A Soldier's Life - 370 - Aether Shaper

Chapter 370: Aether Shaper

We reached the expanse between the two rivers by mid-morning. The gap between the rivers spanned over twelve miles, and the ground was churned and barren from the constant passing of herds. It was the observant Blaze who discovered the footprints. I knelt on the ground, and a combination of earth speak and my tracking skills revealed that there were two adults and two children. One of the adults maintained long, purposeful strides, while the other three had shorter ones, indicating fatigue. It didn’t appear that any of the otherworlders were injured. I was relieved that it seemed the women and children were together and still alive as of yesterday.

As I was examining the tracks, Castile scouted. “The northern river is currently dry. Mudd wallows in some places and cracked earth in others. On the other side of the river, there is heavy vegetation and trees—lots of trees. There appears to be some enormous creature wallowing in the mud—possibly an earth elemental.”

“I vote we don’t go that way,” Lesna chirped.

Castile ignored her and continued scouting, “The bend of the river to the south has a large eddy pool filled with crocodiles. Nothing monstrous, but the banks are covered with them basking in the sun.” 

“I vote we don’t go that way either,” Lesna pipped up again.

I calmly addressed the halfling, “You don’t get a vote. You are following us by choice.”

“Some people don’t have a sense of humor,” the halfling pouted to the amusement of the others.

Castile finished her scouting, “There are no signs of anyone behind us for miles, no sign of the otherworlders to the west.”

I palmed the compass to check it, and Lesna seemed to notice this time. I had been secretive with my artifacts and skills around the illusionist, but she was very persistently observant. I returned the compass to my dimensional space. “They are less than fifty miles ahead and are moving much slower. If we push the horses, we might catch them by sunset.” I looked back at my companions and saw no objections, then swung up into Ginger’s saddle.

I followed the footprints in the ground from atop Ginger. Even when I lost them, staying on the compass line soon led me back to signs of their passage. Every time the compass was in my hand, Lesna’s eyes were on it.

I finally decided to reveal what it was. “It is a blood compass, a device used by the Hounds of the Telhian Empire to track people and monsters. I found a blood sample in Yuetsen that I am using.” She urged her pony next to Ginger, and I explained how the artifact worked, answering all her questions. I even let her test the device, and she nearly dropped it from the unexpected pull.

“Why did you become an adventurer?” I asked as I built some rapport with the halfling.

Lesna let loose a high-pitched but musical giggle. “Purely by mistake! I went into the big city after my ma died and thought I was applying to the mage school. I couldn’t read then, and no one would help a teenage halfling. The only thing I had going for me was this.” She held up her hand, and lines of aether danced between her fingers. She masterfully wrote out a spell for in the saddle. 

Castile’s eyes were on us, and I could tell she was impressed. The halfling spell was a globe of light that danced on her hand and changed colors while she focused. “Who taught you spell forms?” Castile asked as she maneuvered her mount closer.

Lesna tossed the ball of light in the air, and it hung above her head, and we soon rode past it. “The village hedge wizard taught me. But once he figured out my only strong affinity was illusion, he stopped teaching me. My ma got sick shortly after, and I left my kinfolk when she died.”

“How are your aether threads so dense?” Castie asked almost pleadingly. Selene was now riding on the other side of me, also listening.

“Dense?” Lesna asked, confused. “You mean visible? You just pulse aether into them.” 

“No,” Castile said a little impatient. I can do that as well. She quickly demonstrated a spell, her aether spell form glowing slightly in the bright sun—much weaker than Lesna’s.

“Do that again,” Lesna said, this time focusing on Castile’s aether. Castile had to try it twice more before Lesna nodded. “You are not twisting your aether as you release it.” Castile's face looked blank. Lesna tried to explain, “Like twine. As you expel your aether, you twist it so it is easier to handle.”

Castile looked over at Selene, and both mages appeared perplexed. For the next hour, they attempted to replicate Lesna’s technique, but their only success was with a single strand of aether. Lesna seemed amused by their efforts but continued to provide advice. I pulled back Ginger, and the three mages rode side by side with the halfling between.

Selene gave up first, “I might be able to do it, but it would take three times as much aether!”

Castile was undeterred. “But the spell would be four times as powerful then.”

“Then why doesn’t every mage use this method!” Selene said, annoyed. 

Castile guessed, “It is slow. Beyond slow. Even if I mastered twisting aether together, it would take me minutes to cast the simplest spell.”

Lesna laughed at their frustration as she cast her light globe again in just a few seconds. As long as it was in her hand, she could manipulate the color of the light. As soon as she tossed it to hang in the air, the light became fixed. This time, I rode past a blue sphere.

“What is your shaping?” Castile asked Lesna in the middle of practice.

“I do not know. Never been tested,” she replied. “I don’t want to be tested,” she added bitterly. “I do fine with not knowing.”

“I would…” Castile started to say, but Lesna cut her off. 

There was some anger in her tone—the first time I had heard it from the halfling. “I. Do. Not. Want. To. Be. Tested.” She immediately returned to her affable tone. “I’m hungry.” She craned her neck back to look at me. I handed everyone a meat bun.

After the meal, the mages continued to practice until I increased the pace when the plains quickly turned to scrubland and stunted trees appeared more frequently. On the maps, the Territory of the Shiunyuet borders showed a forest. I was assuming wild forests in any part of this world would be dangerous. The otherworlders were rushing into danger. 

When I noticed a bloody patch on the ground on our path, I dismounted grimly, halting my party. Relief flooded me as I inspected the carnage and tested the bloody earth. “They killed a groundhog here.”

“Why?” Blaze asked, confused.

“I think for food. They gutted it and took the carcass. Probably plan to eat it for dinner.” I took out the compass and was surprised at how much distance we had closed. “Twenty miles, give or take,” I announced.

“Only a few hours or twilight left,” Blaze noted.

“We are not going to catch them before dark. Maybe it is better if I approach them alone. After the adventuring party attacked them and killed one of their members, they are going to be a lot less open to talking,” I said.

The trees grew thicker and taller as we progressed, and the ground was moist from a recent rain. The dry air was gone, and the temperature had cooled, much to the horses' relief. This made their tracks stand out more clearly and revealed some dangers of the wild. Old ogre tracks seemed common. I doubted they were all from the same ogre since their foul scent was absent in the air, so I was not concerned.

When we stopped to make camp at a small stream, the horses drank greedily, not having to wait their turn at a bucket for once. Castile wanted to accompany me, but I was going on foot and she lacked the stamina to keep up. “They are only about fifteen miles away. I will leave a clear trail to follow. Break camp at first light, and hopefully, I will be able to convince them not to leave before you arrive.”

“I can help!” Lesna said, looking ready to follow. She was barely over three feet in height, her short legs had no chance of keeping up with me.

“I plan to run the distance,” I informed the eager halfling.

“Then carry me. You look like a strong man,” she smiled cheekily. 

“I need you here to defend the camp, casting night sight for the others during their watches. The cold is thick, so it's going to be very dark this evening,” I said ominously. I continued, “These woods are dangerous. I saw ogre tracks, trap spider burrows, and goblin scrawl on trees, and it wouldn’t surprise me if drakes roamed the area.” 

“Ogres?” Lesna repeated, with a hint of fear in her voice. The illusionist hadn’t really ventured far beyond the cities. I nodded, prompting her to withdraw her offer to accompany me.

I said my goodbyes to my companions, including giving Ginger an apple and explaining she would see me tomorrow. Then I was jogging through the dark woods, pulsing earth speak. These woods were alive with nocturnal activity. I was moving fast and silently, so I was surprised more than my fair share of night scavengers.

The first real danger I encountered was a giant owl swooping down on me from behind. My aether shield flashed, deflecting the impressive claws from sinking into my shoulders. Before the owl could rise and flap away, the magebane had severed one of its legs. The shock of the amputation had the animal crash but try to take off quickly. I didn’t let it. The feather avian was as large as myself, but magebane made short work of it.

After recharging my amulet, I paused my pursuit to use the collector, gaining a minor perception essence from the owl. The feathery creature reminded me of my griffin down pillow, so I moved the body to my space for later harvesting.

The pull of the compass was rapidly strengthening as midnight approached. The cloudy sky chose this moment to unleash a torrent of warm rain. It was not unwelcome after nearly a week in the dry savannah, but the water-saturated ground obscured my earth speak ability, forcing me to slow my pace. I pulled my manticore tightly around myself.

I was close and even started to see a flicker of light—probably a fire ahead of me. This group was foolish to try cooking something this deep in the wild. If the light didn’t attract something, the smell of cooking meat certainly would.

I circled and approached the light from the north, downwind of the group. Even at this distance, I could make out the group under the eaves of a large tree, getting some shelter from the wind rain. They all looked wretched. A tall, middle-aged woman with her raven hair tied back was on watch and intermittently feeding the fire. Because it was wet wood, the fire generated generous smoke. Two small figures were huddled together in oversized clothes close to the fire. I guessed they had taken them from the adventures.

The fourth otherworlder was a blonde woman leaning against a tree with her eyes closed. A sword rested across her lap. Despite the group's malnourished and pitiable appearance, they had still fought off and killed most of an adventuring party. Instead of approaching them in the darkness and rain, I decided to wait until dawn to appear less threatening. I settled in behind a tree, pulsing earth speak, and waited.

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