A Soldier's Life
chapter-12

As we made our way up the next mountain, Renna paused to pee out of sight of the company. I was tasked with keeping close to her by Delmar. So I stood sentry while the embarrassed young woman did her business. When she emerged, I switched with her, and she was embarrassed with having me around the corner. I choose a different rock to hide my business behind. I decided to try experimenting with my dimensional space while I relieved myself. I tried to remove just a five-foot cylinder of the stone that I was painting in front of me. It took time for me to get the visualization, and then...

I stumbled back, dizzy, and accidently urinating on myself a little. I looked up, and a five-foot round opening extended ten feet into the mountain. My aether was drained, though. The same thing happened when I killed the bulette. I guessed the aether investment depended on the mass of the object. Since I didn’t have enough aether, it just cut off the object where it was. The edge of the round hole was extremely sharp. I also had a large stone cylinder in my dimensional space. Would it take all my aether to remove it? Or was the drain mostly from removing the object? I had no aether to test right now, so I finished, cleaned up as best I could, and joined Renna, who was bright red and avoided eye contact. Three men had waited for us, and we caught up to the main group.

As the sun set much later in the day, we set up camp on the rocky ground under an overhang to hide us from above. I had night duty guard rotation with Mateo and Felix. We had the worst shift—right in the middle of the night, breaking up our continuous sleep. We heard some rocks tumble down from far above, but nothing disturbed our camp during the night. In the morning, Mage Castille addressed us as a group.

“The nest is about three miles toward the rising sun. When we get close, be on alert. The griffons will attack when they feel they are threatened. We will handle them one at a time. I will ground them with magic, and we will attack them together. Beware of the powerful lunge on the ground. Even with their wings restrained, they will be quick.” She followed her short speech by giving the order to march. I was placed in the middle of the company with Renna for protection.

The morning was cold, and my aches and pains were subsiding as my body was adapting. Renna was quiet as we walked in silence. The forward unit found a large game trail that appeared to head in the direction we wanted. We stayed on the trail, and the summit where the nest was located was in sight.

The company stopped at a cave, and Konstantin was talking animatedly to Castille. I am assuming he had already scouted the cave, and I moved closer to listen.

Castille queried Konstantin, “Do you think he descended?”

Konstantin shrugged, “They definitely camped at the entrance and could have gone to the griffins or into the dungeon.”

Delmar swore, “What the fuck is a dungeon doing out here anyway? How is there even enough aether to feed it?”

Mage Castille did not seem irritated at all. She answered calmly, “The ley lines run deep and sometimes bled out in unusual places. The question is, where did the baron’s son go?”

Adrian spat on the ground, “The dungeon would have been suicide. I could see that idiot Justin trying it. I say we return and tell his father he died in a wild dungeon.” Castille arched her eyebrow at her lieutenant. He threw up his hands in defeat, “Fuck. We are all going to die.”

Mage Castille spoke with command, “We will camp outside the dungeon entrance, and we will do as planned. We will kill the griffons, search the nest, and collect the eggs.” She looked at her two lieutenants. “If we don’t find the remains of the baron’s party, I will consider entering the dungeon to look there.”

Delmar nodded, and Adrian grunted unhappily. Orders were sent down the line to enter the cave. As we entered, touches were lit, and we filed in. About seventy feet into the cave, it stopped with a black oily flat surface. The area before the chamber had an abandoned campsite. Seven single-person tents, a large fire ring, and bedrolls were left inside the tents with some backpacks. Adrian swore again and said in a low grunt, “Those fuckers definitely went into the dungeon.”

The tents were large and nicer than ours—so were all the bedrolls. Some legionnaires started claiming better equipment. I moved to a tent near the black wall and tossed my pack inside. Mateo was close and smirked, “You can definitely take it, Eryk, as long as the original owners don’t show up. Just realize that tent and bedroll weigh twice as much as your legionnaire-issued gear.”

Renna set up her tent next to mine and seemed kind of shy about it. My new tent was definitely big enough for two and had flaps for privacy. But maybe I was being too optimistic. As everyone settled in, I asked, “So, what do you know about that.” I pointed at the oil-slick-looking wall in front of Renna.

She paused, unpacking her gear, “Just what I read. I grew up in a small village, and my education so far has focused on learning spell forms and how to cast spells.”

Renna sat on a stone. “Dungeons are concentrated aetheric essence given sapience. The ley lines that run under the earth carry vast amounts of aether. The aether bleeds out and permeates the world. When it builds up in an area, the aether mutates creatures and creates passages and rooms. The monsters changed are very strong. But they always produce an essence when a collector is used on them. This,” she pointed to the black wall, “Is how they attract the adventurous type.”

“So the dungeons are alive?” I asked Renna. “Should we be camping so close to that? Is that the entrance?”

Adrian joined us, sitting next to Renna, “Yes, that is the entrance, Eryk. Dungeons are alive, but the creatures that enter are killed, absorbed, and then repurposed. Dungeons only appear at ley line nexus points. This one appears to be an anomaly.”

Castille joined us as well, “The lines run deep, and not all have been mapped, Adrian. There could be a nexus beneath us.”

I pulled out some food and started eating, content to just listen. Adrian focused on Castille and added, “The monsters inside are strong. Only idiots travel into the dungeons seeking a big payday.”

Castille seemed annoyed with Adrian’s reluctance to explore the dungeon. “Do not worry, Adrian. If we go in, you can remain outside and guard the camp.” That made Adrian wince as it was a backhanded reprimand.

Castille turned to me, “Dungeons are blessings and curses,” Adrian was nodding in agreement. “They can stretch for miles into the earth, always going down. Whatever being controls them, they try to entice adventurers to explore them. All the creatures give essence, and the dungeon leaves prizes. Usually precious metals or recreating objects they have absorbed in the past.” This all sounded very familiar. Maybe not ideal video game mechanics, but the general idea was there.

I swallowed some salty jerky and cheese and asked, “What benefit does a dungeon get from drawing in adventurers? Can you kill a dungeon? Stop it from working?”

Castille answered, “Yes. Destroying the solidified aether core is possible. Usually, the adventurers guild would evaluate a dungeon’s usefulness before going to that step.” Castille stood, “When someone dies in a dungeon, the dungeon benefits but absorbs the gear and the corpse. It helps them get stronger and expand. If the dungeon is smart, it will balance the lure and guillotine. Finish your food. We have enough daylight to move on the griffin nest.”

Orders were given, and six men stayed behind. That meant mages Castille and Renna were going with seventeen legionaries. It was great to drop the heavy gear. I carried a spear and had my two short swords tied to my back. I wanted them out of the way in case I needed to run. We moved out down the game trail, and after an hour, Konstantin screamed, “On the sun, it’s diving!”

We all turned and focused upward. It was difficult to see, but something was definitely getting larger. I took cover behind a rock and angled my spear up. The griffin was big with a thirty-foot wingspan. It was targeting Mateo, and I thought he was a goner as massive talons extended out. Castille cast some wispy black lines that zipped toward the creature and wrapped its body and wings.

The creature screeched in anger as it suddenly had trouble flapping its wings. The creature crashed into the ground and slammed into someone I couldn’t identify. Orders were suddenly being shouted. “Attack!” “Blue-potion!” “Encircle it!” “Keep an eye out for the other one!” Oh, the potion request was for me! I grabbed the potion from storage and ran to the downed man. My only focus was getting the potion into his mouth. The violent sounds of combat rang nearby, but I did my job. The man’s bones started moving into the correct place.

Castille kneeled next to me a minute later, and I looked up. The griffin was bloody and in its death throes. It was calling for its mate. Castille said, “Give him a second one.” She stood and ended her spell as she scanned the skies.

Someone pointed in the sky. It was the other griffin. Orders were shouted as we prepared. Everyone was much more confident now. The griffin didn’t come. Instead, it landed in its nest. Soon it was flying away with two eggs clutched in its legs. Delmar cursed, “Stupid birds are smarter than they should be. There goes the mission’s bonus.”

Castille didn’t seem concerned and just took out her device to harvest essence. She used it on the corpse, and the essence pearl that formed was much better than anything I had seen prior. Castille said, “Greater constitution essence. Delmar, this is for you,” she tossed it to him. I thought that was interesting. Delmar supported Castille, and Adrian argued with her in regard to the dungeon. “There could be more eggs. Eryk. Empty your space and go check the nest. Konstantin, go with him.”

It made some sense as my space was the best way to get the egg safely. Still, why me? What if the griffin returned? I would be on my own. Konstantin put his hand on my shoulder and pushed me forward. I emptied the legion’s property and made my way to climb up the frigging mountain. The dead griffin was being harvested as I walked past it. The climb was not fun, and Konstantin didn’t help as he made me go first. I assumed it was best for the new guy to get attacked first.

The griffins had chosen a steep peak to nest on. I was learning how to free climb on the fly. Going up was not that bad—I was more worried when I would have to go down. I reached the nest first, and there were two eggs and a lot of bones in the nest. I immediately moved one of the eggs into my storage space, leaving one egg. A few seconds later, Konstantin was up behind me, “Looks like we got lucky. Hopefully, the griffin didn’t abandon a dead embryo. Can you get it into your space?” I nodded and did so.

Konstantin was examining everything in the nest. Tossing things over the edge as he sorted through everything. When he was done, he shook his head, “No human remains. A few horses but no humans. Also, they tend to tear off the clothes of humanoids before consuming the flesh. This pair has not killed any humans. Ok, I will see you back at the cave.”

He swung over the edge and confidently descended the steep mountainside we had just spent hours climbing. I rested in the nest—pulling out some food and water from my dimensional space before following him down the mountain. I was much slower than Konstantin. Thankfully the other griffin never returned.

When I reached the dead griffin hours later, it was picked clean from the legion’s harvesting efforts. Konstantin was waiting for me. He had probably been watching me descend for hours, so he had not completely abandoned me. “Looks like griffin steaks tonight. Come, boy, they should have at least saved us the choicest cuts for doing all the work.” We made our way to the cave, and even before we got there, I smelled the unmistakable scent of BBQ.