A Soldier's Life - 373 - Into the Woods (minor edits 4-7-25 +200 words)

Chapter 373: Into The Woods

My companions formed a line atop their mounts a safe distance away. Blaze looked at me, and I gave him the hand sign that everything was okay. I could see the women from Earth were still very tense and were now outnumbered. Karina turned to me, “You travel with a lot of women. And why do you have a child with you?”

I looked at my companions. Ginger was dancing eagerly to rejoin me, her reins attached to Blaze’s mount. Blaze and Benito flanked the line while Lesna stood between Castile and Benito on the left. Selene was flanked by her two legionnaires, Helena and Silvia, in the middle. They were all still wet from the rain and appeared to be waiting for me. Since none of my companions could speak English, it was going to be up to me to mediate. Aside from Lesna, every one of them looked dangerous and seasoned to an objective observer. 

“She is a halfling, not a child. She is older than me. Her name is Lesna, and she is a mage,” I explained in English.

“A hobbit? Like the movie?” Anika perked up, intrigued. 

“No, I think that might be copyrighted,” I said with a humorous undertone. Of course, my joke didn’t translate to my companions, and the Earth group was still overwhelmed and didn’t laugh. “Well, halflings are just small humans. I think hobbits in the books have big feet. Lesna, show them your feet!” I barked at the halfling, switching to Telhian to address her.

“Why would they need to see my feet?” She asked, perplexed.

“Please just do it,” I said exasperatedly. The halfling sighed like it was a big deal, and maybe it was. As she tried to remove her boot, she fell from Honeysuckle into the mud, cursing my name. The two girls didn’t do well in suppressing a giggle directed at Lesna’s misfortune. The fact that they could still laugh was a good sign, in my opinion.

Benito dismounted and helped Lesna clean off the mud. Castile asked me in Telhian, “Now that we found your people, what is the plan?”

I looked over the malnourished group and couldn’t figure out how they had survived for so long. They looked like refugees and still wore distrust on their faces even after feeding them. “They still want to go to the Shiunyuet. I hope to convince them to change their minds if we travel with them for a few days. Just be as friendly as possible and try to smile a little.”

Anika whispered something to Karina, and I recognized that Telhian was very close to Latin—but who the hell speaks Latin? Apparently, Anika. She noticed me staring, and she stopped whispering. I continued talking to Castile in Telhian. “They have not told me why they want to go to the Territory of the Shiunyuet, but they seem adamant about going. They probably don’t know the land has dangers beyond imagination.” 

Anika’s eyes betrayed her. She might not understand everything I was saying, but she definitely got the gist of it. “You speak Latin?” I asked Anika directly in English. Her shock told me she had a terrible poker face for a lawyer—or maybe she was too exhausted.

She nodded resignedly at being found out, “I speak seven languages, actually.”

I replied in English. “Impressive. I think the Telhian tongue is derived from Latin. A Roman Legion from 2000 years ago arrived in Desia and imposed its cultural ideals on it. My companions, with the exception of the halfling, of course, are from the Telhian Empire.”

Karina spoke for the group, her tone serious, “We have our reasons for seeking out the Shiunyuet clansmen. If Anika is correct, they speak Old English. They also respect women and, more specifically, women with magic.” I noticed the blonde girl flushing strongly and moving behind Karina as she spoke.

“So, you all have magic? Even the children?” I replied.

Karina didn’t seem to know how to answer for a moment. “Yes. We think everyone in the group we arrived with has developed magical powers. One of Kyle’s lackeys was able to infuse magic into gunpowder. Another one could jump twenty feet into the air. Kyle could convince you he was right, even if he was wrong,” she finished heatedly. It wasn’t lost on me that she had not told me any of the spell forms her group had imprinted.

I was surprised that the group had not learned much during their two months on Desia. I explained it as simply as I could. “They are not powers; they are called spell forms. Otherworlders like us usually have high affinities for a few types of magic. When the will or desire is strong enough, you can imprint a single ability known as a spell form on each affinity. If you attempt this without studying the spell form, you will most likely end up with a weaker version of it—or something unintended. There is also something called true magic.” I turned to Lesna, who appeared mostly clean now. In Telhian, I asked her another favor, “Lesna, please show them your skill in aether shaping and cast a blue light globe for them.”

I thought the halfling might be upset with me, but instead, she just beamed at me. Her aether weavings were a bit dizzying as she showcased her twisted aether threads. The globe of light was a brilliant blue and pulsed like a beating heart in her palm when she finished. “I can do that too!” the auburn-haired girl squealed in delight. A pulsing white light, not nearly as impressive as Lesna’s, appeared on the tip of her finger. 

“How old are you, child?” Castile’s commanding voice echoed through the woods, silencing everyone. The light faded from Lexi’s finger, and she stepped back. She didn’t grasp Castile’s words, only their intensity, and probably thought she had done something wrong. 

“Sorry. Castile is not good with children. She asked how old you were.” I translated.

“Almost eleven,” Lexi said after a moment. When I relayed that to Castile, she was flummoxed. 

“What is it, Castile? What does it mean?” I asked.

Selene spoke first, “A child cannot imprint spells until fifteen, usually sixteen. There are a few rare cases of a gifted fourteen-year-old child. The aether core is just not mature enough to handle a spell inscription.”

Castile shook her head, still in disbelief, “It has to be because she is an otherworlder. It shouldn’t be possible—unless she is not human.”

“She is human,” I said firmly to Castile. I turned to the woman and explained what Castile and Selene had told me and asked about the blonde girl, “Can Evie cast spells as well?”

“No, just Lexi,” Karina said possessively. The blonde girl flushed, and Lexi hugged Evie. There was definitely something going on, and they were terrible at hiding it. I didn’t want to press them since we were still befriending them. 

“We should start moving. The people who killed your companion went to get help and will likely catch up to you in a day or two,” I said.

With clear suspicion in her voice, Karina asked me, “How did you know our companion was killed? Did you exhume her body?”

“No. I have magic that lets me see into the earth,” I stated with a prideful smirk and a wink at the children. Damn it, did that come across as creepy?

Thankfully, my mannerisms didn’t appear to put them off. Anika asked, “Will you help fight them if they do?”

It didn’t take me long to turn the question over in my head. Lesna had said the bald brute was bad news, and he had obviously attacked these women. “Fight them? Yes. If your next question is, would I kill them, the answer is also yes.”

Anika nodded grimly. “Good. You can escort us then,” Karina replied gratefully.

Finally, progress! “I hope you four can ride.” I turned to my companions, “Benito. Blaze. Helena. You are on foot with me. Blaze, you are with me as the forward screen. Benito and Helena are to the rear. Sylph, you are to rotate relief.” The legionnaires recognized my commands immediately and moved to obey. I wasn’t certain Helena or Sylph would obey, but they did so without hesitation.

It still took a considerable amount of time for the groups to mingle and get the girls on the horses. Frustratingly, the stirrups couldn’t be adjusted short enough for the two girls, so they had to balance themselves in the saddle. The young girls looked relieved and excited to be in the saddle, even though neither had any experience riding. When we finally started moving, I felt relieved. These wild woods were unfamiliar to me, and I had seen enough tracks to know that very dangerous and unfriendly creatures were roaming about.

Since only Anika could communicate in broken Latin, she was sandwiched between Selene and Castile as they tried to communicate while they rode. I felt awfully proud of myself for finding people from Earth, and now I just needed to get them somewhere safe.

Everyone rotated off screening duty except me. My earth speak was too valuable a tool not to remain a forward scout, and I had the stamina and experience to go all day. Giant trap door spiders seemed common in this region, and every hour I was diverting our path around them. The only other creatures we crossed paths with were in a goblin burrow. My earth speak indicated that a pair of goblins were in a warren under the roots of a large elm. I left them undisturbed because I didn’t want to stop, and the children didn’t need to witness unnecessary killing.

With the terrain starting to turn slightly hilly in the late afternoon, I found a very defensible hill to set up our camp. Castile gave me a nod that things were going well as I scouted the perimeter. I didn’t like what I found as I circled our hill. Fresh centaur tracks less than a day odd in the soft mud—seven or eight—but they seemed to be in pursuit of an ogre. Or maybe they were just chasing an ogre out of their territory. Feral centaurs preferred to hunt at night, hated horses, and would likely attack us just to kill our mounts. 

I returned to camp to find Lesna entertaining the children with illusions of dancing mice in her tiny hands. I had thought the children would be sore after being in the saddle for so many hours, but they appeared unaffected. 

Castile and Selene were still trying to communicate with Anika even after the long ride while Karina sat unsure of herself nearby. I asked Castile in Telhian, “Did Lexi heal everyone?” Castile gave me a sharp nod of acknowledgment. “Explain to her the negatives about using a healing spell.” Castile had been so engrossed in breaking the communication barrier that she had overlooked educating them.

Castile eyes widened briefly, “Sorry. I should have realized they have not been educated.” She turned to Anika to serve as a translator.

I sat with Karina and we locked eyes. It seemed as though she was contemplating whether we were rescuing them or putting them in greater danger. I handed her a meat bun and offered a smile. As she ate gratefully, I asked, “Can you tell me about the others? The ones who arrived with you.” 

“Are you going to go rescue them too?” She asked contemptuously. “I am sorry. Thank you. I believe you are sincere in your intentions.” She took a deep breath. “The truth is we were attacked by flying demon bats when we arrived. A large group of us couldn’t handle the violence and froze. We gathered the children and left those that couldn’t help themselves.” She paused, waiting to see how I would judge her.

I nodded. “I would have done the same. You arrived confused and without any clothing?”

“Is that how you arrived too?” She asked, leaning forward.

“Yes. But we are talking about you. My story can wait,” I deflected, as I was prone to do.

Karina frowned but nodded. “When we arrived, it was dark. Kyle organized a group, thinking it was some sick game he planned to win, but his protection came with a price,” she spat. “Three of us found the children, and we have been protecting them ever since then.” 

I chuckled, “That sounds like you simplified your adventures.”

“Adventures?” Karina said harshly. “Nightmare is more like it.” She held up both hands in fists. “I have been forced to kill with these. In two months, none of us has had three meals in a single day. Anika and I have almost died more than once, and Teresa did!” Her anger caused her to rise from her seat and storm off. I realized she needed to vent at someone and that someone happened to be me. She probably felt responsible for Teresa’s death since she was the leader.

Blaze came and took her seat. My look told him I didn’t want to talk about it. “Tether the horses near the camp. There were fresh centaur tracks not far from here,” Blaze nodded, and I was sure he would set up appropriate night watch rotations.

As evening fell, I wandered through the camp and noticed Castile writing on a page. Curious, I walked over to her, but she quickly folded the paper away from me so I couldn’t read it. She didn’t hesitate to explain, “It is a paired parchment with one Viridia has, so we can remain in contact.” 

“The Hounds had notebooks that were similar,” I replied knowingly.

“I am aware, but this is different. Writing on these paired pages does not fade over time. Once the page is filled, it becomes useless,” Castile said as she began to roll it up.

“If I didn’t know better, there was something on there you didn’t want me to read.” Castile paused in placing the parchment in the leather tube. 

She pulled it and handed it to me. “No, you can read it. It mostly contains Viridia’s and my plans for the Empire but in a simple shorthand. You can read it if you wish, and I will explain how to decipher it.” I looked into Castile’s eyes, not sure if I was missing something. It was apparent my people reading skills were not good recently, but I felt Castile was hiding something from me. I unfurled the parchment to find it packed with tiny writing, huffed, and handed it back to her. I could review it later in the dreamscape, but it would probably be useless without Castile telling me the shorthand.

I got two hours of rest before I took the watch for the remainder of the night as others rotated through. I was sitting with a quiet Helena when I heard the unmistakable rumble of hooves echoing far away in the woods. It wasn’t long before I was certain they were getting closer. “Rouse the camp quietly. Get Lesna to get everyone night vision,” I told Helena, who nodded and moved off. I moved down the hill to try to intercept the threat.

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