A Soldier's Life - 234 - Threads of Hope

Chapter 234: Threads of Hope

I watched impassively with the cold, salty breeze blowing over me as the goliaths scrambled up the ridge. The Pathfinder on the beach was definitely dead, his body twisted, so I had no reason to descend. The goliaths could not see well in the dark, so I moved to intercept them on their likely path of ascent. I was curious and hoped to question them for a little information. 

As they got closer, I could see a large anklet on each of them, clicking against rocks as they climbed. One of the goliaths was clearly a female. I hadn’t been able to tell at a distance because they were all so thin. I removed the night vision goggles to show my face and get my night sight in the light of Neptune’s Tear.

The first one reached me, grunting and breathing heavy as he climbed the final distance and paused in shock as I crouched on a rock above their path. The other three joined them, nervous at my sudden appearance, and the first one said something in the orc tongue that sounded like French to me. I responded calmly in Telhian, no weapons in hand, “I am a Hound of the Empire. Does the ship have any more long boats?”

They all looked at each other, confused. Of course, this group didn’t speak Telhian, that was just my luck. The apparent leader tried again, this time in the language of the stone giants. I only recognized it because Maveith had used it to talk to the manticore. 

I sighed as it looked like we were not going to be able to communicate. I had decided to let them run to freedom. Before I did so, I tried the only other language on Desia I knew. In Elvish, I asked again, “Does the ship have more boats to row ashore?” My vocabulary was not as extensive in the Elvish tongue, and I had to speak slowly as I recalled the words. I definitely needed more practice with the language, and Raelia’s image flashed in my head, frowning at my butchering of her language.

The only female in the group stepped bravely forward. Her voice was cracked, harsh and sounded exhausted as she spoke in Elvish. “No. Only the two on the beach. They will have to swim to shore if they want to chase us. Are all the Pathfinders dead? As dead as the one on the beach?” Her Elvish was as rough as mine but she was more confident in her words.

I nodded slowly as that was good news. I affirmed the deaths of the others to relieve the goliaths. “Yes, I killed them all. Do not worry. I will not stop you from running. I am a Hound of the Empire and I have a goliath I count as a friend. He lives in Sobral City. Do you know a goliath named Maveith?” I asked off-handedly.

The female talked with the three, and they relaxed, realizing I would not stop or attack them. I heard Maveith’s name being passed around as they talked. The female finally answered me, “None of us know a Maveith. It's not a common name among the clans. We are from Stone Mountain Island, taken from the villages of Emerald Harbor and Granite Hollow a long time ago.”

“You are a long way from home,” I stated the obvious. I was not good at idle conversation.

The female replied harshly, “We were taken young by orc slavers against our will.” Her hard tone had the males tense until she calmed them down with words, explaining the conversation.

“I am Eryk,” I said, introducing myself. I stood from my squat and jumped down so I would not lord over them from above. I still kept my distance. I was trying to remember the name of Zorana’s friend who had been taken in front of Maveith. It finally clicked in my memory. “Are many goliaths slaves in the Boutan Caliphate? Is there one called Myra among them?”

The woman relayed the name and question to the others, and this led to a rapid conversation. They were also sneaking glances down at the moored ship out in the bay, eager to run. Finally, the woman responded, “My name is Thelna. This is Egloth, Arrhan, and Ilamith. Egloth knows of a goliath woman called Myra. She was purchased by Warleader Rhuuk ten years ago from the pirate slavers. But Myra is a common name among our people.” 

It was too much to hope for, but I asked anyway. “Ask him if this Myra ever mentioned a friend named Zorana. She would have been killed when Myra was captured on a beach.” This got an intense conversation going, and the males looked more impatient to start their flight. The slow, drawn-out Elvish we were speaking took time. I heard Zorana and Myra’s names a few times before Thelna addressed me again.

“Yes. There was a Zorana who arrived with Myra in the slave pens in Harbat. They were…”

A bolt of icy cold went down my spine. I stopped her immediately, the revelation causing me to get lightheaded. “Zorana is alive? Where is she?”

I waited impatiently as Thelna talked to the others again. Finally, she returned her attention to me, “Egloth does not know if she is still alive. He last saw her nine years ago when she and Myra were taken to Warleader’s Rhuuk estate.”

My head was spinning. I needed to tell Maveith but couldn’t abandon my post. I should probably do it anyway—I warred with myself, getting agitated and deciding on a plan of action. The four goliaths were cautious as they could see my agitation as I thought. 

I looked at them and gave them some advice, “Goliaths are not welcome in the Empire. You will need to be cautious moving through the lands. Find Maveith in Sobral and tell him I am coming. Tell him we will find a way to get to Harbat and search for his sister.”

Thelna looked confused, “Warleader Rhuuk’s estate is south of Agurtra. If Myra still lives…”

“Then I will go there with Maveith,” I said interrupted impatiently. “You need to go. Sobral City is a thousand miles northeast from here.” I looked over the group of malnourished goliaths in worn clothing. They had barely grabbed anything from the cave below. Maybe a week’s worth of food each.

“Will we be attacked? We don’t speak your language.” Thelna said, feeling overwhelmed herself. “We have nothing.”

Shit. She was right—so many problems. I placed a large pile of silver coins on the rock to my right, along with all the ration bars I had in my space and three backpacks. Three elven daggers and three elven handaxes followed, and then all three of my non-legion rain cloaks. Mouthwash,” I said, holding up a jar. “Swish it for thirty seconds and spit—do not swallow. It will correct your yellowed teeth, so you won’t look like an ogre.”

“This should get you…” they all stared in disbelief at the pile of gear and coin that had appeared out of nowhere. I snapped my fingers to gain their attention. “This should get you to Sobral. Use my name—legionnaire Eryk of Mage Castile’s company. Duchess Veronica of the city is friendly to goliaths and will take you into her service, but I do not know how other cities along the way will treat you, so be cautious.” I wasn’t sure if Veronica would take them in, but she seemed the type, and she had welcomed all the refugees from the war.

Their eyes broke from the miraculous pile of goods. This caused another flurry of conversation as Thelna explained to the others and she asked me, “Why? Why do you help us?”

“For Maveith. He is the closest thing I have to a brother—a little brother, my junior,” I added, smirking as that was what Maveith had called me the first time we traveled together. “Make sure you tell him his big brother Eryk is coming. He is not leave before I arrive.”

Fortuna and the Fates had hit me again. It was possible that Zorana no longer lived, but just the chance made it worthwhile to try and find her. I was certain the chaos of the orc invasion was going to allow me the freedom to join him. My loyalty to helping Castile break her own chains was the only thing giving me pause to leave immediately.

I noticed the heavy anklets again. “Wait, let me remove them.”

Thelna looked confused, “The keys are held by the captain of the ship. We are his.”

“Stand still and don’t move,” I ordered, ignoring her. I removed a chunk of metal opposite the hinge. The heavy iron anklet resisted my efforts, but I won the struggle. Thelna eyes bulged as the manacle dropped. “Are these artifacts?” I asked.

Looking stupefied at the freed anklet, she answered numbly, “Yes. It allows pain to be transmitted but has a short range. They can also use them to track us. We thought if we got far enough away, we would not be pursued.”

I broke the other three ankle manacles, using most of my remaining aether. “Now, take these supplies and go. Head straight west for a few days and then northeast. Find Sobral and tell Maveith about Myra and Zorana. Use the duchess’ name if you run into trouble—Duchess Veronica. Tell them you are to be wardens in her service.” Not speaking Telhian might be a problem for them, but there was only so much I could do. I turned and started to head back into the woods. I still might have time to use the collector on the bodies.

A late “Thank you” echoed behind me from the stunned goliaths.

My thoughts churned in my head as I reached the first body and mechanically used the collector on it. From the tattooed Pathfinders, I managed to collect only four essences; as it had been some time since this encounter started, I was lucky to get anything. Two minor perception essences, a major strength, and one minor coordination. 

The sky was graying with the coming morning, and I checked my message book. Centurion Sergius scrawled a thick message. “Aesop has spotted the fleet. Where are you, Hound?”

The message just angered me and made me want to catch up to the goliaths and escort them to Sobral and fuck off from serving the Centurion. I held off on response while I finished with the bodies. I didn’t spend time searching the bodies too intensely, just grabbing their orc stamina and healing potions. It brought my count of the light, foul-smelling healing potions to 27 and the green vomit-tasting stamina potions to 29. 

I searched for artifacts but only found an orc-forged hand axe that I took from their leader, Rakah. I found no documents or orders. Maybe there was valuable loot down in the cave on the beach, but I was not going to risk being seen by the anchored ship.

I moved south through the forest for an hour before resting and answering my Centurion. “Pathfinders chased me and I have delayed me. I will be there in a few hours.” I checked the book every hour but the Centurion never wrote anything again.

The day was surprisingly warm, and the bird song as I ran told me that maybe spring was coming to this part of the Telhian Empire. I crested the ridge and used the spyglass to see the fleet was still over two dozen miles south by my estimate. I should be running into Hound Aesop soon, so I increased the frequency of my Earth-speak pulses while I ran just below the ridge line.

I dove behind some rocks as my pulse finally returned a danger forty feet ahead. Two more earth pulses confirmed it was a Hound. I used my hands to make two deep-throaty bird calls that were soon returned. The Hound stood out from his cover, and I did the same as we took in each other. Hound Aesop was tall, and his Hound armor was well-worn. He was also filthy, like he had been rolling in a charcoal pit. I guessed he had darkened himself to help move unseen at night.

He finally asked, “Hound Eryk?” I nodded. “How did you spot me?”

A was downwind from him, and a scent of sharp ammonia, and vomit hung in the air. “Caught your scent on the air,” I stated. He seemed to consider my response before nodding and smiling. Our Hound clothes generally masked our scents, but not for this Hound, apparently.

He sniffed himself, and chuckled, “True. Not even a nymph would stoop low enough to let me have my way with her right now. An ogre found my lookout a few days back, and I had to cut it into pieces to haul it away from my station.” I grimaced, knowing how unpleasant a task that would have been. He looked over his shoulder. “They have put more Pathfinders ashore south of here. We are going to have to circle wide to avoid them.”

“Any word of the war in the east?” I asked as I got upwind of him to lead us on our path.

“Nothing good, the spring campaign has started. The elves took Comporjo, and they’ll likely threaten Caranhagan soon. The Bartiradians took Olisca south of Macha yesterday, but Duke Tiberius still has control of Guiracas. Things should be grinding to a halt as everyone fortifies their gains, and it will turn into a war of attrition until the larger pieces come into play,” Hound Aesop said behind me. I ground my teeth a little. It was clear Centurion Sergius was keeping him informed, but not me. 

“Did Centurion Sergius write anything else? What larger pieces?” I asked casually.

He had clearly been wanting me to ask what he meant by larger pieces. “Oh, yeah, I forgot to mention the Emperor is preparing to leave the capital to retake Comporjo by wiping the elves away with his void magic. He is going to march with five thousand Imperial Legionnaires at his back and twenty mage companies. Soon, the Eastern Empire will firmly be back in Telhian hands, and the elves will wish they had never broken the treaty.” He grunted, losing some of his cheer. “Hopefully, we in the Western Empire can hold long enough to get reinforced.”

The only thing that ran through my mind was the Emperor had joined the war effort. What did that mean for Castile—for the company—and for Zyna? And how was I going to check the message stone in the company of another Hound?

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