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A Soldier's Life - 230 - Old Acquaintances
🕑 Added 2024-07-15 03:32:51 +0000 UTCChapter 230: Old Acquaintances
Midmorning, freezing rain started to fall. At first, I was suspicious of the weather as I was tracking a water mage, but the compass pull indicated the target was still extremely far away. It was just bad luck. Fortunately, I had a large oiled cloak for me and a similar treated blanket for the mount. The terrible thing about the rain was that the noise of the icy drops hitting my hood took away one of my senses as I moved through the wild.
“You know I only took you to make Hercule walk back to the city,” I told the horse as we jogged along. “I usually name my mounts. How do you like Rusty? Your coat is reddish brown and fits.” The horse didn’t seem to be very talkative today. I missed Ginger. She would have at least given me some response—or nudged me for an apple.
Soon, the ground was coated in a thin layer of ice, making it difficult to use my earth speak spell form. It caused me to slow down and be more cautious as I moved south. My prey had at least a day’s head start and could be as much as forty miles further south. It could be more if the mage had some type of movement ability or they had horses themselves. Hercule hadn’t mentioned it.
As the sun faded, the rain turned to icy drops, and the temperature dropped quickly. I pulled my Hound thermal stone and secured it under my Hound jacket. When the sun disappeared, I put on my night vision goggles. Channeling a constant thread of aether into them as I moved and constantly wiping the lenses. Rusty was not happy with moving in the cold night, but I felt the compass pull slowly getting stronger. The quicker I finished my task, the better.
The dense woods turned into rocky, hilly terrain, and the clouds kept the forest dark. Rusty started pulling back on the lead, not having the same night sight he was not liking the darkness. I would either have to release the mount or take shelter till morning. I slowed to a walk and moved toward a rocky hill, looking for shelter for the night. Fortunately, I found a shallow cave just as the sleet changed to snow.
Rusty was relieved for the shelter as I removed his horse blanket and used my Raelia’s thermal stone to heat the cave. Snow accumulated a few feet away outside the cave as I rubbed Rusty down and got him comfortable. The warhorse grew much more comfortable as night settled in, we were sheltered, and I gave him some grain and an apple for dinner.
I settled into the cave and fingered the blood compass. The strength of the pull remained constant, indicating my prey was resting, too. Maybe they were also trapped in the snowstorm. I took short naps at night and was annoyed by Centurion Sergius asking for a progress report. I wrote that I had moved about fifty miles southwest and was closing in.
Rusty neighed early in the morning; it was still dark, but the snow was tapering off. The snowfall was about a foot deep, and I listened. The crunching of compacting snow was distant but getting closer. “Quiet down, Rusty.” I rubbed his head reassuringly, and the warhorse calmed. The crunching slowly got closer and louder. Whatever it was, it sounded big. Rusty was tense, and his body language told me he wanted to flee.
My mind was running through what large creature would be active during winter. A variety of giants were the most likely choice. I stepped out into the snow and used the spyglass to scan the woods. It only took me a moment to find the creature. It was tracking our trail even under the snow. It was not as large as the one I had faced in the Shimmering Labyrinth, but it was definitely an owlbear. It was much too early in the fall for owlbears to be out of hibernation—but I didn’t think to argue with the creature.
I watched it approach and scanned the surrounding woods with the night vision and spyglass, glad I took them with me. It looked like the owlbear was my only foe. “Rusty, stay here. I will take care of this.” Rusty’s large brown eyes looked at me doubtfully. He pulled on his tether line, indicating we should run, but he didn’t panic.
I walked out into the snow, slowly walking toward the owlbear, which finally noticed me and charged with a shirek. Rusty neighed a warning behind me, but I was focused on the creature. It plowed through the snow on all fours, throwing up white powder as it growled and hissed. A knew it was trying to get em to run, so it could take me down from behind.
I removed the collector and then dodged as I removed the owlbear’s head. The body slid on the snowy and icy ground past me. The snow quickly turned red with a steady flow of blood as the body exsanguinated itself with a still-pumping heart. That wasn’t so difficult.
I examined the beast and frowned. The owlbear had poorly healed wounds on its haunches: large claw marks, a day or two old by the scabbing. Something had forced this powerful beast out of its hibernation. I doubted the owlbear had been victorious or it wouldn’t be hunting us. I scanned the woods and sky while waiting for my aether to recover.
I used the collector when my aether recovered, getting a major power essence. I placed the power essence in my mouth and savored it as its warmth spread through me. I dropped the head of owlbear a few minutes later next to the corpse and retreated to the cave.
Rusty seemed confused at my victory, having trouble processing what I had done to kill the dangerous predator. I reassured him with an apple and rubbed his head, “You got lucky getting stuck with me, Rusty. There are not many things that give me trouble.” He nuzzled me affectionately, recognizing me as the alpha predator.
I saddled Rusty and led him away from the owlbear. When the sun graying the sky, I mounted Rusty and continued my pursuit. It was the first time I had ridden Rusty, and the large warhorse responded eagerly to my commands.
The ice under the snow was a concern, but I slowly spurred Rusty faster as we moved further south. During the morning, we crossed a handful of tracks in the snow, nothing that alarmed me. Resting at midday to feed and water Rusty, we had closed the distance to my target. So much so that I could feel the changing direction of the prey’s pull on the compass. She was south of me but moving west. I changed my direction and pushed Rusty into a run.
I planned to get ahead of the group and have them come to me. I doubted they were fleeing to the Boutan Caliphate as they would have sought a ship if they were. More likely, they were trying to flee south and head to empires that were hundreds of miles to the south through the mountains. A dangerous route this time of year.
By evening, I was riding parallel to the target with just a thin dusting of snow on the ground. They were definitely on foot, and I raced ahead of them. Rusty was tired from the hard day of riding and ready for a rest. Tonight, clear skies and Neptune’s Tear would give us plenty of light for an ambush. I dismounted and jogged with Rusty as we circled wide to get ahead of them.
They continued moving into the night but were moving much slower than me. I found a good place to ambush them based on their path and set up behind a boulder. I tied off Rusty, “Okay, time to be quiet, Rusty.” I fed him an apple and pulled out my bow and arrows from my dimensional space.
My plan was simple: take them out from a distance with the arrows rather than risk an engagement. It was half an hour before I spotted them with the spyglass. I had chosen a decent position, and they would pass fifty yards. The three women were bundled up and moving at a walk. Two were wearing legionnaire armor that had been painted black, probably to make it easier to hide.
I drew my bow and decided the mage was the most dangerous opponent. They walked into my firing line, unaware as I released. The twang of the bow had them immediately on alert. A blue screen flashed around the female mage, and I cursed. Of course, she had an aether shield amulet. I couldn’t get one, but she had one.
“The Hounds found us!” One of the legionnaires barked, standing in front of the mage and looking for the threat. I pulled another paralytic arrow and targeted the legionnaire, knowing she didn’t have an amulet. The arrow was on target but hit a protective bubble, stopping it. The minimal blue light of the moon made it difficult for them to locate me, but my two arrows gave them my general location.
“How many?” The mage asked nervously. “Is it the same one?”
The legionnaire responded, narrowing her focus on the rock I was using as cover, “Only one so far. It may be the same Hound.”
Things started going sideways. The mage cast a hail of ice spikes at me, forcing me to take cover. The shards fractured on the rocks, echoing like shattering glass in the night. I could hear the pounding of feet as the legionnaires rushed my position under cover of the mage’s hail of ice. I used earth speak to watch them approach. Rusty warned me from fifty feet away of the incoming danger. They were planning to come around both sides of the rock by their movements.
One had a spear, and the other a staff. They moved in concert, and I reached into my pouch and pulled three pellets. I timed it to smash them into the frozen ground on one side while I engaged the legionnaire with the spear. I set an air shield on the ground and watched as she ran full sprint into it. To her credit, she turned the trip into a roll. My black blade was already coming down on her. I caught her wrist, removing her hand.
She let out a low, angry, pained scream. The other legionnaire had charged through the cloud, and it had blinded her, but she had been smart enough to hold her breath but not close her eyes. Her staff swung where she expected me to be but passed through empty air.
Her closeness allowed me to see her face, which was a familiar face. Helena? It had been over a year, but it was definitely her face under the helm. There were so few female legionnaires that I should have realized the possibility. There was no way she would recognize me in the low light, especially wearing the goggles.
I didn’t have eyes on the mage, which was a concern. I turned on the one-handed spear wielder, who feebly tried to use the spear from her knees in the dark. I flicked the spear aside and bashed her helmet with a heavy sword swing, knocking her out and cutting into her collarbone on the rebound. She would bleed out from the amputation in time, and I turned to face the blinded Helena.
She was trying to blink and wipe the slime coating her eyes. She yelled in desperation, “Sylph! Where is he? I can’t see!” Her partner was not going to respond—her eyes were rolled up in unconsciousness, blood pooling beneath her from two wounds.
There was still one more threat. I sent out an earth pulse, and the mage had not approached; maybe she had been wise and fled. “Sylph has been neutralized. Drop your staff, Helena,” I said evenly.
“Who are you?” Anger laced her words but she was tracking my voice. She thought I had just killed her companion because there had been no response.
“It has been a long time, but I hope you will recognize my voice from our training,” I responded calmly. Helena had helped me get through the legionnaire training, and maybe we had been friends. At least, that was how I looked at our relationship. After I killed the mage, I would give her the chance to run. I had not been ordered to kill the legionnaires after all, just the mage.
Helena’s mind was racing as she held up her staff in a defensive posture. “The clumsy foreigner?” Helena finally said uncertainly. That was how she remembered me?
I heard the sound of soft footsteps approaching and pulsed earth speak. The mage was rushing to my position. She could hear us and see Helena clearly struggling in the moonlight. She must have assumed I was facing Helena and was going to surprise me from behind. As she rushed around the rock, I turned and was shocked to see—nothing.
My mind raced quickly, solving the riddle, and I pulsed earth speak—there was definitely someone there. Trusting my earth speak, I outlined the figure and sent it into my dimensional space. My aether bottomed out indicating success. I had puzzled out that the mage had been using an invisibility spell form. It had fooled the night vision goggles but couldn’t fool my earth speak spell form.
Helena was struggling to make sense of the lack of sounds around her and finally yelled. “Don’t attack, Selene! I know the Hound! We might be able to reason with him.” If Helena wanted to talk and reason with me, I was more than welcome to converse.
I turned back to Helena and asked, “So, Helena, how have you been?”
Comments
Battleborn
"A knew it was trying to get em to run, so it could take me down from behind. " I and me fix. Should be, "I knew it was trying to get me to run, so it could take me down from behind."
Erick Thiemke
corrected
Erick Thiemke
corrected
Erick Thiemke
corrected
Erick Thiemke
corrected
Brianna Stormcloud
Thank you 📖🍿
Andrew Crews
There are * many things that give me trouble.” He nuzzled me affectionately, recognizing me as the alpha predator. There are not many things that give me trouble.” He nuzzled me affectionately, recognizing me as the alpha predator.
Jordan
“There are many things that give me trouble.” Are -> are not
Tetsu-nii
Capitalization: /head to Empires that were/ should be *empires* unless it's a realm named "Empires", which would just be odd.
momo2009
roll not role
yohan gu
@lemes It turns out their are indeed traitors, but anyway. Eryk is a hound. His personal sentiment towards the empire, that is unclear, does not matter much. These are legitimate targets, he can do his job. (I insist on the legitimacy of the targets, it’s not just a “I was only following orders” situation, the orders were legitimate, contrary to the kids-killing ones). As for the description of the Empire: Imperialist is anachronistic and, how would it be relevant anyway? It’s shown to have a relatively high level of corruption indeed, but that seems to be limited to the games of the highest sphere, he just was unlucky enough to have too remarkable a profile. But again, how is that relevant? Finally for the violence: nothing particular, but, again, specifically the highest spheres seem to be brutal. This should only spur himself to adapt himself to his context.
Broke Boy
You should add links for the next chapter for a easier read. I’ve seen it on other books I’m reading
Silver Beard
Beauracracies aren't that efficient. Look at our of RL government! He will need to keep the Mage for years. Same as the kids from before. His space is huge, but it's not infinite. At some point he's going to have to kill someone he'd prefer to save.
striderfighter
trip into a role...
Caledon Smith
Most likely either A) Eyrk keeps her alive and let’s her go later and makes her an ally to fight stage newly installed emperor. Or less likely B) Eyrk keeps her and kills her later for water essence. Given the author, I’m rather sure he will go with option A.
Erick Thiemke
no there is a list of their trademarks online. i have had to scrub a lot of monsters from stories that are...displacer beasts, mind flayers, beholders, ect...
Karnnie
They are not.
Da Worst John
So silly question, aren't Owlbears trademarked by Wizards of the Coast?
momo2009
if he had been ruthless since the beginning then kill all 3 would make sense, but so far their been no life altering event to make him become more cold and hard. He has army buddies, he has a lover, an milf friend, a backup escape location in an Elf and M friend. Life has been good and he hasn't suffered anything to make him do thing against his current characterization. The only mistake was sleeping with the servant and that changed him into not having relationship with people he cant trust. So unless he lose an arm or one of his buddies dies in front of him due to him not being ruthless enough, the mc shouldn't change.
momo2009
I like it. He shown to do naive things but it is a part of his character. If he had killed the mage in battle is one thing but since he store her which will removed the tracking of the blood compass, the hound leader can't prove that he save her. The MC isn't ruthless and act with moral from earth, which make the story more endearing to the reader. Seeing as how the future is the mc fleeing and the story is a "soldier life" him getting more people for his mercenary group is a must.
Lemes
I don't understand this reasoning that seems to assume that if Erick doesn't kill her he will be condemning himself in some way. He only needs to keep her in his dimensional space for a day or two until the centurion Sergios checks his blood compass and determines her death for sure. After that she would be free to leave the empire. Erick will also be leaving very soon. I doubt it will be long before the conspirators are forced to act against the emperor. When this happens, regardless of the success of the conspiracy, he will no longer have any reason to remain tied to the empire. Today he has the resources and knowledge necessary for his escape.
Lemes
I don't see it that way. She is a talented mage and a noble by birth. She would hardly live the life of a peasant in the Kingdom she is trying to escape to. She is probably carrying resources (money and jewelry), and wherever she goes there must be something prepared for her. Nobres has contacts and resources. Surely she must have something planned to guarantee her livelihood.
Silver Beard
I'm honestly confused by all this anger and frustration over a few deaths to achieve his goal of freedom?! A small price to pay given the era he lives in. | You'd rather him become wall fodder for the wars just to hold his head up and he's decapitated and say "at least he was honorable"... ????
Silver Beard
@Lemes agreed with most of what you had to say; but the life of the mage is forfeit. There is no way a privileged woman, and a mage who can cast true spells, will live the life of a peasant. At the mercy of all her betters?! That's not going to happen no matter what she promises, begs, etc. She has to die; and Eryk has to do it.
Silver Beard
I'm hoping he will rewrite it- mage dead, spear user bleeding out. If he opts to spare the staff wielder that's on him. That should be enough for the Centurian. Loot and collect the essence and haul ass before whatever predator forced the owlbear out comes looking.
Lemes
Well, none of these people that the hounds want the MC to kill are "enemies of their country". He is a foreigner who resents being forced to serve a highly corrupt and violent imperialist power. I don't think he has any sense of loyalty to the empire. He's killed a lot of people before, but it was always in combat and out of necessity. The personality that the author created and has been developing to date is that of a tough and pragmatic man, who does not hesitate to kill other men to survive, and not that of a murderer who kills anyone just to stay in the good graces of his superiors.
yohan gu
It is not setting up to have him kill the mage, now she is in his space he will most likely spare her. I don't want him to become a cold blooded killer either, but killing the enemies of your country is quite typically a soldier thing, not a gangster thing. As far as I'm concerned, in this fantasy world I relax my irl moral code and so: it's a traitor or an enemy? they are fighting on the opposing side of the mc? they're fair game. So, if you were referring to the mc going out to do his duty in hunting this mage as "being a gangster thing" and unbecoming for the MC, I'll have to disagree.
yohan gu
Should be "Don't attack, Selene!", but it's Helena. She's telling the mage not to attack Eryk, she doesn't know she has just been taken in storage.
Lemes
There would be no point in having the body burned if they wanted it to carry some proof of death. It would make more sense if they asked Erick to take his head if they needed proof. Most likely, when the body is burned, the target's blood will no longer be registered by the blood compass, and this will make the centurion Sergios certain of his death. Erick would not need to keep her indefinitely in his dimensional space, just the time necessary for his superior to give him orders to return to his guard post, which would prove that he was convinced of the water mage's death. As for not wanting the MC to become a cold-blooded killer, it's because that would go against everything he's demonstrated about his personality so far. He is tough and kills whenever his life is at risk during combat, but he has never killed anyone who did not pose a threat to his life. It would be a very drastic change in behavior and personality if he went around killing anyone he was ordered to kill.
Caledon Smith
I disagree, but you have to keep in mind that the story has set up ways to tell if he has killed the person he has been set to kill. The family was able to be saved due to them not being overly important and not having their blood on file. The first citizen mage though does have her blood on file and they can use it to see if she’s alive. Eyrk’s space prevents them from tracking so it will appear she is dead. The problem is they requested her body to be burned which means he has to turn in a body which they can check to verify if it’s her with speak to dead, the blood compass or some other unseen means. The empire has been hunting people like this for thousands of years so they have a system to verify if the person is actually dead. They are not just going to trust the word of a hound as he could be misinformed, thought he killed the person but it was an illusion, doppelgänger, he could have his memory altered so he thinks he did and so forth. We have been shown that the empire is run rather competently even if some of their abilities are exaggerated. Eyrk saving every person he is assigned to kill risks him endangering himself and all his loved ones that are part of the coop. Anyway, I’ve typed enough, I like that Eyrk cares and wants to save thoughts that he can, but it looses meaning if he just saves everyone all the time, because MC reasons.
Lemes
I don't like the idea of the MC becoming a cold-blooded killer. It's okay to have to kill in combat, you have to prioritize your own survival. Going out killing just because you are ordered to is a gangster thing. This excuse that he enlisted is not justified. He didn't enlist, he was forced to enlist. So far all the deaths he has caused have been in combat. I hope it stays that way, otherwise I'd better change the name of the story to "The Life of a Gangster".
Erick Thiemke
it is changed to Track and kill the traitor. (singular) but of course it was implied the legionnaires should be killed too
Erick Thiemke
thanks - i will correct the text in chapter 229
Victor Skaarup
Who is saying “Don’t attack Selene”? The flow is awkward
theend
I think Silver Beard or Karnnie have some good arguments. Eryk knew what the Hound's are doing. He cannot always protect and save his targets. That he managed that with the children and mother is already good enough. Eryk seems a bit careless with showing off. He cannot know when he is being watched. How often did Castile find out one of his secrets with her All-Seeing-Eye? There could be easily another Hound keeping an eye on him right know. I also assume that this Hound Arc is there to force Eryk to do things he despises. It makes him feel guilty, but it also toughens him up.
yohan gu
first few cchapters, in the legion training camp. She's the woman who taught him to fight with a staff. She was not reallly a friend, but her companionship was the best thing he had at the time, apart from the healer's tutelage.
Jairic
I liked it. Seems like there is more to the situation than just hunting down a mage. I dont see why he wouldnt use an opportunity to get more information even if be does kill them in the end. He is already in a conspiracy to remove the emperor and has disregarded orders from the current hound group already.
Silver Beard
Brings up an interesting question- what drove the owl-bear from it's hibernation? It wasn't the ladies... another Pathfinder group?? Eric might have a lot less time than he thinks for the BS. if there's another apex predator around this fight will attract it
Silver Beard
He didn't consume it. Since he burned his channels his acquisition of essence has become 'an event'. He's hunting- he doesn't have the time to 'enjoy' it.
Silver Beard
@Prinny Knight Situation absolutely sucks; but it's the gig he signed up for. He was a conscript with 4+ years to go. Now he's a Hound and if things work out he might be free in 2-3 years or less. Eryk already called them a crime syndicate... are you really that surprised that he's been asked to do shit he wouldn't otherwise? He saved the kids which should be a win big enough to ignore what he's got to do now.
Karnnie
I used the collector when my aether recovered, getting a major power essence. Did he consume this essence or store it for later? (Note takers need to know) The shards shattered in the rocks, echoing like shattering glass in the night. The shards shattered on the rocks, echoing like shattering glass in the night. After I killed the mage, I would give her the chance to run. I had not been ordered to kill the legionnaires after all, just the mage. “A First Citizen has betrayed the Empire. She is being protected by two legionnaires. Hound Hercule will bring you a blood sample of the First Citizen. Track and kill all three. ” (Chapter 229, Paragraph 27.) That looks like an order to me. Anyone else?
Karnnie
Personally, I would reverse it. Make the other person, the staff wielder run through the smoke, blinded and not holding her breath so that she is paralyzed and out of the fight. Then I would have him use the Runic spear and face off against Helena, that way he can at least get a good sense of her fighting prowess before killing her (unless you have plans for her in the future, in that case incapacitate her). Then he can add a copy to the dreamscape for practice. After the two guards are taken out, he can fight the mage. He should not place her in his storage space, he should kill her or incapacitate her with the mage bane blade, question her and then kill her. He cannot continue to keep his hands clean. You can be a good guy and still have to do bad things. He is conscripted, disregarding orders is a fast way to be executed or just outright killed. Perhaps bing in castile's company made him think that he had more freedom than he actually does, that should be corrected post haste. It adds both realism to his situation and gives motivation for killing Sergio when making his escape.
Korviz
Nice call back with Helena
Karnnie
Not when given orders by your acting commander it isnt.
Silver Beard
Am a little curious what she has on her that might be incriminating to the Empire. Another storage device? Definitely looking forward to taking that armor amulet.
Prinny Knight
Abit blood thirsty. Diplomacy is always the primary goal when available.
Silver Beard
No chit chat; and don't take the whole mage into his space... heart or brain would be enough. Shit, even both feet via his connection with the earth would be enough in this weather. Get this ugly business done and get back to the watch site. Talking is just going to make what he has to do all that much worse. Hunting women is already ugly; why make Eryk suffer more? End them and move on. Isn't he haunted already?
Caledon Smith
If you do I would like to see Eyrk engage with Helena exchanging blows before disarming her. Doesn’t have to be much, but would make it more believable. As is she thinks her friend is dead and is asking the mage to not kill the murderer. For someone fleeing the empire knowing what that will entail, it seems a little to heavy handed. Add some more to the fight, show that her trying even though she’s blinded before having to give in and listen to the hound as she has no other recourse, could even have her tell the mage to flee instead of just not attacking the hound. Just some thoughts, enjoyed the read keep it up.
BubblyGhost
Damn, if only I remembered who that was
1536539
I remember someone called it on Helena being there.
1536539
Thank you for the chapter, great fight!, it’s getting crowded in there.
Andrew
Thank you!
Erick Thiemke
3rd of 4 for cycle. So just getting impressions for this encounter and may rewrite.
