A Soldier's Life

Chapter 128: Dire Feelings

The dreamscape looked as I left it—I was half expecting to find strangers inside for some reason. Oscar greeted me with his bobbed tail wagging emphatically. I petted the excitable Australian Shepherd. I continued the dog therapy by talking to him, “Guess this secret is out in the open, Oscar.”

Oscar barked and chased to get a tennis ball I had created for him. I laughed, “Guess it doesn’t matter to you.” I tossed the ball for him while I made copies of the elven books Scholar Favian had me carry for him. I couldn’t read them, but there were some maps inside. Maybe the knowledge would have a use in the future, so I would not mind the mental backlash when I exited the dreamscape.

With that task done, I walked into the first monster room, the ankheg chamber. My sparring partners were playing cards. Konstantin arched his eyebrow at me, “Going to get some practice today? Or are you going to sit and laze about all night?” He put down his cards, waiting for my response.

I sighed, “Yes.” I manifested my new blade. The group around the table eyed the black blade curiously. They were waiting for me to choose someone to practice with. The table consisted of Maveith, Konstantin, Adrian, Blaze, and Xavier. I nodded reluctantly to Konstantin as I had practiced with him this morning and this evening as I adapted to the new weapon. With Konstantin’s help, it was now comfortable in my hands.

I was also confident I could beat the man in combat using my air shields. What I wanted to be able to do was beat him without the defensive air shield spell form. We moved to the center of the chamber and began. The Konstantin in the dreamscape had improved quite a bit. I realized the magic amulet had upgraded Konstantin’s fighting style based on our practices today. It was learning from my new memories. It meant the dreamscape manifestations were imperfect but could be improved upon.

I spent two hours with Konstantin and an hour with Xavier. Xavier’s manifestation was good, but I doubted it fully incorporated the sword master’s knowledge. I tried to combine Xavier’s skills with Konstantin’s. The results were surprising. Konstantin’s style had been blunter and simpler, while Xavier had an efficient and artistic style moving between the sword forms.

Konstantin’s new blended swordsmanship suddenly became unbeatable for me. It was frustrating to fight his new efficient form. I took repeated losses and decided I had enough. I returned to the entry room and studied the spell form for slow aging. I was getting close to the tipping point, and I would finally learn spell form. After seven total hours had passed, I stepped out of the dungeon and left the dreamscape amulet.

I opened my eyes to darkness and strained my hearing to understand my surroundings. Men snored in their tents, and the men on watch whispered nearby. The night guards were arguing over who had the better attendant at the Citadel. I could tell by the argument’s voices that it was Felix and Benito. If I remember correctly, Felix had a short, fat, middle-aged woman, and Benito, an older woman who constantly wore a scowl.

I felt well-rested and sat up. My head spun with vertigo, and I laid back down. The mental strain from adding to the dreamscape soon passed. Adding eight books had been a little much in one session, or maybe it had been upgrading Konstantin in conjunction. When I felt comfortable, I exited the tent and nodded to Maveith, who was whittling new checker pieces.

Surveying the camp, there were two small fires. One had Konstantin stoking a fire, and the other had Lirkin preparing hot food for the company’s breakfast. I could see my breath; it was one of the coldest mornings I had experienced. I went and sat across from Konstantin, who was focused on heating water in a small cup. The heat of the fire felt amazing on my legs. “How many days to Caelora?” I asked.

“Two,” he sipped his tea contentedly. “We will be in the dire wolf territory after mid-morning. I’m unsure if Castile will have us increase the pace or use caution. Positives and negatives to both courses of action.”

Before he could expound on the positives and negatives, I asked him a question, “Have you fought dire wolves before?” I stirred the coals on my side to release more heat.

“I have. Smart creatures. They will distract a group and then pick off the weakest member, dragging them away. Hopefully, our numbers will deter them from attacking,” Konstantin said while cleaning his cup of tea leaves. He then took out his weapons to clean, starting with his runic weapon. The silvery blade looked ethereal in the firelight.

I took out my black blade to sharpen and clean as well. “You don’t sharpen a runic weapon, Eryk. Did you notice it has no chips on the edge? That durability is why runic blades are cherished. To clean it, just use a rag to clean the length, then use the oil rag on it. It will make sure it draws smoothly.” I worked in silence across from Konstantin. The oil rag he referred to was used for our metal helms to protect them from rusting. Konstantin cycled through his weapons, and I did likewise. I was still carrying my short sword, a knife on my belt, and the legion utility hatchet in my pack.

Seeing us finishing, Lirkin called us over for an early breakfast. Konstantin and I enjoyed the dense bread that tasted like garlic topped with the berry preserves Lirkin had heated. Maveith joined us, bleary-eyed, after a short nap. He had watched over me while I slept all night, which is not what I had intended. I had just wanted him to rouse me if something threatened me.

Maveith’s deep voice soon awakened the whole camp a little earlier than sunrise. Delmar called everyone to eat and announced we would start an early march. Maveith received some annoyed stares.

Back on the old paved road, we walked till just past mid-day before a rest. I ended up working in my Elvish language with Scholar Favian as a distraction from the boredom of marching. My elven vocabulary was growing, but the Scholar was not impressed with some of my pronunciations.

We set a fast pace, and Flavius and Konstantin were scouting only a short distance ahead. As we marched in the afternoon, the scouts started to find dire wolf tracks crossing the road. They were massive, larger than a man’s hand. We encountered our first dire wolf later in the day. A signal from the rear guard had everyone turn, and our eight men with shields quickly formed a wall.

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It looked like just a normal gray wolf at maybe two hundred yards back. Then, another darker gray wolf walked into the road to stand over the pup. Maveith advised the company, “They are not hunting us. If they were then, they would not have shown themselves.” His statement didn’t make anyone less tense. I was shocked as the larger wolf was just as big as Ginger.

Benito noticed the same thing, “That beast is as big as a horse. I wonder if I can ride it.”

Firth barked a harsh laugh at Benito, “Why don’t you go and give it a try and let us know how it goes.” Some laughs and snickers from the company eased the tension a little.

Blaze, behind me, asked, “I can hit it. Should I release?”

There were some whispers between Castile and Delmar before Delmar announced, “Hold your arrows. Firth and Mateo, you are added to the rear guard.” We tightened the formation, and Konstantin and Flavius were now only leading the company by twenty strides so they could retreat back to us quickly.

Adrian was constantly reminding individuals of their jobs if a dire wolfpack did attack. Half the men were for defense, and the other half were charged with killing whichever monstrous wolf Castile restrained with her shadow chains first. It was important to eliminate one foe at a time as quickly as possible when attacked with numbers.

Scholar Favian was probably the most nervous among us after we spotted the dire wolf. I tried to take his mind off our danger, “Favian, have you learned anything about the Shimmering Labyrinth Dungeon? What monsters are inside?”

“The King controlled the dungeon, and it gave vast resources to the city. Iron ore and silver were mined from inside it as the craftsman in the city used it in great quantities. There are also a few references to rarer metals—mithril for one.” He said giddily. “It also supplied vast quantities of meat to the city,” he paused to think. “References to dishes prepared with boiled spider legs, bear meat, and mushrooms from the dungeon have appeared in my reading.”

While I was thinking about what horrors supplied those things, Lirkin, our company cook, asked, “How do you prepare spider legs?”

Scholar Favian had a big smile, “I wondered that myself! Apparently, you need to boil the legs and crack them open for the meat. Not all varieties are edible, but I read it tastes just like crab meat, only saltier. The elves seemed to like the meat dipped in butter made from goat’s milk.”

Delmar, at the front of the formation, replied, “Spider meat is a bit mushy but not bad. On long delves, you eat what the dungeon provides. It is not uncommon for larger dungeons to support entire communities.” Delmar was our experienced dungeon delver. He addressed the Scholar, “What else did you find about the dungeon?”

“Nothing. Just the name appears in some texts I pieced together. It was called The Shimmering Labyrinth. I think it is extremely large based on the references, but the King kept it hidden from the outside world as a treasure of his city and people,” Scholar Favian replied with uncertainty.

Firth announced from the back, “The large wolf is following us. It is in the woods, maybe two hundred yards back.”

Maveith offered his input again, “If it were hunting us, then it would have called the rest of the pack. It is probably making sure we are leaving its territory. Maybe it is teaching the young one how to stalk its prey.”

Brutus noted, “If we are the prey, then your words are not reassuring, Maveith.”

There was some back-and-forth among the men when Castile ordered, “Halt! Konstantin!” she called the scout back from further down the road. When he returned, she ordered, “Go and check on the wagons we found on our way here.”

Konstantin rushed into the woods, and I realized we were approaching the area where we had discovered the wagons. I remember picking up a gold ring from the ground at the time. The money from the locked chest had gotten the company replacement armor. Konstantin whistled for Maveith, and the goliath went to support him. It was not far from the road, and we could see them as the leaves had all fallen from the trees.

I checked on our furry follower, and it sat on its hind legs about two hundred yards back. I could tell Blaze was itching to take a shot, but Castile held him back.

When Konstantin and Maveith returned, “Just small animals have been by since.” Castile nodded, but she had apparently expected something else by her consternation.

The short rest was over, and we continued our march. There was a discussion on when we would stop for the night as we had covered almost forty miles today on the road. Castile told everyone to take out glowstones, and we marched into the night. Castile, being next to me, I asked, “Are we continuing because of the dire wolf?”

Castile considered her answer, “A dire wolf following us is not unusual. What I am confused about was the first smaller wolf we spotted. We have not seen it since. I even searched for it and other dire wolves; the large one behind us is the only one.”

Fortunately, the blue moon was bright overhead, and the skies were clear. We marched for three hours in the darkness before Castile finally ordered us to camp in the middle of the road. Konstantin objected until Castile told him she hoped the dire wolf would approach during the night so she could snare it with her shadow chains and we could eliminate it. That got everyone excited. Eliminating our stalker would be welcome and boost morale.

We set up a tight camp for the night, and the watch was doubled. Castile reminded Maveith to watch over me again. It was her way of telling me to use the amulet tonight. I did not know how I felt about using the amulet with danger so close. I reminded Maveith, “All you need to do is remove the amulet to awaken me. But get some sleep tonight yourself.”

“I understood you the first five times you said it, Eryk.” The goliath seemed frustrated that I either didn’t trust him, thought his memory was terrible, or was tense like the others with the dire wolf following us.

My tent was in the company’s center, next to Scholar Favian. When I crawled inside, I debated not using the amulet again. It felt like there was a building tension in the air to me. I think Castile felt it, too. I decided to spend a few hours inside and focus on the spell form for slow aging.

With Oscar in my lap, I spent two hours studying and then exiting the dreamscape. I listened, and men were whispering, but there was no alarm. I could hear Maveith breathing heavily as he sat on a log and rolled over near our tents. I entered the dreamscape again.

About three hours in, the familiar feeling of the spell form inscribing on my core was achieved. I had learned the slow aging spell form. I exited the dreamscape, excited to study it and learn how it worked. Nothing had changed in the camp, but Castile was agitated as the dire wolf was apparently still watching us but had not approached.

I studied the spell form and activated it. It was supposed to draw a slow trickle of aether to slow my aging greatly. The trickle was so insignificant I didn’t even perceive it. I used some aether to cast some air shields and frowned. I had wanted to see how fast my aether recovered with the slow aging active. My best guess was that my aether was recovering at half of normal. At least, that was the best I could estimate. It was still a decent trade-off for being able to live for thousands of years.

I smiled as I lay awake for the rest of the night, listening to everyone and thinking about what I could do with all the time in the world. The sunrise came, and the dire wolf had never approached the camp. It had also remained vigilant, unnervingly watching us the entire night.