A Soldier's Life - 365 - This Is My Plus One Half

Chapter 365: This Is My Plus One Half

The devastation was complete. If my memory served me, the explosion had laid waste to the entire upper district of Yuetsen. My companions were also speechless. My eyes returned to the halfling crew and Lesna.

Watching the halfling woman work in the brutal sun, rolling stones with her ankle shackled, made me feel a bit guilty. She probably deserved her punishment, but she was here because she had followed me across the ocean. Maybe she had a small fine I could pay on her behalf. I at least felt the need for her to explain. I didn’t hate the woman; I just found her annoying. 

About twenty guards and a hundred shackled prisoners were working to clear the debris out of the pit. “I'll be just a moment. I just need to confirm something,” I told my companions as I skillfully descended into the crater.

A pair of guards moved to intercept me when I reached the rubble-strewn area at the bottom of the crater. I couldn’t overcome the language barrier, so he called over his captain, who spoke Elvish. The captain was surprisingly pleasant in his greeting. “Adventurer, what is your business?”

“Is it permissible for me to talk with one of the prisoners?” I inquired respectfully.

“Which one?” The captain asked somberly. His tone made it clear he wouldn’t allow a visit for all his charges.

“The halfling woman over there. The one with the sandy-colored hair,” I indicated.

“Lesna?” The captain seemed to soften and looked me up and down, my silver adventurer medallion on display. He nodded slowly, and addressed the other two guards, “I will escort him.” Then he addressed me, “I will be privy to the words you share with the prisoner.” I nodded in acceptance at the conditions. We walked to where the three halflings were working unsupervised—as if they were not a threat to escape.

The hot sun had baked the stone, and the stench of decaying bodies lingered in the air even though none were in sight. Lesna didn’t notice me approaching as she grunted, placing rocks as large as her head into a wheelbarrow. In a conversational tone, I asked, “Lesna, what did you do this time?” The filthy, sunburned halfling jumped at the sound of her name.

She turned on me, surprised, recognition coming instantly. An affable smile formed, “Came back for me, did ya? I have that effect on people.”

“What is all this?” I gestured at her shackled ankles. I could see runic patterns on the manacles, probably to keep her from accessing her aether.

“Just a big misunderstanding…” she started to say, but the captain interrupted her.

“This one was helping to dig out people in collapsed buildings but then decided to loot a senator’s villa,” he said in a flat, accusatory tone.

“I was working for three days! And it was not like anyone was left alive in the building! Dead people don’t need coins in the afterlife!” Lesna complained, pouting.

I rolled my eyes. “What’s her sentence?” I asked the captain. The two other halflings who had been working with Lesna looked on. One was an old man with a limp, and the other was a younger boy with a perpetual scowl.

“She has not had a trial yet, but her service in rescuing civilians will be taken into account,” the captain replied sagaciously.

Lesna scoffed. “All the adjudicators are dead, I don’t think any of us will have a trial within the next year,” Lesna protested too loudly. Other men and women working in the pit stopped and looked up from their tasks.

The captain warned her, “You have been behaving, Lesna. Don’t be starting anything now.” For the first time, his amiable disposition toward her seemed to fray. I guessed this was one reason why her little group was not supervised.

Lesna sighed dejectedly. She looked at me with pleading eyes, “Eryk, can you check on Honeysuckle for me? She is in a stable near the southern gate. Maybe take her for a ride. She is probably missing me about now. It has been three days since I visited her last.”

Why did I feel guilty? I knew nothing about the legal system in Linshania, but if all the adjudicators, as Lesna called them, lived in the upper city, then they were dead. I could at least take care of her large pony.

“Is there not a fine she can pay?” I asked the captain. He appeared to be chewing on his cheek while he thought. He clearly didn’t dislike the halfling. Lesna looked surprised that the answer was not an immediate no.

The captain looked around. “You were one of the adventurers who got Falko’s wife and young boy out.” 

Lesna brightened, her white smile appearing on her sweaty and grimy face. “Probably, my team got dozens of people out! Saved a lot of people, we did.”

The captain looked around at the other guards as he came to his own decision. “Stealing from a senator is usually the removal of both hands. Other thieves are branded on their cheek.” Lesna immediately locked her hands protectively behind her back, and her good-natured smile was finally gone. “Falco!” The captain bellowed, and a haggard soldier with a week’s stubble came running up. 

A conversation in the local language went back and forth between the captain and the guard, and Lesna had a hopeful look and even interrupted the conversation a few times. The captain usually glared at her for interrupting, but soon, she had warmed her way into the conversation and was pointing at me, excitement showing in her eyes. 

The captain finally turned to me. “We will release your friend into your custody. Falco will record your guild badge. If she breaks the law again, you will be held accountable for her actions.”

“And I won’t be branded,” Lesna inserted.

“And you won’t be branded a thief,” the captain confirmed, cracking a slight smile.

“What of her crime?” I asked, confused how we had gotten to this point.

“If Senator Jakob wishes to entertain a hearing, Lesna will be shackled again and be brought before him,” the captain said with a false smile. Of course, the senator was dead and would not be pressing for Lesna’s punishment. Falco recorded my name and medallion number, the captain nodded in acceptance.

Lesna pointed to her ankle shackles, beaming up at me. “Looks like you are stuck with me.”

Under my breath, I whispered just loud for her to hear, “I hope I don’t regret this.” I didn’t look to see her reaction.

I looked back up at my group, which was waiting for me on the lip of the crater. This was not what I had planned. I thought I would talk to the halfling and maybe pay her fine. I was probably never going to return to Yuetsen, and we were trying to find the otherworlders from Earth to protect them from retribution from the Principality anyway.

The captain took out a clearly runic key and unlocked Lesna's shackles. She performed an amusing dance, testing her regained freedom of movement, and then sparks danced on her fingertips as she once again had access to her aether. I recalled she was incredible at shaping aether. Amused, I told her, “Go get Honeysuckle and meet us in the slums.” I pointed at my companions holding the reins of the horses above.

Lesna narrowed her eyes suspiciously, “Is this a trick? Are you going to be there still when I arrive?”

“It is your decision, Lesna, but we will not wait for you,” I replied as I turned and nimbly climbed.

The captain considered it prudent to remind me, “Her actions will be seen as your own, adventurer.” I waved to him in acknowledgment, knowing I would be leaving the city in a few hours, likely never to return. Lesna hurried past me to get Honeysuckle and meet us.

“What was that all about?” Castile asked as I rejoined them. Lesna had already dashed into the city.

“Just helping an old acquaintance,” I said. “She is an apt illusionist adventurer, and she may join us—or not.” As we walked toward the lower city through the ruined city, I explained my relationship with Lesna and the illusionary spells I had seen her demonstrate. I described her as a jovial trickster with a mischievous side and mostly harmless.

Helena and Sylph were seated outside a tavern, conversing with two worn-looking men. It was surprisingly hard to find a man in the city who didn’t appear filthy and exhausted. Lesna had mentioned that large parts of the undercity had collapsed, and rescue efforts were still underway after a week. I could have contributed to rescue efforts with my earth-speaking spell form, but we needed to catch up to the group from Earth.

The two ex-legionnaires wore thin, dirty white cloaks over their partial armor. When they recognized Selene, they brushed off the two men, paying them some coin for whatever information they had just gained. We sat around the table, with Sylph and Helena locking eyes with me.

Their serious expressions made me pause. I hadn’t expected any animosity between us. I glanced over the two warriors. Sylph was attractive but didn't quite match Selene’s beauty. She had large blue eyes and golden hair pulled back into a braid, which she must have allowed to grow over the last year. Helena was rougher and more muscular, having added a few scars to her face since we trained as legionnaires together.

Sylph slammed her hand on the table, causing me to grasp the dagger on my belt. She wiggled her fingers and grinned. “They all work again, and I can show you how well they do in private.” I had cut off her hand when we first met and reattached it with a healing potion, but she would have needed a healer to regain function.

“Not the time,” Selene said, amused at my discomfort. “What did you discover?”

Helena only gave me a slight nod of thanks before answering Selene. “The humans were in the lower city- three women and two children. They arrived before the other group and set up in the slums about three blocks from here. Their leader was a black-haired woman named Karina. She fought in the brawling pits in the undercity for coin.”

Blaze leaned in, “Did she win?”

“Frequently,” Helena said. “She fought men twice her weight and sent them to the healers.”

“The others in the group?” Castile asked about the quarry.

Helena continued, “The girls are about twelve or thirteen and were kept protectively in the hovel they rented. No one seems to have heard their names in passing. The other two women kept a low profile, one working as a runner and the other as a competent sellsword guard. One of them might be a healer—at least Karina was healed by someone between fights.”

“When did they leave, and who is tracking them?” I asked.

“There was a lot of confusion after the explosion.” Helena gestured toward the two men, getting food with the coin they had been given. “Those two lived next to the shack they were staying in and didn’t see them once after the event. So we assume they left immediately afterward.”

Sylph leaned on the table, a slight smirk on her face. “The city sent four mounted patrols to search for them, fanning out to the northeast. This was four days ago. I don't believe they are very organized and will likely stick to the roads. If the otherworlders are smart, they should be avoiding the roads. However, at least two teams from the Adventurer’s Hall left yesterday after the reward for their capture was posted, and more will definitely follow.”

I sat back, thinking. Maybe Lesna would be useful if she had spent the last six weeks in the city. She was very social in Godok and may know who was tracking the woman and children. “Which hovel is theirs? I want to look for clues.” I asked, interrupting Helena’s description of one of the other women in the group.

“I will take you,” Sylph rose quickly.

“Blaze and Benito, come with us,” I ordered.

“Need protection from me?” Sylph teased.

“Just more sets of eyes,” I deflected her comment.

Sylph led us to a wooden structure with the door bashed in and wooden window panels blown out. I stepped inside, and there was a faint lingering body odor, but this place was most definitely abandoned and had been searched multiple times. “You won't find anything useful,” Sylph said through the doorway as I turned over broken furniture and sifted through aged blankets. I ignored her comment and searched anyway. Blaze and Benito stood outside while I worked.

It took a few minutes before I found a discarded bandage with dried blood. If the brawler had been healed between fights, it made sense she might have left something behind here. I retrieved the blood compass from my belt and cut a strip of fabric, carefully placing it inside and activating it. The rest of the fabric went into a jar and into my belt in case I needed it again.

I smiled as a slight pull told me the owner of the sample was alive and a good distance away. “We have what we need,” I said, standing.

Sylph quipped, “Forgot you were a Hound.” I doubted that.

“Let's gather the others and get moving. Time is our enemy,” I said, starting to gain some confidence that we could find the otherworlders from Earth before the others.

When we returned, Lesna was seated atop Honeysuckle, looking small on the pony. Castile and Selene were talking with her, but she looked uncertain until she noticed me leading the group back and waved, blossoming into a smile. 

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