A Soldier's Life
chapter-21

Konstantin was easier on me than I expected. We focused on the two-weapon style to take on two opponents at once—two human opponents. Konstantin noted he only fought with two blades against a single opponent or monster. You needed to be ambidextrous and also be able to control the blades independently. It was not easy, but Konstantin thought I had the capacity to learn. We focused on using the off hand-weapon as the parrying and defensive weapon.

When we finished, I was covered in dirt and sweat and greedily drinking from a waterskin. He told me, “If things play out as expected, the Bartiradians will invade in force and attempt to capture this city. They are mostly human, but you can expect elves and dwarves to be in their number. The elves are agile gits, and the dwarves hit like a horse.” He took a long pull of a waterskin. “And do not be swayed by the beauty of their women. I almost lost my head staring into the mesmerizing eyes of one once.”

“Damn, I didn’t know you preferred dwarven women,” I joked with the older scout.

Konstantin backhanded my chest with his canteen softly, but the practiced motion caused a gout of water to splash into my face, “The elves, boy. The elves. But I did have a dwarf once. The women are as hairy down below as above.” He stood and walked away.

I walked through the city of Macha, but there was not much left. Most of the shops were abandoned and mostly empty. The regular army left the boarded shops alone but openly walked into the open shops looking for abandoned goods to appropriate. I made it to the gates and walked out in the humid air. One of the soldiers at the gates looked at my legion leather armor and then ignored me.

The land around the walls had dozens of small houses, most with overturned fields of quickly harvested crops, probably too early in the season. The road east toward the enemy looked to be concrete and well-maintained. I gazed down the road at nothing before returning to get some sleep in the sticky hot air.

The two small beds I pushed together smelled like ammonia. I closed the door and pulled out a heavy blanket to lay across the mattresses and my griffin feather pillow. The sun was setting but did not take the humidity with it. I could not get comfortable, so I lit the lamp in the room and pulled out the book on the history of the legion.

It took a lot of work to re-wire my brain to read the Latin words. At least I used the spoken language daily and had a decent grasp of vocabulary. I spent the entire night, till sunrise, working on the text. I managed about twenty pages.

I learned that the First Legion had arrived from another world—I assumed Earth, about two thousand years ago. The book talked about the heroes of the First Legion who conquered the lands and made them safe. They were apt fighters and powerful mages. That last part did not make sense until I translated what their powers were. The members of the legion had strong affinities with space, time, convergence, and displacement!

This meant I was not magically gifted or some prodigy as I thought. Instead, whatever forces brought me here affected me in the same way. A knock sounded loudly at the door, “Wake up and gear up. We need to be at the gate in half an hour for the patrol.” It was Konstantin, and he moved to the next door to wake the others. I moved the pillow and book to my storage but just left the heavy blanket on the bed. I had sweat a puddle during the night and wouldn’t mind leaving the damp blanket out, hopefully to dry. I hung it near the window.

I gathered my gear and strapped on a pair of short swords. I thought about requisitioning a spear from the army but decided against wanting to carry it on patrol. Mateo and Felix walked with me to the gate as Konstantin had already gone ahead. The legion was assembled minus Adrian, Castille, Lucien, and Kolm. Kolm was our pseudo-blacksmith. They were working to secure supplies in the city for our company, and the rumor was they were trying to secure better sleeping accommodations. Personally, that was the first time I had slept in privacy since I had arrived in the world, and I did not mind staying there.

Delmar stood in front of the remaining number of us, “We have a twenty-mile loop to do today, men. Make sure your canteens are full. The insects are bad the further we travel along the wetland, so even though it is hot, I suggest you use neck and head wraps. We will encounter horse-sized frogs. The biggest danger is if they grapple you with their tongue and pull you under the water. If a comrade is grabbed,” he looked over the men, “attack the tongue—they will be more likely to release the victim. Then focus your attack on the body.”

Everyone nodded and moved their daggers on their belts for easier access. Delmar seemed to think before adding, “A bullywug was seen a few days back. If we spot one, we will form up and retreat back to the city. They travel in large hunting groups and may have nested deep in the bog.”

Konstantin handed me a clean wrap and showed me how to wrap it to protect my neck and head. He did the same for two others in the company that did not have one.

We started walking, and our two scouts, Orson and Konstantin, moved forward. Firth walked next to me. After twenty minutes on the road, we all spread out in twos and threes. Firth talked to me, “It is true. The army is amassing at the border and will push to Macha in a few day’s time. We are going to be stuck in a fucking siege.”

Firth was not at all happy. “So Justin screwed us over?” I asked.

He harrumphed, “Nope, one of Castille’s other enemies in the Adventurer’s Guild, I think. They are probably hoping she dies out here in the attack, and they can pocket the finder’s fee for the dungeon.”

“How many enemies does mage Castille have?” I asked as I sucked on my canteen. It was already half empty, and we had not been gone for three hours. I think I was going to have to try and pull water into it from the barrels in my storage when we stopped for a rest.

Firth laughed, “About five that I know about. Probably that number again of ones I do not know about. Most are not enemies, just people who really do not like her.” Firth adjusted his small pack, “Mage Castille was at the top of her class at the Mage War College. That didn’t sit well with the sons and daughters of the First Citizens there. It all snowballed after that. I joined her about three years after she was assigned a company of legionaries.” He looked back at the people walking, “About half of us are still here. Castille has done right by us.”

He leaned in and whispered, “I have received over two hundred essences from her in my service.” I guessed that was impressive for a soldier, and it was a massive fortune when you added up the value. I could see how Castille bought the loyalty of her men.

Three hours later, we stopped to rest at a series of boulders along the roadside. The road looked like it had been made by pouring tons of rocky soil and packing it down. There was now a swamp or bog to our right and left. I wet my scarf from my canteen and rewrapped it around my neck and head. It must have been too hot for the insects to come out today, as I had not seen any, but the wrap helped with the heat.

Delmar sat on the rock next to me, “You should not waste your water like that, Eryk. If we get in a fight, that water will be like the elixir of gods after it is over.” I nodded at his wisdom. I moved into the shadow of a boulder. I focused on the water in my space and the canteen in my hand. I needed to stick my finger into the canteen but grinned madly as it filled. Not only did it fill, but it was also cold water!

No one saw me, and I took three long pulls to get the canteen to half empty in case someone asked for a drink from it. We continued our patrol and came to a T-intersection. I read the signs. The city of Oliscalmape was down one road, which was part of the Telhian Empire. The direction we were headed was to the city of Guiracas, in the Kingdom of Bartiradia. I figured out the numbers and distance…it was 98 miles to the enemy city, so there was not much to worried about just yet. Oliscalmape was 75 miles away.

I was slightly disappointed we had not seen any giant frogs yet. I just wanted to see what they looked like up close. Delmar had us resume, and we started circling back to Macha down a different road. After mid-day, Konstantin and Olson came down the road jogging. They reported to Delmar, who looked down the road and then back the way we came. He called everyone together, and the scouts kept a lookout.

“The scouts find an obstacle in front of us. An ogre is about half a mile down the road hunting the giant frogs.” He looked over everyone who had started to tighten armor straps and pulled weapons. “It may have moved off by the time we get there, but if not, we will form a shield wall and fire at it with range.” Five men with bows nodded and cycled to the back of the formation.

“Ogres are not bright but hit with deadly force. Eryk, stay in the middle of the formation and be prepared to treat wounded with Linus.” Delmar pulled his shield off his back and moved to the front with five others with large shields. It was like magic how the company suddenly marched in step with each other and formed a square as we approached the encounter.

The ogre was still there and saw us approach. It had two large corpses of frogs it had been feeding on in the road. The wind had shifted and was blowing right at us. It smelled like bile mixed with the shittest-smelling fart ever. The ogre stood, and my jaw fell. It was easily over ten feet tall and had to weigh more than a horse. Its yellow-brown skin was covered in patches of hair and dirt.

Someone said, “Fuck me.”

Another person quipped, “You do not want that thing ramming you.” He was indicating the ogre’s penis, as the monster had no clothes. I had not noticed it yet because the height of the brute was so imposing.

Weirdly I was not afraid at all. The dungeon had beaten the fear out of me. We also had over twenty men to just one ogre. The ogre reached into one of its kills, pulled out an organ, and shoved it into a massive maw. That was a maw—not a mouth. The gore as it chewed splattered everywhere. Then with bloody teeth, it roared red spittle into the air.

Wylie was to my right and muttered, “I hope he was not calling friends.”

Delmar gave the hand signal, and we walked forward as a unit to engage.