AnnouPatreon is 21 chapters aheadChapter 61 Loyalty

  We fell in behind the horses. I thought they would try to lose us by increasing their pace, but the horses only moved steadily, causing us to move at regur march to keep up. I was happy Kolm had repaired the sole of my boot. I was in the back row of our marg block with Brutus to my left and Firth to my right. Firth, the old veteran muttered, “This is going to be a miserable night march. Good thing we have those glow stones. You will o charge mine.”

  He passed it to me, and soon, I had a cycle of glowstones ing at me. They were the glowstohey had ‘requisitioned’ from me. I kept the remaining four stones in my dimensional space, fearing they would also be ‘requisitioned.’ As I finished charging the glowstones, more riders came rag up behind us. Firth barked, “Shields to the rear! Spears and archers at the ready!”

  Four men who had acquired body shields in the army camp cycled to form the wall, and two men with round shields took the ends of the shield line. Four spearmen were behind the six shieldmen, and four archers were behind them. Adrian and Delmar stood in the rear, and I was with them. Konstantin and a few others darted off the road into the brush to fnk the possible attackers. All this was well practiced and happened ibeats. Delmar yelled, “Hold! Break and reform ranks! It is just the Hounds.”

  Nine riders led by elius came up on us aled into a walk with their mounts. elius smiled in the waning light. “Konstantin, I am surprised you did not steal horses for your pany.”

  Konstantin ughed, “I am sure Octavian was waiting for me to try so he could shackle all of us!”

  elius ughed with him, “Probably. He sent us off to track down twurs in the woods who thought better of rushing the walls of Macha. o worry, Konstantin. We will make sure ye gets to the capital in one piece. Since you are walking in that dire, I am sure you will see to the capital—eventually.” He ughed at our predit.

  Konstantin asked seriously, “What is the pulse of her ces before a Tribunal?”

  elius frowned while his men rode forward at a hand signal from him. He frowned, “Octavian will worm himself onto the Tribunal with Duchess Veronica. The Emperor will appoint the third based on the highest bidder for the judgme. Unfortunately, I do not think he is ied at all in Mage Castile’s fate.”

  Firth asked elius, “Isn’t Octavian the Emperor’s son? Doesn’t that mean he will get his way?”

  “The Emperor doesn’t favor any of his children. Quite the opposite. He is always on guard against them. I doubt it will work in Castile’s favor, though.” He spurred his horse forward to catch up to his men, leaving us.

  We kept our formation ahe riders in sight. They were kig up a signifit amount of road dust. The dust soon coated everyone. As the suhe glowstones appeared on the men oside of the block as we marched. Larita had done an amazing job healing everyone. My only issue was that my feet had no calluses, just pink new skin. I could feel the blisters f already just a few miles into the march. As the night set in, the blue moon was hidden by heavy clouds, causing a heavy darkness. Our men on the edge of our formation had fixed the glow stoo their shields. The shifting shadows the glowstones geed from the trees and shrubs created a spooky and eerie feeling. Especially since I knew my new world had dozens of horrors that could rush out of the darkness.

  The ti of mounted legionaries in front of us brought their own light. Heavy direal beams of light bounced around far in front of us as they served as the vanguard. It made me think I could do the same with my glowstone. Make a simple fshlight with a polished metal funnel.

  As the night wore on, the horses kept opening distan us. The boung lights got further and further away. Delmar and Adrian paced us at the front. They knew our best speed in the dark on the dirt road to not wear us out. At least with the open distance, we did not have to deal with the horses’ heavy dust cloud any longer.

  Hours into the March, Brutus spoke, “Well, this is not all bad. At least we are not beio assault the walls of Macha to retake the city.”

  Firth said, “There is that, but from what I heard, they do not pn to assault the city. They have some powerful earth mages with them and pn to tear dower walls. Probably take half the lower city as well.”

  Wylie turned, “What about the citizens that remained?”

  “They should have fled. I talked with an acquaintan Master Mage Da’s pany. Da is tasked with bringing down the western wall and then rebuilding it after the city is taken,” Firth said calmly.

  “So they are just going to destroy the city and then rebuild it?” I asked incredulously.

  “It will take a few months, but yes,” Firth said. “It was the pn all along. They he Bartiradians ihe city.”

  “Then why is Castile going to a Tribunal?” Wylie asked from the row in front of us.

  “Her orders were to hold the city until Duke Tiberius arrived,” Firth replied. I was dumbstruck. In other words, Castile, Gregor, and Durandus were going to fail no matter what. The only way they could have survived the Bartiradians and succeeded in the pn would have been to hold the inner city walls until the Duke’s army felt like showing up.

  Everyone was too tired to talk after that as Adrian ordered a slight increase in pace, just short of a jog. It seemed ridiculous that we could keep up with horses. At least elius said he would make sure Castile would reach the capital. We passed through three towns throughout the night, and when we could no longer see the lights of Octavian horses. We reached a small bridge, and Delmar called, “Thirty minutes for water and food!”

  Konstantin barked, “No one removes their boots! I know your feet hurt like your first mar training, but it will only be worse if you take them off. We have about fifty-five miles to hagan. Fill your teens by the spring and saturate your bellies!” Damn, hours of marg, and we were only a third of the way there. Men rushed to dri, shit and piss.

  Lu, our pany horse master, tried to cheer everyone up, “Most likely, they will have to rest their horses twice before they reach the city. Maybe we will pass them while they are watering them.”

  I was with Brutus, Felix, and Mateo, shoveling down food. I noted, “I ot believe how dry and cool the air is. It was humid daily in Macha, and we are not far from the city.”

  “One of the rger ley lines runs uhis road. It pys with the weather above it,” Brutus answered.

  Felix asked, “Don’t they have ley lines in Tsinga?”

  I replied slowly, “We do, but I didn’t grow up near one, and my education was g.”

  “Rest is over!” came a shout from Adrian, saving me from having to expin further. I o be careful when refereng Tsinga. With my ret luck, we would have anionnaire from the distant Kingdom join our pany.

  I sent some healiher to my feet to keep them in good dition. I was one of the few men moving without wing runting. It did not take long for everyoraining to ki and ighe foot pain. We were going to do 80 miles in heavy boots with over sixty pounds of armor and gear. Some men who had geared up in camp with shields, spears, and arrows probably regretted their decisioered into a fast walk, and silence rained among the scuffing of boots on the dirt road.

  When the sun began to rise, it was not salvation, though. Down in a valley, a river cut into a town. Octavian’s legionaries’ silver armor sparkled on the new day’s light. We had caught up to them. We kept on the road and tinued our marstead of turning off into the town below. The mohtened some as Castile was down there somewhere, and it looked like we were going to reach Carahagan and make the portal.

  By midm, we passed a sign that indicated we were forty-one miles from hagan. I was surprised that Octavian’s men had not ridden up behind us yet. Just before the sun reached its midday zenith, we were called to halt again. Not even Konstantin looked great after fifty miles of forced marg.

  I worked my stiff and sore shoulders out with a touch of healing. It almost felt like I was cheating. Men colpsed to the ground, trying to find the energy to e food, but many preferred a quiap. I drank and ate from my pack as well. The more I ed, the lighter it would be. With the pany spread on the side of the road, Octavian’s n rode up behind us. As they passed, they increased to a light gallop. Their faces were smug as there was no way we could cover the st thirty miles before them. Castile was still stoid riding in the ter of their formation.

  After they passed, Firth nearby swore, “Harpies tits. If the Duke orders the Dispt Mage to send him as soon as they get there, we might have to wait two or three days before the portal opening to the capital.”

  Adrian snapped, frustrated, “What do you suggest we do, Firth? We have no stamina potions, and I am pushing the pace as much as is safe. If we are denied healing in hagan or Telha, we will be id up for a week of healing!” I had never seen our leader’s nerves so frayed before. And Adrian had pushed through serious injuries just a day ago to escape the city.

  “Send men on. There are a few of us who push harder. If the Dukes rush the Tribunal, Castile will have no wito defend her. She deserves a few of us to try, at least,” Firth muttered aggressively. I had not known he cared enough to defend Castile, especially since he worked for one of the Praetorian Guard.

  “Who is willing to jog thirty miles to the city? My best guess is you o make it in about five hours to catch the portal opening?” Adrian asked almost as a plea.

  Konstantin dropped his pad pulled his teen, “Fill my teen, and I will go. Benito, Linus, Pavel, and Eryk are the only other ones who look like they make it.” Benito nodded and dropped his pack. Pavel did as well, albeit relutly. Linus looked like he was not happy being volunteered but slowly dropped his pack.

  Well, shit. Getting volunteered again, “Give me more full teens. I squeeze five in my dimensional box,” I offered. Everyone quickly shuffled in their packs, and I shoved the teens and some food into the box in my space, filling it.

  The five of us left our packs to lighten our load. The only on we each took was our short swords a knives. We jogged after Konstantin in a lihe five of us were mismatched body types. Konstantin was squat and barrel-chested, Benito was short and thick, Pavel was almost as tall as me and wiry, and Linus was the only person in our pany who did not look like he was yered in muscle. Then there was me; I was both tall and thick with muscles.

  As we started , Konstantin paced us from the front. It was a light run, and maybe we were making ten-minute miles. Konstantin had selected roup well. Only Pavel was struggling visibly when we reached a road sign at a town noting eleven miles to hagan. Pavel had a limp that was growing more pronounced with every mile.

  Konstantin noticed, “e on, Pavel. You have all that gold waiting for you in the Adventurer’s Guild! You just have to earn it with a little pain!”

  Konstantin was referring to the gold we were promised for disc the lost dungeon. That was over seventy gold. It motivated Pavel as he did not waver until the city walls of hagan came into sight. Konstantin swore, “Thought we would have caught sight of them before the walls.”

  The tall stone walls of the city did not have a sprawl of farms or buildings outside of it as Macha did. The st mile of the road became paved with stone as roached. It was te evening, but there was still plenty of light. The city guards at the gate stopped us, and Konstantin rasped, “How long ago did the Duke ride through?”

  The gate captai a moment looking us over. We were covered in dirty sweat and general filth, and Pavel had trouble standing on his right leg. “The Duke passed just under an ho.”

  “Thank you,” Konstantin tried to move past. The guard blocked him.

  “Legionnaire, you must enter your men in the Registry,” the guard said seriously, pointing to the guard house.

  “Did the Duke register his pany?” Konstantin snapped.

  The guard looked unfortable, “No, he flew his fg, and we ted his men as they rode through.”

  “Good, add five more to that t,” Konstantin said, pushing past. The guard uttering, but I did not hear as I followed Konstantin. I did not have time to admire the city as Konstantin moved quickly through the streets, dragging us along. The citizens gave us a wide berth, probably due to both our state of filth and dispyed urgency.

  We arrived at a rge courtyard with a familiar stone arch, and the Duke’s horses and men were waiting. Castile was dismounted in the ter of the group and talking with elius. elius spotted us and poio a small stone building. Konstantin barked, “Frigging paperwork. Wait here. If the Dispt Mage arrives and opens the portal, gh, do not wait for me. Do not let aop you. I will gister our travel with the clerk.” Konstantin stomped away, finding energy in his anger.

  Pavel found a barrel to sit on and peeled off his boot on his right leg. As he removed his blood-soaked sock, it arent the flesh on his heel had split, and the heel bone was showing. Linus ao were not as bad. They still had bloody socks but just from blood blisters. I left my boots on as I had kept my feet in good shape with touches of my healing ability.

  elius approached us as we checked ourselves and waited on Konstantin, who was getting vocal ihe clerk’s building. “Impressive feat, getting here on foot. I could use men like you in the Hounds. Do any of you have a spell form?” I kneell form was required to join the Hounds, but none of us answered him. After a pause, he asked, “Is this all that made it?” elius indicated roup.

  Pavel answered non-itantly while delicately iing his heel, “They should be here soon.”

  Konstantin joined us, his face red from yelling. He barked at us, “We are fio ehe portal to the capital.”

  elius eyed him, “You were always a tough bastard, Konstantin. Good thing, too. Octavia a message to have a Truthseeker lined up to expedite the Tribunal. If you had not made it, they would have proceeded without your testimony.”

  My limbs suddenly got very cold. We were going to be questioned by Truthseekers? A procession of legionaries ial armor approached. They were esc the Dispt Mage. Fifteen mier, the portal opened, and the Duke’s procession started entering. “Do not bother putting your boots on; just move through,” Konstantin barked, and we all shuffled to the portal to follow. I had a thought about falling to the bad missing the portal by act, but Konstantin was behind me and pushing me forward. I ehe portal and emerged in the capital of the Telhian Empire.

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