A Soldier's Life - 231 - (This was the original version), there is a Beta Edit and Final Edit as well based on readers feedback

Chapter 231:

My question hung in the air. “You look—different. I remember you—but I forgot your name,” Helena finally said.

“Really?” I said in disbelief. “Well, I guess we rarely talked, so it is understandable. I see you became a legionnaire.”

“And you became a Hound,” she said with some vitriol. “Are my companions dead?” Did she think I was gloating by talking to her?

I looked over at the other legionnaire. “No. Not yet. But the legionnaire is going to bleed out soon. The mage has been paralyzed. She surprised me with her invisibility, though.”

Helena seemed to deflate, surrendering and stopped trying to clear her eyes. “If you are a Hound, why haven’t you killed us?”

I turned over my response in my mind and finally said, “Curiosity. What did the mage do to become a traitor to the Empire?”

“Traitor!” She spat. “She was the one betrayed. She was told her parents were killed by Orc Pathfinders, and she was being sent to the war front to fight the Esenhem elves. Duke Octavian just wants to control her family’s gold and silver mine.”

Her response had me pause. I felt like I owed Helena something and was going to try to convince her to flee and forget about the mage and her legionnaire companion. Now that Duke Octavian was brought into the conversation gave me pause. “There are Orc Pathfinders within the Empire. I have fought them myself.”

Helena laughed, “The Pathfinders kill for a purpose. Baron and Baroness Greco have no value to the Boutan Caliphate. Duke Octavian wants the gold and silver on their lands, and First Citizen Selene is the only remaining Greco alive. He staged their murder. Selene should be raised to Baroness and instead is being sent to fight the elves, she would have been dead within the week.”

I could tell Helena believed what she was saying, and knowing Duke Octavian, it was the probable truth. I didn’t understand why the only remaining member of a family would be ordered to fight. “If she is a First Citizen, how can she be forced to fight?”

“Where have you been, Hound?” Helena spat angrily. “The elves have landed, and the Bartiradians are surging from the south toward Macha. They have formed an alliance. The Emperor has ordered every battle-trained mage to the front!”

My mind raced, and I cursed Centurion Sergius for keeping me in the dark. “When did this happen?”

“Seven…no eight and half days ago.” Helena turned her stance and relaxed her grip on her staff. I stepped back anyway, as she might be trying to lure me into a false sense of security.

“So, she is a traitor for fleeing the Empire in its hour of need,” I said evenly.

“What would you have done? You bury your parents, and the next day, a steward arrives to handle your estate while you are sent with just a fraction of your household guard to fight an invasion?” Helena said accusingly.

“I would have taken all my gold and fled the Empire,” I said truthfully.

“Is that what you want? We dropped our packs when we rushed you. Three hundred in gold and silver and more in jewelry.” I stepped back, and with my night vision goggles, I could see the packs in the distance. I remembered the thuds before they rushed my position.

My mind played with options. I pulled one of the paralytic arrows and shot Helena in the leg. She started cursing me, but the poison quickly silenced her as her muscles relaxed. I bound and gagged both legionnaires. I did my best to reattach Sylph’s hand but only used two orc healing potions on her. The foul-tasting brew had her wake, but I forced them down her throat and gagged her. She would need a mage’s healing or a greater healing potion to regain the use of the hand, but the vascular system should be repaired until then. I then sat down and wrote in my notebook.

“The mage is dead. She told me the elves have invaded?”

I wasn’t expecting a quick response, so I checked on Rusty and fed him while I waited for morning and a reply. Both Sylph and Helena regained themselves and struggled for a while before giving up. They were probably wondering why they were still alive. As the light came, Helena scanned the surroundings for her charge but didn’t see her. Her eyes got hard once again.

I went through the three packs as they watched on, hate in their eyes. I found some food, insufficient camping supplies, and lots of coins—more than three hundred gold for certain. Finally, Centurion Sergius sent me a message.

“Excellent work, Hound. Bring the traitor’s ring, amulet, and any other artifacts you found to Brapo. Hercule will take them from there.”

I watched as the words scrawled across the page, and when they stopped, I asked again, writing:

“Have the elves invaded?”

I didn’t have to wait long before he responded.

“Yes. The elves landed a week ago, and the Bartiradians surged across the border. The Empire spent all winter preparing. They have not advanced far.”

I waited for more, but no other words appeared on the page. He hadn’t even asked if I killed the legionnaires and seemed to only care about the artifacts the mage was carrying. Of course, there was a problem because she was in my dimensional space with her artifacts. It would be three days of traveling north to Brapo, but it would also take me into the region where the owlbear had been attacked.

I looked at Helena and Sylph. What should I do with them? I knew I couldn’t turn Helena into an essence; my consciousness wouldn’t bear the weight of it. My dimensional space was getting crowded as well. I definitely had room for two more, but at this rate, I was becoming an ark for people who were supposed to be dead.

“My name is Eryk,” I reminded Helena. “The Hound Centurion thinks Mage Selene is dead. She is not, and my allies will get her out of the Empire safely.” Their eyes went wide in disbelief and then doubt. “You are going to have to trust me. The question is, do you want to join her or run?” I kicked the bags. “You can take one of these if you want to run. I am sure the Hound Centurion won’t believe me if I don’t return with the other two.”

I sighed as I knelt before Helena and removed her gag. “Where is Selene?” She asked while studying my eyes for the truth in my next words.

“Safe. Helena. Your decision?” I pressed, squatting in front of her.

“I will go with Selene.” She said uncertainly. I nodded and moved over to the other legionnaire.

“Sylph, was it? I don’t think we have been introduced. I am Eryk.” I removed her gag.

She wet her lips and dry mouth before responding. “Sylvia. My nickname is Sylph.” She had a charismatic face with light brown eyes that didn’t match her muscular, warrior body. “If Selene is truly alive, I will go with her. If you are lying to us, I curse you to Pluto’s realm.”

“Well, I am still here, so I must be telling the truth,” I said in mild amusement. “Fine. Both of you have made your choice.” I produced four oblivion pills. “Swallow these, and when you wake up, you will be with Selene.”

Sylph’s eyes went to Helena, looking for direction. Helena was studying me, trying to untangle the truth and my true intentions. I placed two of the pills in each of their mouths and waited. Helena’s eyes remained locked on mine, and finally, she swallowed. Her eyes got heavy and closed, not something easily faked, but I checked her mouth anyway. Sylph was more hesitant, and I couldn’t blame her as there was a possibility she would never wake up after swallowing.

As the pills dissolved in her mouth, they did their work anyway and she drifted off more slowly. I sent the three packs first and then Sylph. After my aether regenerated, Helena joined them. Rusty seemed amused as the packs and people vanished. He even walked over where they had been, confirming they had indeed vanished.

I was going to have to wait to retrieve the artifacts from Selene. Centurion Sergius might still have her sample in his blood compass as he had confirmed her death only a few hours ago. I swung up onto Rusty’s back and started trotting north. I had no question that I had done the right thing, but it felt like I was cornering myself. What was I going to do? Put every innocent person I was ordered to kill in my dimensional space? I did have some ideas on how to unload my unsuspecting passengers to safety.

I took my time riding north, in no rush to reach Brapo. I camped in an ancient, overgrown stone structure. My earth speak told me the cellar had filled with debris over time. Several silver coins were down there, but I was not motivated to dig through a few feet of centuries-old detritus. Rusty was happy to get a full meal of grain and apples. I was pretty low on horse grain and would have to get some from a village or city.

At sunset, I had no messages from my Centurion and settled in for an uneasy night of short naps. I had gotten enough rest by midnight, and dry, cold air made me use the thermal stone for heat. When morning came, I found a disturbing message in the book.

“The orc war fleet entered Kraken Bay last night. Race to your lookout and report their movements.”

My blood chilled a little. It was happening as predicted. The orcs were using the war in the east to press their claims here in the west. I started asking questions in the notebook. “How many ships? Is the Empire sending soldiers? Where are they landing?” No responses appeared on the pages, and I closed it in disgust. I was being kept in the dark and a low priority for Sergius.

Kraken Bay is three hundred miles long and a third that wide at some points and more like a massive inlet sea than a bay. At the very end of the bay, Varvao was the closest city. If the orcs were going to carve off a chunk of the Empire, that would be their target. I had no illusions of being about to stop an armada. I rode northwest and was no longer headed for Brapo. I reached the coast, and thought I was south of my lookout. I camped in the rocky terrain, not risking an injury to Rusty in the dark. Neptune’s Tear was hidden behind the clouds this evening, and the ridge line overlooking the bay was unforgiving.

I scanned the waters every hour, and cursed when the specks of light in the distance confirmed the orc fleets fleet arrival, far to the north. With my spyglass I counted thirty-seven ships but there could have been more. I scribbled in the notebook.

“Thirty-seven large ships sighted. All sailing south.”

It wasn’t until an hour after sunrise that my book had a response written in it.

“Shadow the fleet from shore and continue to report.”

That was it. I didn’t know how far south of my lookout I was but guessed about a dozen miles. The armada was bravely sailing through the center of the bay as if daring anyone to challenge it. I suspected the Empire had nothing to stop it. The high rocky ridge was too dangerous to ride along. So I was going to have to descend into the forest, ride south, and then climb the ridgeline again to track them. The good thing was I could ride much faster than the fleet could sail.

I led Rusty down the slope, and we raced through the forest for three hours before climbing again. I was ahead of the fleet and scanned them again, trying to count them in the light of day. I didn’t have the spyglass stand, so it was difficult to get an accurate count. I ended up with thirty-eight this time and wrote it in the message-sending book. I still had no more orders from the Centurion.

We descended the slope again, and this time, I planned to run Rusty for only two hours before spotting the fleet again. Rusty sensed something was wrong long before I did. He slowed, resisting my urging to continue, and danced in place. I didn’t see anything, so I dismounted to use earth speak.

As my feet hit the ground, I didn’t even need to use earth speak to feel the vibrations. My earth pulse returned to a horrific image, and I rolled away, releasing the reins, and yelled, “Rusty, run!” The skittish horse was confused as the earth softened under him and then erupted up.

A massive antlike head seized his neck while long arms ending in four dangerous claws racked his body. Rusty’s body was eviscerated, and his internals spread across the ground. The bipedal insect-like creature extracted itself from the ground while its jaws finished decapitating poor Rusty. It had been lying in wait nearby and moved to intercept us.

By the dangerous-looking claws, I assumed this was the creature that had forced the owlbear to flee. What concerned me was in all the lessons from Hearne and all my beastiaries in my dreamscape; I still had no idea what I was facing. “Whatever you are, I am going to avenge Rusty.” The ten-foot monstrosity turned to my voice, its bug-like eyes focused on me while its mandibles dripped with blood. I pulled the black spear to my hand and announced, “Let’s do this.”

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