Chapter 39: Soldiers
Chapter 39.
01. Large wooden gates rattled open with a squeaking sound that surely woke every animal for 100s of steps. Reskeme and his squad were being escorted into the Eagles garrison by a captain. Reskeme offered the letter to the captain when they had first met, He came to understand mere captains didn't receive letters from the lord of the city. The captain was insistent he delivers it personally to the commander so as not to break the chain of command. The captain had told him stories on their short walk back, of low-ranking soldiers taking messages and losing them along the way to disastrous effect.
02. Reskeme was trying to decide if the soldier was being serious, Reskeme looked around the fortress he spotted many interesting things, tents, horses, soldiers around fires and of course there was also some singing. Reskeme looked at weapons leaning against things and wondered what kind of idiots would leave their valuable things lying around in the open for anyone to take. Reskeme only had two javelins and 3 throwing knives, he spotted dozens of different weapons just travelling through the fortress and was trying to figure out how to take one.
03. Reskeme was excited for the night and dreamed of leaving the fortress loaded with spears and knives. They walked past the stockades and he saw 2 soldiers with arms and their heads sticking out of the wooden braces. He winced when he noticed the long lashes down their backs coated with dried blood. Brad noticed Reskemes look and commented," They were probably caught for stealing." With a shiver running down his spine Reskeme walked away trying not to look at the badly damaged backs of the soldiers.
04. The squad arrived at a building in the center of the camp, the commander's building was fancy and covered in a fabric that was pointlessly shiny. Reskeme had thought the army was totally practical but decided there were some people who insisted on dressing up even in a place of war. Reskeme wasn't surprised that when he entered, the floor was covered in soft mats and the walls decorated with shiny mud. To his disgust, there was even a stone statue at the end of the short hall staring back at him.
05. Reskeme waited with the captain when they entered, the commander had shouted when they entered commanding them to stop and not walk on his rugs. Reskeme patiently waited and was surprised when the well-dressed man who rounded the short hallway was actually well muscled. The man had bright stones decorating his outfit and was wearing a sword that looked so expensive people might die rather than damage such an expensive blade. Reskeme only grumbled internally about people being too rich, He pulled the sealed letter from his pouch and offered it to the commander.
06. Reskeme didn't care what this commander's name was, All he wanted was to get his next message and sit down. All the riding he had done during the day was catching up with him and making him grouchy. The commander must have been in a tired mood also, He said," Wait here a few minutes I will write your next report to deliver." Reskeme and the captain who had escorted him waited for a few minutes before the commander returned holding a letter that still smelled of burning wax.
07. The commander said," This letter is to be delivered downriver to Hernair waterfall." Reskeme Remembered the massive river he had passed and wondered if he meant that river. He was lucky his squad knew what they were doing or Reskeme would be screwed. Reskeme put the message in his pouch and left the pointlessly decorated building. Reskeme couldn't believe people would decorate houses like that in a damned fortress. He decided the commander must be so rich he just couldn't help himself.
08. The captain escorted him and his squad back to a corner of the fortress and said," The stables are over there, he pointed to a building near there new camp privy is right next to it, and you can pitch tents here. The squad was pleased to have a place to stay in the walls. Reskeme was more than happy and began unloading his horse. Reskeme unloaded his things away from the other soldiers and took his horse to the stables. He quickly returned, He did not trust people with his stuff. Reskeme was a little upset, he didn't know how to set up his tent and decided to use it as a mat while using his blanket roll on top of it.
09. Reskeme preferred the clear night sky anyways, the stars were bright and the sounds of small insects were comforting as he crawled clothes and all into his blankets. Reskeme heard something far away letting out a high-pitched howl. He was confused and looked over at brad who had also chosen not to set up his tent and was sleeping under the stars. Reskeme watched the man sit up and listen intently to the howl before slowly laying back down.
10. Reskeme wondered why some guards at the other end of the fort had gotten up and appeared to be nervously pacing around now. Reskeme asked," what is that sound?" In a hushed tone, brad said," It's the enemy." Reskeme felt a chill when another much louder high pitched howl tore away the silence of the night. He could tell they were far away but his instincts told him he should be on guard and not lying on the ground getting ready for sleep.
11. Brad said," you need to ignore the sound, the enemy always does this, I think they make the noise to keep us up at night." Reskeme could understand why, He kept drifting off to sleep, then he would be rudely awoken by the chilling sounds of the enemy. Reskeme tried sleeping, but as brad had said, every hour or so the high-pitched howl would wake most of the soldiers keeping them on edge. He was starting to understand why people here were so nervous all the time, he was tired and exhausted and he had only been here half the night.
12. the morning didn't come soon enough in Reskemes opinion, He kept trying to sleep only to be rudely awoken every time by the damned howling. Reskeme was happy to see the sky starting to lighten, that could only mean it was finally day time. He cheered internally and yawned to himself trying to ignore his fatigue. Reskeme cast his illusions on himself when he felt the light was up enough. He didn't want to risk anyone seeing him after all. Reskeme wasn't surprised when his escort started getting out of bed and in two cases out of their tents.
13. Reskeme noticed the bags under their eyes and the looks on there faces, it appeared no one had slept last night. Reskeme rolled up his tent, the useless thing could just stay on his horse next time, damned tent poles always falling down. He carried his javelins on his back and held his naginata in one hand with his bedroll and tent in the other. Reskeme went into the stable, before returning with his horse now with his stuff reattached. Reskeme had made sure to watch brad saddle his horse, He paid close attention as it seemed none of the soldiers would help him with the basics.
14. Reskeme copied exactly how he had seen brad saddle the horse, he finally became upset when he couldn't figure out how to cinch up the saddle. Brad took some pity and showed him how to loop the leather and pull it tight. He even instructed Reskeme that you need to wait until the horse takes in a deep breath or the saddle will be loose. Reskeme had no idea that there was so much involved in saddling a horse. He slung his case for the javelins on his back and awkwardly climbed on the horse. His bodyguards were all waiting for him outside, they all gave him the look that everyone gives there slow companions.
15. Reskeme and his group passed through the camp of tired-looking soldiers, Reskeme yawned, he didn't blame the soldiers. The group left the big gates of the fort and started towards the treeline. Carley said," we are heading back to the river and following It down to the waterfall, we are now close to the front lines." She looked at Reskemes leather-covered naginata disapprovingly and said to everyone," from now on we carry our weapons ready to fight at all times. Reskeme was feeling more comfortable carrying his spear, He reached up and pulled off the covering to reveal the clean menacing blade. Reskeme checked to make sure he could pull out his javelin, the case was awkward at first, it crossed over his right shoulder.
16. Reskeme changed his naginata to his left-hand soo he could draw his javelin if he needed to. All three of the soldiers had bows in hand and arrows knocked, they were also prepared for the trip. The squad of guards travelled back along the path they had taken along the river. They followed along the swift river for some time before passing the first patrol. The soldiers appeared ragged and tired, they had clearly been in a fight through the night. One soldier spotted them and glumly said," Keep an eye out the damned Darva harassed us all night."
17. Carley said," Did they run away? the soldier nodded, they will be back tho, the stubborn things don't know when to give up." The squad passed the group of tired soldiers, He was now realizing why his guards were always looking around. After riding for a while Reskeme noticed something small in the bushes, he quickly pulled his javelin and leaned forwards in the saddle throwing the weapon at the shape. All the guards in the squad stopped, Reskeme said," I seen something sneaking upon us! His voice was a little shaky. Reskeme stopped his horse and walked over the bush, There in the bush was a bird that blended in with the bush really well. The bird flew away when reskeme reached for his spear, causing the group of soldiers to laugh. Carley said," don't worry the big scary sage hen won't cause us any harm, on the other hand, if you would have hit it we would have something for lunch."
18. Reskeme was embarrassed but also a little upset he had missed, Reskeme wasn't a big fan of dried food. he returned with his javelin back in its case on his back and mounted his horse again. He liked the patient horse and wondered if the animal had a name. Reskeme was happy his squad hadn't got mad, they only were a little disappointed he had missed. Reskeme watched the bushes on the sides of the trail looking for something that might be tasty. They rode for another three hours and he only spotted animals that were high in the trees or far into the bushes.
19. Reskeme had cast his illusions two times, he was starting to be able to channel his mana just before he felt the spell break, He felt confident that if he got good at this no one would even notice that he had just cast an illusion in front of them. Reskeme was lost in his thoughts, he was looking around in the bushes and noticed a twitch of feathers on a branch just above the ground. Reskeme pulled on his reins and reached for a javelin, he slid from the horse as he felt riding made it far more difficult to throw. Reskeme held his weapon and aimed at the sage hen's chest, he took a step forward and threw at the bird that was only 10 steps away.
20. Loud squeaking and a puff of feathers before the bird fell from the branch onto the ground in a shower of flapping wings. Reskeme had collected the bird and weapon, much to everyone's surprise, he had hit the thing dead center of the chest. Carley pointed at the javelin that was now covered in blood. She said," now go clean that thing off, you don't want it to start smelling foul." Reskeme burst out laughing, he didn't think he had ever seen a smile on the face of the gruff soldier and now she was telling jokes.
21. The squad decided now was as good of a time as any to go for lunch as they were happy to have something fresh to eat. Carley made a small fire and burned dry wood, She almost slapped Reskeme who was going to put green-leaved wood on, She cursed at him and said," if you put anything other than dry wood on I will personally kick your ass, the smoke is very noticeable and smelly, the enemy will easily find us." A high pitched yip followed by another came from the bushes in the distance, Carley cursed and stood knocking her arrow, the other soldiers did the same. Reskeme was confused, he asked"what are you so nervous about, that was probably just a coyote. Carley kicked dirt over her small fire and In a hushed tone Carley said," it must be the group of Darva that were harassing the soldiers." A closer high pitched yip came to his ears sounding much more menacing now.
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone