A Soldier's Life

Chapter 86: The Wardens

Chapter 86

As we walked, Maveith asked, “Are you any good with your pokers, legionnaire?”

The goliath pointed at my spear and sword while a club the size of my leg swung on his hip. Dried blood was evident on it. I downplayed my skill, “Decent enough. I have only been learning for the last six months.”

“Well, do not worry. I will protect you out here. You can be my junior. That is like Kid Brother among my people. We protect those of our people who can not protect themselves,” he replied with sincerity or maybe humor. It was hard to tell because of his deep voice.

I nodded, not taking the bait to argue with him. I queried his skills, “Are you familiar with the local flora and fungi?”

The large man’s deep voice intoned, “Just the edible ones and some of the ones that prevent infection.”

We spent the next hour talking about and pointing out different flora and fungi, making slow progress toward his home. I learned a little about the local edibles, and he learned some of the more valuable ones he could sell in the city. That was something new for Maveith. He was going to be allowed to enter the city and freely trade with the people. It was not so much a concession but a request by Castile and the Duchess. The Duchess wanted it known that the goliath was under her rule. I assumed it was for the intimidation factor.

We finally reached the goliath’s home. A small clearing held a herb garden, and tanning hides of two elk and a deer were stretched on a rack. A small shack made of stone was in the back, and he pointed to it, “That is my smoker shack for preserving meat. I just finished a batch of elk meat.” He pointed at his unique cabin. “That is home.”

It looked like he had built a ten-foot-wide cabin between two massive boulders. It was not very tall either, the wood shingle roof only coming up to my chin and extending back about fifteen feet. The entire structure was just ten by fifteen. Maveith was waiting for my reaction, so I gave him one, “Impressive.” He started laughing in deep, belching chuckles.

He walked to the doorway and opened it. It showed stairs going down into a large, well-lit room. I followed him down. A dozen fist-sized glow stones were embedded in the stone walls. But the walls were further back than expected. The room was too large. He waited again for my reaction. “Did you carve your cabin into the boulders?” I asked, figuring out the size was maybe thirty by thirty feet.

“With my own two hands over the course of two years. Besides the other wardens, you are only the third person I have invited in, legionnaire,” he said congenially.

“Thank you for your hospitality and the honor, goliath.” I took in the large room. Half the room had stone tables and chairs, which appeared to be his work area. The other half was his kitchen and larder with drying herbs and meats. Two archways in the back were dark, and I assumed they went to other rooms. The dwelling was dry and smelled earthy.

Mavaith went to the kitchen area to unload his burden. “I will begin the meal. Those buckets over there need to be filled by the stream we passed coming in. Filling the tub over the stove should only take you three trips.” I thought it was an invitation to do his chores for him, but I didn’t protest. Each bucket was maybe six gallons, and there was even a yoke to carry them on my shoulders. I made the first trip to the wide stream, which had a number of small fish visible from the shore.

When I returned, Maveith was cooking wild onions and potatoes with one of the large slabs of bacon he had taken. “Are you going to cook that entire slab tonight?” I asked, curious as it was easily twenty pounds.

“Diner and breakfast, yes. Giant boar is hard to find locally, and this belly meat will be a treat,” his deep voice intoned as he was focused on the meal preparation.

I finished filling his basin by the stove, which he used firewood to heat. A draft hole in the stone took the steam and cooking smoke away from the room, but soon, the room heated up, and I was sweating. He cut the bacon into square chunks, seared them, stored the fat in a container, and then added the crispy chunks to a thick onion and potato soup. He presented me with a bowl of the meal. The bowl was as large as my head, and we sat at one of the stone tables.

Maveith hunched over his stone bowl while he shoveled the meal into his mouth, moaning in delight with each spoonful. I tried the soup, but he had been a little too generous with the ground peppercorns he had just acquired. The bacon chunks were still crunchy. The bowl I was eating from was polished stone, as was the spoon. I looked around the room; everything was made from stone except a small part of the ceiling and the wall with the door entry. The walls were smooth, not rough like they had been mined. Maveith finished his bowl and let out a long, contented belch. He went and retrieved a second bowl and sat down eating more slowly this time.

Curious, I asked, “Can you shape stone?” I held up my spoon as evidence.

He nodded and finished swallowing. “I can, just with my hands and not for long. I do not have very much aether.” He pointed at the glow stones in the ceiling, “I made those from a single glowstone. I only need to charge them once a week.”

Everything I saw now made some sense. He had literally carved his home out of the rocks with his bare hands. I finished my bowl, swallowing the peppery soup, and he finished his second. I asked, “So, where am I going to sleep?”

“You are going to share my bed, legionnaire,” he said so confidently that I thought he was serious. He broke into a bellowing laughter a moment later. I was sure I had made a face of unease. “Come, I will show you the guest room,” he intoned, still laughing.

I followed him into the passage on the right, and he took one of the glow stones from the ceiling as he passed. The short corridor ended in a rectangular room lined with shelves. Most contained rolled-up leather hides, but several sealed stone jars were marked in strange letters. There was an alcove about two feet off the floor with two large weasel hides. “I don’t have many guests, but you should be comfortable. My sleeping room is adjacent, and if you get scared, legionnaire, you can crawl in with me,” he chuckled, thinking he was being funny. “Rest as I still have a number of things to finish this evening.”

I waved my hand to dismiss him, and he walked out. I stripped off my legion armor but kept my helmet close by. There was no door to my room for privacy, but that did not matter. The pelt of the weasel was incredibly soft. It has a silky smoothness, and I glided easily on them as I slid between them. I could not believe I was here tonight instead of at the Citadel in my room being attended to by Lareen. Did anyone even tell her where I had gone? I took out my griffin down pillow and got comfortable.

I took out the time affinity book and carefully reviewed each page. Then I took my amulet and went into the dreamscape. I recreated the book while Oscar was begging for attention. It looked correct. Now, I could return the book to the Duchess’ library and still be able to study the spell form once I decided on one. I filled the shelf in the entry room with all the books I owned since I had paged through them all at one point in time. And I tried to add a book from Earth as an experiment.

I laughed as The Hobbit was added to my collection. I took the book and paged through it. Even though I had read the book twice in my life, I doubted I remembered everything I had read, but it looked complete and even had the same paper smell and feel I remembered. I put it on the shelf.

I decided I needed some practice fighting monsters. I spent some time fighting the ankhegs with my new air barrier spell form. The acid spray they had could be diverted with two stacked shields. I just needed to be careful not to step in the puddles until after the acid lost its potency. I froze the entire room whenever I was about to take an injury. I was still uncertain how death worked in the amulet. Maybe the Duchess’ library had a reference book for the dungeon artifact. I lost three times and reset the entire encounter each time, starting from the beginning.

My biggest asset was the air shield. I could cast it and prevent the giant bug from turning, giving me time to damage its flanks. Oscar watched me try different tactics, patiently wagging his cropped tail, waiting for his turn to play with me. The fourth encounter was my first serious injury. My leg had been crushed before I paused time, but it did not hurt until I wanted it to. The pain was intense, but with just a thought, my leg was healed, and the pain was gone. I controlled everything in the dreamscape.

I played a few minutes with Oscar before leaving and told him I would be back. I had been inside for maybe four hours. On leaving, the intense headache hit me, and I moaned into the fur. I didn’t understand. The last time I used the amulet to learn the air barrier spell form, I had not felt anything when I left the dreamscape. What was different?

I had created items that were not part of the dreamscape—all the new books. Maybe the amulet pulled the knowledge from my head, and that caused this pressing migraine. It was an interesting observation, and I would experiment to confirm it. Would I get the same migraine if I only fought and reset the monsters? What about the Konstantin construct I created and dismissed? Would he still cause mental fatigue if I summoned him, or would the amulet remember him?

The weasel pelt had made me sweat, so I removed a canteen of water and drank it. I could hear Maveith snoring loudly in the other room. It was muted by the stone but still annoying. My headache made sleeping hard, so I took an oblivion pill and drifted off.

“Wake up, legionnaire! We have a long day ahead,” Maveith said in a deep voice, breaking a rather nice dreamless sleep.

My head was still splitting from the amulet. “Damn, goliath. You and Konstantin would get along splendidly.” I moaned, getting up.

“I look forward to meeting him,” he said cheerfully. Leave your armor as it will make too much noise, and we have a good distance to travel. Also, Trek is not fond of legionnaires. Best not to advertise what you are.” He sounded too chipper this morning, and I was glad to notice at least my headache from the amulet was quickly waning. “I already ate, so get what you want, and we can head to Trek’s treehouse.”

He had left me some of the soup, and it was already heated. The bacon was no longer crunchy, but it was still good. I felt naked without my hardened leather armor and steel helm. We left at a fast walk, and Maveith stated, “It is about twelve miles north. We will pass close to one of the weasel dens, so making as little noise as possible was best.” I followed Maveith, and he moved extremely quietly for such an enormous being.

“How are you so quiet?” I asked after an hour.

“Habit mostly. It is hard to sneak on an elk when you are stomping the ground. I am not sure if I can explain legionnaire, but I will try,” he said with seriousness.

The next few hours, I walked in front, and he taught me his self-learned skills of moving silently. It had to do with body movement, where you were stepping, how you were stepping, and getting a feel for it. When I made a noticeable noise, he had me pause and figure out what I did wrong. It was more of a learn-by-mistake education, as a lot of Maveith’s movements were more instinctive than learned. He had to think about just as much as I did.

When we arrived at Trek’s Treehouse, it was high in a thick oak tree. It was made from logs, and hauling them up there must have been an impressive feat. Maveith looked around from a distance before announcing loudly, “I do not think he is home.” He walked into the clearing under the tree and looked around. He shook his head. “I don’t know. I was hoping to catch him before he left to hunt today.” It appeared to be a poor act on Maveith’s part, announcing his arrival.

“Were you now?” A voice came from far to our right. A thin, blonde man with an impressive beard entered the clearing to join us. He had two hand axes on his belt. His clothing, like Maveith’s, was all medium brown colored hides. “You coming to see if I am still alive, Maveith.”

“No, a job offer from the new Duchess,” Maveith intoned, and Trek immediately went sour. “Do not worry, you can remain in your treehouse. She is not going to force you into the city. She is marking her lands, and you just need to keep on the lookout for critters when her men are laying the markers in this area. This is my new kid brother, and he represents the Duchess.”

“Kid brother? What? Did you shit him out? I doubt any woman would lay with you.” He looked me up and down with some curiosity.

I grimaced at being the butt of their jokes, but endured it. “There is even three silver a week pay for your efforts,” I added, trying to finish the introduction, “I am Eryk.” I held out my hand, but he ignored it.

He swayed his head in consideration of the offer. Maveith added, “I will spend it for you in the city and bring you what you want.” Maveith addressed me, “Trek does not like being around a lot of people. I am surprised he didn’t bolt for the hills with the two of us here.”

Trek spat and grinned, “I would have, but I count you more animal than man, Maveith, so I just counted your new boy here. I can handle talking to one person.” It was obvious the two had a good relationship. They just liked trading verbal jabs.

“So it is a deal? I will collect your writ from the Duchess and bring it to you with your first ten weeks’ wages. If you want anything, I can bring it back from the city for you.” Maveith said patiently.

Trek seemed undecided before nodding. He just walked away and didn’t say anything else. “Not a social butterfly, is he?” I said softly.

Maveith looked at me and tried to puzzle out my words, “No, he flies on his own winds. He probably just spoke more words in the last few minutes than in the last six months. Our next stop is Lyonis. He will not be so easy to convince.”

We continued through the northern woods, moving northwest. It was late afternoon when we reached our destination. Maveith was impressed that I had been able to keep up with him and still practice my silent movement. Without my armor, it felt like I had limitless endurance. Lyonis’ cabin was more conventional. A small log cabin nestled in the woods. As we approached, a short man exited the cabin. He had one arm in a sling, reddish brown hair, and a massive beard.

Maveith called from a distance, “Lyonis! Can we approach?” The man located us and waved us to him. As we got closer, it was not just his arm but also his head that had a wound of dry blood. “What chewed you up?” Asked Maveith with concern when we were close enough.

The man was pale under the filth covering him and had probably lost a fair amount of blood. He looked relieved to see Maveith and had not even given me a second glance. He must have had a concussion because his eyes were unfocused. Maveith asked again, “What creature did you fight? Did you win, or is it still out there?”

He put effort into focusing on Maveith, “Klinton called me to help with a monster problem. A few days back, the heavy rains to the north have forced a few toward us. He didn’t know what it was, but we tracked it some thirty miles from here. It was a Manticore. It surprised us and got Klinton. I barely escaped. That was…two days ago? I think.”

Maveith was on alert. “It might have tracked you after it consumed Klinton. You should have called Lyonis and me to help. This is why only four of us are left…now three of us,” he said seriously. “Let us get inside and lock the door and deal with your wounds for now.”

Maveith and I scanned the surrounding woods as we made our way into Lyonis’ cabin. I seemed to have terrible luck. My armor was at Maveith’s house, and I was possibly facing another dangerous creature from this world.

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