A Soldier's Life - 374 - Stop Horsing Around (edited 4-8-25 +300 words)

Chapter 374: Stop Horsing Around

The camp at the top of the hill was far too loud for my liking as I hurried toward the thundering hooves. At least no beacon of light shone behind me. I had been somewhat concerned that Lexi might have panicked and used her finger light when she was awoken. The centaurs' path was diagonal to our camp, but they were going to cross the path we took to approach the hill. You couldn’t conceal the trail of seven horses in muddy terrain. Just as that thought crossed my mind, the hooves muffled and then fell silent. They had most likely found our tracks.

I took cover behind a tree covered in ivy and listened in the darkness. The centaurs were whispering in a guttural language about fifty yards away. My night vision could make out the shadows of five centaurs, but I couldn’t see any details from this distance. At least the hilltop was now silent, and I was confident my companions would have a defense prepared. With two offensive mages, I probably didn’t need to confront the threat alone.

My racing heart settled as I waited for the centaurs to decide a course of action. I was not surprised when the shadows started to approach, following the muddy trail we left through the woods. They were surprisingly silent as they approached. An owl hooted nearby, and the centaurs froze briefly before continuing. As they came within the envelope of my aether-infused sight, I cursed. All the centaurs carried bows. They would have superior range to Castile and Selene’s magic.

In Hound training, Hearne had spent hours talking about centaurs. The centaurs that resided in the plains typically formed large herd communities and even had built a city or two. Centaurs in these cities had blacksmiths, fletchers, and other artisans. They traded with both elven and human communities. In contrast, the feral centaurs held a different philosophy and rejected all interaction with other races, which they considered inferior. These feral centaurs formed small groups and hid in the deep wilderness. They were heavily nomadic and, for some reason, hated horses, killing them on sight.

Heartseeker materialized in my hand as I prepared to engage the centaurs. They continued to converse softly in their tongue as I could now hear the soft trod of their hooves on the earth. I pulsed earth speak to watch them without revealing myself. 

I sensed they were likely plotting to ambush my companions and took a quick peak to confirm when they were within range of my night sight. The lead centaur stood taller than Maveith and was just as broad. His massive, hairy, and muscular chest supported an unappealing head. The facial features reminded me of a Neanderthal. His nostrils were flaring as he was sniffing the air intensely as his four legs carried him closer. I knew they possessed excellent olfactory senses, and even though there was no wind tonight, he would still be able to smell me soon, if he didn’t already.

I took the initiative, stepping out and attacked the lead male with an arcing swing. He tried to block my spear with his readied bow, but the black leaf spear tip cut the string and shaft and continued straight through his throat. His eyes widened in shock as he reared, but it was far too late as his head just flopped on his head, barely attached by a flap of skin. As the bulky horse body crashed to the ground, hot blood droplets rained down around me. 

These were skilled hunters, as the pair behind the lead male was already raising their bows at me. I froze intentionally and waited for the release. After two arrows crashed into my air shield, I dashed into range with Heartseeker. I noted that the two trailing centaurs were rushing forward. Rather than reach for another arrow, both centaurs swung their bows like staffs. It was an unexpected attack that forced me to dodge right and change the arc of the black spear, removing a horse leg as I distanced myself.

The earthen ground was too soft to ensure the pellets would shatter, so a trio of blindness pellets shattered into the nearby tree as I retreated. The male with the missing leg let out a pained roar much louder than any human could from within the rapidly expanding cloud. One of the trailing horsemen escaped the cloud entirely. He was much smaller than his compatriots, and I hypothesized this was a training hunt for a young warrior.

This young centaur was barely taller than me and snarled angrily as he foolishly charged me with a short spear. Hearne had told us centaurs had trouble changing direction when they charged, as they had so much top-heavy mass. Although this was my first time fighting them, I trusted Hearne’s advice. I moved quickly to the right, easily parrying the wooden spear. As he raced past, I pivoted hard in a complete circle.

The black spear tip whistled through the air and caught the young centaur in the lower back as he passed, easily severing his spine. The half-ton body noisily crashed into the earth and through some bushes. His screams of pain joined the three-legged brute, and I quickly silenced them with Heartseeker.

The remaining three creatures were creating a ruckus as they yelled in their language in anger and maybe panic. When the cloud cleared, I quickly pierced the three-legged centaur’s heart with Heartseeker. I had already retreated, even as he clutched the wound and screamed for his blinded companions to help.

I circled away as the pair reached their now-dead companion. Another smaller centaur rubbed his eyes fiercely as he knelt and felt for the centaur I had just killed. He soon realized he was too late and screamed in pained anguish. Hearne had never mentioned how loud these creatures could be. His wails grated on me as a warrior’s guilt hit me. I silenced the young centaur by removing his head. 

The last centaur seemed to understand his companions were dead and tried to run. I sprinted after him, and Heartseeker cut deep into his flank. He tried to kick out with his other leg, but it only caused his bulk to stumble into a tree and daze himself. Unable to defend himself, I quickly put him out of his misery.

The fight had taken less than a minute. With the adrenaline of combat still pulsing through my veins, and my heart beating loudly in my ears, I listened for more threats in the woods. I slowly relaxed as the insects began their orchestra again, and the owls' hooting returned. The collector appeared in my hand, and I knelt over the last kill.

I paused, gripping the spear, and turned toward the hill. “Looks like you don’t need our help,” Lesna said as she appeared, dropping her invisibility about thirty feet away. I arched my eyebrow at the tiny knife in her hand, wondering how that would have helped against these monstrous creatures. Selene appeared next to her a heartbeat later, also dropping her invisibility.

The metallic scent of blood hung heavily in the air, as these creatures had drenched the ground with it. Selene looked somewhat bemused as she took in the carnage. “I don’t think he needs anyone to help.” 

“No. I just got lucky. It could have gone very differently if I had been upwind or hadn't reached cover before they approached.” I said as I activated the collector. Lesna had already seen it and hiding it now would be pointless. I was actually touched she had come to help me, although the only thing she could have done with that knife was possibly make one of the centaurs a gelding. The blue aetheric smoke was weak but a minor essence formed—endurance.

Selene explained to Lesna what a collector was as the pair watched me work, moving from horseman to horseman. The massive one I killed produced a major essence of power, and I obtained another lesser essence of endurance from another. The smallest centaur yielded nothing; the fifth one provided a strength essence. “You can search their satchels if you want, but be quick about it. I will wait for you, but we are leaving,” I said. This was a hunting party and wouldn’t be carrying anything valuable, and the weapons were too large to be useful. I waited as Lesna looked through the satchels but was disappointed when she found nothing worth taking. We returned to camp.

All eyes turned to me as I summited the hill. Benito had a big smile on seeing me, and Castile nodded like it had all been a forgone conclusion with a smug look. The others lowered their weapons. “Get the horses ready; we are leaving. That amount of blood will attract a larger predator, and if those centaurs do not return to their herd in the morning, they may send others after us.”

“What happened?!” Karina said in a half-demanding tone. 

“Five centaurs. Two were very young, so they were probably teaching them to hunt,” I replied as Ginger’s saddle appeared in my hand.

“You killed them? Aren’t centaurs good?” Evie’s meek voice asked from behind me. I paused and turned to her to see her looking down the hill. I could see Selene and Lesna climbing the last stretch of hill.

I addressed the blonde girl, trying to explain it to her. “Yes, I killed them. They were sneaking toward the hill and were going to attack us. You need to realize that this is not a story or a game, Evie. Almost everything in this world is trying to kill you or take advantage of you. You can only rely on friends and allies.” She still looked distracted, so I sighed and handed her an apple. Ginger immediately objected to one of her precious apples being given away. “Give the apple to Ginger, and you can ride her.”

We left hours before sunrise, but I thought it was best to gain distance from the battle site. I was the only one scouting while Benito, Blaze, Helena, and Sylph swept our rear. I saw tracks from at least seven centaurs when I circled the camp, so the herd was likely larger. I was not sure if centaurs would pursue us for revenge or not. Hopefully, the brutal scene I left behind would dissuade them. When the sun crested the trees, I returned to the group and gathered everyone for breakfast. It would be some time before the Earthers regained their body weight.

This time, I watched them as they dismounted and struggled to stand. Lexi appeared to want to help them with her healing spell form, but Castile's stern gaze made her cower. At least it was not me being the disciplinarian. As they ate ration bars from the packs, I could tell everyone was looking at me differently. I moved to stand with Blaze, who was watching the trail as he ate.

I knew he would give me an honest perspective. “What is the pulse of the group? Am I doing a good job?” 

Blaze briefly looked back at the others before replying. His brow creased briefly as he formulated a reply, “You do realize you are covered in drops of centaur blood?” Specks of blood dotted my arms, and I shrugged. Blaze continued, “Last night, when you attacked the centaurs, the sounds of the fight drifted to us. It sounded horrific. They,” he indicated the otherworlders, “thought you were losing. When you climbed the hill looking like you do—I think they fear you now. Or at least what you can do.”

“Thank you for being honest. Do you fear me, too?” I asked my friend, a small smirk forming on my face.

He chuckled, “Not as long as you are on my side.”

I walked among the others and gave the minor endurance essences to Selene and Lesna, explaining they had earned them for coming to my aid. I left Castile to explain to the otherworlders what essences were. As I rested on a rock alone, I consumed the major power essence, my muscles burning briefly as the essence worked. I tossed the minor strength essence to Benito as he passed. He nodded gratefully as he continued watering the horses. I owed Blaze and Benito a lot for unflinchingly following me to the Caliphate and now to rescue people they didn’t know.

When we started moving again, a light misty rain began to fall, and I didn’t encounter any trap door spiders during the afternoon, which told me we were likely moving out of their territory. I tried to get Castile to increase the pace, but without healing or stirrups for the girls, it was impossible to have the horses trot. Still, we made good progress through the thick forests the rest of the day. 

We made camp for the night at the base of a rocky hill. I talked with Castile and Selene to see if they made any progress with Anika. “She is brilliant, Eryk. She could barely understand us a day ago, but now we can hold a simple conversation,” Castile praised Anika.

“Any progress in getting them to change their mind on our destination?” I asked.

“We have not discussed it. Most of what we talk about is magic and you,” Selene said with a smirk.

“Me? Why me? Don’t answer that. Try and convince them to head northeast to Gongshuia instead. We can cross into Gesedmuria from Gongshuia in less than a week,” I surmised. “If you can’t do that, find out why they are really set on going to the Shiunyuet. I don’t think they are telling us the entire truth.”

“It takes time to build trust,” Castile said as she looked up, Anika was approaching us for something. We waited for her to come over and reveal what she wanted to discuss. 

She nodded respectfully, “Is it okay if I train for a time with my saber?” 

“You don’t need to ask. If you want, I can pull Benito from his post, and you can practice with him. He has a tacky cloth to wrap the blades. Or maybe you prefer Helena or Sylph?” I said dismissively. Benito was just at the edge of the camp, watching the woods with Lesna, but I could take his place.

“What about you? Would you care to give me some exercise?” Anika said, holding back a smile.

“You look a bit thin. I think you would be better matched against Sylph,” I said truthfully. Sylph and Helena were better with the spear than the sword, but they should still give her some good practice time.

Anika narrowed her eyes, her jaw tightening. “I have practiced since I was fourteen. I have had a blade in my hand for twenty years and killed six men since I arrived here. I am certain I can entertain you.” Her words were tight with challenge. 

Damn it, I had just come off as a chauvinistic prick. “Eryk can heal himself, so you don’t have to be gentle,” Castile offered with an encouraging smile, but I didn’t know if it was directed at me or Anika.

“Fine.” I stood. “Show me your best.”

© Copyrighted 2024, 2025 by AlwaysRollsAOne 

No Permission is given to translate, copy, or repost this original work of fiction. If you are reading this on a site that is not my Patreon it has been stolen without my permission and is a violation of DMCA. Remember, this work is the result of my creative effort and is protected by copyright law. Removal or altering of this notification is an acknowledgment you are aware you are in violation of DMCA.