A Soldier's Life

Chapter 56: You Got Some Explaining to Do

Chapter 56

My climb up the steps was not easy. I used my hands liberally to brace myself as I climbed. I think most of the butter ended up plastered on my pants, sleeves, and armor. When I cleared the buttered section of steps, I increased my pace, almost falling twice as the bottom of my boots still had significant butter residue. The hundred-foot climb felt like a thousand feet. My knuckles were bleeding, and pebbles were embedded into cuts on my hands.

When I reached the top step, my heart was pounding, and I was breathing heavily. Flavius had his bow aimed at me, and Brutus and Mateo had spears leveled at me. I put my hands up, “I surrender!”

Brutus asked with shock on his face, “How did you? I mean, you were bouncing down those steps after getting hit by the arrow…”

Konstantin came from my right, “Castile wants to see you, Eryk. Now!” He emphasized urgency. “She is on the aqueduct,” he said, pointing past the sluice controlling the flow of water from the lake.

I left the six men guarding the top of the stairs and went to the aqueduct. My mind was spinning with ideas on how to explain my escape. I stepped onto the aqueduct. It was twelve feet wide with a one-foot curb on the edge to channel the water. The water was only an inch deep, and the flow was not too strong. I walked in the water, not wanting to risk walking on the lip. I moved out to the aqueduct to join the rest of the legion.

Castile, Adrian, and Delmar were near the lip but standing in the flow of water. They were staring out onto the rocky terrain below. I was able to look down at the stairs as I approached. I could see the top half of the stairs, but rocks and curvature obscured the bottom half. The bodies of the two elves were not in sight, and I wondered if they lived.

The commanders eyed me appraisingly. Castile spoke first, “You continue to surprise, Eryk. We thought we lost you. You can thank Blaze that we did not put an arrow in your back during your climb.”

Since my jaw didn’t work, Delmar explained, “We could not see who was climbing the steps in the low light. Blaze was certain the person was wearing legion armor, so we held fire.”

I looked at the archers further down and said, “Thanks for not shooting me in the back.”

Blaze’s voice came back in, but I could not identify who was speaking as they were all facing away from me, “You owe me, Eryk. I will let you know when you can repay me.”

Adrian looked me up and down, and I noticed that the sky was starting to get lighter. The sun was coming. Adrian said, “Brutus said an arrow struck you and then fell down the steps? Yet you look relatively unharmed.”

As I thought about what to say, Castile answered for me, “I gave Eryk a lesser healing potion. He was to heal me if I became incapacitated.” She was covering for me and had obviously not revealed to Adrian or Delmar that I could heal myself. She focused on what had happened below, “What was the flash and explosion? Are their mages already below?”

“Mages?” I asked, “Yes, there was a mage.” I started to tell the events in order to give me time to think. “I fell down the steps after getting shot. Well, I guess bounced and slid is a better way to describe my inglorious descent,” I tried to smile, but their serious faces had me end my attempt at humor.

I paused, getting my thoughts together as they waited. “At the bottom, I got to cover to hide from the archer. I was sitting against a rock and…healed myself.” I was unsure why Castile was helping me keep my healing spell form secret, but I appreciated it.

Delmar asked, a little impatient, “What was the flash of light and explosion?”

I nodded, continuing, “The archer approached me from the shadows. He must have circled around while I was falling. I think he planned to take me prisoner. Then the mage appeared and was casting a fireball spell, I think... I surprised her with a vial of lamp oil I took from the villa. I was just trying to stop her from casting the fireball. It was the only thing I thought might help in my dimensional space. The vial exploded, and it tossed both of them away from me. They were not moving, so I hobbled up the steps to rejoin the company,” I finished triumphantly.

Delmar looked skeptical, and Castile was hiding a smirk. I hoped she had been out of aether and did not have her all-seeing-eye watching me. Adrian was still nursing his arm, and there was more discomfort at his injury on his face than interest in how I escaped.

Castile asked, “So you did make sure they were dead? The mage and the archer?”

“I…I…I did not. The healing potion was still doing its work, and I was not sure how much time I had before more advanced scouts arrived,” I explained, but I thought that would have been a good idea. If the griffin rider lived, she might figure out what happened to her. But then again, she was on the other side of this battle, so I should be fine.

“Can you swing a sword?” Delmar asked, and I nodded sharply. “Good, go reinforce the six men at the top of the stairs.” I heard them whispering behind me as I walked away, splashing lightly in the water.

As I walked back to the stairs, I realized my boot’s waterproofing was starting to fail. The warm water had penetrated my sock. My left foot was making a squelching sound as I walked. The six men were there, and I sat on a stone twenty feet from the top of the stairs to rest near the pile of backpacks. My own backpack, half full of butter, was at the bottom of the stairs. I picked up a random canteen and, finding it empty, turned my sight to the reservoir.

There was enough light to see now. It was a large circular lake surrounded by rocky, cragily, cliffs. The glass surface would have been picturesque if not for the fact that it looked like we were trapped up here. It would be difficult to circumnavigate the lake. Lirkin hobbled over to me. He had received an arrow in his hip and could barely walk but seemed intent on doing his duty as company cook. He handed me a wrapped meal, “Thanks for helping carry me, Eryk.” He hobbled away, dragging his left leg.

“I am going to fill the canteen,” I announced, holding up the empty canteen.

Mateo responded, “Fill all them, Eryk.”

I gathered up seven empty canteens and walked the short distance to the water. I took off my left boot to wring out my sock. I left it off to let my wet foot air dry while filling the canteens. The water was clear and cool. I drained the first canteen I had filled before filling all seven. I remained seated on the rock on the shore, just watching the sunrise. I was ready to respond if I heard the sound of combat, but I felt I needed a moment.

Felix came to the water with his empty canteen. He looked at my barefoot, “Eryk, you are not seriously thinking about taking a bath at this moment?” He looked at me in the early day’s light, “Although you could use it. You are a mess of grease, blood, and dirt.”

I looked at my hand and all the scraps, cuts, dirt, two missing fingernails, and dried blood. I shook my head, “No, my boot is no longer waterproof.” I kicked it lightly to emphasize it.

Felix picked it up and inspected it. The sole had come detached near the toe. He was able to wiggle his finger into it. “Kolm can fix this. He is not just a good blacksmith.” He handed me the boot. I sighed and put on the damp sock and boot. Felix asked, “So what was the flash of light?”

I kept with my story, “Elf mage. I surprised her casting and managed to get away from her and the archer.”

Felix shook his head in disbelief, “You have to be the luckiest legionnaire in the Empire. You have escaped a bulette, survived a bite of a death dog, and now escaped a Bartiradian mage. Satis gladio is not a fitting nickname. Maybe felicem (lucky man) or infelicis (unlucky).” He smiled, “Because you have to be unlucky to get yourself into all these situations.” I grunted in response because I definitely felt unlucky.

Felix looked up, and I followed his gave. One of the griffins was overhead, well out of range of the bow. It circled our position and then the lake. It landed about half a mile away on the shore, and the griffin was taking a drink while the rider dismounted and stared at us from a distance. A second griffin landed next to the first. They were taunting us, letting us know death was coming.

Felix grunted, “Not long now. We should get back to the steps.” He picked up all the canteens I had filled and hauled them back.

I knelt by the edge of the water and washed my hands and arms. The filth in the water was quickly diluted as I washed. I kept an eye on the resting griffins as I moved to wash my face. I realized I had lost my helmet in my fall. I also found a glob of butter in my hair. I made a point to wash my hair and face, scrubbing out the dirt.

Finished, I stood and looked at my abused hands. I did not have much aether but used my healing spell form anyway. The missing nails grew back in slowly, black dirt and tiny pebbles pushed out of the wounds as they closed. I only healed my hands so it would be easier to swing a sword. I was also now out of aether. A shriek from another griffin in the skies was a call to the two resting griffin riders. They mounted and took to the air. The three griffins were soon circling high above like vultures over a carcass.

I heard the twang of bows from the aqueduct and left to join my companions to guard the stairs. The enemy forces had arrived.