A Soldier's Life
chapter-104

Flavius stood in the path and tossed the deer carcasses down with a thud on some grass. He stretched his neck, happy for an excuse to rest. He wiped his hands on nearby grass, “Eryk, you returned with an alchemist?”

I dismounted and led Ginger over to Flavius, “We did. I am guessing that Sebastian found his brother’s collecter since you returned?”

Flavius eyed me carefully, expressionless, “No. We spent three days looking for it. I was sure we were on the right island, but Sebastian started to doubt me. I was fortunate the Duke’s army arrived to tear down the city of Macha.”

“Did they really just tear down the outer walls? They must have killed hundreds.” I was glad to focus the conversation on something other than the collector.

Flavius nodded slowly, “I was told that over half the occupying Bartiradian army was on the walls. Thousands were killed.”

“And now they are rebuilding the city. Seems like a waste,” I stated with remorse, thinking about the citizens who stayed, including Carina, the young bath attendant whose brother was a city guard.

“No. That may have been the plan, but the earth mages moved to the storm giant dig site. Sebastian was ordered to patrol the skies with his fire drake, but he was not happy about it. The Dragon Legion arrived just as I was leaving to relieve him,” Flavius said seriously.

“The Dragon Legion? I thought they were ceremonial for parades and such,” I gripped the reigns tighter. Things seemed to be escalating on the eastern front.

Flavius nodded, “They are. Not in my lifetime have they ever been called to duty for a campaign. The Emperor is serious about protecting the dig site and does not want the Griffin Riders of the Bartiradians getting close to seeing what they are doing. A huge magic array has also been constructed to prevent scrying as well.”

An odd silence hung between us. Flavius studied me, “I heard about your fight with the manticores. Three kills are beyond impressive for you and the goliath. A pity you didn’t have a collector for their essence with you.” I could tell he was testing me, so I remained as impassive as I could.

“I agree, but it was mostly Maveith the goliath, he is an impressive warrior,” I replied, trying to give the goliath credit and ignore his jab about the collecter. His stare intensified, and I started to get a little uncomfortable around Flavius. He was hinting or guessing at something. I tried to break away, “I have to supply the new alchemist with ingredients. I will see you back at the Citadel. Nice kill,” I indicated deer.

Flavius looked down at the deer, “Thank you. My father was a woodsman and taught me a fair amount about hunting and tracking prey. Castile has me going out every day and catching what I can to be smoked or salted for the coming winter. The assignment is much better than digging holes with the others.”

“Glad you are back, Flavius,” I finished the conversation as I mounted and rode off. I could tell the archer-scout had suspicions about me. It was on his face and how he spoke and studied me. After a few minutes, I spotted a large patch of blood grass and pulled out Decimus’ list. It was time to get to work.

Riding Ginger saved some time between spotting harvests, but she was also a good watchdog while I worked, pawing the ground to get my attention. The first time was a giant elk in the far distance. An apple reward had her digging into the ground with her hoof every time she noticed something. A raccoon, a massive owl, deer, and even a wolf, not a dire wolf, just a normal-sized wolf. Each time, I gave her a small reward. An apple for the dangerous-looking owl and wolf. And a few pats for the other less threatening creatures accompanied with verbal praise.

The list from Decimus was not extensive; it included just six items but large quantities. My fingernails were black with soil as I worked through the afternoon to complete his list. The only thing I was not able to find were the truffles. I did try to find the white flowers that marked likely spots, but I did not see any.

It was a rather uneventful long afternoon. The air was cool, and I was seeing my first hint that the weather was changing. From what I had been told, the Telhian Empire had a short winter. The Sobral province had trees changing color and leaves starting to fall in reds, oranges, yellows, and browns. It was not so different from Earth, and I recognized many types of trees.

It was close to sunset, so I rode Ginger back toward the city. The woods near the city had a number of foragers. By their rough clothing, these were the refugees. I talked to two pairs, and they were harvesting wild onions and tubers. Both were very simple to find and dig up. I was already aware of how to find both.

I spent some time rubbing Ginger down. She did not need more apples for the day, and I noticed Atlas was not there. The stable boy said one of the Duchess’ men took Atlas to run messages to another city. The stable boys did not mind me doing their work for them. Personally, I found the task to be relaxing and good therapy, caring for the animal. I even paid one of the stale boys two large silver to run to purchase horse grooming kits for me. One would be for the stable boys to use on Ginger, and the other is destined for my dimensional space.

I was famished as I went to the dining room for dinner. I had worked hard in the woods and only drank water all day. Castile, Adrian, and Delmar were talking at the head of the table, and I sat near them. Castile nodded to me and asked, “How was your ride today?”

I sat diagonally across from Castile, “I got about half of what the alchemist wanted. Couldn’t find his truffles, though.” A servant put a large mug of ale in front of me. I looked for Lareen, but she was not one of the servants in the dining hall.

Delmar said between bites, “You need a trained dog to find truffles. And Konstantin was supposed to be gathering for the alchemist—did he go looking for the mage?” I nodded while taking a long pull.

Adrian barked, “He is too impatient. We told him that after settling things and we got some healing potions from the alchemist.” Delmar sat back and just grunted in shared annoyance. The three were clearly not happy with Konstantin.

I tried to divert the conversation. I remembered pigs were used on Earth to find truffles. I asked Castile, “Is there any spell that can find truffles?”

Castile smiled, “A few. Simple nature spells, none that I have access to. I actually never heard of a potion requiring truffles. Inquire with the alchemist if it is for his work or a snack.” Castile smiled and seemed relaxed for once. She was in control of her short-term destiny even though a lot was going on.

Donte and Benito came and sat at the table, and servants brought out plates and drinks for them. It looked like most of the company was laying markers. Both Donte and Benito had their hair cut and shaved. “I will inquire when I drop today’s harvest off with him. What is going on with all the refugees?” I asked while attacking the full plate in front of me.

Castile answered, “We are accepting any and all refugees with employment guaranteed for able-bodied men. The pay is only lodging and two meals for now for unskilled labor.”

“What about the woman and children?” I inquired. “I saw a number of them in the camps outside the city.”

“They will be fed whether they work or not. We are also trying to find work for them as well,” Delmar answered for Castile.

Adrian added irritably, “We are training more city guards as crime is likely to swell with the refugees’ arrival.”

We ate for a time, and I listened to them discuss the training of the Citadel and town guards. The logistics were interesting. Equipping them and training them seemed to be the most significant issue with the cost of the equipment and only a few of our company in the Citadel at a time. Housing them was not. The Citadel had room for five hundred guards, and two barracks in the city had room for two hundred guards each. Most current city guards lived in personal houses within the city, so the barracks were mostly empty. The city, if you could call it that, only had about six thousand people. It was modest for the Telhian Empire in size but tiny, from my personal experience.

As their conversation faded, I asked, “I saw Flavius in the woods today carrying a deer. Do you want me to hunt while I am out there?” I asked, finishing my plate.

Delmar answered gruffly, trying to add some levity to his tone, “No. Don’t waste arrows.” He shifted in his seat, “It is important to get the alchemist working.” His steely eyes locked onto me, “The healing salves can save a man’s life, and if he can truly brew the lesser healing potions, we will be truly blessed by Fortuna. I have an order in for the giant bee honey coming through the capital. Hopefully, the expense was worth it.” The honey was the only ingredient we couldn’t source locally for the healing potions.

Seeing my empty plate, Castile requested for me to deliver the ingredients. “Bring your harvest to the alchemist, and since you do not require time to rest, continue harvesting for the alchemist. Let me know what he is also planning to use the truffles for.”

I climbed the northwest tower and found Decimus still pink-skinned, unpacking and setting up his apparatus. He had lit a few burners, and one table was already starting on one of his processes. I noted that this was the equipment I had transported for him.

He looked up, smiling. Even though he was pink and not red, it was still creepy. “There were three types of mint in the cook’s garden. Let me know which one you prefer.” He pointed to a table. I walked over to the table and found three bundles of leafy stems. I sniffed them all, and they smelled the same. “Chew on the leaves. That will be the flavor of your wash,” Decimus advised, walking over to me.

I did as instructed. The first leaf was peppermint. The second was a spearmint or close to it. I thought the last one had a milder mint taste with a hint of chocolate. I pointed to the peppermint, “This one will be good for me. How long till the mouthwash is ready?”

“A few days. What did you get me today?” He asked eagerly.

I unloaded my harvest for the day, and he started sorting and hemming and hawing as he did so. “I do not see any truffles,” he voiced his disappointment.

“No, I did not have any luck. Which potion are they needed for?” I asked casually.

“My foot brew. The one that relieves aches kills foot odor. Don’t think of putting it in your mouth to cure your foul breath. I tried; it will induce violent vomiting.” He finished sorting and looked up, “Not bad. The roots on these two blood grasses got damaged but should be usable.”

I looked at his maze of glassware, “So what will I be helping you with for one day a week?”

“Not for a few weeks, I think,” he said, looking over his burgeoning laboratory. “It will take me three or four days to set up and get some things in process. I will have free time once I get the Duchess’ quota for the healing salve and stamina potions. But I really do need the truffles. The foot treatment was my biggest seller.” I didn’t mention that this city was much poorer than the one we recruited him from.

He was taking the peppermint to a work table, and it appeared he was done with me. Before leaving, I asked, “Why does making a potion take so long?”

The pink alchemist paused in his work. He looked at me and sized me up. Then he explained, “A potion is made up of three parts. The emulsion, the active ingredients, and the stabilizer. For example, the basic healing salve uses blood grass as the emulsion. Once purified and reduced, it is thick and can be applied topically to wounds. The active ingredients are the compounds that need to be purified from other fungi or flora. If the compounds are not pure enough, the potion will not work as intended, sometimes to the detriment of the person treated. The final part is the stabilizer. I use ruby and sapphire dust mostly. The stabilizer holds the aether I channel into it to harmonize the ingredients and indicates the brew’s shelf life.”

I think he was expecting me to be thoroughly confused. Instead, I asked a question, “So if you add more ruby or sapphire dust, it will have a longer shelf life?”

The pink head shook violently, “If only! No. Too much will toxify the brew, but the shelf life is mostly determined by the purity of the ingredients being used and how well they harmonize. Potions made by a dungeon are perfectly harmonized and last for years or decades!”

“We don’t alchemists just figure out what is in dungeon potions and replicate them?” I asked next.

“You make it sound so simple! But no. Most times, when a dungeon’s potions has been successfully deconstructed, and the constituent parts were not sourceable. Also, instead of gem dust, they use pure aetheric essence. If you have ever seen an essence collector work, then sparkling blue-lit smoke is aetheric essence,” Decimus explained.

I looked at his growing expansive array of equipment. “So all this is to just pull certain compounds out of plants and fungi?”

“Yes! The heart of alchemy is purification! Your mouthwash is simple: titrated water soaked in blue mountain flowers, mint and lavender oil for the ingredients, and a touch of sapphire dust, and finally activated with aether. It will leave your mouth minty for hours, and even after the minty taste fades, your breath should not stink for a day or two.” The alchemist was starting to get excited at my interest.

“It is all fascinating. If you don’t mind, could I assist with the mint mouthwash in the evening? So I can follow a process from start to finish,” I requested.

He was about to say yes but paused, a sly look on his face, “If you find me my truffles, I will teach you all about alchemy.” Of course, he would want me to find his truffles.