A Soldier's Life - 285 - Button Up (Patreon)

Chapter 285: Button Up

Glasha carefully packed the runic pauldrons. They could probably fit Mateo or me, but they needed padding fitted. Of course, their bright, silvery appearance was a beacon on the battlefield. The cleric was grinning the entire time, and I was happy we would be done with the job. “We can escort you to Grila,” I offered. A confused look overcame the cleric’s face, and I guessed that the job wasn’t done.

“Why would I want to travel to Grila? We still haven’t found any artifacts of the Titans?” She mumbled. “While this piece ages to the Final Battle, it is not enough evidence.”

I looked apologetically at Maveith. I didn’t want to ruin our adventurer’s reputation, as it was our cover. “Very well. Where do you wish to search next?”

Glasha nodded slowly, probably thinking we might have had thoughts of leaving her. “We will spiral out from this location in our search.”

“If that is your wish,” I nodded in assent.

We began circling outward from where we found the pauldrons. The battlefield was probably looted of most of the runic artifacts, so finding anything was extremely lucky. Maybe the pauldrons were not from the final battle. Maybe whoever wore them fell off his flying mount and perished in the middle of nowhere five thousand years ago. I didn’t share my thoughts with Glasha as she was in good humor.

The next day, about two miles from the pauldrons, I found three buried shields relatively close together. They were a bit deeper down, almost twelve feet, but I was guessing they were artifacts if they had stood the test of time. “Benito, it's time for your skill at digging again.”

Benito eagerly dismounted with Mateo and Maveith to start digging. Raelia sent Baldo into the sky to scout, and Blaze took up to watch with her. It was going to be a long dig this time as the shovels Glasha had brought were not very large. I could have accelerated our progress with my dimensional space, but I didn’t want to reveal my true capabilities to Glasha.

“What did you find?” Glasha said anxiously as she watched my companions start to dig.

“A trio of shields. They are all for a normal man, though. No Titan artifact.” My reply had her deflate. She started chewing on the end of her scarlet ponytail in nervousness as we waited. It was three hours before the Maveith struck the first shield and handed it up to us.

Not caring about her clothes, Glasha eagerly started clearing the decorative shield. I could already tell it was not a dungeon artifact. It was far too ornate and lacked the persistent silvery appearance. It was also much more challenging to clean than the pauldrons, as the cleric went through all the water skins and ended up caked in mud herself.

Benito blessed Fortuna as his shovel clanked against the next shield. “The other one is just a few inches below that one,” I yelled down into the hole. Soon, my three companions climbed out of the pit, their hands torn apart from blood blisters. I nodded to Glasha, and she took a break from her efforts to heal them.

Benito’s eyes were wide as the ancient artifacts were slowly cleaned, “Are they made of gold?”

Glasha shook her head. “No, bronze. And they are not shields,” she said triumphantly. I was confused as they were a bit small for a shield, their round shape and shank for the forearm strap indicated they were shields. “They are buttons!” She proudly declared.

Benito’s face twisted in confusion as he didn’t puzzle it out. “What type of Titan would have buttons that size?” Blaze asked.

“Stone giant craftsmen probably did the relief work, but this was probably worn by a storm giant, the largest of all giants,” Glasha said distractedly. “Give me time, and I will delve into its secrets.”

I sent Maveith and Mateo to get Glasha more water since Benito did most of the digging, and we set up camp by our hole in the ground. I figured the cleric would not move until she had used her revelation spell on all the shields.

As I prepared food for Maveith to cook, I asked her, “How does your spell work? What does it tell you?”

The filthy cleric cocked her head, “It is more of a lore spell. Not only can I see the runes buried deep in the artifact, but I get flashes of the artifact’s history.”

“What did you see with the pauldrons?” Blaze asked, intrigued.

“I didn’t invest enough aether to see far enough back. The only impression the artifact gave me was a powerful warrior once wore them, and they were made by a dungeon to resist lightning,” Glasha replied. Her eyes were following the returning Maveith.

“Magical lightning?” Raelia asked.

“All lightning,” Glasha confirmed with a tusky grin.

I left her to her work as we set the perimeter for the camp and settled in. I was hoping with the excavation of the titan artifacts, we could end this job early. Glasha continued to work well into the evening while we hobbled, watered, and fed the horses, and Maveith cooked a small feast. Mateo and Benito were famished from their shoveling, and Maveith had a larger portion than normal as well.

Glasha shouted late into the night, “I found it! These we worn in the Final Battle!”

Everyone came out of their tents at the commotion. Glasha was even filthier than before. “So we found the site of the Final Battle?” I asked hopefully.

The orc cleric hesitated for a moment, “The last time these were worn was in the Final Battle by a frost giant. This one magnifies your voice. This one keeps you constantly clean. And this one is a guard against poison. There were six buttons in the complete set from the image flashes I got from my revelation spell, but I don’t know if the others were artifacts.”

Under all the filth, I could see the orc cleric was exhausted. She had expended a lot of aether, and it showed in her eyes. “You found your proof. Rest, and we will escort you to Grila tomorrow.” Her look reminded me of a kid upset it was time to stop playing. When did I become the adult? “Go to your bedroll!” I ordered. Glasha jumped but obeyed.

In the morning, we stopped at a stream so everyone who needed it could clean it. Glasha oriented us and had us heading toward the city of Grila. I think her all-seeing-eye was more powerful than Castile’s. I was debating whether to ask for her help in using her lore spell on some of my artifacts. I was curious to learn more about the black spear and magebane. I also had a few unidentified artifacts: a large sapphire necklace from the Shimmering Labyrinth, Boris’s dungeon blade, and Aesop’s dungeon dagger.

It might be too early to trust the odd orc cleric. If she could see the flashes of the artifact’s history, she would know how I obtained them and would figure out what I could do. Glasha spent all her time in the saddle handling the titan buttons. I hoped she didn’t burn her aether channels with all the spellcraft she was using on them. I tried to distract her but insisted we continue with my language lessons. She acquiesced and stored the large bronze buttons.

A day’s ride from Grila had Blaze emit two sharp whistles of warning. He was riding vanguard and twenty yards ahead. I rode up next to him, “What do you see?” He pointed to some bodies half buried a quarter mile away. The spyglass was out, and I examined the site. The bodies had not decomposed, and the skin clearly marked them orc victims. The others approached as I dismounted and sent out an earth pulse, finding nothing.

“We should ride around,” Raelia stated after handing me back the spyglass.

Glasha, still fatigued from using so much aether, still used her spells to examine the site. As she had a distant look on her face, she informed us, “I don’t see any warriors among the dead. Two oxen. It looks like the earth just swallowed them. Probably ankhegs. It is mating season, and the corpses will probably feed the young when they hatch.”

I had fought ankhegs many times in the dreamscape. They had a tough shell but turned slowly. Their acid attack was troublesome, but you could dodge it easily enough if you recognized their thorax ungulate just before they sprayed. “I will go confirm. Blaze, Raelia, and, Maveith cover me with your bows. Mateo and Benito, protect our charge.”

I drew Boris’ dungeon blade and walked confidently forward. I was pulsing earth speak as I went and soon found the underground tunnel network. My steps attracted the ankheg, and I waited for it to erupt from the earth. The ground trembled under my feet, and I dodged by pushing off an air shield for leverage. The air shield also had the added benefit of slowing the creature as it was confused at meeting the brief resistance.

I went to a two-handed overhead swing and removed one clawed appendage. I circled behind, targeting the six support legs to immobilize the monstrosity. It was not as large as the ones in the amulet, and I quickly had the creature flailing on the ground. Without its legs, it could pull itself back underground to escape.

During the brief fight, my archers barraged the head with arrows, scoring a number of hits. It wasn’t long before the beast succumbed to its wounds. After pulsing earth speak, I yelled, “All clear!” I walked to the mostly buried bodies and found the corpse of another ankheg a few feet below. If this was the male, then the female would have laid its eggs within after mating.

The others rode up, and Mateo’s jaw was already jabbering, “Are you sure you need us along?! Killing a pack of werewolves and taking down this giant roach in moments!”

“The arrows killed it, I just immobilized it,” I replied indifferently. The dreamscape ankhegs were much more dangerous than this one. Still, I could see the awe and worship in Mateo and Benito’s eyes.

“You slew a pack of werewolves by yourself?” Glasha asked, interested.

“Not all at the same time,” I said, dismissing the claim. “There are fertilized eggs under the bodies. Should we handle them?” I was not going to reveal the collector to Glasha. I was sure the ankheg would only yield a minor essence anyway by its size.

That was how we spent our afternoon, digging down and destroying a dozen ankheg eggs. Well, that was Benito’s and Mateo’s afternoon anyway. The rest of us supervised. Still, in return, Glasha was going to certify the egg’s destruction at the Adventurer’s Guild. Each egg would earn them a large silver piece bounty. The ankheg itself was worth another gold on top.

Covered in yolk and attracting flies, they rode as the rear guard. Still, both were happy they had earned a hundred and twenty silver for an afternoon’s work. I think Blaze looked slightly regretful he didn’t join them.

Grila was a large city, and soon, we approached the outer farmlands. Glasha paused to tell the first orc farmer we met about the bodies and dead ankheg. They would reclaim the bodies and harvest the beasts. The majestic walls soon loomed larger as we approached our destination.

Outside the stone walls of Grila we prepared to part ways with Glasha. Still atop her pony with her treasure secured in the saddle bags, she thanked us. “You performed beyond expectations. I will report the job complete to the guild and leave a bonus. You can claim your bounty as well for the ankhegs.” She paused, and I could tell her there was something else she wanted from us. After an awkward pause, she continued, “The clerics of the Boutan Caliphate are going to elect a new Supreme. The death of the last Supreme has not been made public. If you are interested, one of the candidates requires—an escort.”

Raelia interrupted Glasha, “Escort? That should be the responsibility of the elites. Why would a candidate require outside adventurers.”

Glasha winced slightly, “She has no backers and has ignored my advice to forgo her candidacy. So far, no one has taken up her sigil.”

“While that is a tempting offer,” I said trying to sound gracious, “we have other plans and have booked queues for two dungeons. The one outside of Grila, for one.”

Glasha looked surprised. “You plan to delve into the Vault of the Spirit Arachnid?”

The plan was just to check on our space and the queue and then head north toward our true destination. “Yes, but if the wait is too long, we will continue to the Whispering Grotto.”

A devilish grin appeared on her face, “Yes, it is a popular dungeon. I will make sure you are placed at the top of the queue.” Before I could object, she turned her pony and entered the gates of Grila. Dragon shit, I didn’t consider the cleric would have sway with the Adventurer’s Guild. My companions looked over at me questionly.

Benito asked innocently, his face a little paler. “So, we are going into the dungeon then?” Benito had a hard time in the Shimmering Labyrinth. Not only had he been injured for his delve, but we had lost a lot of companions and friends.

“There is a limit of five to a delve, Benito, for this dungeon; you do not have to enter,” I replied to his relief. If we must delve the dungeon, I would make it quick.

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