A Soldier's Life
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.