A Soldier's Life

Chapter 173: Trust

I watched everyone sleep, snore, and emit various flatulations. In a way, I felt at home. I felt much safer being with the company and sharing the danger—not so much the smell. I secretly popped an apex earth essence, and it roiled my stomach for a bit. I leaned against the wall, squatting as my body consumed the essence, and sweated through the assimilation.

I needed to give myself more time between consuming affinity essences. I was finding that the magic affinity essences needed longer to acclimate than physical or mental ones. After about ten minutes, I was able to stand.

Castile stirred as my armor scraped against the wall. She was the quietest among us since she did not wear the hardened legion armor. She surveyed the room and moved close to speak with me. She asked me a question for which I was unprepared. “Do you think we should exit the dungeon and run after connecting with Flavius?”

She was essentially asking if we should abandon hope of finding Benito, Lirkin, Lucien, and Pavel. Lucien had patiently taught me to ride and everything anyone could ever want to know about horses. I had helped Lirkin cook and had eaten the food he had prepared for months. Benito was like my clueless younger brother. I considered Pavel a friend as well. I locked eyes with Castile. “Is this a test?”

Castile looked impassive. “If you were in charge, what would you do?” she pressed.

I realized I did not want to leave them. “We could always come back for them,” I hedged, thinking we could escape and return with support.

“Unlikely. As soon as we reach a legion hall, we will be called to the capital to report and account for our extended absence. Most likely, when we leave the dungeon, I will have us rush to Parvas, and then I expect we will be ordered to portal to Telha to report to the Legatus Legionis,” Castile explained. “We will not be allowed to return to Sobral City.”

My first thought was of poor Ginger. She was going to wonder why I never returned. Castile interrupted my thoughts. “So, you would leave without knowing their fate?” I understood that Castile was soliciting advice for her own imminent decision.

My mind raced for an answer. “If I were in command, I would map the entire first level of the dungeon looking for them. That way, I would feel I put in an effort to find them, and my conscience would be clear.”

Castile looked much older as her stern expression relaxed. “There are ninety-nine safe rooms on the first level of the Shimmering Labyrinth. We learned that much from the elven scrawl on the walls in the safe rooms. That is, as long as this dungeon has not grown in the last fifteen hundred years. The elven writing also indicated there are seven different descents to access the second level of the dungeon. We found one of those stairs but did not descend. We do not even know if there are levels below the second. If you arrived on the second level, they could have done so too.”

I thought Castile wanted me to tell her it was okay to leave the others, but I could not be responsible for that decision and spoke without decorum. “Benito had a broken wrist when he entered the dungeon, but he’s tough. We shouldn’t give up on them until we know for sure.”

Castile’s face soured slightly, and she did not get the answer she wanted. She nodded but then asked, “Where did you get the apex earth essence?” My surprised expression made her smile slyly. “All-seeing-eye,” she explained how she knew. She must have been using the spell while pretending to sleep. “It is a fight with the dungeon to use it past the current room, but I am getting better with it. It was just luck I saw you consume it.”

I decided to tell her the truth. “From the earth drake.” Her eyebrows arched. I had confirmed what she already knew—I had Durandus’ collector.

“The big one Maveith mentioned?” she asked in disbelief. I nodded. “Do not tell me more. We can talk after I am questioned in Telha by the Truthseekers.”

Konstantin stirred and stood, suspiciously eyeing us near the corridor—or maybe irritated that I had woken before him. He stood noisily, waking a few men. “I will sit on the shadow bear room,” he announced to Castile, and then set off down the corridor with his pack.

Soon, everyone was stirring, and it was Mateo’s turn to cook. They had only harvested meat, mushrooms, and nuts. They had a little salt from a room with a saltwater lake but had not have enough wood to evaporate much water to claim the salt. We moved as a group to join Konstantin. He was sitting in the corridor, whittling a stick. He looked at us. “Still not time, maybe an hour or two.”

Huddled in the corridor, our smelly group watched the room intently. The skinned shadow bear was barely visible. Blaze was the one who noticed the reset first. “It’s gone!”

Adrian started issuing orders. “Stay away from the shadowy canopies. Draw it to the perimeter. Pair off and work together.”

Maveith and I were left as a pair. Konstantin entered with Firth at his side. A bear’s roar sounded from the center of the chamber. I entered and moved right with Maveith. The shadow bear appeared far to the left, emerging like a nightmare out of the shadows on the ground. It was an odd visual as it charged at Mateo and Wylie. Mateo yelled angrily, “Ah, shit, not again. I must taste good.” He braced for the bear’s charge with his dented and damaged shield.

The twang of a bow sent an arrow into the bear’s neck, halting its charge. Its paw swatted the arrow, snapping the shaft. The bear dove into a shadow, disappearing as if into a pool. Konstantin moved forward. “It will not be able to hide for long. Be ready.”

The shadow bear emerged on our side, and Maveith stepped toward its emerging form. His hammer swung down on its skull as it was partially out of the shadow. A loud crack resounded in the room, and the bear slid back into the shadow, disappearing. Everyone remained tense, ready for the bear to return. Konstantin finally said, “I can see the reward chest. It must be dead. Search the trees for the corpse.”

We searched in groups of three, but the bear’s corpse was nowhere among the trees. Adrian was upset about losing the bear meat. Castile thought the bear must have been trapped in the shadow and died from Maveith’s strike.

Adrian directed me. “Eryk, you are responsible for organizing the harvest of wood and nuts.” These were the same bitter nuts we had at breakfast. I sent four men to chop wood, and I joined Maveith in picking up the nuts on the ground, or he would hit a tree with his hammer to get the nuts to fall.

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It was disappointing not to get any meat, but no one blamed Maveith. Instead, they congratulated him on his impressive killing blow. When we had a moment alone, I asked Maveith, “How are you doing?”

“It is good to be back with the others, but I miss Raelia,” he said as softly as he could.

I cautioned the goliath. “Castile has a spying spell, Maveith. Be careful what you say, even if you think you can’t be overheard,” I advised. He nodded in understanding.

“I have not said anything, even though Konstantin and Adrian have pressed me for details of our time in the dungeon,” he replied quietly as he gathered nuts into a pile.

Castile expected me to track the company’s food and supplies. I had forgotten that I was taking over for Delmar. The next three hours were spent reviewing each man’s pack as I inventoried what we had. The biggest problem was that the dungeon meat needed to be smoked or eaten, or it would go bad in just two days. They did not have access to a dimensional space to preserve their meat, and many rooms did not have wood that burned well.

As best I could project from what I counted, the group had four days’ worth of food. It was not a balanced diet, but it was enough for plentiful meals. Each man was also now carrying a bundle of firewood from the shadow bear room. The reward chest had yielded only a few silver coins and a single lesser healing potion. I was now quite sure the dungeon had reduced the reward because there were nine of us.

I asked Castile this question. “Do you think the dungeon reduced the reward? There were nine of us when there should not have been more than four.”

Castile thought about it while cracking nuts. “I do not know. This is not my first dungeon, but it is much larger than any of which I have ever heard of. The largest dungeon I know of in the Telhian Empire has nine rooms total. Perhaps you are right. We can test your theory in the weaver room.”

We spent half a day in the shadow bear room, and I learned how poorly off the company was. We had just three arrows left between Blaze and Konstantin. Many buckles and straps on the armor were in bad shape. Half the men had holes in their socks and boots. Clothes were soiled and frayed. Bodies were filthy and unhygienic. Wylie had a nasty cough and a minor infection on his leg. Firth had two broken fingers, but at least his arm had been healed with a potion. But not a single one of them complained. Another apple for everyone could not hurt, so I added it to the meal after the work was done and before we moved out.

Konstantin happily ate his apple and casually asked, “How many more apples do you have?”

“A few, but I was hoping to save them for Ginger rather than waste them on you lot,” I retorted with good humor.

Adrian let out a rare chuckle. “Damn, Eryk, you like your horse better than the men you fight alongside.” Adrian had been with me when I found Ginger injured, and the horse trader was going to use her for breeding stock. Adrian had allowed me to bring her back to Sobral and to have her healed.

“Ginger just appreciates me more than you all,” I grunted dismissively. That got some laughs, and everyone professed that they appreciated me very much—as long as I had more apples.

We moved on to the weaver room. Konstantin caught a glimpse of one of the black spiders. “The room is set. Same plan?” He looked at Castile.

“No. It will just be Eryk, Maveith, Adrian, and myself. Eryk thinks we will get better loot with fewer people.” She nodded at me. “You can draw them out.”

I was going to be bait again. Maveith was behind me as I moved into the room, my boots sticking as I stepped forward. A lance of fire shot over my head into one of the cocoons. I turned to see Castile holding a new ebony wand. I set shields to hold the spray of webbing from reaching me or Maveith as Castile burned each cocoon. The spiders crashed to the stone floor as their webbing was destroyed. Adrian moved past me to attack the stunned spider.

Maveith crushed a spider, and I killed my own, stabbing into its array of eyes. In less than a minute, the weavers were dispatched. Castile was smiling as she slid her fire wand back into her garments. She struggled to move across the floor to the chest. “Maveith,” she indicated the chest. He moved to Castile’s side with sticky steps and tapped the chest, shattering the stone.

Castile studied the contents. “Definitely more silver, and a levitation potion. Last time, we got a spider climb potion that we used to check the cocoons.”

“Was there anything in them?” I asked, looking up at the smoldering balls.

“No,” Konstantin said from behind me. The others moved into the room, and it got very loud as they moved across the sticky floor. Firth swore as the sole of his boot came off.

“Are we going to harvest the spinnerets?” I asked Castile. Castile was removing her collector from her pack. I could hear it scraping on the metal of the kettle of souls as she took it out.

Adrian was almost to the opposite corridor. “No, they need to be preserved. These spider legs need to be boiled, too, and we do not have the water to do that.”

Castile hissed in disappointment as the first spider yielded nothing with the collector. I asked, “Do you want me to handle this while you are getting everyone settled into the safe room?”

Castile locked her eyes on mine and nodded, understanding in her gaze. “Yes, Eryk, handle the spider harvest. We got three essences the first time through. Hopefully, you have the same luck. Everyone else, let’s get to the safe room.”

I pretended to have difficulty getting to the next spider to make sure everyone had left and was out of sight. I used my collector, and a minor coordination essence was formed. I then proceeded to get three more. I experimented with my dimensional space, cutting the chitin abdomen in half with the thin plane. It worked, and the organs oozed out of the bisected weaver.

I dug out the spinneret and collected two more, giving me a total of five in my dimensional storage. I washed my hands of the evidence and joined the others. It looked like it was Konstantin’s turn to cook. I handed Castile’s collector back to her along with the three of four coordination essences.

She smiled as she took the collector. “Firth, Konstantin, and Wylie, these are yours.” Morale was high with the ease of the last two fights and essences.

As everyone settled into the room, Castile, Adrian, and I talked in the corridor.

“How are we getting past the sand scarabs?” Adrian inquired.

“I will go with Eryk and Maveith and assess the situation,” Castile decided. “You are in charge of the men until we return.”

Adrian did not look happy. “Bring a fourth man. Konstantin or Firth.”

Castile shook her head. “The three of us are fine. Have Konstantin scout the raptor room and get everyone fed and rested. We are close to reuniting with our companions.”

Maveith and I walked with Castile to the sand room. When we reached it, she looked at me expectantly. “I need to know what you can do, Eryk.” I looked at Maveith, then stepped out onto the sand. The dust devils moved toward me. I waited until they got close, and targeted one of them. A puff of sand and the swirling sand above the scarab dissipated, and I stepped back into the corridor before the others could reach me. Castile looked from me to the sand a few times, processing it. Maveith was watching to make sure the scarabs did not attack.

“Did you put the entire scarab in your dimensional space?” Castile asked in disbelief. “Do not answer that. Can you and Maveith clear the room by yourselves?”

“Only if I drink my aether restoration potions. Otherwise, I have to wait about forty minutes each time,” I revealed.

Castile’s jaw dropped, her eyes wide. “You have aether potions!? As in plural!?”

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