride. Everyone was quiet as Lesna walked among them, bestowing the rider and horse with her gift of night vision. Lesna seemed to be the only one wearing a smile as she rubbed Ginger’s neck. “All set!” she piped and hurried to mount Honeysuckle. At least someone was enjoying this adventure. Maybe once we reached Gramney, I could relax.

“Keep tight together, and rotate to Lesna when you need a refresh!” I gave Evie and Lexi a smile and took the lead as we moved away from the river. A lingering humidity hung in the air, making the horses pant hard as we galloped into the hills. I hoped our group would be large enough to deter predators from targeting us.

We were fortunate that we only startled a herd of wild horses in the night before the sun rose to light our way. I allowed Lexi to heal both the rider and the horse as we pushed hard for the mountains. This was the eastern tail end of the Dragon Spine Mountains, which should be free of serious threats. There were even small unaffiliated communities high in the mountains.

No one talked much on the ride except Benito and Lesna, who debated the odds in various dice games. I think Benito was over his head as Lesna promised to give him a lesson to prove her points. Castile would not pressure me, but I did catch her looking at me and Evie on a few occasions.

Even with the healing, nearly sixteen hours of riding were wearing on everyone, and before the sun set, I directed us to an abandoned stone building nestled between two hills. The roof had rotted, but the walls were stone, and the mortar was only cracked. By the leveled plots nearby, it was clear this had been a farmstead before its owners had left or been killed. I assumed they left because my earth speak did not detect any bones or coins left behind.

“We camp inside for the night!” I announced to the relieved group after I circled the structure on foot. Men, women, and children slid from their saddles, gratefully standing on the ground. With the sky clear and walls around us, only a few tents were erected inside the walls. I set a tent for the girls and planned to remain on watch through the night and just get a few hours of rest before dawn. After I told Blaze my intentions, he set everyone up in rotation for the watch.

The surrounding hills were deathly quiet as I sat atop the stone oven, which gave me a vantage point over the wall. The other two on first watch, Sylph and Selene, had the thermal stone between them as the night brought a slight frosty chill. The others were restless but sleeping. I had given the children another half of an oblivion pill tonight. I wondered if I was doing the right thing in drugging them so they wouldn’t have nightmares. It was probably what was best for them until we reached a city. Without them, I suspected they would not be able to sleep.

We should be able to reach the base of the mountains tomorrow and follow them east. Once we can head north along the mountains, we will be in Gesedmuria. From there, it would take about a week to reach the capital of Gesedmuria, and then we could portal directly to Gramney.

The pairs on watch changed twice as I was left to my own thoughts from my perch. My eyes constantly fell on the girls’ tent. I was responsible for them now. I knew Castile wanted to mentor Lexi, and she was likely to get her wish. I would ask Elaro first, as he had no ulterior motives in teaching her. I was not sure how I would go about introducing Evie to him yet. I was sure I could test the waters first to see how his people viewed necromancy.

Benito and Lesna thumped the ground twice and repeated it. I followed where they were looking below me—a shadow in the distance was approaching our camp. I checked around us before I joined them. The camp was already stirring, and we were all ready to receive our visitor.

I was the only one not surprised as Anika stopped thirty feet from the archway of our camp. “I thought you were dead,” Benito said, confused.

“She is,” Castile said. “Lesna, light,” Castile said in her command voice. The halfling lit a soft aetheric flare that she tossed a few feet into the air, and it hung there, illuminating Anika in a soft blue-white light. Although her clothing was in a sorry state from the lightning that killed her, her body was not charred and burned from the lightning, as I remembered. Her skin was pale, with black veins running underneath. Her eyes were large and darker as she stood completely still and unmoving. Her hair was clean and plastered to her body, and it appeared she no longer cared at all for her appearance. 

“Do we kill her again?” Benito asked, confused, for directions.

“I think she is following Evie,” I said. I was not certain how much control Evie had over her. I looked back, but the girls had not broken free of the effects of the oblivion pill and were still sleeping.

Anika opened her mouth, and some dirt poured out. Her facial muscles appeared confused as she cleared her tongue and rasped something. Then she inhaled deeply, and as she exhaled, her words emerged in a dry, forced manner. “I am tethered to Evie. I remember everything about my past, but my will is hers.” She needed to inhale again to continue, and it caused an uneasy pause. “My body restored itself, and my purpose is her will.” 

Castile looked at me sharply, “Evie created a revenant.”

“What’s a revenant?” Benito asked.

“A very powerful undead creature. It will restore itself over and over until it completes its purpose. They are much stronger than they were in life,” I summarized what I knew.

“So, we are going to kill her again?” Benito asked for clarification. I turned back slowly to see Evie coming out of the tent.

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