Chapter 228: Alone At Last
Five mbers of Castile’s company were mixed in with other unfamiliar legionnaires: Blaze, Mateo, Adrian, Lirkin, and Kolm. Adrian started laughing good-naturedly. “Look at our new Hound. All dressed up and ready to hunt the enemies of the Empire.” He approached, and we clasped wrists as equals. “Is Konstantin well?” he asked softly.
“The other pups needed a few more weeks of seasoning,” I smirked. He nodded, looking a little relieved.
“After a few months with Konstantin, I expect they would differ in your opinion.” He clapped on the shoulder.
Hercule was agitated by my familiarity with the company—or maybe by the fact I had friends. “Hound, let’s head out. If we start now, we can make Freidival by dark.”
I rolled my eyes out of his view. Covering nearly a hundred miles was not feasible, and I could tell he was angry. Maybe he had pieced together that I had tainted his canteen. I made a gamble and turned and held up two large silver coins, “Are you sure you don’t want to get so breakfast on ?” Two large silver coins were two weeks’ pay for a Hound, and I guessed correctly that Hercule was easily bribed.
His eyes betrayed his greed, and he snatched the coins. “et at the west gate in an hour.” He led his horse away, leaving with the company.
The company was forming around the Displacent Mage, and I fell into step with Adrian. “How has the company been? Is Castile well? Is Maveith still with you?”
Adrian was as congenial as ever. “We have been stationed here for eleven weeks. Castile won’t admit it, but she deserves a rest. We have been conducting short expeditions into the surrounding towns. We have accounted for seventeen goblins and a pair of centaurs. We discovered one doppelgänger that managed to flee and also exterminated a nest of giant centipedes,” Adrian relayed the company’s exploits.
“Don’t forget about the sprites,” Lirkin called from behind us.
Blaze chid in from behind, “Mateo and Benito got tricked by so sprites and pixies. They ended up tied up naked in the woods and nearly froze overnight.”
Mateo groused, “That is not how it happened. They fooled us into thinking they were young won lost in the woods.”
Kolm contributed his thoughts from the left side of the formation, “I thought Benito said you were following so scantily clad won into the woods for a tryst?”
Mateo moaned, “Castile thought it was a dryad, but the won were illusions, and Castile said we had been chard by the pixies. We both had our legionnaire armor stolen by the sprites. I wish it had been a dryad and not an illusion,” Mateo said wistfully, recalling the illusion.
Adrian shook his head, “You were lucky it wasn’t a dryad. It would have chard and imprisoned you while slowly sucking your life essence out through carnal acts to feed its progeny.”
Mateo responded imdiately, “But it is a nice way to go. Eryk, you still got the dreamscape amulet?”
I didn’t respond but let him see shake my head to the negative. “What about Maveith?” I asked Adrian.
Everyone looked at each other, and I expected bad news. Adrian answered for the group. “He returned to Sobral eight weeks ago. Don’t worry about the goliath, he sent a ssage that he got back safely and Ginger was fine.” I nodded in thanks at the news, and at least I knew where Maveith was. I had promised him to return with him to his ho to see his father.
We approached a luxurious villa, and the displacent mage and his legionnaires turned here. Adrian and the company n entered the adjacent villa. I tied Cot off outside and climbed the steps with them, and Mateo yelled, “We found a stray at the portal! Can we keep him, Castile?”
“Dog or a cat?” Benito’s voice yelled back. “I always wanted a dog, but my mother wouldn’t let get one.” Benito and Linus ca out of a side room, and their eyes turned into saucers.
Linus, the company dic, yelled, “You got us a full-grown Hound! An ugly one, but he will do for Benito.”
Benito gave an unexpected hug as he crashed into . “Eryk’s back!”
The entire villa erupted in noise as everyone ca to see . Castile stood in a doorway, a small smirk on her features. Adrian barked an order, “He only has an hour, so we will be having an early lunch.”
The company n who had returned with us began to remove their armor, and Lirkin rushed to cook while I was inundated with questions. It felt like I was ho. After a few minutes, I asked, “Where is Brutus?”
Silence fell in the room. Firth answered amusedly, “He took service with First Citizen Boris Angella.” That was surprising—and disconcerting.
Benito noted, “Good thing. He hadn’t stopped complaining since we left the capital. Always whining that Eryk took the runic weapon and didn’t need it. I thought Maveith was going to shove his runic hamr in his mouth to shut him up.”
Castile broke into the conversation, “The rule is we don’t talk ill of lost comrades.” Everyone went silent again. That normally applied to those who had died. Castile was, in a way, indicating Brutus was dead to the company, which got so nods. “Eryk, if you have so ti, perhaps you can regale with tales of your Hound training in the other room?”
I stood and went to talk with Castile. She imdiately asked, “Konstantin?”
“He should be back in a few weeks. How is your new porter? He doesn’t talk much.” I referred to the quiet kid I had noticed.
“Malory is another of Antonia’s spies. He does his job as a porter well enough. So, you have been inserted in the Western Hounds?” She asked.
“Yes. I am already regretting my decision to beco a Hound,” I confided to her.
Castile had a pained look, “Centurion Sergius has an insidious reputation. They should have warned you. Step carefully, Eryk.” She warned and finally smiled. “You look—well.”
“The training was difficult, but I maximized the opportunity that was provided. Our shared experience has been tested nurous tis,” I said, rubbing my forearm to indicate the bone inscription we had received.
“Mine as well. Never talk about it in the open. Where are you assigned?” Castile inquired.
“A lookout that is west of Freidival on the coast—watching Kraken Bay for orc invasion ships,” I replied. I pulled out my ssage-sending notebook. “I was given this and have been checking it morning and evening for orders.” Castile nodded in familiarity with the artifact, and I put it away.
“The consensus is if the Boutan Orcs attack the western Empire, they will target Varvao and Bartatal, the only two significant populations in the west. They will sail through Kraken Bay to cut those two cities off from the rest of the Empire. The only other asset in the west is the dungeon we discovered,” Castile said, considering. That was not quite true. I had passed dozens of small towns and farms when I traveled the western Empire. Those civilians would be displaced if war erupted, but in the tides of war, the civilians were an afterthought.
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A thought occurred to , “The writing on the walls in that dungeon—wasn’t it orc?”
“Yes, I saw the Adventurer’s Guild report from the dungeon. It was a ceremonial dungeon for young warriors of the nomadic orcs that used to live and roam the plains. The First Legion chased them off. But it is not lost on the Collegium Scholarium that those sa orcs migrated to and joined the Boutan Caliphate. They may be seeking to reclaim their ancestral lands,” Castile inford and voiced my own thoughts. “The Empire’s past sins are coming back to plague them.”
“I have to head to the west gate soon,” I said, wanting to spend a little more ti with the company.
Castile reached out and grabbed my arm to have pause, “Rember who I said you could trust?”
A long ti ago, Castile had told who was in her plans to flee the Empire. I nodded, “Adrian, Felix, Mateo, and Blaze. Felix died in the Shimring Labyrinth.”
“Good. You can add one other to that list.” I was almost certain she was going to say Konstantin, but instead, she said, “Benito.”
Now, Benito was a good man and his straightforwardness was funny, but trusting him with such a massive secret seed foolish. “Mateo recruited him,” Castile explained in concealed exasperation. “After Felix died, the two beca close. If the Empire crumbles, we will head to Gramney, the capital of the Grand Duchy of Manch. If you want to find us, that is where we will be.”
I nodded. The Grand Duchy was on the other side of the Kingdom of Bartiradia. It would be a difficult journey for them, but I had plans with Maveith. But it also told Castile was getting ready to run herself. The threat of the archives was much less applicable if the Telhian Empire collapsed.
I spent so more ti with the company and was almost an hour late to the western gate. I asked the city guards, but Hercule hadn’t shown up yet either. It appeared he had planned to make wait for him. He arrived about twenty minutes after I did. “Hope you didn’t have to wait long,” he snickered.
Rather than tell him I had been an hour late, I looked upset, turned Cot to the road, and trotted off. It took us two days to get to Freidival. Hercule had tried to switch our canteens when we camped in a farr’s barn. I made a show of drinking from it but used my purify self spell form to not be affected by the lingering laxative. This had almost been a mistake because it had been a potion and had its own aether. This made it cost a lot more aether to purify it from my stomach, but I learned a valuable lesson. I also enjoyed Hercule’s confusion when I suffered no ill effects.
The city of Freidival had a high stone wall and was surrounded by hundreds of farms. The populace here was just as depressed as the other cities I had traveled through this winter. There was a Legion Hall in this city, where Hercule led us. Six mostly gray-haired legionnaires sat in the common room and looked at us with curiosity. Hercule pointed at , “This Hound will be taking a pack horse and all the supplies he can load. What type of ale do you have?”
The oldest of the group with battered resin-leather armor nodded slowly, “Just the local brew. We only have a pair of nags in the stables, and you are welco to have one or both.”
Hercule went to the keg behind the unattended bar and retrieved a pitcher and mug. When I didn’t move, he looked back at , “Well, Hound, get to it. If I helped you all the ti, you would start to expect to hold your cock while you piss.” I didn’t retort as I couldn’t recall once when Hercule helped with anything.
One of the old legionnaires stood and waved to follow. He had a friendly deanor and smiled. “Na is Leo. You heading out to one of the sentry posts?”
“I am Eryk. Yes, I am,” I replied in a friendly reply.
“Well, we don’t have much. Shipnts have been infrequent, and most of here are retired and just called back to fill in the rolls.” He opened the door to a barely lit supply room with a moldy scent. It was one of the worst-stocked Legion Halls I had seen in my ti. A lot of the gear looked worn, damaged, or just broken. “Saddle bags are over there. I will go to the tack room and prep one of the nags unless you want both?”
“I will do it myself, but thank you.” I walked the shelves, and there was nothing I needed here. Still, I packed so heavy wool blankets, oiled canvas, and two saddlebags with ration bars. I didn’t know how long I would be on watch.
I spent ti in the stables examining the two nags, using what Lucien had taught . Both were old and had spine issues, so they couldn’t be ridden. It might have been better to put them down or let them loose. Still, both were extrely docile and friendly. I gave both of them an apple from my storage and decided not to take either. My packs were only about fifty pounds, and Cot could manage.
“Ready?” Hercule asked when I returned to the common room. He had been drinking alone, and there were now nine old legionnaires making use of the open cask of ale. I nodded, and he drained his mug and rose.
He was a little surprised at how little I had taken from the stores, but I deflected by telling him I could forage for what I needed. The road and farms quickly disappeared into just a wide, rarely-used path. Hercule had suddenly beco much more cautious as we headed west, toward the bay.
With the density of growth in so areas, I would have preferred to be walking and using my earth speak ability. After an hour, he finally spoke, “Gnolls don’t get this far west, but two years ago, a Hound was taken down by an owl bear, and red goblin tribes find their way here and settle from the south.” I couldn’t tell if he was trying to scare or help .
“What are my duties as a sentry?” I asked since he finally seed to be less of an ass at the mont.
“You will be given night sight goggles and an artificed spyglass. Every two hours, you scan out into Kraken Bay, even at night. You see sothing important, you write it in the book. If Centurion Sergius has need of you elsewhere, he will write it in the book.” He hadn’t lost his dickish attitude toward , and his tone was condescending, as if I should have already known my duties.
I slled the ocean before I saw it as we started climbing a steep hill. We dismounted, giving a chance to use my earth speak ability again. I paused as I found a crude pit spike trap. Hercule grunted, “Oh, forgot to ntion, the lookout is surrounded by traps for your safety. You will need to maintain them as well.” I think he had been hoping I would have stepped into the trap and had to waste my Hound healing potion.
We crested the hill, and below us was a barren landscape leading to a sandy beach about a mile away. A Hound stepped from an outcropping to our left. “Expected you yesterday.” He said angrily.
I found Hercule wasn’t just an ass to as he responded with the sa snark to this Hound, “Got here when I felt like it. If I hadn’t had this fresh off the teat pup with , I would have made better speed.”
The Hound, a tall man with light brown hair and thick corded muscles, shook his head, “Sergius is expecting in Lorvo the day after tomorrow.”
“You should have just left early,” Hercule snickered.
The Hound, whose na I recalled as Clodius, snapped, “There have been six orc ships passing in the last month. All were fishing ships, but they never fish this far south in the bay. They were clearly scouting. The attack could happen at any ti. I was not going to leave my post and risk missing the war fleet sailing past.”
My assessnt of this Hound was positive. He was competent and took his duty seriously. We walked with him to a small cave exposed to the water below. Clodius started talking while he gathered his things. “You can’t see the cave from the beach, but don’t start a fire or use a glowstone at night. About a mile south, there is a berry field. No berries till spring, but there are large onions in the area as well. Use your thermal stone to thaw the earth if you are interested. Crabs on the beach are easy enough to catch, but don’t eat the clams. They always give the shits for so reason. In the spring, there will be plenty of ga in the woods.”
He shouldered his pack, eager to leave, and I realized he was taking Cot. He paused. “Watch the surf at night. I've been seeing so rfolk scavenging the shore, but they won’t climb up here but you never know. Be careful, there are traps and alarms surrounding this entire lookout. If you had arrived yesterday, I would have had ti to show them all to you.” He looked pointedly at Hercule, who shrugged indifferently.
I walked with him, got my bags from Cot, and gave him one last apple. Clodius looked on, licking his lips but not asking for one himself. I produced another one and handed it to him as he didn’t seem like a bad guy. “What about ?” Hercule asked.
“All out, sorry,” I stated dispassionately. He looked at doubtfully but didn’t press.
Without any real goodbyes, the two Hounds led the horses down the steep hill. I watched them go, realizing I was going to be alone, but the question was, for how long?
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