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A Soldier's Life - 293 - Victory in Defeat (final edit 7-1-25)
🕑 Added 2024-11-11 22:45:59 +0000 UTCChapter 293: Victory In Defeat
After more than a dozen explosions had shaken the area, I was covered in pine needles and splinters that had fallen from above. One of the large white wolves looked for comfort with its head in my lap. I remember when Oscar was a puppy and he was afraid of thunder and lightning, and I empathized with the wolf. His brother had pushed himself behind me, trying unsuccessfully to hide under the log I was seated on. I figured the pair would have left if not for their master’s dinner cooking nearby.
Raelia approached the fire pit, irritably cleaning pine needles out of her hair. With a bit of awe, she said, “Fifteen lightning strikes, each with tremendous power. Her aether well must be immense.”
Glasha grinned, not hiding her happiness that we were impressed. “It is, but it is because she can channel aether from ley lines. This cabin sits at a minor nexus. But I think she reached her limit trying to impress Tarnasha.” I followed Glasha’s eyes to a stumbling Mynasha coming down the path. She was only wearing a thin brown shirt that was soaked in sweat, leaving little to the imagination. Tarnasha carried her bundle of clothes.
From a distance away, Mateo was whispering loudly to Benito, and it didn’t take much to figure out what it was about. My own curiosity took hold. “She is using a spell form for the convergence affinity? Does she need to be…naked for it?”
Glasha stared at Mynasha, who was struggling to walk. “It helps. If she didn’t, channeling that much aether might ignite her clothes on fire.”
“How is she not burnt?” I asked, realizing how much aether she had just channeled in seconds. “Is her aether tolerance that high?”
Glasha chuckled, “No. I understand why you would think so. The aether she pulls up from the ley lines goes directly into her spell forms, it does not pass through her body. It is extremely dangerous and requires a lot of skill in aether shaping to do it this way.”
The pair had reached us, and we quieted. “Rest in my bed, child,” Tarnasha said tiredly as they approached. “Heal my ears,” he said to Glasha as he fished pine needles out of his hair. Glasha rose to obey. The wolf's tails started wagging, and they went to their master, abandoning my protection.
“I am surprised you two didn’t run for the hills.” He rubbed them both between the ears reassuringly. “These two were scared of their own shadow when I found them after their mother had been killed.” Glasha finished her healing and returned to her seat.turned to
Tarnasha sat down in front of the cooking pot and addressed the wolves. “But I suppose you wouldn’t abandon your dinner, either.” The old orc removed the iron pot’s lid and sniffed it before spooning large portions for each wolf into a wooden bowl, then a third for himself. He sighed like he had been the one exhausted and not Mynasha.
As he sat to eat, Glasha eyed him impatiently, restraining a smile. “Well?”
The old orc blew on his spoon to cool his thick stew. He ate a few mouthfuls noisily before answering the growing impatience of Glasha. “She is impressive but rash, young and narrow-sighted. She may make a decent Supreme with a good advisor.”
“So, you are volunteering then. Great! I have places to be and things to do!” Glasha replied merrily, and Tarnasha choked on his food.
“No, woman! Stop putting words in my mouth! I am happy here with these two pups,” he indicated to the wolves, who looked up longingly for seconds, their bowls clean. He sighed and spooned each of the wolves another serving. He moodily returned to eating his own stew.
Glasha waited while he ate, and when he finished his bowl, he added, “But I would perhaps like to see my old friends among the Elders.” His words were laced with sarcasm. At least, I thought it was sarcasm, as it was difficult to tell in the Orcish tongue.
Raelia tapped my shoulder and indicated that Maveith was done cooking. Blaze was coming back from checking on the horses, nodding to me that all was good. I left the fire, and the two wolves stood, abandoning their empty bowls to follow me, probably hoping for a second dinner.
Tarnasha whistled, getting the pair’s attention, “Where do you two think you are going?” They looked at me and then at Tarnasha before lowering their head and returning to the old orc’s side. Glasha and Tarnasha dove into the conversation as she tried to convince the ex-Elder to come with us and support Mynasha’s candidacy. I thought maybe he could serve as her First.
Any of those lightning strikes would have blown me up just like those trees, aether shield amulet or not. Maveith handed me a perfectly seasoned bacon, potato, rice, and pepper mash. Tasting it, I nodded appreciatively. Blaze set to inform me, “Two of the horses will need some healing, but they are all sound.”
“Glasha two of the horses need healing before you sleep tonight.” I yelled over to Glasha twenty yards away, and she acknowledged the request before returning to her discussion.
“So, what is the plan?” Blaze asked as we ate. All eyes focused on me.
“We finish escorting them to the Becar and look for Maveith’s sister. If warlord Rhuuk is in the capital, we will see if she is attending him, if not, we go to his estate south of Agurtra to look for her.” I explained.
“So, you will not help the lightning cleric become the Supreme?” Mateo asked in a little disbelief. Did I come off as helping every person who asked for it?
“Our priority is finding Maveith’s sister. Only if the paths intersect would I consider it.” Mateo grunted a little in disbelief. The camp conversation devolved into how much damage those lightning strikes could have caused an army. Blaze noted that the dungeon pauldrons we had unearthed would be extremely useful against such a foe.
I came back from washing my bowl and checking on the horses. Everyone was lounging about and had not even made an effort to set up camp. We had barely trained the last few days, and it looked like we were getting complacent. “We will train two hours before setting our camp around the cleric’s fire pit.” Benito groaned as he had eaten three portions and had to loosen his armor to sit. “You need to be able to fight on a full or empty stomach, Benito,” I said seriously. Shit, was I turning into Konstantin?
“Can we choose what weapons to train in this session?” Blaze asked hopefully.
I gave him a side glance. He was just going to choose his bow. But I thought to give the company some leeway. “We will rotate partners. Each pairing can split time choosing weapons. Benito, you are with me first.” I was becoming Konstantin as I was thinking of how I would make Benito regurgitate his gluttonous meal. I shook my head in disapproval at myself. As we moved to a clearing, I told him he could decide first.
He furrowed his brow in thought. “My sword to your dagger?” He offered hopefully.
“Do I get a shield?” I asked, pulling Corvus’s dagger.
Surprised I had agreed, his eyes danced, looking for the trap. “Umm, no shield?” He said unconvincingly. I just nodded, and we both wrapped our blades in a tacky cloth.
Benito had chosen to go without a shield as well and quickly regretted his decision. I was a step faster than the short man and made use of my elbow and free hand. After a few exchanges, his lip was bleeding, and he had a limp. He had managed to strike my leather cuirass twice, but neither strike would have impeded me in real combat.
Maveith barked the time to rotate partners. “Switch weapons!” Maveith had an innate ability to tell time, so twenty minutes should have passed. He was sweating heavily from chasing the nimble Raelia around. It looked like they had chosen only fists. Benito looked pleadingly at me, and I didn’t know why. I could have targeted his gut with kicks and punches to bring up his dinner, and I had not.
“Just swords, and we will work on your defenses.” Benito tended to overcommit on his attacks, leaving openings for his opponent. We grabbed our shields, and I wrapped Borris’ dungeon blade. I went easy on him, having him focus on protecting his right side, his sword arm.
My next pairing was with Blaze, and he suggested I serve as a moving target with my shield. I knew he was not serious, but I agreed. Being able to judge the path of an arrow toward you and interpose your shield was a complex skill. When you only had a single archer firing at you, it made it more feasible to track the release and trajectory. I retrieved my helm and let the fun begin—for Blaze.
As I jogged laterally, he released his arrows in a steady rhythm, aiming for either my torso or thighs. Seven arrows stuck in my shield, while two others missed me by a few inches. I started to vary my jogging speed to make it harder for him and then, varying my distance. He still managed to strike my shield half the time. I even passed on the opportunity to switch weapons, giving him more archery practice. Two arrows penetrated my shield and into my arm. My aether shield and bracers stopped both strikes from harming me.
When we switched, Mateo groused, “I am not going to serve as your target dummy, Blaze.”
“Blaze, you need to practice with your sword,” I reminded him. He reluctantly went to retrieve his blade. I was facing off against Maveith, who had a massive grin on his face. “Why are you grinning?” I asked suspiciously.
“I am ready this time,” he said while maintaining his grin.
Benito chirped, “I have a large copper on Maveith.” He looked around for any takers.
“I will take you up on that,” I said, causing Benito to frown. I wasn’t sure what game was being played here, but I was up to a challenge this evening. I needed to vent a little from constantly being pressured by the clerics to get involved in their problem.
Maveith squared off with me, both hands on his hammer. His grin was gone, and intense focus remained on his face. I usually bested him by dodging a heavy swing that he couldn’t recover quickly from. He had already given away his plan with his fingers dancing up the shaft. Hand placement closer to the head would allow him to recover quickly. He had tried it before without much success, but may have improved with practice. The others paused their practice to watch us engage. If Benito knew Maveith’s plan, then they all knew Maveith’s plan.
Maveith stood his ground, forcing me to initiate. As predicted, one hand slid up the shaft to act as a fulcrum to increase his reaction speed. A large clang could be heard as his hammerhead battered my strike aside. He recovered quickly enough to intercept my shield bash attempt as well. But he didn’t stop there and attempted to rush me and get inside my guard. One hand released the hammer shaft and lanced out in a punch.
Resisting the strong urge to use an air shield, I parried the blow with my shield. I was almost caught off guard as he used my shield, blocking my line of sight to lunge in an attempt to bear hug me. With only one choice, I fell onto my back and kicked off Maveith’s knees into a somersault. I came up in one smooth motion, a little surprised that it had actually worked so well.
Maveith had dropped his hammer in the bear hug attempt and looked at me and the hammer, trying to figure out if he could reclaim it before I retaliated. I made the decision for him, rushing to cut him off from his favored weapon…
Maveith limped to Glasha for some healing, and I collected a large bronze from Benito. The others looked a little sullen as well. Were they upset that I won? I rarely lost to any of them when we practiced, and was more the instructor. Was I really a pompous ass like Konstantin when it came to our practices?
After he was healed, I observed Maveith handing his runic hammer to Glasha. She pulled back her scarlet hair as she prepared to use her lore spell on the weapon. With intense focus, she examined the hammer, holding it delicately in her hands for what felt like an eternity. As the minutes ticked by, my companions' curiosity grew, and they turned to watch the cleric use her magic. When she finally returned the hammer to Maveith, they engaged in a brief conversation, before Maveith made his way back to our group. Maveith had a satisfied look on his face.
Mateo probed him first, “So, what did the Glasha say?”
“It was forged to purify mithril ore,” he said, grinning. “It is so old, with such much history, that she cannot see back to its own forging.”
“Mithril?” Benito asked, in some awe and confusion at the mythical ore.
“There were rooms in the dungeon where it could be obtained,” I answered him. “The smiths of Caelora used to mine, refine, and forge it. Mithril can only be found in dungeons and is extremely difficult to for smiths to work.”
Raelia interrupted me, “That is not true. The denizens of the Endless Dark mine it, but small deposits only occurs near the ley lines.” I nodded to her, thinking that it was probably true. I had not really delved too deeply into the smithing books in the dreamscape.
The excitement of Maveith’s weapon being revealed, Raelia smirked, “I got Eryk next in the pairings. I want no weapons.”
Raelia had been practicing her unarmed combat with the others this entire evening. Was this an attempt to best me in our practice? I cautiously nodded and started to remove my armor. We were equal in speed and nimbleness, but I easily overpowered her. “Why are you taking off your armor?” she said, frowning.
“You already have yours off. I want the match to be even.” She scrunched her face in distaste but couldn’t argue my point. Mateo and Benito were talking, and I could tell this was an other planned spar. They had been preparing as a group to beat me. I could understand their frustration as I had faced it with Konstantin. With my last piece of armor off, I faced Raelia.
She was nimble and slippery in combat. She even had a unique spell form that was a danger sense, alerting her to an impending attack. It shouldn’t help her in this straightforward contest. We closed and circled, and I tried the oldest trick in the book. “Your boots are untied.”
Raelia glanced down as she stepped back, not giving me a chance to take advantage. Her face turned into a scowl at my poor attempt at trickery. She growled, frustrated, as she circled to my left. Maybe she thought my armor’s encumbrance would have been the slight advantage she needed. Her hair and face were already matted with sweat and dirt from her earlier practice. The others looked on, hoping for the elf’s victory.
She finally committed, pushing off a protruding stone to lunge at my leg. I couldn’t see the advantage of it, but was cautious as I retreated. She went into a dive just to catch my ankle. She used my own leg for leverage to get behind me. I had one chance to attack the top of her head, but I lost it when I hesitated striking her.
She had a firm grip, and I was not too familiar with Elvish grappling. She leveraged her body weight into my knee to force me to the ground. Raelia weighed at most, one hundred twenty pounds, but she was using all her body weight on just my knee joint. I complied and went to the ground, but I kicked back hard with my other leg, hitting her squarely in the shoulder. She grunted but didn’t let go.
She was fully determined to win this struggle, and Benito’s cheer told me I was not the favored one in this contest. She was working her way up my leg like an unwanted parasite, keeping leverage on my ankle so I couldn’t get her. I thought this was all ridiculous because I weighed more than twice what she did.
If I let her win, would it be good for the company to see the leader fall? Raelia had clearly endeared herself to the others as they cheered her on. She was covered in dirt, pine needles, and sweat. I locked her head in my free leg and alligator-rolled on the ground to try and break her will, but it only made her filthy.
Raelia was grunting as she strained to get me to submit by forcing my knee joint in the wrong direction. My entire leg was flexed, and she wasn’t going to overcome my vastly superior strength. My hubris was my downfall as I repositioned, and she took the opportunity to scramble up my body and get behind me, achieving a chokehold.
With my legs free, I stood immediately, and she too focused trying to choke me to figure out my plan as I jumped in the air and twisted my body. I landed with all my body weight on her. It stunned her, and she released her grip enough for me to turn into her. I was straddling her hips, pinning her to the ground. She momentarily tried to grab my neck again, but it just smashed both our foreheads together, a contest I won.
I got control of one of her wrists and then the other. She was heaving deep breaths under me, her legs flailing, and I was slightly winded as well. In the somewhat compromising position, I rasped, “Do you concede?”
She squirmed briefly, but my knees kept her hips in place. Instead of getting angry, she slowly smirked. “I almost had you,” she said breathlessly. I tightened my grip on her wrists, suspecting it was a trap. She rolled her eyes, “I concede—this time.” I stood up and helped Raelia to her feet. My knee was still painful to bear weight on, and I patted her shoulder, brushing off debris and showing her she had put forth a good effort.
Blaze looked amused, while the others looked disappointed at Raelia’s defeat. It was almost dark, so I called off the last pairing. My knee was a bit strained, and I had to heal it as I walked back to Glasha and Tarnasha. They had also been watching the wrestling match. “Are we set to leave in the morning?”
The two orcs looked me up and down, somewhat amused at my filthy state. Had I embarrassed myself by almost losing to Raelia? I brushed off some debris. Tarnasha spoke for the pair, “I will be joining you, but we will leave mid-afternoon tomorrow. I must explain to my pups that I will be gone for a while, and Mynasha needs more time to recover.”
I wasn’t sure if the old cleric meant he could talk to animals or if he was speaking generally about his wolves. I replied neutrally, “Good. We will set up camp around your firepit, as I don’t think your cabin can hold all of us.”
Much later that night, I felt someone lay quietly behind my bedroll, spooning me. Mateo was on watch, so it was someone else in our camp. The body pressed into me, and I thought that it had to be Raelia, as it was the only thing that made sense in my mind. I had been replaying the wrestling match repeatedly in my mind, unable to get the few hours of sleep I needed. I slowly turned over to be greeted by a mass of white fur and a panting wolf. A bit disappointed, I turned away and drifted off to sleep.
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Comments
Trevayne
Thanks for the chapters. Good to see Eryk's and Raellas' relationship progressing.
Erick Thiemke
edited on master. Grammarly has been acting funny. I usually catch when it drops extra stuff in there
Rasmus
Glasha finished her healing and returned to her seat.*turned to* Something is missing or [turned to] was accidently add. ---------- Mithril can only be found in dungeons and is extremely difficult *to* for smiths to work.” A to to much i think
Erick Thiemke
corrected
Erick Thiemke
i have been twisting this plot thread during the edit. hoepfully the final product reads better when its done
Thaabit Rivertree
"I was more certain than ever that I was not going to help." This is why this is so frustrsting. It is clear Mynesha's entire candidacy rests on Eryk participating. So if he is so sure, he should clarify that to Mynesha and everyone so they can make their own plans. Yet he just keeps quiet and will be forced to help anyways. It wouldnt be frustrating if he decided to help her for a good reason. It's the fact he says he'll say he wont do it while doing everything to actually do it. Like saying youre turning left while turning right. That's frustrating, especially because he's made to be manipulated by Glisha like some newborn pup. He knew enough to be suspicious of Corvus and many other legionaires, but when someone has so much on the line and is clearly counting on him participating, and has manipulated him several times already, he doesnt expect anything? He is not that stupid or naive. At least he shouldnt be. They have no candidacy if he doesn't participate, so he should be making plans to ensure he doesnt have to. But he'll just get led by the nose into it, I'm sure. Then he'll forgive everyone who forced him to do it. I can already see myself losing respect for him.
Erick Thiemke
it is an air spell form (sense disturbance in the air). The wind shear is a true spell - did I call it a spell form?
Story Seeker
How can she have a unique spell form for danger sense. From what I am tracking she only has two affinities over 10 and that is 5-10, with the following spellforms: Fire Thermostasis. It is cold in the skies and keeps the air around my body comfortable. My air spell form eliminates wind shear when I am riding.”
Andrew Crews
Everyone was lounging about and had not even made it ❌[to set] camp. Corrected version: Everyone was lounging about and had not even made an effort to set up camp.
Dar-Angol
He was hoping,nah just Wolfie trying get little warmth, cheetahs do that with rangers in the flets..
Bananaboat
You can win over an animal easily with tasty food. Humans require a bit more empathy and understanding.
Silver Beard
Surely the Elder will wonder how Eryk gained the wolves trust so quickly. No doubt Raelea will tell on him as he did the same with Boldor and then the truth will be out.
Silver Beard
Haven't seen any half-orcs running about; so I think concubine is out of the picture. Still a chance she has children amongst the other Goliath slaves.
daniel dantas
this master's relationship with zorana will be paramount, she could be just anyone he would sell for something of value, he could be extremely possessive and in favor of slavery, opposing any chance of freedom for his slaves and we have the worst case scenario, she could be his concubine
daniel dantas
because they're not friends and he doesn't owe her anything, it doesn't cost much to wait a bit, I'd also offer the meat to the wolves
Silver Beard
The Dungeon meat would have done more for the Cleric's recovery. Curious he never offers
Silver Beard
Weird considering his empathy Stat is low
Silver Beard
If warlord Rhuuk is in the capital, we see if [she is with him] he is with her... the Sister is a slave. Prominence should be the Warlords.
Gwalmeich
What's to be disappointed for, Eric? You got to sleep with the best boy!
Eli Davis
As in, maybe she (had) thought his armor would be an encumbrance
Jordan
Enjoyed the chapter. Thanks!!
Silver Beard
“Why are you taking off your armor,” she said, frowning. {later} Maybe she thought my armor’s encumbrance would be the slight advantage she needed. So was he wearing armor or not? It's kinda cute that he keeps winning animals via their stomachs. Besides his magic affinities- I thought Empathy was pathetically low. 30ish
NightRider
They looked at me and then Tarnasha before lowering their head Should be HEADS
Ivan Kanewske
Not really a mistake, more like word flow??
M van Dongen
Very succesfully apparently....
M van Dongen
Floofs succesfully bribed....
daniel dantas
good chapter, i like the development and it seems that wrestling really creates a sexual tension, it's already the second girl that eryk trains like this and he feels 'excited', besides, i like how mc looks more and more like konstantin, it's fun to see this role of instructor and leader, I like how he refuses without hesitation when he sees the danger that Mynasha represents, something I've always liked about this work, mc is a killer, he can easily kill Mynasha, but in the same way, a lightning bolt from her would kill eryk or easily leave him seriously injured, this mortality among the powerful has always been a charm, so positive point. On a side note, it seems that eryk has a natural gift for animals, they always end up liking him, which makes me wonder, will we have a pet in the future?
Pope Yoda I
Excellent chapter. Good to see more interpersonal interactions and MC rationalizing his decisions. Was kind of hoping the ending would be MC waking up from a dirty dream, only to find wolf hoochie humping his leg. Maybe next time.
Andrew
Thank you!
Erick Thiemke
corrected
Erick Thiemke
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Erick Thiemke
corrected
Erick Thiemke
corrected
Erick Thiemke
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Erick Thiemke
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Ivan Kanewske
and I don’t think your cabin can hold all of us.” And I To As I
Erick Thiemke
corrected
Erick Thiemke
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visigoth
Nah, I get it contextually - plus Raelia development of some sort is nice - but he's never really let his guard down in these sorts of moments from what I can remember. It just seems a little more out of character than I would have thought, if that makes sense?
Erick Thiemke
corrected
Erick Thiemke
corrected
Erick Thiemke
not seeing the mistake here
Erick Thiemke
corrected
Erick Thiemke
no - this her gaining the advantage
Ivan Kanewske
strength. My hubris was my downfall as I repositioned, and she Her hubris was her downfall
Erick Thiemke
they were all sleeping around the fire pit in the open. the person came from their 'camp'. i think the MC was more hoping it was Raelia than anything else. Also someone would have been on guard
Ivan Kanewske
and the alligator rolled on the ground to try and break And the alligator To And then alligator
Ivan Kanewske
I could understand their frustration as I had faced it with Konstantin. With my last piece of armor off, I faced Raelia. As I hel felt it with Konstantin Or as I had felt it when facing Konstantin
visigoth
"... thought it had to be Raelia," feels like such a shift from how his character has been molded, imo, unless this is more of a moment of weakness. But even then, he's always sort of been like a honed blade when he's sleeping that I find this a little hard to believe - even though he's stressing right now with Glasha. Normally he'd have checked immediately who it was rather than assume safety. Sleeping at a strange orc's place is receiving less alertness than stringing a door at practically every place he's ever slept.
Ivan Kanewske
She scrunched HER face in distaste but couldn’t argue my point. Mateo
Ivan Kanewske
The denizens of the Endless Dark mine it but only occurs near the ley lines.” I nodded to her, thinking The denizens of the Endless Dark mine IT, but IT only occurs near the ley lines.” I nodded to her, thinking
Erick Thiemke
2000 words is the minimum. And most settle between 2200 and 2300. This was 3300
Eriach
How long are your normal chapters? Word count wise I mean.
PatronTurtle
Eryk the beast master. Stealing affections or aggravation from every animal he meets
Eriach
🤣 the wolf
Ivan Kanewske
but I was to a challenge this evening. To but I was UP to a challenge this evening.
Ivan Kanewske
started to accelerate and decelerate in my jog to make it harder for him and them, increasing my Them to then Or As well as
David Bordelon
I liked the flow of this chapter. Possible corrections: “You need to be able to eat on a full or empty stomach, Benito,” Should likely be “You need to be able to FIGHT on a full or empty stomach, Benito,” "but I was to a challenge this evening." Should likely be but I was up for a challenge this evening.
Ivan Kanewske
his lips was bleeding and he had a limp. He had manged Either His lip was, Or his lips were
Filip
Haha nice one at the end there
Ivan Kanewske
“You need to be able to eat on a full or empty stomach, Benito To “You need to be able to train on a full or empty stomach, Benito
Ivan Kanewske
Blaze was coming back from checking in the horses, nodding to me that all was good. In to on
Ivan Kanewske
Oscar was a puppy, scared of thunder and lightning and sympathizing with the wolf. In this instance I believe sympathizing should be sympathized
Aiden Wilker
Haha. Figured they were too intelligent to be normal wolves. But I guess the exiled cleric has some skill that caused that
Erick Thiemke
interesting thought but between you and me, they are just wolves
Aiden Wilker
Why do I get the feeling the wolves aren’t wolves?
Angus
Thanks for the chapter! Great work! 😊
Erick Thiemke
2 of 4 for cycle. Almost twice the length of a normal chapter, but just counting it as one. I will start the next chapter after some tea and hope to finish it in the next five hours. Those waiting on Town Builder - tomorrow before I start the 4th of 4 Soldier.
