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A Soldier's Life - 254 - Konstantin POV
🕑 Added 2024-08-29 03:10:43 +0000 UTCChapter 254: You Can’t Keep An Old Hound Down
Konstantin sat cleaning his weapons deep in the rocky crevice they had set their outlook. It was unnecessary, but it gave him something to do while he waited and mourned. He was still reeling from when Cornelius had revealed Eryk’s death to him. The blood compass had no pull on Cornelius’ sample.
The foolish boy had gotten himself killed, and it hurt more than it should have. He had mentored dozens of young men who died, so why did this feel different—more painful? He compartmentalized his feelings and focused on his responsibilities.
He had been pulled from Castile’s company to assist the greatly undermanned Hounds. The Emperor planned to portal behind the Bartiradian Army and launch an attack from the rear. He had been among the first men through the portal and was paired with Western Hound, one of Centurion Sergius’ immediate subordinates, Gracilis. This assignment suited him. If Antonia’s plan were enacted, he would prefer to be as far away from the Emperor as possible when betrayal occurred.
Looking over at Gracilis, he shook his head. He hadn’t wanted to be paired with anyone but had no choice. At least Gracilis was competent. After exiting the portal, they moved undetected four miles southwest into the hills overlooking the Bartiradian army. Now, they watched the edge of the enemy camp from a mile away to report any change. Gracilis was currently watching with the spyglass they were sharing.
“Any change?” Konstantin asked in a bored tone.
“Just two mages sneaking off into the woods for a quick romp. The woman isn’t too bad looking if you want to watch.” He turned and offered the spyglass to Konstantin.
“How far outside of camp? Could we catch them unawares?” Konstantin asked, sheathing his blade. It had been months since he slew an undead with his weapon, and its hunger gnawed on him after its gluttonous time in Caelora.
“No, there are sentries. Two, in fact, and they are enjoying the show from a large beech tree,” Gracilis said with a chuckle. “Shouldn’t be long now; dawn is coming.”
Konstantin grunted and stood. Hopefully, the army would all be through the portal by now. He wondered if Zyna would make her attempt on the Emperor during the battle. He might depart the field and return to the safety of his palace if this battle were won. Konstantin moved to lie with Gracilis on the ground. In front of him was the message book, and Konstantin read the last few messages.
Centurion Sergius relied too heavily on these artifacts. The last two pages had dozens of shorthand notes. Most appeared to be the positioning of various Hounds and the progress of the Emperor’s army. He had to admit that knowing events in essentially real time was useful. He was about to ask for a translation of the shorthand when Gracilis hissed, “The alarm just sounded.” As if to echo his statement, short horn bursts echo in the hills. Griffins took flight, one at a time, and raced in the direction of the Telhian portal.
“This is going to get messy,” Konstantin rasped, worried about his companions. He may work for Antonia, but his loyalty was to Castile as much as it could be. She was as close to a genuine leader as you could get among the mage ranks and more dependable than any First Citizen he had known.
The pair remained prone on their bellies as they watched the army stir over the next hours and march. It was an impressive sight and very orderly for the amalgamation of different troops. Konstantin quickly needed clarification on what he was seeing. “Why are they committing all their forces to engage the Emperor?”
Gracilis checked his book before answering. “Tiberius has not marched yet. They probably think the army appearing behind them is Tiberius’ and Octavian’s forces.”
“Why are Octavian’s provincial forces with Tiberius?” Konstantin asked, confused. He was sensing something in the air. A danger, and not that of the Bartiradian army about to be crushed between the Emperor’s and Tiberius’ armies.
Gracilis’ slow response was suspicious. “Don’t know. I am just reading what my Centurion is writing.”
Konstantin was already on guard as Gracilis rolled into him and attempted to stab him. His vice-like grip held the Hound’s wrist at bay, but he had not been prepared for the other short skinning knife that stabbed a half dozen times into his abdomen before he could distance himself and get on his feet deeper in the crevice. The wounds were not mortal, but a familiar paralysis started to spread from Konstantin’s gut. Gracilis didn’t give Konstantin a chance to draw his blade as he tackled him.
Gracilis just needed to restrain him long enough for the poison to paralyze Konstantin. “Just let it go, old man,” Gracilis hissed. “Events are in motion, and you are not going to be part of them. Don’t make your trip to Pluto’s realm more painful than it needs to be.”
“You are fucking dead,” Konstantin said with spittle spraying from his mouth as he pushed the pain aside. Gracilis was not aware that Konstantin had dosed himself over the years with the paralytic. He wasn’t immune but could remain somewhat functional. He slowly felt Gracilis overpowering him. He pushed all his aether into flinging a stone into Gracilis’ wide-open eye.
The impact surprised him, damaging the eye, and he briefly relaxed his hold on Konstantin. Konstantin took full advantage, pulling Gracilis toward him and biting hard on his nose; his teeth sunk deep, and metallic blood filled his mouth as he yanked his head back and forth. The crunching cartilage gave way, and Konstantin spat the bloody nose into Gracilis’ good eye.
Gracilis kicked away and drew his sword in one motion. His ruined nose flowed blood and sprayed on his strong exhales. Konstantin was quicker, and his runic blade drove up into his opponent’s sternum. Unfortunately, Konstantin was vulnerable even though his enemy was as good as dead. Gracilis’ blade bit deep into Konstantin’s arm, cutting through the armor and to the bone. The bone was probably broken as well.
The violent exchange only took ten heartbeats, but had taken its toll on both men. Konstantin grunted, ignoring the pain as the life flowed out of the Hound down his blade. The blood rushed down the blade’s length and soaked his hand. The weight of Gracilis slowly became too much, and he slowly collapsed to his right.
Konstantin tried to suck oxygen, but the paralytic only allowed for short forced breaths. He worked his only lesser healing potion to his lips, cursing Gracilis and Centurion Sergius. He calmed as best he could and fumbled to wrap his arm so he would not bleed out, as the potion would not be enough for his extensive injuries.
He had lost a lot of blood and could barely move under the effects of the poison. Konstantin painfully dug out his canteen and searched Gracilis for a lesser healing potion. He forced the water down and was angry as Gracilis only had a pair of lesser stamina potions in his belt and nothing in his small pack. The paralytic was making movement too difficult, so he crawled deep into the crevice. With the morning, the army in the distance was marching. All he could do was watch. Soon, his fatigue and blood loss caused him to fade into unwanted sleep.
When he woke, it was midday, and the army was gone. He focused the spyglass, and the camp was overrun with Telhian soldiers cutting down the camp followers. A few Bartiradians were being raped, and the screams drifted to him even a mile away.
Konstantin sucked his canteen dry and then drank the one in Gracilis’ pack. The effects of the paralytic had passed, but he was still groggy. He turned to studying the message book. Dozens of messages had been written since Gracilis had tried to kill him, but he couldn’t puzzle out the shorthand cipher.
He started to pack what he could and staged the body to appear he had been surprised by the Bartiradians. It might not have made a difference if there had been a civil war among the Hounds. He sensed this was more than a power play by Centurion Sergius, though.
He couldn’t use his left arm as the healing was incomplete, and the bone was still broken. What treachery was happening? What had happened in the hours he had been passed out? Where should he go? He had ten days of food as he painfully shouldered his Hound pack with one arm and moved toward the battle.
Three hours later, Konstantin was on a bluff overlooking hundreds of dead as carrion raptors feasted. If he had been in charge, this was where he would have observed the battle. He was kneeling over the headless body of Cornelius. “You taught us always to be prepared for anyone to betray us, Cornelius. Looks like you got too old and forgot your own advice.” The body had been stripped, but Konstantin searched him anyway.
The tracks in the earth told him two Hounds had killed Cornelius and taken his head. Dragon shit. It meant he would be subjected to a necromancer, and all the conspirators would be revealed. It looked like Centurion Sergius had figured out the conspiracy and sided with the Emperor. Most likely, Antonia was dead, but should he try to confirm? He had no love for the scheming woman. Antonia was likely in the capital but getting there was going to be a chore with a broken arm.
He sighed, realizing that Castile and Zyna must also be dead by now. He tried to convince himself he would be dead too if he had stayed with Castile, but that didn’t ease his guilt. He shambled down to the battlefield and slowly exchanged his Hound gear for legionnaire gear. At least with this, he could get his arm healed without drawing the attention of the traitorous Hounds.
He found an exhausted, healing mage further into the bloody field. “I am close to burnt legionnaire.” The man held up his hands in capitulation.
“Can you get the bone set and healed at least?” Konstantin winced as he moved his arm in the sling. The man winced but gave a short nod as he sweated through the healing. The pain eroded away, and he flexed his arm.
“Most of the muscle is repaired as well,” the mage rasped, collapsing to the ground. Konstantin didn’t even thank him as he moved in the direction the battle had gone. He found an Imperial legionnaire waiting for healing on a rock. His left arm was missing from the elbow down. It would take a tremendous amount of aether to regenerate the limb.
Konstantin sat heavily next to him. “What news of the victory and the Emperor?”
The man coughed a laugh and spat blood. His injuries extended beyond the arm, apparently. “Victory, yes. The Emperor took all the cavalry he could muster to run down the remnants of the Bartiradian forces.”
Konstantin nodded but didn’t know how to ask if the Emperor had been betrayed or if it was common knowledge the East and West Hounds were warring behind the scenes. Instead, he handed the Imperial legionnaire a canteen he had looted. The man took it as they watched a few soldiers run around the field to find the living and keep them so. When the legionnaire passed out, Konstantin made him comfortable as he was likely to die without healing.
Konstantin eventually joined the search for the living as he looked for men he knew. He recognized a few faces among the dead but only recalled a handful of names. When he found Kolm’s body, he knelt and closed the man’s eyes, and said a short blessing on the body. He couldn’t find any other members of the company among the dead, but it was a massive battlefield that had shifted during the fight.
A rider wearing Octavian’s colors came racing on horseback through the field. He repeated the same message over and over: “The Bartiradians have killed the Emperor; Duke Octavian has avenged him!”
The few men around were stunned by the news. Konstantin didn’t buy it for one second. The Emperor had too many powerful mages and Imperial legionnaires guarding his person. He started to move in the direction the rider had come from, but slipped into the woodlands for cover. It took time to reach the site of the second battle. He observed from a safe distance.
It was clearly a mage battle with the scent of ozone, and many trees were still burning. Octavian’s men were stripping the bodies of Imperial legionnaires and mages. One Imperial legionnaire started to stand, and two of Octavian’s men cut him down. Then he saw Hercule and Sergius walking among the dead and cataloging them. So, Sergius had betrayed both Antonia and the Emperor. He ground his teeth but was in no position for revenge. He faded back into the woods, the fate of his company unknown.
He waited until night, and the men cleared the field. Then he walked among the dead. With the Hound goggles, it was not difficult to find High Mage Zyna’s red hair and stripped body. A hole was burned through her eye socket. So, she had moved on the Emperor, and maybe she was the one who had succeeded in killing him.
He needed to satisfy his curiosity as he searched the bodies. When he found Adrian, he felt the pain of loss. Adrian was like an estranged brother to Konstantin. There was no time to bury him. He couldn’t find Castile or a number of others in the company. Had they gotten away, or did Octavian have them in chains?
With no allies and few places to go, Konstantin made his way north toward the capital to get the answers he wanted and the revenge he needed.
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Comments
Marnie
He had been among the first men through the portal and was paired with *Western Hound, He had been among the first men through the portal and was paired with a Western Hound,
Marnie
Konstantin sat cleaning his weapons deep in the rocky crevice* they had set their *outlook. Maybe Konstantin sat cleaning his weapons deep in the rocky crevice where they had set their lookout.
Angelo
Fuck, reading about Zyna's death again sucks so hard 😕
Erick Thiemke
corrected
Erick Thiemke
corrected
Erick Thiemke
corrected
Erick Thiemke
cant knock off all the favs
Erick Thiemke
corrected
Erick Thiemke
corrected
Erick Thiemke
corrected
Erick Thiemke
think i corrected this in some rewording
Erick Thiemke
corrected
Erick Thiemke
corrected
Erick Thiemke
corrected
Erick Thiemke
corrected
Erick Thiemke
corrected
Justin Konwinski
He shambled down the battfield and slowly **excahgned **his Hound gear for legionnarie gear fix spelling
Mercutio Montano
Correction needed. Wrong character. Its Cornelius not Konstantine: The tracks in the earth told him two Hounds had killed Konstantin and taken his head
Erick Thiemke
I post weekly chapters. You can see that schedule in “chapter release notes”
Hernando
Does anyone know the publishing times? , sorry I'm new just started reading it less than a month ago and I get hooked
Richard Thorn
The Empire (Emperor) took all the cavalry...
Gamt
.
Brianna Stormcloud
Thanks for the chapters, a pity Konstantin wasn’t included in the meetup plan. Is it too much to hope he can stumble across the Hounds with Cornelius’ head before they get to a necromancies!
Trevayne
Thanks for the chapters.
Sean Kauffman
"The tracks in the earth told him two Hounds had killed Konstantin and taken his head". Cornelius instead or reorder for clarity
IndyBart
I know more moths behind from when this was originally posted, but damm, hate seeing more and more of the OG unit getting killed off.
Andrew Crews
It was clearly a mage battle *with the ozone, *and the trees were still burning It was clearly a mage battle—the air was thick with ozone, and the trees were still burning.
Andrew Crews
Victory, yes. The *Empire took all the cavalry he could muster to run down the remnants of the Bartiradian forces.” Victory, yes. The Emperor took all the cavalry he could muster to run down the remnants of the Bartiradian forces.”
Andrew Crews
He shambled down the battfield and slowly *excahgned his Hound gear for legionnarie gear. At least with this he could get his arm healed and not draw the attention of the traitorous Hounds. He found an exhausted, healing mage further into the bloody field. “I am close to burnt legionnaire.” The man held up his hands in *sublication. He shambled down the battlefield, slowly exchanging his Hound gear for legionnaire gear. At least with this, he could get his arm healed and avoid drawing the attention of the traitorous Hounds. He found an exhausted healing mage further into the bloody field. “I am close to burnt, legionnaire,” the man said, holding up his hands in supplication
Erick Thiemke
no the books are paired. Sergius had multiple books to look through
Robert Biederman
You know if I understand this correctly those books that record all messages and transmit them to all the other books is correct then if I were in Constantine's shoes right now I would write everything in that book that I am looking at on the field of battle the fact that sergius is a traitor turned against the emperor and Antonia point the finger right at sergius and Octavian muddy the waters as it were it's what I would do let everyone that has one of these books read this I love it put the entire blame for the emperor's death right in the laps of sergius and octavius whether it is believed or not there will be doubt in everyone's mind
Robert Biederman
The fact of the matter is if it is so easy to destroy anybody's attempt through magic or some device to block these compasses ability to always point at that individual then why is the MC compass always working when he uses his to see if any of his friends are still living as far as I can see it's working every time we know that both archives are destroyed at this period of time and yet his compass still works without any problem
Robert Biederman
It would be the family's own archives that matter every blood sample that exists is already owned by all of these families look at this way the destruction of those two archives are meaningless because nothing has been lost when thought about this way
Robert Biederman
That compass would allow anyone's father or mother to know whether or not their children are still alive it's far too important the author isn't giving enough importance to this if your children are in combat that device will like the father and mother know whether or not their children are still alive where they're at you see where I am going with this those archives are nothing more than a backup but that's it the importance in my opinion is the compass
Robert Biederman
This is also another thing that has always bothered me so what if the archives both of them are destroyed there are so many blood samples owned by so many people because of this compass to trace and know where people are you cannot get rid of everything especially with the use of that compass and there would be millions of samples out there for no other reason than families able to keep track of where their members are it's ridiculous that these archives have been given such a huge level of importance cuz when you think about it it would be the existence of these compasses that would be the most important item ever made by this society think about it
Robert Biederman
Okay this it's just weird if Constantine has a blood sample of anyone and a spell is used to activate it it would point in the direction of that individual the strongest impression of that blood this is what the function of that device and spell is used for so in regards to our MC here he is obviously not dead so why isn't that spell and that compass working it has nothing whatsoever to do with the archive
Apophixas
Their armor isn't resin leather like legionnaire armor. A sharp and well made knife can absolutely stab through leather armor. Normal leather armor rarely prevents stabbing or slashing attacks from wounding. It just makes the injuries less serious, and can sometimes cause blades to catch and prevent further damage, and protects a bit better against blunt damages.
Apophixas
You can be cunning, but still stupid. And snakes like Octavian always seem to slither the their way in to where they shouldn't be. Also, really smart and competent people are often fooled by two thing above all others on situations like this. Their inability to account for any potential incompetence on their own side, and an often unconscious bias towards thinking someone incompetent could ever come put on top over them. They were literally too confident and prideful in their "perfect" schemes, and couldn't imagine how lesser minds and people could best them. Happens all the time, really.
Bart Fontein
Zynaaaaa
Steve
You would think these supposedly hyper competent conspirators would realise the obvious betrayal instantly and maybe even just kill Octavian first. Octavian is obviously incompetent from everything we know about him but I guess he is suddenly a genius now.
Invalid Entry
Well this was depressingly predictable. Antonia was built up so much that I was hoping she had counters in place for Octavian and any potential Allie’s he had but nah, turns out she was just a dummy and assumed he would bend over and take the doublecross. Either that or she really is smart and was actually supporting Octavian from the beginning. There’s no world in which he wasn’t going to expect treachery and wouldn’t be making moves as soon as he was in on the plot to make sure he came out on top.
Tyler Lanza
Rest in peace Zyra 😭😭
Tetsu-nii
Typo: /Hounds had killed Konstantin and taken his head/ => /[…] killed *Cornelius* …/
Lemes
A suit of hard leather armor that won't withstand a skinning knife must have something very wrong with it. I would even agree that it would be weaker against a sword or spear, but not against a simple knife.
saber
The leather armor is much better vs blunt than peirceing weapons. They would need chainmail to stop stabbings.
Lemes
One question. The Hounds wear armor, how did Gracilis manage to stab Konstantin through his armor with a skinning knife?
Lemes
there was an error in this part "The tracks in the earth told him two Hounds had killed Konstantin and took his head." Replace Konstantin with Cornélius.
Erick Thiemke
Konstantin's blade gives him an endorphin rush when he kills an undead. Konstantin doesnt realize it but he is an addict to the rush. Not so much that he runs off to kill undead but suffers from withdrawal
Jordan
Could you clarify this item in the story? Currently it’s confusing.
Erick Thiemke
i envision Konstantin blocking the blow with his arm
larback
He believes Erik is dead. If he knew that Erik was alive, he would have a reason to look and would certainly find a trace of him easily, after all he is Kostantin.
Karnnie
Unfortunately, Konstantin was vulnerable even though his enemy was as good as dead. Gracilis’ blade bit deep into Konstantin’s, cutting through the armor and to the bone. It was probably broken as well. Blade bit deep into Konstantin's blade??? What did his blade cut into? It says cutting through the armor and bone but you did not actually state where he was stabbed.
Karnnie
Gracilis didn’t give Konstantin a chance to draw his blade as he tackled him. How did he tackle Konstantin if they are both on the ground? You noted one sentence above that he rolled into Konstantin, now he is being tackled? They never stood up. This needs clarification.
Silver Beard
Assuming his handler is still alive. If Surgies(?) had his way with the Necromancer then his handler's fate is sealed. About the only good thing to get from this is all his blood samples are gone. First word of Emperor's death- the imperials would have wasted the Capital archive or most of it and Eryk already took out the other. Why offer up a new one? If he's caught or has to fight... a new sample will be retained. Interesting to note the cypher- Eryk was never given one; almost like he was going to be expendable to begin with.
Chachi
got worried konstantin wasnt going to make it for a sec
Khress
I like that idea! But him going to the capital first, cutting ties with his handler/ tieing up loose ends and then making his way to mavieth is also a good strategy
Eriach
Don't think it'll happen, Konstantin is injured and moving slower than normal, whereas Eryk is not and moving fast. He'd probably arrive a little later than him but the timeliness would be close.
Eriach
And they can learn new tricks too!
Silver Beard
Konstantin should seek out Mavieth with news of Eric where he'll likely run into the Goliaths Eric rescued. Perhaps after a conversation- maybe piece together that he's still alive when Mavieth is long gone before the new ones arrived. A Hound like him will likely find man, horse, Goliath tracks around Mavieth's home. Konstantin might not recognize Eryk's footwear, but the size, depression, etc will be very, very suggestive. He'd have a direction to start looking. Maybe rejoin the story at some point.
Kbzzy
I want him to walk in on the company and act like everything’s normal as he eats again
Andrew
Thank you!
Rhys Jones
I would love for him to spot the MC at the adventure guild and ghost him
Thresher
Nice to see Konstantin again. That little interaction between him and the other legionnaire just chilling all injured was cool. Thanks for the chapter.
Erick Thiemke
Telhian. He doesn’t know Castille plan to go to Gramney
Silver Beard
Which Capital? The rendezvous or the imperial capital
Ivan Kanewske
The Empire took all the cavalry he could muster to run down the remnants of the Bartiradian forces.” Empire should be Emperor I think
Ivan Kanewske
He shambled down the battfield and slowly excahgned his Hound gear for legionnarie gear. At least with this he could get Exchanged is misspelled
BubblyGhost
Can't keep an old hound down
steve H
The tracks in the earth told him two Hounds had killed Konstantin and taken his head. Should be Cornelius instead of Konstantin
Erick Thiemke
i wanted to post the World Sphere chapter from last week first but this was clearer in my head. also spent most of the day cleaning
saber
Ayo it came out a little early. That's a treat
Erick Thiemke
1st of 4 for cycle. A new POV vote will come out next week. Working on World Spere POV right now...slow process
