A Soldier's Life - 215 -

Chapter 215: Truth Or Dare

The young Truthseeker looked to have aged since he questioned me about the fall of Macha and the battle with the storm giant. Not only had his face hardened with time, but his eyes looked less innocent and less eager to do his task.

Several men in the room recognized the robes for what they were. One of the pups, a young soldier with dark hair and eyes, dashed for the door. Konstantin was prepared and tripped him, while two Hounds pinned him to the ground.

 Konstantin addressed the Truthseeker with annoyance, “If you came a week ago, we could have saved some essences.” I studied the other pups in the room. About half of them had doubt in their eyes at what was to come next. And most eyes were on their comrade being bound on the floor.

I rubbed my forearm. The spell forms inscribed on my bones should allow me to fool the Truthseeker. “You first.” Konstantin indicated to me. “Truthseeker, you can use the storeroom below.” The Truthseeker nodded, and four of his legionaries led him down the steps while the other two positioned themselves at the entrance to the stairs. I walked past the two legionnaires who smelled like wet horses, and their armor dripped water steadily onto the stone floor.

A small storeroom had the door open with two chairs separated by a dilapidated desk. The legionnaires squeezed inside, and the Truthseeker took a seat, removing his outer robes that had been soaked in the rain. Sighing, he took the seat furthest from the door. As I sat across from him, his eyes lit up, recognition forming. “Legionnaire Eryk Marco? Is that you?”

I offered a friendly smile, digging for his name in my memory, “Truthseeker Yanis. It is me, but now I am Hound Eryk now.”

“Ah, yes. I must thank you for the vital information you relayed to me in our last session. It greatly improved my standing with the Scholarium and with the Emperor himself! I am already a tier three Truthseeker.” He smiled happily. The door was closed, and the room quickly filled with the stench of poorly washed bodies and horses.

 “Have you thought of anything new regarding the discovery?” Yanis asked politely and eagerly. My forearms itched as I felt the question itself wash over me. With little preamble, he was already using his magic on me.

“No. I told you everything I remembered.” I replied succinctly.

He didn’t mask his disappointed look. “Ah, very well. We should get through this quickly. The Hound in charge will probably want me to question the man who also tried to run.”

He settled and focused on me with his first question. “Are you planning to do harm to the Empire or Emperor?” I could feel the spell form locking onto me now that I knew what to look for. My arms itched so badly that I wanted to scratch but resisted the temptation.

“No,” I replied a heartbeat after he asked.

 “Have you harmed the Empire or Emperor in the past?” He asked his next question.

 “No,” I replied, in a relaxed cadence. It was clear the bone-inscribed spell forms were doing their work.

“Do you have magic on your person to deceive a Truthseeker?” He asked, turning the black ball in his hand. I had forgotten about this part. My arms no longer itched; they burned.

Still, I didn’t hesitate to answer, “No.” I studied his eyes, looking for any change.

“Excellent.” He put away the ball inside his clothes, produced a notebook, and spent a few minutes taking notes before returning to question me. He tapped his quill, thinking of a question. I guessed he was pretending to appear the questions were casual.

“Have you uncovered anything that may be useful to the Empire?” He asked slowly, as if the question had just come to him.

My mind raced, and I almost misstepped and said no. “Yes. The Atlantium Ruins and the Shimmering Labyrinth.”

His eyes narrowed in confusion, “How do you know about the Shimmering Labyrinth?”

I narrowed my eyes right back at him and turned the question on him accusingly, “How do you know about the Shimmering Labyrinth?” His legion guards tightened their grips on their hilts at my tone.

“You must have been on the expedition to locate it?” He surmised, ignoring my question. “You certainly get around. The two most interesting discussions happening in the Imperial Palace in the last year, and you were involved in both.”

I shrugged. “Fortuna seems to curse my luck. Nearly ended up dead both times with little to show for it.”

Truthseeker Yannis chuckled at my joke and continued, “I have been tasked with trying to locate an additional kettle of souls for the Emperor’s next expedition to Caelora. Of course, that expedition is on hold, with the orcs and elves waving their swords at the borders. But if I require a Hound’s assistance, I know who to call on who has Fortuna on his shoulder.”

He pulled out a scroll and looked down at it. “Impressive. You have three spell forms? Minor healing, a dimensional pocket space, and an air shield?” I could read the document upside down and that was all that was noted after my name. I could see the names of the others but didn’t strain my eyes. I could recreate it late in the dreamscape and study it then.

“Yes. That is all I have.” I replied.

He jotted down some more notes before asking me broad questions about whether I knew any plots or dangers to the Empire. My spell form itched as he proceeded, but soon, I was allowed to leave.

Throughout the entire session, his legionnaires had been tense, and only now that I was leaving did they finally relax. Climbing the stairs to the common room, I spotted Konstantin chatting with two other Hounds in the corner. A fleeting look of relief crossed his face before he returned to the conversation.

I couldn't tell if he was concerned I might say something foolish or if he feared my bone runes wouldn’t work. Another one of the pups brushed past me to get questioned. I took a seat alone at a table and sipped on some weak ale as we waited.

The men cycled down the stairs, spending about fifteen minutes each. The ninth man questioned was brought up bound and gagged with two legionnaires dragging him. I was close enough to hear them explain to Konstantin that he had raped a count’s daughter. I think the pup’s name was Francis, and we picked him up at the Prefectus Legion Hall. I guessed he was not long for this world by the dead expression in his eyes.

After all the men cycled through, they tried to bring down the man who had tried to escape after seeing the Truthseeker arrive. Only he was already dead when they attempted to drag him. Konstantin rushed over with some of the Hounds, and they inspected him. After a few minutes, Konstantin stood and announced the verdict, “He killed himself with his spell form. Dried out his own lungs.”

I was in disbelief at committing suicide in such a manner without ever panicking visibly. Whispers that he must have been a spy and supposition on which Empire had planted him murmured across the tables.

Truthseeker Yanis came up from below and talked with Konstantin for a good hour while we waited. Yanis constantly referred to his notes as they talked. Finally, the Truthseeker and his legionnaires were led up the stairs for the night. Konstantin stood and said, “You passed your first test. Tomorrow, we will issue your Hound gear—after the morning run.” As we left the common room, the mood was heavy, having lost two of the litter. I felt nothing as I had not tried to befriend anyone over the last week.

After securing my room, I consumed a displacement and dexterity essence. I was seriously tempted to check my progress with the table but resisted. There would be time for that in a safer environment. I sent out a pulse of earth speak into the walls. I liked to check on the others before entering the dreamscape for a few minutes to train my ability. My range was about 35-five feet now, and the larger sphere of feedback required practice to sort out what I was seeing. Most men were lying in their bunks, tossing and turning, trying to sleep—every other night, they were so exhausted they passed out almost immediately, but the session with Truthseeker seemed to have disturbed them.

I spent about fifteen minutes in the dreamscape, creating ten books to add to my library and studying the spell form for purify self. It was going painfully slow learning this spell form for the void affinity. I recreated the list of the pups and their spell forms. It was interesting to see what everyone could do. Four men even had two spell forms, but I was the only one with three.

I exited the dreamscape and checked my surroundings with earth speak again. There were mice above in the grain bags. I traced their path through the cracked foundation before sleeping for a few hours. I meditated on the spell form in the early hours, waiting for the day to begin.

I was the first one up in the morning and found the Truthseeker and his guards readying their horses. They had the dead man draped over a spare mount, and I guessed he was going to be sent to a necromancer for questioning. The other man was bound and seated on his own mount. I guessed he would be turned over to the duke for justice; his trial was over and his guilt was confirmed. Konstantin was talking to Yanis, who was mounted. Konstantin waved me over, “For some reason, the young Truthseeker was impressed with you.”

“I have that effect on people,” I noted in good humor, and Konstantin shook his head in annoyance.

“He made a request for you to be assigned to him when you finished your training,” Konstantin said flatly. I didn’t know what to say to that. Was Yanis part of the conspiracy? “I told him the Empire’s Hounds are stretched too thin,” Konstantin added coldly.

“Still, I will write a formal request. His skills and luck are wasted in the Hounds.” Yanis said haughtily from atop his horse. He turned his mount and started off out the open gates, mud being kicked up by his mount as he left.

When all the riders left, and the gates were closed, Konstantin told me quietly, “Be wary of that one. His ambition knows no bounds. You no longer need to collect shellfish after the morning beach run.” He patted me on the shoulder once. None of the other Hounds were present, so the outpouring of affection went unnoticed.

On the beach, we were running down and back four times this morning for a total of eight miles. Most of us now took our boots off for the run as the shifting sand wrecked our feet if we wore our boots. Since we were not carrying our rocks, I was the first to finish.

When the last of the group finished, Konstantin decided our rocks would look better outside the gates, so we carried our burdens up the stairs. I went first so that I didn’t get behind one of the slower men.

Dropping my rock outside the gate, I sat on Bob. Naming my rock Bob might have been a sign I was under some mental duress. Not talking with the others certainly contributed to it, and Bob was a good listener. I heard one of the rocks bouncing off the rocks as it returned to the beach and was glad I went first. I pulled a canteen to my hand and drank while other rocks thudded around me, and the men collapsed. Nautis was the man who dropped his stone, and we waited for him to retrieve it.

Konstantin and David followed him up. “Well, today is your lucky day. No lecture this morning on hippogriffs and griffins. Instead, we are handing out your Hound gear. Follow me.”

The others rolled to their feet, a child’s eagerness to get their hands on the gear we would use as a Hound. I was certain we would not be getting any artifacts today, just the standard Hound gear. Large wooden tables were set up in the bailey and covered in weapons, clothing, and packs. The group rushed forward, and Konstantin barked, “Stop! Cato and Hearne will hand each of you your gear, and then we will explain each piece.”

The gear all appeared to be identical, and we handed a pack first. The pack was much smaller than a legion pack and was stuffed with small individual kits for making snares, fishing, a thin bedroll, and some a spool of black silky rope. Hearne explained everything inside. “You have a fishing kit, two hundred feet of wire, snips for that wire, fifty feet of braided twine that can support the weight of a man, and a bedroll made from ice bear hide. It may look thin, but it reflects your body heat, and you could survive in a blizzard with it. The fire flint and shavings are up to you if you want to carry them. Two of you have spell forms to start fires, so you should discard the kits to save weight.”

There were also eight ration bars inside the packs. Not that anyone was excited about them. Our belts were handed out next with our utility hand axe, short sword, and four small pouches. One of the pouches had our two wire garrotes. Another pouch had the familiar myconid powder for masking your scent. Konstantin explained the utility belt, “The short sword is coated in silver. As you are learning from Hearne, some things out there can only be injured with runic weapons or silver. Note the blade dulls more easily than steel, so remember your training and target exposed flesh. To that point, both of your garrotes are coated in silver dust. Your hand axe is not silver coated but forged by the Empire’s best weaponsmiths with the finest steel.”

As we all tried on the belts and adjusted them, Cato explained the utility pouches. “One of the pouches holds your garrotes. Make sure to put the garrotes in the pouch on the side of your dominant hand. The second pouch contains two vials of myconid powder. We’ve talked about these many times. Just a little can disrupt a man or creature’s scent. The middle pouch holds two potions: one for minor healing and one for stamina.” As everyone searched for the potions, he laughed, “You will receive the potions when you’re on assignment, not before. If you had them now, you’d be tempted to drink them.” Everyone frowned because that was definitely true for the majority of us.

Konstantin finished the explanation, “The last double hardened pouch is for your blood compass, but not all of you will be given a blood compass.”

The throwing daggers were next, were fairly small, and both came with concealable sheaths for either the wrist or boot. I planned to put one in each boot. The final table had the composite short bows of the legion and the quivers. Konstantin warned us, “If you can’t hit a target reliably and fifty paces, I will take these back!” He looked pointedly at me reminding me of my lack of skill on the walls Macha. “The arrows are silvered, and you will notice the grooves in the head. The Hounds use two types of poison. Both are applied wet to the grooves and dry. When the head contacts the blood, it activates.”

Castian asked haughtily, “What do the poisons do?”

Konstantin answered him harshly, “We are not giving them to you until you can prove you won’t stick yourself. One poison prevents blood from clotting, which is excellent for bleeding out the large game. The other is a paralytic. It acts slow and requires multiple shots on creatures larger than a horse.”

“When do we get our artifacts?” A short man from the army said in a whiny voice.

“You haven’t earned them yet,” Konstantin said, practically yelled at the man. “You should feel blessed by Diana. I am letting you have your gear after just a week of training.” That quieted everyone as they gathered their gear. I picked up a quiver with thirteen arrows. I inspected the bow I was handed; it was brand new, and I tested the pull weight. It was slightly harder than I expected but manageable. With all the dexterity essences I had consumed, I hoped my aim had improved.

“Your Hound clothing is last. It is made from desert centaur hide. It is highly resistant to being punctured and slashed. It is supple and easy to move quietly in. The hides are sewn together using dungeon spider silk. Spider silk is incredibly strong, but fire will destroy it in seconds.” Cato advised as he started handing out the leggings and heavy jackets.

It was weird wearing pants after so long in the tunic-styled dress for so long. They also got my sizes slightly off as my jacket was tight on the shoulders, and the pants didn’t cover my boots when I sat. The color of the leather was a flat black, but it looked like both pieces could be turned inside out to a flat gray. Neither the jacket nor the leggings had any pockets. I inhaled deeply and was surprised the uniform didn’t have the expected leather smell to it. In fact, I couldn’t smell anything.

As everyone was admiring their new gear, Konstantin drew his runic weapon. “Now that you are all dressed up, who wants to test themselves against me?”

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