A Soldier's Life

Chapter 125: Preparation

With Maveith trailing me, I entered the library. Scholar Favian was sorting books on a table. “Eryk, I am not ready yet. Trying to decide which books will be most helpful on the expedition.”

“You are coming to the Haunted Ruins?” I asked, surprised at the old scholar’s statement.

“Of course! Are you not here to pack my things? Mage Castile said, half of your dimensional space is at my disposal, and you and Maveith would carry my pack and food. But I think I can carry my own food,” he added with a wink.

I stacked a few books on top of each that he was not using, “This is about half the size of the space, Scholar.” I realized the other half of my space was probably going to be the potions from Decimus. It would mean I would not be able to pull extra items out of my dimensional space during the expedition, and I was going to have to suffer and carry my gear like everyone else.

Favian started using the pile to sort and resort his chosen books. He hemmed and hawed as he made life-or-death decisions in his mind. I waited patiently while he finished, stacking eight tomes next to my pile. “There. All the books with maps of or pictures of the ancient Elven city. I wish I had time to copy them as I only need a few pages of each.” I moved the selected books to storage. Favian frowned, “I was still going to cross-reference a few things…never mind. I should focus on packing my other gear.”

I took the opportunity to ask a question, “Favian, I recently fought the elven summoners and took this as a prize. Can you tell me anything about it?” I placed the runic dagger on the table.

Maveith’s eyes went wide, “That is an exquisite dagger. You already had a runic weapon? Now you have three?” Maveith said in awe.

I shrugged, “This is actually a secret. I would prefer if no one knew I had it.” Even if people found out, I was unconcerned. I thought I could sell the dagger eventually, and the more I knew about it, the better I could negotiate the price. I was also testing the waters on whether I would ask Favian to read the script on the three elven potions.

Scholar Favian handled the blade delicately as he studied, “Maveith is right. This is a piece of artwork.” He studied the runic script and other markings on the blade. “I cannot read runes. You will need to have the Adventurers Guild use a revelation scroll on it or find an enchanter to decipher them. Most blades have durability, sharpness, or everclean runes on them. But I can tell you what these markings are,” he indicated the fine script along the blade.

Maveith leaned in to look over my shoulder as I studied where he pointed, “And?” It was similar to the elven script I had seen in the books.

Scholar Favian smiled, “It is a legacy blade! See this fine tiny script here. These are the names of everyone who has been gifted the blade and when they received it. I am unfamiliar with the calendar system, so I cannot age the weapon.”

“Can you read the names?” Maveith asked curiously.

“Hmm, there are five here: Aelua Jorieth, Fildarae Glavien, Shaerra Glavien, Eliyen Glavien, and Raelia Glavien. All feminine names, if I am not mistaken. Probably a gift given from mother to daughter when they come of age. But that is just my guess.” He pointed, “This here is the forger’s mark. It is not a name, and I have not studied the famous elven smiths, so I cannot tell you if it is significant.”

The last name Favian read was Raelia Glavein. Was that the name of the nearly dead elf griffin rider in my storage? Most likely, she was going to be made into an essence when I had the opportunity. Knowing her name made me feel a little guilty about it, but it was unlikely to change my mind.

I had the two elven backpacks, but both were larger than my dimensional storage, so I would have to search those in private to avoid questions. I was assuming they had food and camping gear. If I even had some private time as we moved out in the morning to explore the ruins of Caelora. I took the dagger and sent it to my dimensional space. Maveith stood up from his crouch.

“I found one other interesting thing on the summoner,” I randomly produced one of the potions and handed it to him. The off-green liquid appeared viscous in the test tube-sized vial.

“I will not question the method of obtaining these. I heard you were left behind to fight a dragon by yourself,” Scholar Favian said, taking the potion interested. “I told you I was a messenger rider in the army. Sometimes, we do things out of necessity in battle.”

He studied the script, “This is the alchemist’s mark here. The date is here with expected efficacy. The potion is named dominate creature. There is a book in the Duchess’ library that talks about potions. Give me a moment.”

Favian excitedly went to the magic section, took just a few seconds to pull the book he wanted, and returned. Eagerly paging through it, he found the entry, “A dominant creature potion allows the imbiber to beguile a beast. They will think you are friendly and, if you are able to communicate with them, will perform tasks for you. The greater the intellect and resilience of the creature, the more likely they are to resist the effect.” He handed me the book, and I returned the potion to my dimensional space.

Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.

“I am just going to page through this book. I have been working with Decimus, and I am interested in the different types of potions an alchemist can brew,” I said, sitting in the chair.

“There are probably very few alchemists in the Empire that can brew that potion. The upper right has difficulty brewing it, tier four,” Favian said. I saw four stars after the name and nodded my thanks. I paged through the book while Maveith waited for me and then replaced it on the shelf.

“Thank you, Favian,” I said, shaking wrists with the aging scholar. Maveith waited for me, and we headed to the tower. I found Mateo and Felix in our room playing checkers.

“I got next game,” Maveith said excitedly, going to the table.

Mateo looked at Felix. “I told you he would eventually come back here.” He focused on me, “Delmar said to find you and have you see the alchemist and scholar about filling your space.”

Felix interrupted, “I was told to find you. Mateo just followed me like a puppy. He has not shut up about your dreamscape amulet and its possibilities.”

“Eryk is going to let me try it out. Right, Eryk?” Mateo said pleadingly.

“I told you you need to be able to channel your aether, Mateo,” I said as Mateo deflated. “Are Konstantin and Flavius back yet?” I moved to start preparing my gear on my bed.

Mateo was sulking by filling a goblet from the ale cask. Felix answered while starting a game with Maveith. “No, they have not returned. Brutus is looking for you, too. Said you have his sword,” he chuckled.

Mateo was on his second cup, “How did you get so good with the blade, Eryk? I remember when you joined us a few months ago, you couldn’t beat a single one of us in the company.”

“Konstantin,” I offered as an answer. Mateo nodded at that, knowing how hard Konstantin had worked with me when he had trained me. When I finished packing, I went to the alchemist floor above.

Decimus was working furiously between multiple processes, “Eryk, give me twenty minutes. No, wait—watch that table and release the pressure if it gets too high!” I ended up helping Decimus for over two hours. A few hours ago, I was a celebrated company champion, and now I was the alchemist’s lackey.

Decimus’s skin had returned to normal but was drenched in sweat as he worked. “Eryk, thank you. I wanted to try a run at the lesser healing potions since Castile is leaving tomorrow. Put these six in your storage immediately. The harmonization was not powerful, but I think they will work. Also, there are twenty vials of healing salve over there. My processing is getting better, and they should last a good amount of time.” He sat down exhausted in his chair.

“You mean you are not coming with us?” I asked, with a smile he didn’t catch.

Decimus jumped up suddenly, nervous, “What? Did Castile say I was going with the company?” His face was showing panic and fear.

“No, I just thought you might want to go. Scholar Favian is going,” I said, trying not to laugh at his comical fear. Then again, I had become numb to danger and had not even thought about going to an undead city. I was not sure if I was not afraid or just certain I would somehow find a way out of the situation.

Decimus relaxed, seeing he was not recruited. “I am happy in my tower. However, Sobral is not what I expected. The people have no spare coin for my remedies. Now, with winter almost here, I will lack fresh ingredients, and harmonizing potions is going to become challenging.”

I took the vials he indicated and was disappointed he had no more mouthwash for me. I wished Decimus well and went downstairs. Mateo was gone, and Felix and Maveith were still playing checkers. We headed down for the evening meal in the barracks. We sat with Firth. Firth gave me an unhappy stare, probably for besting him and winning the blade.

Firth still dispensed the gossip, “The Countess is moving her men into the barracks after we leave tomorrow. Apparently, they are staying through winter as the war with the Bartiradians is intensifying.”

Felix inquired while eating half a roasted chicken with his hands, “Where are we going to stay when we return?”

“First, we need to return,” Firth said hotly. “Focus on that.” The meal proceeded in silence after Firth’s comment. I ended up watching a dice game after eating. Benito was running it, and he seemed to win more often than not. They were only playing for coppers, but I still turned down an invitation.

“Konstantin and Flavius are back,” Blaze said from the door. Both scouts entered the dining hall after him to cheers as Konstantin held up the prize, the essence collector. Flavius scanned the room, found me, and locked eyes with me for a moment before turning away.

Delmar appeared, and the two scouts followed him to meet with Castile and Adrian. I was a little worried that they had not asked me to join them. I was the one who had killed the wyvern and wondered what they had figured out. I watched the dice game, and the longer Konstantin and Flavius took, the more paranoid I became. Delmar was with them when they returned, and Delmar approached me with purpose.

“Eryk, did you get the potions from the alchemist?” He asked quickly.

“Yes, twenty salves and six lesser healing, but he thinks the efficacy period is short on the lesser healing, so I need to keep them stored,” I reported.

“Good, Castile wants to see you. She is in the last room down that hallway,” Delmar pointed. He then raised his voice for the dozen men still in the dining room, “Get to your bunks. Breakfast at first light, and then we march!” Groans erupted, but everyone began cleaning up.

I stood and walked down the hallway Delmar had indicated. These were the officer rooms for the barracks, and there were four of them. The last door on the right was open. Castile was in the room looking at some items on the table. A single bed was against the wall under a small window. She looked at me quizzically, “Eryk, come in and shut the door behind you.”

A closed the door and took the only other seat at the table across from Castile.