A Soldier's Life - 326 - All You Can Eat Wings

Chapter 326:

For three weeks, we hunted along the slopes. We focused on about thirty square miles along the north slope. The site was a few days’ hard walk from Eternis through the jungle. Navek was right in that the manticores could not resist metal. The long sword we used as bait got a fair amount of use until one manticore landed and snapped it in two with his jaws before I could attack. The loss of the sword was a signal that it was time to return to the city.

We had killed eleven of the fourteen monstrosities we attracted in 22 days, and I climbed a cliff to kill a twelfth in its lair at night. Two of the three surviving manticores escaped our trap with injuries, and the third never approached the metallic bait, circling in the sky before leaving. Maybe word was spreading among them of the trap, or it could have been one that had already escaped us.

When we processed the kills, Konstantin noted that Navek was right. All the manticore females looked alike, maybe different ages, but their features looked alike. Of the seven males we slew, six looked similar, while the smallest had different coloring and paler wings. I didn’t know much about manticore genetics, but the similarities were too striking to ignore.

My dimensional space was packed with manticore parts from Konstantin and Maveith’s harvesting. To me, the real treasure was the essence. Of the twelve manticores, eight yielded major channeling essences, one major aether pool essence, and three minor channeling essences. The minor channeling essences were useless to Castile as the quantities required would have been enormous, so I distributed them to Maveith, Raelia, and Konstantin.

We also harvested seven minor power essences from massive snakes and two quickness essences from large leopard cats. We divided those up as well, with me getting two of the minor power essences. I did consume the major aether pool essence, which may have been a mistake. Expanding my tender aether core was much more painful than I anticipated, even after so long distanced from awakening the water affinity. When we returned to Gramney, I would have to talk with Elaro Morlamin again. He had helped me deal with the aftereffects of awakening my water affinity and nearly rupturing my aether core.

When the others took the channeling essences, I could see their ecstasy. When I consumed channeling essences, they greatly enhanced my aether perception of the environment. It was like an expanded awareness of the world. Raelia told me it felt like her mind opened to the world for just a heartbeat when she consumed hers.

Finding and luring the manticores was getting more challenging, and the long sword we had used as a lure was shattered, so we walked to a small goliath village. Maveith was familiar with the village of the Minsk Clan, having visited in his youth with his father. They primarily raised and slaughtered rabbits but also had fields of potatoes. It was a tiny village, and Maveith was happy his celebrity had not reached here. I purchased a wagon and docile ox to get us back to Eternis. There were only two cities on the island where you could claim bounties for manticores.

Eternis was one, and the other was at the base of the largest mountain near the prominent glowstone mines and obsidian slopes. That city was Oreridge and much too far of a walk for us. Maveith didn’t want to return to Eternis and tried to convince me. “Oreridge is a beautiful city, Eryk. They have the best equinox festival on the island, and we would be given much better prices for our manticore parts.”

I wasn’t swayed. “We are closer to Eternis, and I want to talk with Captain Taegen if he hasn’t sailed yet,” I replied, and Maveith groaned. I guessed he didn’t want to be Honored Maveith of his people any longer. My large friend didn’t like the attention.

“I need to check on Gilda,” Konstantin muttered unhappily. The shape changer didn’t see the purpose in hunting manticores, which I was okay with. One less person to show my abilities and the collector to. “Need to make sure she isn’t eating any of the locals,” Konstantin said half-heartedly. Maveith looked briefly alarmed, but I calmed him with a look telling him that Konstantin was joking.

Raelia walked next to me as the cart rolled along later in the day. Baldo was seated in the cart, getting acclimated to the changing environment. He had been “resting” for all three weeks we hunted. “What did you want with Captain Taegen?” Raelia asked.

“I was considering asking him to take a crate of glowstones back to Gramney. They could be turned for a decent profit, but mostly just so my friends know we are still alive,” I replied. Konstantin, on the other side of the wagon, nodded appreciatively at its wisdom. There was no network for sending magical messages across the continent.

Raelia seemed to consider. She said mostly to herself, “I should send something to my brother.”

Raelia didn’t talk about her family much. “Does he not know where you are?”

She got a little uncomfortable. “I sent word. He knows I am escorting Maveith and his sister home.”

I nodded, stating the unsaid, “But he does not know that you are with your human lover.”

We walked in silence for a while before she spoke, “My brother and I are close.” She paused, “But he would not understand. If he found out about you, he might try to kill you to free me from my passions. You may think yourself an accomplished swordsman, but my brother has been training for almost four centuries.”

“So, he is your older brother then?” I added with a chuckle.

“I’m forty-eight, twice your age, human. You should respect your elders,” she replied jokingly but then fell silent. She hated being reminded that she would outlive me. It didn’t seem like the right moment to reveal my slow-aging ability. Maybe one day, when I let her read my assessment reading, and she asked what was my spell form was for my 90 affinity in time. Yes, that would be a good time to share it, as long as she didn’t faint at seeing my other affinity scores.

When Maveith let me know that we were a few hours from the gates, it was time to unload my dimensional space. I started with the leathery wings, all cut from the shoulder and mostly intact. The stack filled most of the back of the wagon. I paused to ask, “Will there be questions about the freshness of the kills?” Manticore blood was dripping steadily from the wagon.

Raelia chimed in, “There are preservation spells that are common, just mention that someone in our group has it.” Maveith nodded, and I started to unload the less savory body parts. Dozens of the hollow metal barbs, some organs Maveith thought useful, three intact and full poison sacs and the other sacs. Maveith was excited about making everyone matching manticore pouches. Of the twelve manticores, we had only been fortunate enough to get three of the poison sacs. They could be used to make a painful, paralyzing poison or an antidote for the poison.

We had used one of our three antidotes on Raelia during the hunt. A manticore had sprayed its quills wildly and got a lucky strike through her thigh. It was the only serious injury we had during the hunt. She was more upset about the hole in the ranger’s cloak than the intense pain wracking her body. She was definitely a tough woman, and I could appreciate that.

Just before we entered the gate, I sneakily told Maveith, “You can turn in the bounty and sell the harvest. I am heading to the docks to see if the Wind Chaser is still in dock.”

Maveith immediately whined, “But if I bring them myself, they will think I killed all the manticores.”

“And so, the legend of Honored Maveith grows. We will take a week off so your people can properly celebrate you,” I patted my incredulous friend on the shoulder and turned toward the docks. Konstantin was headed in another direction, leaving just Raelia and Baldo with Maveith. I heard her saying she would help him, and Baldo was standing proudly atop the foul-smelling wings like he had been the one to slay the host of manticores.

I was lucky to find the Wind Chaser still there, got permission to come aboard, and talk with Captain Taegen. We settled into his captain’s cabin as I explained my request. “Gramney? I have no plans to sail up the river to it. When we raise anchor, we will make for Galanoris and spend a few months with families before our next trade expedition.”

“Is there a way to get a package and letter halfway around the world?” I asked the captain while sipping the iced tea he had offered me.

He sipped his own drink, thinking. “One of our stops will be Artiria,” he offered. Artiria was the capital of Esenhem and had a teleportation service to Gramney.

“And you could consign to get a package delivered from there for me?” He looked at me expectantly, so I added, “For an appropriate fee, of course.” He toasted my addendum and drank his tea.

“We should arrive in Artiria in four months. You need to understand that ships are lost at sea, and sometimes ships are raided. Your letter and package may never arrive. The Wind Chaser is my second ship. An irate dragon burned my first,” he said, tempering my enthusiasm.

“Understandable. I will write a letter and purchase a small crate of raw glowstones. It will keep my investment small as the letter is the priority for me.” We spent the afternoon drinking and settled on the details. He even agreed to purchase the glowstones for me, although I suspected he already had them in his hold and might have marked them up slightly.

I wrote the letter to Castile before leaving:

My Friend Castile,

I truly hope this message finds you in great spirits and that Blaze, Benito, and Mateo have returned safely to you. Tell them Maveith and I appreciate their friendship. While I may not possess a merchant’s hand, I’m hopeful that you can find a good use for these glowstones, whether for Adrian’s Rest or Ignis’ forge. If not, perhaps you could consider selling them? It's curious, but somehow, Konstantin is still around, constantly reminding me to train a little harder each day and pointing out my mistakes. We’re enjoying the hospitality of the goliaths in Eternis and are looking forward to starting our journey back to Gramney in about a year. Please send my warmest regards to Lirkin; I’m confident he’s doing a fantastic job running the inn.

-E

I considered adding something about Viridia and Selene, but I guessed that they may have moved on by now. I paid Taegen a painful sum of gold and traveled to the inn we had stayed at. I was in the private basement baths when Raelia entered, “I knew you would be down here!” She said while joining me.

“How did the bounties go?” I asked as her filthy body joined my clean one.

She laughed, “We drew a crowd as the wagon made its way through the streets. They were chanting Maveith’s name before we even reached the clerk’s office.” She shifted to face me and began scrubbing down, fouling the water, but I was wise enough not to complain and just watch. “We took down half as many manticores as the clans take in a year, in just a month. If they are not already making a statue of Maveith, they will soon.”

I couldn’t help but laugh with her. “How much did we get?”

Raelia pretended to think until I squeezed her. “They were very generous. Twenty-four hundred gold, plus a little on top. Maveith only kept the best three wings and sacs for himself. He left immediately for his father’s village to see Myra and start the tanning process.”

“Looks like you and Konstantin will be getting cloaks and belt pouches,” I teased.

“I look forward to it! He is going to talk to his father about making a saddle and reins for Baldo,” she added excitedly.

Deciding she was clean enough, she moved into me, sliding up my body to a kiss. Konstantin took that moment to knock and enter the room. He might have been waiting for the intimate moment just so he could interrupt. “Enough time playing, Eryk. Gilda has identified a doppelganger and werecat in the city. Time to get back to work, you can bathe afterward.”

He closed the door with a thud, and I groaned, “I think I liked it better when Konstantin assumed I was dead.”

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