A Soldier's Life - 265 - Forging Bonds

Chapter 265: Forging Bonds

Ignis cracked a smile, her front tooth was chipped. “So, the old fire witch made it then? Where is she? She better have another bottle of that Elven wine you gave her. I need to forget some things.”

I moved closer to keep our conversation private. “She didn’t make it. At least, I couldn’t locate her with my blood compass.” Ignis’s expression fell at my words. I was curious about how she was tied to the plot to kill the Emperor, so I decided to invite her to join us. “We have a suite at an inn. Plenty of extra rooms if you are interested.” She had gotten close enough that her body odor offended me. “We have a bath,” I added as more incentive. She decided to trust me and nodded, but she might not have been in a position to decline my offer given her wretched state.

Ignis had a slight limp as she walked back with me. “Why is the goliath following us?” She asked, thumbing at the looming Maveith two steps behind us.

“There is a goliath following us?” Maveith said jokingly, turning around to look and chuckling. I was glad he was in a good mood. He had been anxious about being delayed in our quest for the last two weeks while I healed, but never complained.

I looked back at Maveith, offering him a smirk. “Maveith is a friend. The sense of humor is still in development. We fled the Empire together and joined the Adventurers Guild. We can talk more after you clean up.”

I explained to Maveith who Ignis was. “Ignis was the best armorer for the Imperial Legion. High Mage Zyna recruited her and she was part of the conspiracy.” I handed Maveith a few large silver coins: “Get Ignis some clean clothes, and whatever else she might need.” Ignis took a minute to gratefully give Maveith a short list.

When we arrived at the suite, Ignis was impressed as she took it in, “You have done well for yourself. Do you know anyone else who made it?”

I answered helplessly. “I don’t know who else should be here. I am looking for Castile here, but I have been recovering from an injury. How much did you know about the plot?” I asked seriously.

She let out a long, tired sigh. “Enough. I knew enough. I had my own part to play. Zyna warned me to run after news of the Emperor’s death reached Telha if things turned to dragon shit. When I learned Antonia was dead, I left immediately. Zyna set up an account for me here at the Grand Duchy Depository, but I was waylaid on the road in Bartiradia, and they took my account marker. Now I can’t claim a copper of it. I was looking for work when you found me.” Ignis didn’t continue and excused herself to enter the bathroom. She was a shadow of her former self. I think the old armorer needed to mourn Zyna and others who were lost alone.

Maveith returned before Ignis emerged. He had a large bundle of clean, used clothes, packages of items Ignis requested, and some food from street vendors. I knocked and placed the clothes just inside the door. Ignis was still in the tub of heated water and just waved me out. “Thank you, but give me another hour. This heated water is doing wonders for my old muscles and joints.”

Ignis took only half that time before she emerged, looking invigerated. Maveith eagerly offered her the food he had laid out, and we sat in the common room while she stuffed herself. She was clearly hungry and barely chewed her food. She told her tale between bites.

“I didn’t play a large role. I just supplied a few sets of the Imperial Armor for those infiltrating the Archives. After the news came, the Palace Grounds were in disarray, and there weren’t enough legionnaires to keep order. I left the moment I heard about Antonia’s death, but the barons were already positioning themselves to grab as much power as possible, and I barely made it through the portal to Macha.” She had moved from meats to potatoes and finished off her meal with grilled vegetables.

She pulled her wet, gray hair behind her and tied it. “I feel most sorry for the children. There must have been four hundred in classes at the Imperial Palace. Some of them have since found themselves kidnapped for leverage.” Ignis sat back, finally satiated. “So, you need some armor? I need a place to work and the materials.” She smiled tiredly, showing her chipped tooth again.

“There probably isn’t time. We are headed to the Boutan Caliphate in a few days. Maveith’s sister is being held there.”

“By a warlord?” She guessed. “I would go with you if I were ten years younger.” She barked a contrived laugh that told me she wouldn’t go even if she were ten years younger.

“Do you know anything about the Caliphate?” I asked, but Ignis was already shaking her head.

“Nothing. I talked to an orc ambassador’s aide once, but he kept asking me questions about the Imperial Legion. He thought I was an ignorant hammer-swinging bitch and would give up details of our strength.” All pretense of joviality was gone. She inhaled and made a request. “If you can spare some coins so I can get some used hammers and tongs and find a place to stay, I would appreciate it.”

I liked her direct, no-nonsense personality. I laughed, causing her to frown, thinking I would say no. “Ignis, you can stay here. There are plenty of rooms. How much are your smith’s tools?” Most of my coins were inaccessible in dimensional space, but I had a lot of silver and a few golds coins in my belt.

Ignis visibly relaxed, “Twenty gold for good quality new. Twelve gold for used. But I am sure I can haggle them down to ten or less.”

“And how much to rent or own a smithy?” I asked, and her eyebrow rose. She started doing some calculations in her head.

“In this city, I don’t know the property cost. But in the Empire, a new forge would be a few hundred gold—500 on the low end. To use a smith’s shop—a gold a day if he can still work at the same time. If not, two gold or more.”

I dug deep into my pouch, pulling out a handful of large silver coins. I spread them on the low table between us and counted them out. Thirty-nine coins, just short of four gold. I repeated the process, and her eyes narrowed as she deduced the belt pouches were more than they seemed. After I was done, two gold coins and stacks silver coins totaling an additional ten gold coins were on the table.

“Get your tools tomorrow. We can figure out a place where you can ply your craft afterward.” I nodded to her with an assuring smile. “Get some sleep. You look better, but you need to rest.”

“Too generous,” Ignis whispered, but it didn’t stop her from gathering the coins. “I will consider this a loan. Give me a month, and I will have your coin returned to you twofold.”

I heard Ignis leave at first light. I was fairly certain she should would return. I walked with Maveith to the healer’s residence later in the morning. I wasn’t surprised when Maveith brought us to a villa in a wealthiest district. A massive ironwood door dominated the entrance. Maveith knocked, and the door opened to a youthful elf in formal dress. He nodded, “You return goliath. The ambassador has been expecting you and your friend.”

I looked at Maveith, irritated, as he had not told me the mage was an ambassador. I looked up at the flag over the door, and it was not the flag of Esenhem. The flag had a maroon background with an hourglass and sword clutched in the claws of an eagle. I didn’t recall the flag from my studies, but there were many kingdoms in the world.

Maveith had told me the story of finding Elaro Morlamin. When I passed out, he ran to the Adventurer’s Guild Hall for help. At the Guild Hall, they sent him to a healer in the city. When Maveith found the healer and explained what happened, the healer said he couldn’t do anything for me, but there was an Elven mage healer who might. Maveith got lost finding Elaro’s residence, but when he did, he pounded on the door.

Two city guards drew swords on Maveith, but fortunately, Elaro was woken by the disturbance. It had taken Maveith some time to explain what had happened as he had been trying to keep my secrets simultaneously. Elaro, to his credit, agreed to come immediately.

The elf servant escorted us up a flight of wooden stairs to a library with floor-to-ceiling shelves. Elaro was sitting in a chair reading, closed the book, and rose to greet us. With a smile, we shook wrists, and the servant excused himself. Elaro was in fine robes, and his hair was pulled back into a weave. “Please sit! I will inspect your aether core shortly.” He seemed excited. “I admit it took me nearly two days to puzzle it out. And I only figured it out after I went under the assumption you were being truthful with me!”

I sat slowly, suddenly on guard. “What did you figure out?” I asked cautiously.

“Why you had such a strong emergence with a single apex water essence.” His eyes twinkled as he opened his arms in his reveal. “You inscribed a convergence spell form for maximizing essences!” He seemed proud of himself, and I wasn’t sure if his knowing was a good thing or bad.

“Yes. You guessed correctly,” I affirmed. I wasn’t going to go into detail about just how strong the spell form was, though.

He clapped his hands happily, “Amazing. You are only the third person I have met in my centuries who has inscribed that spell form! Is that why you became an adventurer? Do you have one of those essence collectors?” He asked in his excitement and rush of words.

I wasn’t sure how to respond. My pause had him wave off his questions, thinking that he had overstepped. “It is of no matter. Come closer, and I will inspect your core, and then we can have lunch.” This was why we were here, so I rose and went to him.

His spell form violated me again, and he hemmed and hawed like he was searching for something. Maveith looked on nervously. “Is there a problem?” I asked after a few minutes.

“No. No problem. I was trying to trace out your affinities on your core. Since you have so many, it was good practice. Your aether core has restored itself enough that it shouldn’t leak. When I release the constraints I placed on it, you will feel dizzy from the rush.” I felt him working inside me, and then there was a euphoric rush. As if a part of me was being restored, and I could feel my spell forms once again, and I itched to use them.

Elaro backed away, “Good. You should limit the amount of aether you push through your affinities for a month or so, but you will be fine. Lunch should be prepared.” On the way to a dining room set with an formal-looking dishes for us. Elaro had two other servants working for him, one elf woman and one human, as they helped us sit. I decided to test my access to my dimensional space and thank Elaro at the same time.

“Here, this is for you.” I placed one of the dark-elven red wines from Caelora on the table I had carried with me. It was still coated in a little bit of dust. He took the bottle, and his eyes widened as he studied it. Each bottle had a relief of artwork in glass. I reactivated my slow aging spell form and felt no discomfort or difficulty.

“I must say, you must be the most interesting person I have met in some time. Consider this sufficient payment for your treatment.” That shocked me, as I had been prepared to hand over a hundred gold for his fee. He handed the bottle to the servant. “Caelorian wine, if I am not mistaken. I heard the rumors the Telhians had sent an expedition. You have explored the cursed, haunted ruins then?” he asked politely.

I was surprised, and it briefly crossed my face. I nodded to his question. “You are well-connected to have knowledge of Caelora. I didn’t recognize the flag above your archway.” I left the question hanging. His servant returned with a cup of red wine, and he sniffed it and sipped. He had a thoughtful but satisfied expression on his face before responding.

“You wouldn’t recognize my homeland. Milvanoris fell over two hundred years ago on the other continent. The Grand Duchy is famous for taking in refugees if you have a large enough purse.” He said considerately. “The Grand Duke graciously still recognizes Milvanoris as a sovereign power even though my people are scattered to the winds and our cities are buried by the sands.”

Maveith only nibbled at the food and asked, “What happened to your nation?”

A pained look came over his face as he told his tale. “We were not a large Elven nation by any means. Less than a hundred thousand citizens. The human Coalition of Cities played with magics beyond their control. No rain fell in our lands for three years, and we...” He paused, reconsidering his words. “I went to treat with them. They refused my overtures to end their meddling in the weather. Now, most of my people dispersed to find lives elsewhere as our land has turned to dust and sand. Our mages tried to reverse the effects, but a weather battle of our hundred mages versus a thousand human mages was not a winnable endeavor.”

Maveith was listening carefully and asked, “So you were the king?”

Elaro laughed, “No. My father was on the Council, and I served at their will like many others. Maybe your people would consider me similar to a prince in my role. I play that part here, helping any of my people who find their way to Gramney and representing a lost kingdom in the local courts.” I could tell he was unhappy to talk about it, so I steered the conversation away.

I was trying something that reminded me of couscous with plenty of herbs. “Will I be able to consume any more affinity essences?”

He considered the question, “I suggest you do not try to emerge any new affinities without a mage specialist healer close by. But as for your existing affinities, yes, you can consume their affinities. I would still let your core rest for a month.” He added, “Fourteen affinities. If I were still a researcher, I would want to study how you managed it with such a small aether core.”

I felt comfortable with Elaro and asked, “Is being born with eleven affinities rare?”

“Extremely. More so, considering your core size. Most elven mages have five to seven affinities, but usually only two or three are strong enough for inscription and spellcraft.” He replied with a professorial tone.

I nodded thankfully. My development was temporarily stalled, but I could continue in time. I listened as Maveith and Elaro struck up a conversation about Milvanoris. Stone Mountain Island was off the coast of the other continent, but the desert that was Milvanoris was still thousands of miles away from his home island.

Later, while we were leaving, Elaro invited us back. “Please visit again. The courts in the Grand Duchy are tedious, and I enjoy conversing with unique individuals.” I was sure if he was referring to Maveith or me.

I checked on Ginger before we returned to our suite. Ignis had not returned yet. I informed Maveith that we would be leaving in two days for the Boutan Caliphate. He eagerly left to get supplies for our trip, which seemed like it was going to be by land and not by teleport.

I had pulled out a number of things in the common room from my dimensional space. The two lesser runic blades from Boris’ men, a lesser runic short sword that Ignis gifted me, six elven daggers, and the legionnaire armor Duchess Veronica had made for me.

When Ignis returned, she was excited as she was carrying a heavy burden. It looked like her expedition had been successful. The old woman was nearly bursting with happiness but stopped, confused at the items I had placed on the table. “What is all this?”

“I was thinking you could sell this to open your smithy.” Her confused look had me ask, “Is it not enough? There are three runic weapons here. Not dungeon forged, but good enough to get a hundred or more gold.”

Her eyes drifted to the polished, new legionnaire armor. I could tell she was trying to figure out how I had gotten it here. “Why would you do this?” She asked with healthy skepticism.

“I am going to consider it an investment. I will own half of your smithing business. I will come by every few years to collect my profits. And to commission work for myself.” I smirked as I saw her eyes tearing some. She rubbed her eyes before they released any tears.

“Half? That is ridiculous! I will be the one doing all the work.” Her negotiation was half-hearted.

“What is fair then?” I asked. Everything I had laid out, I didn’t consider useful.

She shook her head, irritated, “Fine. You push a hard bargain. Half it is, but only of the profits!” She walked over to study the items more closely. “Did you even wear it?” She was talking about the armor.

“Once for a few minutes. A duchess had it crafted for me after I did her a service,” I replied, and Ignis raised her eyebrow with a lascivious smirk.

She jolted suddenly, remembering something, and faced me, “I rushed back here. Do you know a legionnaire named Mateo? He was just arrested for fighting. I think he was defending the honor of a waitress, but I didn’t see the whole incident. He was wearing pieces of common legionnaire armor painted black.”

“Where?” I asked, my heart racing. If it was Mateo, maybe others made it too.