A Soldier's Life - 231 Beta Edit - (Patreon)

So I listened to the comments and did a rewrite of 231 below. Note that instead of knocking the legionnaire out in chapter 230, his blow would have cut the neck. I havent changed that but will get impressions for this edit first.

Chapter 231:

 My question hung in the air. “Your voice sounds familiar. I remember you—but I forgot your name,” Helena finally said with trepidation.

“Really?” I said in disbelief, a little hurt echoing in my voice. “Well, I guess I was the one who was always talking, so it is understandable. I see you became a legionnaire like you wanted.”

“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. I couldn’t lie as the blood flowed freely from the neck wound. “The other legionnaire is dead. The mage has been paralyzed. She surprised me with her invisibility, though.” Okay it did sound like I was gloating.

“Sylph is dead?” Hearing the emotion in her voice and knowing the other legionnaire’s name made me twinge in guilt. Helena seemed to deflate, facing the inevitable, and she stopped trying to clear her eyes. “If you are a Hound, why haven’t you killed me? Are you to bring Mage Selene back alive then?” There was some hope in her words that her charge might live.

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

“Traitor!” She spat the word in disgust. “She was the one betrayed. She was told Orc Pathfinders killed her parents, and she was being sent to the war front to fight the Esenhem elves. She should have been raised to a baroness and taken over the estate. Duke Octavian wants to control her family’s gold and silver mine.”

Her response had me pause. I felt like I owed Helena something for teaching and getting me through legionnaire training. Without her lessons, I may have fallen below the cut and been exiled to the regular army. I was going to try to convince her to flee and forget about the mage. Now that Duke Octavian was brought into the conversation, it gave me pause. He was an enemy of Castile and, therefore, myself. “There are Orc Pathfinders within the Empire. I have fought them myself.”

Helena laughed, her tone turning dark, “The Pathfinders only kill to achieve a purpose. Baron and Baroness Greco had no value to the Boutan Caliphate. Duke Octavian wants to control the gold and silver mines on their lands, and First Citizen Selene is the only remaining Greco in the line of succession. He staged their murder, and you Hounds confirmed the farse. Selene should be raised to Baroness and instead is being sent to fight the elves with just two legionnaires instead of family’s entire household guard. 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, especially a First Citizen. “If she is a First Citizen, how can she be forced to fight?”

“Where have you been, Hound?” Helena spat angrily, getting bolder as the conversation extended. “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 relaxed her defensive stance and loosened 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? If you buried 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 elven invasion? Selene isn’t even a war mage. The only thing she has killed in her years is a bottle of wine.” Helena said accusingly.

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

Helena grasped at the thread. “Is that what you want? The gold? We dropped our packs when we rushed you. Three hundred in gold and silver and more in jewelry.” I stepped back to look, 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 as my conscience battled itself. Finally, 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, and she could only gurgle. I bound, blindfolded, and gagged her while feeling the hatred pouring off her. I forced two oblivion pills down her throat to force her into unconsciousness.

When I had enough aether, I pulled the magebane from my space. I channeled aether into the blade, and the intricate relief work of spiders filed with the aether toxin. Then, I removed First Citizen Selene facing away from me. The mage was still invisible as I cut into her thigh. She squealed in pained surprise as she became visible with my goggles grasping at the wound.

I could tell the woman was reaching for her aether and was confused when she couldn’t utilize it. The poison worked fast and made using aether like trying to sail a ship in a hurricane. Realizing the futility, she reached for her dagger but I was already behind her, sweeping her legs, and forced her to the ground. She struggled with futility as I bound, blindfolded, and gagged her. She struggled fearfully, but it would do her no good. I then sat down and wrote in my notebook.

“I caught the mage, killed one legionnaire, and the other legionnaire fled. The First Citizen told me the elves have invaded. Should I bring her to you so she can be sent to fight the elves?”

I wasn’t expecting a quick response, so I checked on Rusty and fed him while I waited for morning and a reply. The magebane toxin wore off in an hour, so I continued to dose her. Maybe the mage thought I was torturing her, but it couldn’t be helped.

I went through the three packs as I waited, watching my two prisoners. Inside, 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. Kill her, and 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? Should I pursue the other legionnaire?”

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. Forget the legionnaire. She is of no consequence. Bring the artifacts and burn the mage’s body.”

I waited for more, but no other words appeared on the page. Relief flooded me as I wouldn’t have to kill Helena. Maybe I wouldn’t have to kill the mage either. I spent the morning setting up a pyre and started a fire to burn to ash. I searched Selene for artifacts, removing her ring, amulet, and a runic dagger.

The perfect gold ring was a dungeon artifact, but the amulet and dagger were artificed by hand. Selene struggled as I searched inside her clothes, but I was quick about it and only found a small secret purse with a few gold coins that I returned where I found it.

Selene returned unwillingly to my dimensional space, and I waited for an hour before I wrote in the message-sending book, “The mage has been burned.”

A response came back immediately, “Good work, Hound. Get the artifacts to Hercule.” So, my dimensional space did fool him. It was also clear that Helena was correct, and they only cared about the death of the last of the Greco line. I stepped on the coals and spread the ash while I waited for Helena to wake.

It was midday when she did, and she jolted awake, the blindfold and gag now gone. She took in her surroundings. Her dead legionnaire companion and the clear pile of ash in the shape of a body. “I am sorry, but I was ordered to burn the mage. I used alchemist’s flash powder, and she did not suffer.”

Helena’s face had sorrow, and her vision was fixed on the dead legionnaire. “Am I next, then?”

 “No. I owe you for your past kindness. My name is Eryk,” I reminded Helena since she had forgotten. I tossed one of the packs on the ground near her head. “Run, Helena. I was not ordered to kill you. Get as far from the Empire as you can.” It would take her some time to cut the bindings, but she would have a chance if the other Hounds were not hunting her.

Helena was not done with me. She needed to curse me one more time before I escaped earshot. “You killed good people, Eryk. Sylvia and Selene didn’t deserve to die for another man’s greed. The Empire is rotten and eating itself alive.” I heard her spit in my direction but ignored it and focused on my task of getting Rusty ready.

It would be three days of traveling north to reach Brapo, but it would also take me into the region where the owlbear had been attacked.

My dimensional space was also getting crowded. Although I definitely had the free space, at this rate, I was becoming an ark for people who were supposed to be dead. Centurion Sergius might still have Selene’s sample in his blood compass as he had confirmed her death only a few hours ago, so she would be in residence for a while. I swung up onto Rusty’s back and started trotting north, not looking back. 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 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, a low priority for Sergius to keep informed.

Kraken Bay is three hundred miles long from north to south, and a third that wide at some points. It is 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 able 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 dancing in place. He was trying to warn me of something. 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!” Rusty couldn’t process the shouted command quick enough 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 bestiaries 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. Its mouth moved erratically as it pulled flesh and blood into its mouth. I pulled the black spear to my hand and announced, “Let’s do this.”

© Copyrighted 2024 by AlwaysRollsAOne

No Permission is given to translate, copy, or repost this original work of fiction. If you are reading this on a site that is not my Patreon it has been stolen without my permission and is a violation of DMCA. Remember, this work is the result of my creative effort and is protected by copyright law. Removal or altering of this notification is an acknowledgment you are aware you are in violation of DMCA.