A Soldier's Life - 305 - Pixie Problems (final edit 7-14-25)

Chapter 305: Pixie Problems I joined the orcs as they discussed the first trial. “There is only one forest, a half-day's ride from here, tha

Chapter 305: Pixie Problems

I joined the orcs as they discussed the first trial. “There is only one forest, a half-day's ride from here, that is known to have a sizable population of pixies,” Glasha announced, her eyes glinting with anticipation. “All the candidates will be racing there at dawn, but must pass the Elders longhouse.”

Maveith had finished with the horses and was making himself a place to sleep. I was frustrated as I could have been replaced by a competent warlord, and they had chosen me. They didn’t notice my displeasure as Glasha continued. “Pixies are tricksters and difficult to catch, especially alive. They can use their magic to transform their bodies into small animals. Some of the more powerful ones can push thoughts into your mind.”

I looked at Maveith and reminded myself that was why we were here. My feelings were secondary. “They can also make themselves invisible and disrupt magic,” I added, knowing they could unweave spell forms like Castile.

“True, but some can only blend into their surroundings and do not have true invisibility,” Tarnasha said, contributing his knowledge. “Most of their magic comes from innate spells inscribed on their core, but some pixies can weave spell forms.”

I was more apprehensive about going after the fey creatures, not knowing what I was getting into. “They have true mages? Do they have offensive magic?” I asked with some disbelief.

Tarnasha smiled at my bewilderment. “I have never heard of pixie throwing lightning or exploding their enemies with fireballs. But their magic can scramble your mind, make things appear that are not really there, and cause mesmerizing dancing lights to hover in the air for hours. Even though pixies are known for being carefree and mischievous creatures, they are intelligent beings. I know of one instance where they compelled a group of Pathfinders to dance until they died from exhaustion. Never underestimate your foe.”

That was a sobering statement, and I smirked to myself, thinking after the pixies saw me dance, they would probably be so offended that they would let me go.

“In my training, I was told that if you had no thoughts of harming them, they would leave you alone,” Mynasha questioned, apparently the only one in our group who was not well-educated in pixie lore.

Tarnasha was eager to expel his knowledge. “They are not malicious beings. Quite the opposite, as they have been known to help as much as tease with their magic. They can ascertain your intentions, and if you do not intend harm to them, they might play a few tricks on you, but generally will leave you be. Since you intend to abduct one of their number, I doubt they will be very welcoming.”

“Well, good thing I am not the one trying to capture one,” I said in mock seriousness and glanced at Mynasha. She could be burdened with the pixie’s ire. Ginger was antsy since I had not given her much attention since Maveith brought her. I went to deliver her an apple as it was going to be a hard ride tomorrow.

We continued talking about pixies for the next two hours before Mynasha tried to get a few hours of sleep. I was too worked to sleep at all. Tarnasha expected the other candidates and their warlords to do what they could to hinder us. Mynasha was the most powerful mage among the candidates and, therefore, the largest threat to the favored candidate, Fioasha.

As the orcs tried to get some rest, I pulled a small pack from my dimensional space and packed it with food and gear, not concerned with those in the room seeing my efforts. Magebane was also on my hip now, the hilt still carefully wrapped to conceal its runic nature. If I had to draw it, there would be no way to hide it as a powerful artifact, but being among powerful mages, it was the best weapon to have at the ready.

Maveith sat with me in silence. No words were needed tonight as our objective was close, and we just needed to be patient until we could act. He took out a leather pouch to stitch. “Do you think she will recognize me?” Maveith said unexpectedly.

“You are kind of hard to forget,” I replied jokingly.

Maveith sighed. “When I fled, I wasn’t much bigger than you are now.”

“I cannot imagine you ever being that small Maveith,” I chuckled and he laughed a little as well before falling into silence again.

An unhappy neigh echoed from the horses, and I went to check on them. I could see the other candidate’s allies causing problems by messing with our mounts. According to Glasha, such an act wouldn’t tarnish the honor of the candidate.

Ginger was dancing on a train of ants crawling around. I think it was a devious plan to exhaust our mounts by keeping them awake all night. I had some alchemist salve that could double as an insect repellent and rubbed all the horse’s legs and sprinkled the remainder on the ground.

Ginger’s head pushed me hard from behind, but I think it was in gratitude. I rubbed the horses down again, finding a few ants I had missed. I checked with an earth speak and at least the rats had not returned. After an apple to each horse, I started to pack our saddle bags for tomorrow. I found a note from Konstantin in my saddlebags. It read, “Don’t get yourself killed.” I could imagine him saying it as an order and not a suggestion.

I could tell the sun was coming soon, and the orcs were stirring and getting ready. It wasn’t long before I led Ginger alongside Mynasha, who was leading her large gray. Tarnasha and Glasha flanked us as we moved toward one of the larger structures in the valley.

Maveith walked behind us, his head on a swivel as there were a number of goliaths out gathering large buckets of water from wells. It was a stone building, the only two-story one I had seen. “It looks like we are the first ones here,” Mynasha said excitedly.

Glasha was stomping mad as she stared down the old cleric ahead of us. “No, the others have already left.” I looked up and guessed it was nearly an hour before sunrise, based on the blue moon’s position and the gray sky.

A line of old, weathered orcs stood outside the stone building, their skin a patchwork of grays and greens, each face etched with the lines of time. They appeared to be patiently waiting for us, their eyes glinting with a mix of curiosity and smugness. In front of them, a wrinkled old woman stood with a light smile. Her smile wasn't a greeting; instead, it seemed to reflect a profound sense of self-satisfaction.

“When did the other candidates leave?” Glasha growled at the Elder.

The Elder eyed me disdainfully, and I knew my presence here was not wanted. They would have been better off taking the warlord’s offer. She then looked to Glasha, “I said you could leave at the start of the new day,” the Elder said, grinning.

“That was not how you phrased it,” Tarnasha hissed. “You said...”

Glasha cut him off angrily and barked at Mynasha. “It doesn’t matter, go! You are behind the others by hours!” Glasha motioned at us to hurry, and I sensed a confrontation coming between the clerics that I was happy not to be here for. I swung up in Ginger’s saddle, gave Maveith a nod, and kicked Ginger to follow Mynasha. We passed a few watch posts before we reached a road.

The rising sun made it easier to increase our pace. Ginger was happy for the run, but I soon had to rein in Mynasha’s anxiousness. We couldn’t run all the way there. Still, we made excellent time, covering about fifteen miles before majestic trees rose in the distance. Easily over three hundred feet in height.

The grassy plains appeared to just stop at the forest edge like a line had been drawn. It was going to be dark in those woods under such a dense canopy of leaves. The most serious threats we discussed last night were treants, pixies, and, of course, my favorite, spiders. It didn’t mean that those were the only threats, just the most likely ones that we would encounter as we searched our prey.

As we approached the wood line, two horses bolted out from the trunks far to our left. Mynasha hissed as she recognized the riders. “Cleric Fioasha has already succeeded. Now, the pixies will also be alerted to our intentions.” From a distance, it did look like a warrior and a cleric were on the horses, with a covered crate bouncing behind one of them. They looked our way but didn’t stop as they raced back to Becar to be the first to complete the first trial.

“We should walk,” I said, dismounting as we entered the forest. My feet needed to be in contact with the ground in order for my earth pulse to be effective, which Mynasha knew. The horses needed the rest anyway, as their sweat steamed from their bodies. I walked boldly first as my earth speak highlighted dangers at a distance.

We passed a few bedded-down deer, a deep tunnel network of normal-sized forest weasels, and then a nest of giant wasps, taking exception to our proximity. Mynasha created a lightning shield that cooked the fist-sized wasps before they could sting us or the horses. She killed dozens before we distanced ourselves from the nest and moved deeper into the darkening woods.

“I wonder if we will find a house made out of candy,” I whispered as we walked.

“Why would a house be made out of candy?” Mynasha asked, confused.

“So, the witch can attract children and then cook them, of course,” I replied matter-of-factly.

“We would never allow a hag to remain alive in the Caliphate to eat children,” Mynasha said seriously. I just sighed and kept pulsing my earth speak. We stumbled upon some saddlebags, and the Mynasha searched through them as I remained on watch.

“It belongs to one of the warlords,” Mynasha said after a moment. “He didn’t drop it, and the straps were cut.” I looked up into the trees and past the massive trunks.

“Pixies?” I asked, looking for any sign.

“Most likely,” she confirmed, holding the cut leather for me to inspect. It was not a clean cut, and instead, lots of smaller cuts. “The pixies are probably taking out their anger on the other candidates.”

I noticed a squirrel racing along the ground. It was circling our position, and I thought this might be a lot easier than I thought. The pixies were coming to us. The squirrel was acting curious and unnatural.

When I pulsed earth speak, the squirrel froze. It locked eyes with me, and I cursed, “Dragon shit.” Mynasha looked at me, and I explained. “The pixies were able to sense my earth speak pulse.” They were highly magical creatures, and I now had doubts I could store one in my dimensional space if needed.

I took one step toward the squirrel, and it didn’t move. However, when I got about 30 feet away, it bolted up the far side of a tree. It paused fifty feet in the air and spied on us from its perch. “Is that a pixie?” Glasha asked, studying the squirrel doubtfully.

“I don’t know, but it is definitely not a squirrel.” A thought brushed my mind, telling me it was most definitely a squirrel; there was nothing to see here, and I should be on my way. The thought was unnatural, and I easily pushed it aside.

“Yes, it is definitely a pixie.” The squirrel chittered at us angrily, as if it was my fault for not succumbing to its mental suggestion. It was good to know I could resist the pixie’s mind games.

“Watch the squirrel,” I requested as I scanned the woods around us for more. I sent out three more earth pulses, but it didn’t pick up anything unusual. It looked like we only had to contend with one pixie. A boom echoed among the trees, and Mynasha and the squirrel looked in that direction. I studied the squirrel, not getting distracted. It soon raced off toward the explosion, jumping through the branches. I guessed one of the other clerics was getting impatient.

“Do we follow?” I asked Mynasha. I already knew she would say yes, as only two more candidates could pass this trial after Fioasha.

“That explosion was likely from Cleric Sarkasha. He has powerful spells that can deafen and stun opponents.” As if to highlight her guess, more thunderous booms echoed in the woods. Then canopy suddenly became alive with the sound of raindrops. It hadn’t looked ready to rain when we entered the forest.

“Nalgrasha,” Mynasha hissed. I nodded in agreement, as he was a weather cleric and was supposed to be working with Sarkasha. It was clear they were battling something in the woods.

We moved cautiously forward, leading the horses. Thick drops of water splattered on and around us. The water was less of an issue than the noise it was creating and fuzzing the feedback of my earth pulses. We paused when we could see lights dancing, flitting in the dark woods through the thick trunks.

I remarked on the scene playing out. “If the clerics keep this up, they will wake the treants.” I didn’t know if that was true, but the clerics were definitely stirring the shit with the noise, weather, and lights. Treants were dangerous foes as they could animate other trees, creating a woodland army in moments.

I grabbed Mynasha’s arm to stop her. I leaned into her and indicated with a nod. “That tree hollow to our right.” We were still a distance away from the action, but I caught a brief glow from the tree’s hollow. It was twenty feet off the ground, but I thought it might contain a pixie in hiding. Glasha nodded, and we moved to the tree. I leaned against it, pretending to discern what was happening in the distance.

My earth pulse worked poorly through the wood, and all I could sort out was a dozen different small figures huddled inside, no more than six inches in height. Pixies were generally about a foot, so perhaps this was their young hiding. “Juvenile pixies,” I told her in Telhian, and she was immediately excited. The hollow was small, just large enough to reach into, but I had second thoughts as taking one of their children may stir their anger even more.

I thought Mynasha would ask me to climb it and inspect the hollow, but she handed me her reins and started climbing the wet bark. She had a crude butterfly net tucked into her belt. There were plenty of handholds in the rugged bark, and she reached the hollow quickly while I watched from below. As she peaked inside, the hollow lit up in a blinding light, and small, winged creatures dashed out in the rain. Mynasha swung with her net wildly but unable to see, she missed the pixies as they flew away.

With my aether sight vision, they looked like streaks of light as they dispersed. The tiny humanoids with shimmering wings sought new cover in the tree canopy. Two smaller pixies tumbled from the rain strikes on their glossimer wings and dashed toward the ground to hide in a rocky crevice together a hundred feet away. I kept my eye on the opening in the earth as a blind and cursing Mynasha descended.

The orc cleric’s face was burned, and her eyes looked damaged and unfocused. Apparently, a dozen pixies could create a damaging flash. My spell form had protected me well enough, and I had been a distance away. Mynasha fumbled for a health potion. “Why did the Elders want these foul creatures alive?!”

I shrugged, knowing pixie parts could be used in higher tier potions. “Maybe because their wings can be used in potions of flying, and their blood can be used in aether restorative brews.” My focus was on the crevice as we approached the split rock they were hiding in. I was hesitant to pulse my earth speak in fear they would feel it and flee.

As her vision cleared, I held out my hand for the net. I dropped Ginger’s reins and walked to the split rock. Standing close, I pulsed earth speak, and the two tiny creatures were hiding deep inside. Maybe these younger ones couldn’t feel my earth pulse as they remained still. Or maybe they were petrified as the forest still boomed with combat. These were definitely two of the smaller specimens that had been hiding in the hollow.

I felt bad for what I was about to do. I couldn’t move one of the pixies to my dimensional space as they were entwined, hugging each other. Their aether resistance would be multiplicative. I pulled a large cask of whisky from my dimensional space and cracked it open. I then poured the alcohol into the crevice. If the pixies didn’t come out, they would drown.

I wasn’t disappointed as the two pixies crawled out rather than drown in alcohol. They looked like miniature elves, one with pale skin and the other with soft blue-hued skin. The net flashed in my hand, and both pixies were captured. They were sputtering from having inhaled the booze. I grabbed the first one entangled in the net, carefully folding its wings back as I wrapped it. It bit viciously into my spider silk glove, but its tiny teeth couldn’t penetrate. I repeated the procedure with the second.

Both pixies were cocooned in clean bandage wraps, their mouths were covered. Both had a feminine appearance, and maybe the pixies were all feminine. Mynasha was staring out at the two tiny captured prisoners, intrigued.

Their eyes were red and slightly swollen, probably from the alcohol. It felt cruel as I handed the two swaddled bundles to the war cleric. Sadly, I said, “We should go before they realize we captured two of their children. We were fortunate that whatever that is still going on.” I pointed at the light and sound show in the distance.

Mynasha seemed shocked that the task was already done as she nodded dumbly. We had only been in the woodland for a little more than an hour. She carefully packed the two pixies in a small cage she had come with, but left them bound. We both mounted and oriented ourselves and started to ride. It wasn’t long before I noticed flittering in the trees around us. It was clear the other young pixies had seen what we had done and would not let their siblings go without a challenge…

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