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Chapter 76: The Elven Ruins of Caelora A Soldier's Life

Ranobes

Chapter 76

Two men took the watch at the only entrance to the ruined tower instead of the six sentries we had on the banks of the river. Drifting off, I briefly wondered if the three bargemen would be okay waiting out the storm. The banks were clearly going to overflow, and their safety was in question. They should have abandoned the barge and come with us for protection. I guess if that was their livelihood, I could see why they stayed, though.

The hollowed-out tower we were in was not that terrible. Lirkin was even trying to get a fire going under the shelter of the stone stairs that wrapped around the inner wall. He even succeeded, and a handful of men who did not have an oiled legion cloak rushed to make use of the fire. Lirkin started cooking dinner for everyone. It was just a soup broth with chunks of vegetables and salted meat. The heat of the soup was more welcome than the sustenance.

I was woken in the morning by a soft kick, and even before I opened my eyes, I knew it was Konstantin, "Come, Eryk. We are being sent to check on the bargemen." Konstantin had his bow in hand and short sword in his hip. I stood and noticed the sun was not up, but the skies were overcast and light gray. The rain had puttered out to just a drizzle.

"Can't Castile just use her magic to check?" I questioned while getting ready.

Konstantin muttered, "She is sleeping and shouldn't need to waste aether on it. You need practice anyway."

I followed Konstantin out of the tower and down the hill. The muddy hill gave way, and I managed to surf the mudslide to the bottom. Konstantin just commented, "Nice balance, but avoid the obvious water runoff next time." As we moved into the woods, he whispered instructions to me the entire time. It forced me to walk quietly and pay attention as we moved. He stopped us a few times to point out tracks in the mud. Squirrel, rabbit, frog, and even a skunk.

Reaching the banks where we had originally camped was just thirty minutes of walking without the heavy rain, but my legs were heavy with thick wet mud. Our old camp was under a foot of water, and a few crates of supplies floated nearby, but most had washed away. Konstantin was searching the crates and moving slowly as we checked the river. I whispered, "I do not see the barge. Do you think they took it?"

Konstantin went to a tree and found a snapped line that had moored the barge. "No," he said. "I am guessing it broke free, and they are most likely traveling downriver in an attempt to find it." We gathered what we could into two crates to carry back. A few times, Komstantin abruptly stopped and then had me scan the trees for something he saw. It was usually the movement of a small animal or bird. This led me to point out movement before he had to tell me.

The company was packing up and eating a hot breakfast when we returned. Delmar was counting food and figured we had about a week's worth. Plenty to make it to Sobral city over land. I took a bowl of the mush, and Lirkin explained, "I cooked everything that got too wet and would not keep. Not my greatest creation, but it will fill your belly." I didn't complain as I ate and even had a second serving.

Adrian addressed the company when we were ready to leave, "We decided the ferry ride was making you all soft. We are headed through the wild country to reach Sobral. This area is known for packs of dire wolves. Konstantin tells me we are also going to pass near some elven ruins."

"Haunted ruins," Konstantin added with a smug smile.

Adrian looked a little perturbed by the interruption, "Yes, haunted. Just a few specters, but they are tied to the city."

Blaze asked, "What is a specter?" interrupting again.

Castile walked forward, "Specters are incorporeal spirits, weaker than true ghosts. Your blade can not harm them. Their touch will drain your life force and make your soul into one of them. Stay out of the ruins. They cannot leave the walls." Her tone did not leave any debate.

Konstantin patted my shoulder, "It is time to learn the skills of a pathfinder."

When we walked ahead of the company, Konstantin was constantly scanning ahead and above as we walked. "Today, we are going to talk about finding the best path and avoiding obvious ambushes." The entire morning, Konstantin pointed out terrain features and tracks in the mud from various animals. The largest was a bear. We finally reached an overgrown road. The old paved stones had grass and bushes growing between them. Large trees above shaded the ancient road. We waited for the others to catch up.

Konstantin gave a brief report to leadership, "Just one bear, too small to bother us. There were no signs of the dire wolves, but the rains washed all signs of older tracks. This is the road that leads south to the elven ruins and onto Sobral."

Adrian asked, "Will the city be easy to get around?"

Konstantin shrugged, "I have only read about it. I studied a lot of old maps and histories. The second Emperor slaughtered everyone in the city after they refused to submit to his rule. The slaughter was horrific and created the specters. There are still many treasures within, but the deeper you travel into the city, the more voluminous the specters."

Castile confirmed, "We will follow the road. I do not want to go east to Parvas. The specters can not move far from where they were killed. Even if the terrain is difficult, we will go around the city."

Delmar just commented, "Parvas has a Legion Hall, and we could resupply there." Castile shook her head like they had already been over this argument a few times. We were going to head south.

We had lunch, and then we moved down the overgrown road ahead of the group. Konstantin noted, "The Empire maintained the road till about a hundred years ago. Much of the trade goes on the river or through the portals now. Some traders will still risk it occasionally."

"How much of the Empire is wild like this?" I asked as we continued.

"Most of the Empire is wild. The cities have patrols, and Mage Companies deal with wandering monsters that threaten the citizens. But nature moves fast to reclaim what belongs to her," Konstantin said quietly and held up his hand.

We moved off the road, and he showed me the tracks he had spotted. They looked the same size as the bear from earlier. "Dire wolf. See, it has just four toes. Bears have five. Shit, and there are at least two of them. Notice these two sets are different sizes." Castile and the company caught up to us as we had paused.

Castile looked at the prints, already figuring it out, "Dire wolves? And recent?"

Konstantin nodded, "Probably two hours ago at the most. The mud around print has not dried out yet, and the rain stopped about then."

Delmar asked, "Are they stalking us, or did they just cross our path?"

Konstantin walked into the woods for a hundred feet, and I went with him. The tracks remained perpendicular to the road. He returned to report, "By the looks of it, five dire wolves, and they just crossed here. They were not stalking us. But we should find a defensible place to make camp tonight."

Castile narrowed her eyes, "We are not camping in the ruins, Konstantin."

"Specters are easier to deal with than dire wolves," Konstantin advised with a straight face. Konstantin obviously wanted to explore the city.

"Only you and me have runic weapons," Adrian chastised Konstantin. "Everyone else would be unable to defend themselves from the specters."

"It was a thought. We should increase our pace then. If the dire wolves circle back, they will pick up our scent," Konstantin counseled. We changed our formation and increased to a quick march.

The ruins of the elven city were not far down the road. Massive trees grew inside a crumbling stone wall. The road naturally diverted around the walls. We passed the city, and it smelled stale and had a cold, dry air coming from it that gave me goosebumps. The walls looked even worse than the tower we stayed in last night. One massive tree in the center of the ruins had a massive green canopy covering most of the city in shadow and did not look inviting.

Konstantin was to my left, "Elves keep curated gardens of special trees in their cities. Those trees are now more than fifteen hundred years old of uncontrolled growth. That was when the city fell to the second Telhian Emperor." I looked up and guessed them to be at least four hundred feet in height. Movement in the upper branches caught my eye.

"I saw it too. Castile," Konstantin turned. "A giant eagle nest in the city. They must be nesting safely out of range of the specters."

Word was passed, and Blaze was responsible for keeping an eye out for the eagles. He was the best archer and also had the best vision of anyone in the company. The dreadful ruins were soon behind us, but we did not slow. I was more than happy to open some distance from the specters.

The clouds had finally cleared, and the sun was out, allowing us to dry our drenched gear. We did not stop our march until close to sunset. Konstantin directed the company to a defensible hill. We all hacked away brush for an hour to give us sight lines down the hill before setting up our tarp tents. I was glad for the evening meal, even if it was bland.

Konstantin had me come to the leadership meeting since I was now a scout. Konstantin informed everyone, "We made about thirty miles today. This road will take us all the way to Sobral, another eighty miles or so. Two days if we do not run into problems."

Adrian said, "We should lighten our packs. Drop the extra food and lean on the baroness when we arrive."

Delmar, who was responsible for logistics, disagreed, "We already lost most of the supplies. Half the men are missing a piece of their armor. We are not going to be able to replace anything in Sobral City. There is no Legion Hall there. I still think we should have headed for Parvas."

Castile agreed, "We carry everything. Lirkin said some of the men's chafe marks were getting bloody. We are going to struggle to keep up this pace."

"We have done it before," Adrian intoned stoically. He was referring to our run to get the capital for her Tribunal. The sun was almost gone, and a massive howl broke the evening air. We all turned and listened as the cry was answered.

Konstantin spoke, "The dire wolves. They are hunting, but not us. It is too far away."

Adrian said, "I am still going to increase sentries to nine for the evening." Konstantin elbowed me, which I guess meant our presence was no longer required.

As we walked away, he said, "One of the benefits of being a scout is you do not have to stand sentry at night. You can still volunteer, but you will not be called on. But before the light of day is completely gone, let's see how much you remember..."

Konstantin questioned me on plants around the hilltop until it was too dark to see. I gratefully climbed into my tent—both mentally and physically exhausted. I thought about the amulet but did not want to be inside it if we were attacked, so I abandoned the idea. I needed the rest, but the dire wolves were on the hunt a few miles away. I imagined how fearful it would be for the animal they were chasing. I doubted it was a human as they would not have to chase a human. I guessed an elk or deer.

Snarling, barking, and cackling erupted from the woods to the north. I immediately left my tent. I was not the only one now listening intently and watching the dark. Blaze was standing next to me, "Gnolls. The dire wolves are fighting gnolls."

Konstantin agreed, "Yes, definitely gnolls by the sounds. I am curious if they are the same group from outside the capital. It does not make sense unless the lone one you killed was the alpha's mate." Blaze shifted uncomfortably. "Don't worry, Blaze. The dire wolves are taking care of them."

It sounded like a violent fight and continued for minutes just a few miles away. Then, the dire wolves howled in unison, indicating their victory. Konstantin assured our camp the wolves would be feeding the rest of the night, and we could sleep. I took an oblivion pill because if I didn't, I knew I would be having nightmares of wolves the size of horses tearing me apart.

Chapter 77: A Sense of Foreboding A Soldier's Life

Ranobes

Chapter 77

The oblivion pill worked. I woke early, and it was probably my best sleep since arriving in this world. I was even up before Konstantin for once. I quietly packed up my things with my glow stone for light. I moved to a fire with some coals. I stirred them and added some dry wood to get a little fire going in the chilly pre-dawn air. I was surprised when Delmar came out of his tent, sat next to me, and added some wood of his own.

"How is your training with Konstantin progressing?" He asked as the wood started to burn into a healthy fire.

"I am learning a lot. He is quite knowledgeable," I replied.

Maybe my tone was flat, or it was how I said it, but Delmar laughed, "That well, huh? I argued against it. Even though we do not have potions for you to carry, we should be using your space for something. Hell, every man here is now carrying an extra twenty pounds of food."

His statement made me feel guilty because I could easily carry every backpack in the company. It was quiet for a moment, and then I asked, "You said only you and Konstantin had blades that could injure the specters?"

In response, Delmar drew his long blade. He was one of the few men in the company who carried a blade over thirty inches. My own preferred short sword blades were around twenty-eight inches. He handed me the blade, and the blade alone was just short of three feet, maybe thirty-five inches. It was also much lighter than it appeared. The steel looked polished, and the blade was well cared for.

"That is a dungeon blade. You can not see the runic work unless you heat the blade in a forge, but trust me, it is a magical blade," Delmar said fondly. "Back when I was delving into dungeons, it was given to me. It only has one enchantment on it: durability. The blade never dulls or tarnishes. Makes cleaning a breeze," he chuckled, and I returned it to him. "Any type of runic blade is magical and will strike creatures that exist ethereally, like the specters."

"How do I get one?" I asked, and our quiet conversation got a short, loud chuckle from Delmar.

"There are no master arcane weaponsmiths in the Empire capable of making a runic blade. The last one was Master Bacchus, but he died before I was born." Delmar put the blade into the sheath. He thought for a moment and looked at me seriously, "There are three ways to get a runic blade, Eryk. Kill someone who wields one and take it. Delve a dungeon and earn one from a dungeon reward. Or travel outside the Telhian Empire and find a master weapon smith who can forge one and pay him a small fortune."

"So they are valuable then? How much would one cost?" I asked, hoping to get some comparison to my amulet that was valued upwards of six thousand gold.

"Very valuable. I am not a trader, and too many factors equate to a blade's worth, but most end up in the hands of the First Citizens or their personal legionnaire guards. A simple runic dagger might cost you a hundred gold. A blade," he tapped his sheath, "a thousand." My jaw hung open because that was the reaction I knew he wanted.

"Is Konstantin's blade the same as yours? A durability enchantment?" I asked Delmar since he seemed so talkative.

"No," came a gruff voice from behind me. I jumped at the sound. It was Konstantin, and he sat at the fire with us. "My runic blade was forged by an elven smith a millennia ago. It is designed to overcome the defenses of the undead." I was disappointed he did not draw it to let me look at it as Delmar had. He usually used a practice blade or wrapped his blade when we practiced. Konstantin put some ham on a stick and began heating near the coals.

There was an awkward silence, and then Delmar asked, "You never told me how you came by your blade, Konstantin."

Konstantin grunted, "The first option. Killed an elven Ranger when I was with the Hounds. Took her blade. Had it appraised in the city, and it had a maker's mark for the elven smith. Guess he was famous or something. It is a good blade," he finished with a grunt. The grunt was a signal he did not want to talk further about the origins of the blade.

"Is that why you wanted to go into the ruined elven city? To test the blade against undead ghosts?" I asked, piecing some things together. Konstantin had warned me about being fooled by the beauty of elves, and he just admitted to killing one. Maybe there was a story there.

Konstantin took the smoking ham and ate it. He then answered my question, "Some magic blades thirst for what they were forged to do. Mine is like an itch that needs scratching." He abruptly stood, "Since you are up early, Eryk. We can walk the perimeter together." Konstantin obviously did not want to discuss it further.

I positioned my pack against a tree so I would remember where it was. Once the whole company woke, I did not want my pack mixed with another by mistake. I followed Konstantin, and he started to descend the hill. "Konstantin, should we be heading out there? Just the two of us with the dire wolves so close?"

He didn't stop but said, "The wind is blowing this way," he indicated with his hand. "We will smell them long before we see them. Besides, we are just circling the base of the hill to look for tracks."

I did not know where his confidence came from about not being attacked, but I followed his lead. As we circled, I noticed we never left the sight line of our sentries on the hill. Konstantin pointed out a lot of small animal tracks, but it appeared nothing large approached the hill we camped on. We returned to the top of the hill after circling the base twice. Once for Konstantin to point everything out and once for me to do the same.

The company was ready to move, and Castile addressed everyone, "We should be at the edge of the dire wolf territory. Our goal is to make forty miles today so we can make forty miles tomorrow and rest in Duchess Victoria's Castle tomorrow night." She got some cheers from the motivational pre-march speech.

Konstantin motioned me to him, "Eryk, you are out front, just like yesterday. Do not get more than fifty paces ahead and retreat if you sense or see danger. I am going to serve as the rear sweeper. We may be moving out of the dire wolf hunting grounds, but something still does not feel right." He looked back down the road toward the ruins of the elven city of Caelora.

We separated, and I was on my own after only three days of training. Yes, we were on a level paved road that ran fairly straight. But I was out front and would be the first to encounter a threat. I knew there were worse things in this world than dire wolves and gnolls. A few hours into the walk, I spotted some old wagons in the woods just off the road. I waited for everyone to catch up. Konstantin arrived, and we both moved into the woods to explore the wagons in a clearing off the road.

There were three wagons, all weathered and damaged. Konstantin moved slowly, found a few small bones in the leaves, and looked into the wagons. There were some sealed pottery jars and rotting linens. Castile, Delmar, and Adrian joined us. Konstantin grunted, "Not dire wolves, or there would have been more damage to the wagons. Not bandits, or they would have taken everything. I am guessing whatever happened here, it was about two winters ago."

"So, an old merchant caravan?" Castile asked while looking into the decrepit wagons.

"Most likely. They circled the wagons for the night. Whatever took them, it was in the night. At least six horses—maybe as many as twenty men by the bones and rusted weapons in the area. Scavengers dismembered the bodies. Even though the site is old, I suggest we get far away from here before making camp," Konstantin advised. He looked uneasy at the mystery.

Adrian suggested, "Maybe it is time to drop supplies to move faster?"

Delmar countered, "No, we are a large enough group that we are scaring off most threats. The supplies are needed; we can give double rations today to help lighten the men."

"Do it. And have some men search the wagons. If they didn't take the trade goods, maybe there is a lock box somewhere," Castile ordered.

Firth and Wylie joined Konstantin and I as we searched the wagons. Everyone else was on the road eating. I found a plain gold ring on the ground, still around a finger bone. I sent it to my dimensional space without telling anyone. Firth found the lockbox under some rotted boards in a wagon. We brought it to Castile and forced it open. Water had damaged the documents, making them mush. But there was a fair amount of coin. "The fates must be smiling on us," Castile murmured.

The chest contained twenty-six large gold and a huge assortment of smaller coins in gold, silver, and copper. She fished out some jewelry and four essences from the moldy mass of paper. I recognized them as two minor strength essences, a major fortitude essence, and a major constitution essence.

Adrian said softly to Castile, "The two strength essences should go to the new legionaries, Quentin and Remus." Castile nodded and handed them to Adrian, who went to deliver them.

Castile handed the major essence of the constitution to Delmar, "Although I hate to reward bad luck, give this to Mateo." Mateo had a small fortune of coins left when his backpack washed overboard from the barge. "It should take the sting out of his loss," Delmar turned and left on his delivery mission. Castile held the essence of fortitude in her hand for a few moments, considering. Then she placed it in her mouth.

Castile turned to me, "Seems I have use of your dimensional space. You can store the lockbox there until we reach Sobral." She closed it and handed it to me. I nodded and sent the box to my space.

We returned to the road, and Castile addressed the company, "Fortunas has smiled on us. I will be able to meet your enhanced pay and replace your lost legion gear." Grunts of appreciation came from the men. I could see Wylie explaining what she meant to Quentin and Remus by increased pay—a way to buy their loyalty. I could already tell the essence gifts were well received. They had both fought hard on the aqueduct and deserved the reward.

Brutus looked on enviously, but his time would come. Brutus and the missing Flavius were the only other new members of our company. Castile would have some work to do to earn their loyalty.

As we scouted ahead, Konstantin walked next to me, and I asked, "How were the wagons undiscovered for so long?"

Konstantin had obviously been thinking about it and had a response, "This old trade road is probably only used by the desperate merchants. The elven ruins and dire wolves are probably not the only threats. Most merchants will hire a barge or head west, then north, to reach the capital if they can not afford to use the portals." He paused, "still, it is perplexing that those wagons were relatively undisturbed and just weathered for years."

I noticed Konstantin's pace had increased, pulling the legion into a faster march behind us. It must be his way of showing some fear of the unknown. We walked late until sunset, and Konstantin directed everyone to a clearing far off the road. He had everyone walk single file and focus, stepping on stones. Konstantin's own tension did not help the company as they set up camp.

"Come, Eryk, I will show you how to obscure our tracks from the road," Konstantin took me back to the road. That meant I was going to have to set up my tarp in the dark. The lesson was like reverse tracking. Konstantin pointed out things that showed our passing and how best to hide it. "It will not fool an experienced tracker, but hiding the trail will help you learn how to move unseen yourself. This," he held up a jar of powder, "is spores from a myconid. It is a fungal monster. If you breathe them in, your nose will flare up, and you cannot smell anything for days. Your nose will also run like a river." He handed it to me. "Go back from the direction we came and lay a trail across the road. Use about half the jar, and do not breathe it in."

"Is this for the dire wolves?" I asked.

"No, we made over forty miles today and are likely out of their hunting territory. But any creature that tracks by scent will be foiled by this. Hurry before darkness comes," Konstantin went into the bushes to rejoin the others, and I was left on the road. I jogged two hundred yards down the road, laid a thin line across the road, and then returned. I almost missed where we turned off but carefully made my way back to the company.

There were already eight men on sentry duty. Lirkin did not even start a fire and handed me a ration bar. Brutus came over and helped me set up my tent in the dark as I ate. "Everyone is on edge," Brutus said softly.

"Fear of the unknown, or maybe they know what it is and do not want to scare us," I suggested of Konstantin and the leadership.

Brutus looked around at the settling darkness, "Whatever it is, I do not like these woods. It feels like something is watching us."

We finished getting my tarp up, and he returned to his own just a few steps away. I settled onto my wet bedroll. I kept on my cuirass and put my helm nearby with the glowstone inside. I had to remove my boots and socks to let them air out. I healed my blisters and one blackened toenail. I decided to forgo the oblivion pill tonight. After Brutus had said it, it did feel like something was watching us.

Chapter 78: City of Sobral A Soldier's Life

Ranobes

Chapter 78

I lay there as the night insects opened their chorus, and the whispers of the sentries drifted to me. If I was not so exhausted, I would have forced myself to stay awake, knowing that tomorrow we would reach Sobral and I could rest in the city. I drifted in and out of sleep as the nightmares I was imagining were overcoming my need to sleep. I heard the sentries switch late in the night and was about to fade again to sleep when Konstantin's voice cracked the air.

"Everyone to the center of camp! It comes!" He yelled. I slipped on my boots and helm and moved out to the center of camp with my sword and glowstone. The camp crowded together, shields out.

When I joined the others, Castile asked, "What is it Konstantin?"

"A powerful undead, my sword is warm to the touch in anticipation. The weapon has never been this hot before," Konstantin said, unsure of the threat.

"How many," Adrian asked as the rest of the company made a large circle around Castile.

"I think just one. Much stronger than a specter. Stronger than a ghost I fought a long time ago. I do not know what it is. But it is coming from that direction," he pointed his blade off into the woods.

Delmar asked, "Do you think it is pursuing the lockbox?"

Castile disputed that, "Undead have no use for possessions. And it is in Eryk's space, so it would not be able to track it anyway," she paused. "Unless it is bound to an object in the lockbox, then maybe," she sounded uncertain about her knowledge.

Adrian barked, "It does not matter; it is here." The wall of light that our glow stones made into the thick trees began to waiver as whisps of darkness formed into a creature black as the night with glowing red malevolent eyes. It was humanoid and had elven features. It looked over the company and then focused on Konstantin—or, more specifically, his blade. It outstretched a hand pointing or maybe requesting the blade.

Everyone was fearful as it felt like death incarnate looking at us, but Castile found her voice, "It is a wraith. They are weaker in daylight, so it must have been stalking us. It can not be harmed with normal weapons, but I think I can bind it with my shadow chains."

Konstantin spoke, "It wants my blade. I can feel the pull to it."

"Don't give it the blade!" Delmar barked, "It is one of two weapons we have that can harm it!"

Konstantin yelled back, "I was not planning to. I just wanted you to know why it was following us. It has some link to the blade, I can feel it. Maybe—it wielded it in the past of forged it."

"If anyone has a silvered blade, it can also damage the creature," Castile said. I looked at my own blade, and only a few sparkles of silver dust remained from Telha City.

Castile started working her spell, and her own wisps of shadow chains moved toward the wraith. One chain wrapped around its wrist, and it pulled its arm to its face, "My chains are not strong enough to hold it! Kill it quickly!" Castile screamed, some desperation in her voice. The wraith howled in rage and lunged forward. The piercing scream made it hard to hear the others.

Castile added three more shadow chains and slowed the creature. Delmar broke the shield wall and swung his runic long sword to meet the creature. The dense black shadow shrieked in anger and attacked Delmar as he danced away. Constantine was at the creature's back and slashed with his own weapon. Hundreds of tiny white sparks flew off the creature, briefly creating a gap in its blackness before it reformed. I felt helpless as I watched.

The creature spun, breaking Castile's bonds, and swiped Konstantin's arm that was holding his sword. He grunted and switched the blade to his other hand. Arrows were piecing the black wraith at a steady pace, but each one just passed through and did not elicit any reaction from the horror.

Firth and Mateo bravely joined Konstantin and Delmar to serve as another distraction with their spears. Castile kept summoning more chains to slow the creature. Delmar was attacking the back of the creature, while Konstantin struggled with its undivided attention. If it had not been bound and slowed by Castile, I think Konstantin would have been in real trouble.

Konstantin relied on reading an opponent in combat, and this black mass had nothing to read; it just attacked. A backhanded swing stuck Mateo, he screamed and moved away, holding his face. Brutus moved in to take his place. His spear wiped through the black ghost, trying to distract it.

The wraith was getting smaller as Delmor and Konstantin slowly whittled away at it. Hundreds of white sparks always accompanied Konstantin's strikes. The creature of darkness howled, splitting our ears. Castile's chains faltered for a moment, and Konstantin took a blow to his chest and lost his sword.

Konstantin rolled away, but before the apparition could reach the sword, Adrian retrieved it and pressed the frustrated creature again. As the creature shrank in size, Castile's chains became more effective. I felt useless, just waiting for my turn to fight the creature. I considered moving the entire creature to my dimensional space, but that seemed ludicrous. And it would have to remain there forever as I could never release it.

We were winning, and soon, the creature turned translucent and disappeared. Everyone paused, not quite believing we had won against the nightmare. Linus was looking at Konstantin; his left arm and chest were completely blackened. The side of Mateo's face was black well. Delmar had taken a light blow on his hand, and his thumb was black.

Castile ordered, "Set the perimeter. I will see to the wounded." I moved with her, having felt ineffective in the fight like almost everyone in the company.

Linus looked up from a shallow breathing Konstantin, "I do not know what this is or how to treat him."

Castile knelt, "It is necrotic damage. I have only read about it."

Konstantin rasped, "Got to my lungs. There is a greater healing potion in my bag." Linus rushed to get it and was soon back. We watched as he drank it, and the blackness faded to a yellow-blue bruise. He was also breathing easier.

"Necrotic damage kills the tissue. A strong enough healing potion or a healing mage can counter the effects and restore the dead tissue," Castile explained.

Mateo's right jaw was completely black. He tried to talk, but all that came out was nonsense. Benito offered, "I have a minor healing potion. Will that work?" When everyone looked at him, he shrugged, "Got it at the Imperial Alchemists in Macha."

Castile considered, "It will help a little. Should be enough for him to heal on his own after the potion." Castile sounded more like she was guessing than she actually knew. Mateo's jaw turned yellow-blue, and his speech was slightly slurred, but he looked like he would be fine.

The company started a fire a short while later as it was the middle of the night. I somehow ended up in Castile, Delmar, and Adrian's meeting. Konstantin was lying by the fire, exposing his upper body and enjoying the heat as he shivered. The potion worked mostly on his chest before running out of energy. His arm was still very black, but he could move his fingers.

Delmar started the midnight meeting, saying, "We should have gone to Parvas."

Castile looked angry, "I told you no. I know the Count who rules the city is Octavian's eldest son. If we arrived without the barge, I did not want to risk a confrontation."

Adrian tried to calm them both down, "Konstantin can walk, and we can make it to Sobral tomorrow." I was just a spectator as they discussed possible plans.

Delmar regained composure, "We can leave at first light. We will drop all but two days of food." Castile's eyebrows went up. Delmar explained, "Now that we have excess coin," he pointed at me, "we can be more frivolous with supplies."

Adrian added, "Agreed. We can get the men who lost armor replacements as well. We were lucky we did not lose anyone and will be there in a long day's march tomorrow." He changed his tone a little, "With Konstantin down till he receives more healing, should we promote someone else to temporary scout? Firth or Wylie?"

Castile considered, then shook her head, "Just Eryk is fine for a single day. I am sure Konstantin will insist he maintain his duties anyway, even if he wheezes like a boy with lung rot."

I was dismissed to tell everyone to drop whatever food they could not eat in a single day's march. It was the best news they had gotten on this ill-fated trip. Everyone had over twenty pounds of food in their pack and eagerly started trading for the best bits for the march. The food they thought was worthless was mostly the ration bars wrapped in wax leaf. Over one hundred of them hit the ground near the fire. The company was given orders as soon as the sun rose and headed back to the road. Konstantin assigned me rear guard, and I lingered just long enough to move the pile of ration bars to my space.

Even if I did not want to eat them, I could always use the wax leaf for soft ass wipes. I was rear guard, as Konstantin had insisted on being out front. According to Konstantin, I was to stay about 50 paces back and walk through the woods off the road. My job was scanning the woods to our left, right, and behind. If I saw trouble coming, I was to blow my whistle twice to alert the company. The idea was to give them an extra ten seconds to prepare for a threat.

Walking alone in the morning away from the company was a bit nerve-racking, especially after last night. I kept the rear of the formation in sight and the whistle Konstantin loaned in my hand. At midday, the company stopped, and I caught up to them for lunch. Almost everyone was eating some type of salted meat and candied nuts. I sipped my water and munched on spicy jerky that was meant to be hydrated in a soup. It was extremely salty but had a nice kick.

Konstantin found me and spent the entire thirty minutes asking me questions. Apparently, I had failed to see four signs of passage in the woods that he left for me—a snapped branch, an overturned rock, a copper coin, and a bit of black fabric. I did not argue and just told him I would be more observant in the future.

We reached a road marker, and Castile announced we were in the Sobrol province, just fifteen miles from the city. Delmar brought me forward, no longer feeling the need for a rear guard. We started seeing farms just five miles later, and the road turned into dirt. I was walking next to Firth, and he explained, "The plebians probably pulled the paving stones to build their homes in this area after the road went into disuse."

We got a lot of looks from the farmers in the fields. We were a battered legion company with a number of men missing pieces of armor. The road intersected another road along the river. A road marker indicated that the city of Lignum was forty miles to the northeast, and the city of Loule was twenty miles along the southwest. The city of Sobral—if it could be called a city was just a mile along the road following the river.

As we approached the Sobral, it did not have the fancy Roman arches or columns found in the capital. All the buildings surrounding the central Citadel were mostly aging wood. The stone that could be found was coarse-cut and not polished. There was no city wall, just a wall surrounding the Citadel on the far side of the city sprawl. The roads were not straight, and we had to weave our way to the gates of the Citadel.

"Harpy's tits," Firth swore, "That has to be the worst-looking brothel I have ever seen." He was indicating a one-story wooden structure with dark blue paint. Its sign read The Nasty Nymph, and the image on the sign left no doubt what they offered within.

We found only two guards at the large gate. The mortar on the wall surrounding the Citadel was crumbling. Castile announced herself, and we were allowed to pass. At least the Citadel itself looked to be in good repair. And there were a lot of glass windows on the towering structure. In a wheezing voice, Konstantin was at my right and told me, "The Count who ruled this city before it was made into a duchy for Victoria was a mage who specialized in making glass. Shipped it all over the Empire."

Konstantin caught his breath, "When he died ten years ago, the Emperor sent a baron to run things. He did a terrible job, and the population shrunk. He gave it to his favorite granddaughter to see how good she could rule and if she could bring it back to prosperity."

The young Duchess came down to greet us as we entered the courtyard. She had two men, both soldiers flanking her, and a young maid on her hip. The Duchess had on a bright white dress with blue highlights. She smiled as she addressed us, "Mage Castile, thank you for taking my assignment request. You and your men will be quartered in the Citadel while you complete the assigned task."

That statement got happy murmurs from everyone. We followed the Duchess into a large entry hallway with stained glass windows showing scenes of legionaries fighting various monsters. Our dirty boots and foul odor made it feel like we should not be walking on the polished marble floor. The Duchess turned twice down hallways, and we entered a massive dining room with a long table. There were plenty of place settings for everyone.

The Duchess went to sit at the head of the table. "Castile, if you and your leaders could sit close, we will discuss things as dinner is prepared and served."

Adrian was brave enough to ask, "Do you not want us to clean up first?"

The maid behind her answered, "Baths are being drawn in the guest quarters. We were expecting you by barge and had a rider upriver waiting. He would have given us some warning, but your arrival by road surprised us." The young woman sounded slightly upset.

The Duchess just smiled and waited while we sat. I was a little surprised when Castile had me seated to her left. Delmar and Adrian were across from us. The Duchess sat at the head of the table. Castile smiled and addressed the Duchess, "Now, can you tell me why you really wanted us here?"

The young Duchess smiled, "In good time! Try the wine from the Esenhem elves."

Chapter 79: The Duchess' Plans A Soldier's Life

Ranobes

Chapter 79

The young Duchess delayed the conversation. She waited for the first dinner course to be brought before talking with Castile. A large bowl of split pea soup was placed in front of everyone. "Looks like vomit," commented Mateo from down the table. Brutus slapped the back of his head. Mateo added quickly, "But I bet it tastes good."

I was not sure of formal protocols with a First Citizen or a Duchess, so I waited for Castile. Castile waited till the Duchess took her spoon before doing likewise. I took my spoon and tasted the soup. It was cold but definitely pea soup. A little salty but good. It was so good that an eruption of slurping started down the table. Most of the company were conscripts and never had any etiquette training. Felix even picked up his bowl and used it as a cup. He finished his bowl, turned around, and asked a young servant boy for seconds. The boy ran to the kitchens and returned with a full bowl to the happy Felix. Across from me, Delmar and Adrian ate methodically with just the spoon. I mirrored them, showing manners.

Castile took a few spoonfuls and put down the spoon. "Duchess, why are we here?" She asked patiently again.

The young First Citizen Duchess nodded, "I do need you to complete the survey markers for my lands. I have a white marble quarry on my lands and have contracted two thousand stones to be quarried from it to serve as the markers. I expect you to be occupied on my lands for the next five or six months."

Castile frowned, "Will there be an Imperial Surveyor with us?"

Duchess Veronica pushed away her barely touched soup, and a servant rushed forward to remove it from the table. "There will be an agent from the Imperial Surveyor's office, an apprentice. He will mark and record each stone as you bury the white marble marker every hundred twenty yards." She took her wine in hand and asked casually, "Did you travel down the old road?"

Castile shifted in her seat at the question, "We did. Torrential rains forced our barge ashore. It broke loose overnight. We were forced to come on foot and did take the old road," Castile admitted.

Duchess smiled, "You have been traveling, so you are unaware, but the weather has been askew the last few days everywhere. The Bartiradian weather mages have cast major disruption across the Empire by releasing greater elementals across the realm. A blizzard in the capital, tornadoes across the plains, heavy rains flattening crop fields, and tsunamis along the coast." The whole table was suddenly quiet at the pronouncement of the natural disasters.

Adrian broke the silence, "Why?"

The Duchess smirked, "Revenge for Macha. Duke Tiberius tore down the city walls around their army. They had heavy losses, and only a few hundred made it out alive. Now the Emperor has committed another ten thousand men to Duke Tiberius to push into the Bartiradian Kingdom lands." The Duchess sipped some wine, hiding a small smile, "Although this is mainly to cover for the expedition to excavate Atlantium. But you already know about that." Castile looked at me, and I pretended to enjoy my soup.

Delmar asked hotly, "What damage has been dealt to the Empire from the elementals?"

The Duchess waved it off, "Not much. From what I heard from message sendings, all the cities are fine as mages successfully held off the most intense weather. The most significant damage was to crops. It will affect market prices for the next year or two, and we will have to import more from the south, possibly open trade with Bouton orcs."

The table got loud as men talked to each other about the implications until Castile silenced them by looking at Adiran, who barked an order for quiet. Castile asked, "Why do you need a mage company to do your survey work? It is allowed since it is an Imperial Survey, but why?"

The Duchess ate a blue cracker daintily while explaining, "The survey will serve two purposes. One is to cement the borders of my new province. The second is to keep you and your company occupied for five months so Duke Octavian can cool down. I asked if you took the road because it had not been used for five years. Every merchant risking it has disappeared, to my knowledge."

Castile took her wine and sampled it for the first time. We were waiting for Castile to answer the Duchess and reveal what she wanted of our adventures. I was unsure what game was being played and was happy to enjoy my soup. "We encountered dire wolves and a wraith," Castile admitted to the Duchess.

Further down the table, Konstantin added, "And a gnoll war party." Castile nodded at the addition.

The Duchess frowned, "You escaped a wraith? And dire wolves? I had hoped for you to subdue the lands along the road." She folded her hands in front of her, "The lands north are part of the Imperial Province. The Emperor was willing to transfer them to me if I successfully reopened the trade road." She rapidly tapped her index finger on her arm in an apparent habit.

Delmar barked a laugh, "You want our company to clear the wilds and patrol the most dangerous road in the Empire?"

Castile admonished Delmar, "I can handle this negotiation, Delmar." Delmar looked irate as he pushed his soup away to show his anger. Of course, the bowl was already empty.

Veronica nodded, "Not the most dangerous road, but definitely dangerous. Was the wraith from the ruins of Caelora?"

"No, we were dozens of miles past the elven ruins—but it might have pursued us from the city. Wraiths are not tied to a single place like specters," Castile said uncertainly. I looked down at Konstantin, who was focused on using half a loaf of bread to clean his soup bowl.

The young Duchess considered, "I know there are wraiths and specters within the ruined city walls. But was not aware they ever left the city."

Castile had a quick response, "We are not certain the wraith was from the city, but it did have elven features—so was an elf in life. But either way, I am not interested in accepting a mission to kill dire wolves and specters for you. If you want the wolves handled, request the Hounds. If you want the city cleared of undead, petition the Emperor, but I know such missions have failed prior. I took the survey request as a thank you for your help at the Tribunal." Delmar nodded, satisfied with Castile's rebuke of the Duchess' expectations of us.

The Duchess' finger increased in tempo on her arm, coming up with a response. She finally said, "Let me get to the point. I would like to take your legionaries into my service. I have two hundred guards and ten thousand citizens across my lands. I rule this city and two large towns. I am tasked with bringing prosperity back to this city." She made a wide gesture. "I have unhappy citizens and no exportable trade goods."

"What about your marble quarry?" Delmar asked. Plates with a thick steak with potato wedges underneath were brought out. The men followed the plates hungrily while Castile locked eyes with the Duchess.

The Duchess gestured emphatically, "There are twenty quarries in the Empire. Most have higher-quality marble and easier access to transportation. The last Count of this Citadel produced glass from sand. I cannot replicate that feat. After he died, the Emperor assigned Baron Jakob to Sobral City, who milked the people for every copper to line his own pockets. I need to restore order and gain the confidence of the people."

Duchess Veronica was passionate in her speech, but Castile did not seem swayed. Neither did Delmar or Adrian. Most of the company was too busy eating to be paying close attention now, the clatter of knives and forks covering the conversation at our end of the table. I was slowly cutting my meat but listening intently.

"You are trying to lure my legionaries away from me?" Castile asked with some hostility.

"Not really. I just ask that you take every request I send to the capital and work for me," the Duchess smiled with a grin.

Adrian swallowed a bit, "Company mages only work for the Emperor. You can only contract a mage after they finish their service. And you had Castile's service extended by ten years."

Castile answered for the Duchess, "Duchess Veronica lacks the funds to hire a mage. Instead, she wants me to work all her petitions to the Emperor that require a mage company."

I looked at the faces around me, and it felt like they were playing poker. I only vaguely understood the process. Assignments for mage companies were generated through the Legatus Legionis office. These assignments were generated by processing requests from First Citizens and other bureaucratic branches of the Empire. The mages in charge of the companies could then cherry-pick assignments. If a mage company was not busy, then it could have an assignment issued to them by the Legatus Legonis Office. Castile was never idle, always going from one job to the next. The Legatus Legonis had forced her to take the assignment to defend Macha through the machinations of Duke Octavius.

The young Duchess was calm, "With your funds being cut off, you need a sponsor Castile, or your legionaries will accumulate debt replacing equipment. I will support them," she offered magnanimously.

I probably should not have intervened in the negotiations, but I asked anyway, "How does Duke Octavian have his own legionaries? Are they part of a mage company, or did they finish their service and were hired by him?"

All eyes turned to me, and Adrian answered, "Only First Citizens can maintain their own force of legionaries. They are required to pay for their equipment and pay twice their salary to the Empire. The Empire then pays their regular salary to them. Just another way for the Empire to fill its coffers."

"So not only does the Empire not have to maintain them, but the Empire is paid their annual salary? Like a rental fee?" I confirmed.

Duchess Veronica interjected, "Yes. The legionnaire must voluntarily enter the service of First Citizen. For me, a legionnaire would be twenty gold a year paid to the Empire. They receive one gold a month from the Legion Hall."

Blaze, who was two seats, gasped, "Ten gold a year? That is twice what Castile pays us." Veronica smiled as it was clear she had intentionally spoken loud enough to be heard over the silverware.

"So this was all a setup to steal my men?" Castile said coldly.

"I want you to think of this as a partnership, Castile. I can not afford to steal your legionaries from you. My finances are such that just maintaining this Citadel takes all my resources. The two hundred soldiers on my land are poorly trained and poorly equipped. I need you just as much as you need me," the Duchess smiled placatingly.

Castile considered for a long moment and cut and ate a piece of her steak. She moved the steak aside and went for the potatoes, which appeared grilled. She seemed to like the potatoes and ate them one after another, thinking. She finally asked, "How will you make certain that your requests are accepted, and I can choose them?"

The Duchess smiled, seeing her fish almost caught, "I have a friend in the receiving office. When a message sending is received from me, she will expedite the request, generate an assignment, and attach your company to it at posting. All dukal-level requests that are made are always converted into assignments. I am not the only Duke who has used this loophole."

"What if the Emperor calls for war? Then all mage companies need to report for wartime assignments," Adrian asked, his plate empty. "With Macha and the weather elemental assault, things are escalating."

"I can not see into the future—Adrian," she apparently had done some research to know his name. I wondered if she knew mine. The Duchess continued, "But a Pronouncement of War is unlikely. Even if we invaded the Esenhem Kingdom of the elves, the Emperor would not formally declare war. The political ripples would be too much, and there are not enough citizens to draft without affecting production."

"Can you keep Duke Octavian from interfering in your scheme?" Castile queried seriously. I could sense Castile was weighing her options.

"Nothing is ever certain. But I believe my agent to be trustworthy," the Duchess was having trouble holding back her smile. It was obvious that Castile was strongly considering her offer.

Delmar broke into the discussion, "What kind of support are you offering? Potions?"

The Duchess shook her head no, "I can not afford potions. But I do have a healing mage in my city. An old man with a powerful healing spell form, just very little aether. He is contracted to me and will do all your healing without compensation required."

Castile seemed to consider, "Not good enough. You will need to hire an alchemist. We need at least lower-tier potions when we are out on assignment. I can not cast healing spells."

The Duchess winced, "Finding an alchemist to come here and set him up would cost hundreds of gold." Seeing this was a sticking point, the Duchess nodded, "A first-order alchemist then. Give me a month to procure his services, though. I will find the coin."

"I think we can come to an agreement then," Castile nodded as the next course—some type of fish—was brought out to the delight of the men. The two women began to cement their new partnership.

Chapter 80 A Soldier's Life

Ranobes

Chapter 80

The next course was thinly sliced sugar beets, baked on top of dense pasta in a cheesy but oily sauce. It added a sweetness and crunch to the Roman mac'n'cheese. It was also going to turn my pee red later on. The pasta was heavy, but it was the best thing served tonight. A few men further down the table were getting louder, drunk on the wine, but no one at the head of the table held them in check.

As the rest of dinner proceeded, I had a front-row seat to final negotiations with Castile and Dunchess Veronica. The biggest hurdle seemed to be what requests the Duchess would submit to the Legitus Legonis that Castile's company would then accept. I listened as I ate, and certain requirements needed to be met. It had to be Empire business, a monster subjugation, a benefit to a First Citizen, or a defense against a foreign power in order to be legitimate.

Linking a request for a duke was very loosely regulated. When an assignment was accepted, the mage company had a certain number of days to complete it. The assignment could be completed quicker, freeing the mage company. Our current assignment was slated for a maximum of six months due to the distance and work involved.

A duke could only have one preferred request active at a time. They would be assessed the Emperor's tax if they exceeded the one request. Since Duchess Veronica was so tight on coin, she could only make one request at a time. The tax was also applied if a request required more than one mage company to complete it.

The discussions basically ended with Castile being able to review the request before it was sent magically to the capital by the message sending spell. There was no dessert, just an alcoholic heavy cream drink. I could smell the alcohol coming off it as I brought it to my mouth. I had barely touched my wine but quickly drank the creamy alcoholic milk but did not feel the expected buzz. I guess I would need to work harder in the future to overcome my enhanced constitution.

The Duchess stood, clapped her hands, and twenty-four servants, all dressed in her dark green house colors, arrived. "The servants will take you to your rooms. You should all have baths waiting for you!" There was a scramble as a few of the servants were young women.

Castile barked, "Hold legionaries!" And the men stumbled as many were drunk. She turned to Adrian, "Adrian assign each man to a servant, and if I hear of any impropriety or abuse, I will handle the discipline myself." Castile left with the first middle-aged man in the row. The waiting servants had also all clearly heard Castile's pronouncement.

Adrian started pointing at the servants one at a time, and they stepped forward, and he would call a name. The first servant he pointed at was a graying older man, and Firth was assigned to him. There were snickers from the men as everyone knew his propensity to visit brothels. I still believe he mostly visited brothels in his capacity to work for the Praetorian Guard. Firth grunted non-committedly as he followed his man out.

That was how it went. One after the other, and I waited and waited. Finally, it was just me, Konstantin, Adrian, and Delmar. The four remaining servants were all young women. That sneaky bastard! Delmar spoke, "Konstantin, after you clean up, I want you and Eryk to scout the city and surrounding terrain."

My jaw hung open. I guessed, as a scout, I was going to have to get used to getting less rest than the others. "You two," Adrian pointed, "Take these men to adjacent rooms if possible." We followed the two women in green dresses out of the hall.

As we walked, I noticed that although the Citadel had lots of glass, there were not many decorations. Some walls looked like they had square fading, so maybe a picture had once been there. Missing furniture in the wide hallways was marked on the floor by their outlines in the floor where they once stood. We ascended wide white marble steps following our two guides. Both had light brown hair held back in a bun. The green uniform dresses were baggy, so you could not tell their figure from behind.

We climbed to the third floor and were brought down a wing, "This is the guest wing. Each apartment is fully furnished, and we will be available to call on at any time." She paused at a large, deep blue door that I recognized as tace wood from Tsinga.

"Ah, tace wood from Tsinga," I said aloud, stroking the door. I was doing this for Konstantin's benefit as well as to show off my knowledge to our escorts.

Konstantin was unimpressed, "You can have this room, Eryk." Konstantin moved to the next door with the other servant woman.

The servant opened the wide door and waited for me to enter. The room was massive, and the walls and floor were the white marble that I assumed was quarried nearby. "This is my chamber," the woman motioned to a door to the right. "It is where you can find me if you need anything. If you follow me, I can show you to the bath."

I paused to take in the room before following. A massive bed dominated the wall to the left, and a single nightstand was adjacent. A floor-to-ceiling window nearly ten feet wide dominated the far wall. We were on the backside of the Citadel as the windows looked down onto gardens and a forest beyond. A bar ran in the ceiling over the window, but the curtains were apparently missing. I stepped to catch up with the servant.

"Thank you, what is your name?" I said as she walked around the corner.

The young woman turned, "Lareen, legionnaire." She paused, "May I have yours as well?"

"Eryk, Konstantin mentioned it in the hallway," I said, disappointed she did not remember.

She smiled at my disappointment, "I was unsure if it was your name or a term of derision based on his countenance." I think she just talked down to me, but I was not sure. I guess I was supposed to be the brutish, uneducated legionnaire.

She paused at a narrow door, "This is the latrine. Once you use it, call for me, and I will empty it." I nodded but planned to shit in the woods when I went out scouting with Konstantin.

The next room was the private bath. A tub was recessed into the floor. A long wooden table ran along one wall, and a high window gave the chamber light. It was big enough for two—or three people. "I thought you did not have an aqueduct? They carried all this water up here?"

Lareen looked at me, "Ten boys haul buckets up to the top of the Citadel all day. There is a cistern up there." She walked to a spigot near the tub. "A servant heats the first pipe coming off the cistern and gives us the hot water. Your water will just be warm as we had so many tubs to fill."

"I will clean your clothes for you, Eryk, while you bathe." Lareen waited patiently, and I stripped off all my gear and clothes. She started sorting the items. I settled into the tub, and it was barely even warm. Well, it was water, and I had an assortment of scrubbing devices on the floor near the tub. I took the soap and an abrasive sponge. I washed my hair first and then worked my way down.

I thought Lareen would have left as I was ignoring her per Castile's orders. She was still working and always turned away quickly when I looked at her. I sat down in the tub and scrubbed away the four days of road dirt. The soap had a floral scent I could not place. Loreen had placed my pack and all my gear on a table in the large bathing room and finally left. The only problem was there were no towels or clothes to change into.

I rinsed off and stood. The bathroom door had a lock on it, and I closed and latched it. I pulled out my clothes and dressed in my nicer clothes. I knew Loreen was going to take at least an hour to wash those clothes. I was in a private space and was not going to be disturbed.

I decided to take out the dead elf scout from when we escaped Macha. I would use the collector on him and see if it preserved him for using the device. I was nervous as I did so, and the body appeared on the floor. The elf looked so young, like a teenager. I removed his bow and quiver with eleven arrows. His bow was layers of wood and much longer than the legion short bows. The arrows were longer, too, so I was not sure about using them interchangeably with a legion bow.

I placed the collector on his chest and activated it, waiting anxiously. The blue wisps were drawn into the collector, and an essence was formed! It actually had worked. The elf was eigth or nine days dead, and he still gave an essence. It was a pearly pink and the size of a major essence. It took me a moment to remember light pink was for the empathy attribute.

That was my lowest attribute. I did not hesitate and dropped it in my mouth. The dissolving ball seemed to have a lemony taste that traveled into my brain. Can you even taste lemon in your brain? Before I could dwell on it, the sour sensation faded.

After assimilating the essence of empathy, I felt slightly off, like I was not quite myself. I was kneeling on the floor and noticed a blood trail coming from the elf's body. Shit. Of course, I had stabbed him in the chest to kill him, and he had been preserved fresh. I would have time to clean up the blood after I stripped the body and placed it back in my space. The body was still warm but pushed past my discomfort.

I pulled off his small satchel. It was like a small backpack and had numerous items inside. There was a pouch with steel arrowheads and fine wire wrap. I guessed he repaired or even made his own arrows. There was a bag of tightly wrapped food. A roll of thin netting. Maybe it was to catch birds to take their feathers for arrows? A small kit of knives with a sharpening stone. A few blood stains on the kit made me think this was for dressing a game animal. So, this elf was a hunter. A pouch of salt. A white shirt rolled tight. The final item was a fire starter kit. I put everything back in the satchel and placed it with the bow in my dimensional space.

I took his belt off, and it had a knife and a long sword. I checked the blades, and there did not appear to be any markings, making them runic weapons. The craftsmanship looked average to my untrained eye. I searched his jacket and found a pocket on the inside. A bag with some powder—the color and consistency looked like the mycoid powder Konstantin had given me. There were no healing potions at all on him. He had an old, tarnished silver chain around his neck. It was intricate, and I was not certain if I should take it. In the end, I did and placed it with the other items in storage.

The elf looked to be more of a hunter than an army scout. Maybe a civilian recruit to the Bartiradian army or a volunteer woodsman. I moved the elf back to. I removed my clothes, not wanting them to get dirty. Then, I began to clean up the congealing blood with the spare shirt from the elf's satchel. I drained the bath as it was a simple plug in the bottom and then used the water from the spigot to clean. I even wiped down the tub, as it had a layer of dirty soap scum on it.

With the tub cleaned, I quickly used the cold water to rinse my body again before dressing. I guessed whoever heated the water pipe was off duty now. I checked the cleaned bath and nodded. I unbarred the door and went to the only mirror in the room. I looked a little ragged with a few days of facial growth.

I crashed on the bed and waited for either Konstantin to drag me out or for Lareen to return with my cleaned clothes. The bed sucked me as it was too fluffy for my taste. I could smell the feathers inside the mattress. I preferred the smell of my griffin-down pillow, so I removed it from my space, placed it under my head, and quickly fell asleep.