A Soldier's Life-Chapter 285: Button Up

Chapter 285: Button Up

Glasha carefully packed the runic pauldrons. They could probably fit Mateo or me, but they needed padding fitted to them. Of course, their bright-silver appearance was a beacon on the battlefield. The cleric was grinning the entire time, and I was happy we would be done with the job. “We can escort you to Grila,” I offered. A confused look came over the cleric’s face, and I guessed she didn’t see the job as done.

“Why would I want to travel to Grila? We still haven’t found any artifacts of the Titans,” she mumbled. “While this piece ages to the Last Battle, it is not enough evidence the battle was fought here.”

I looked apologetically at Maveith. I didn’t want to ruin our adventurer reputation, as it was our cover for moving through the Caliphate. I exhaled slowly. “Very well. Where do you wish to search next?”

Glasha nodded slowly, probably thinking we might have had thoughts of treachery. The pauldrons were extremely valuable as an artifact. “We will spiral out from this location.”

“If that is your wish.” I nodded in assent.

We began spiraling outward from where we had uncovered the pauldrons. The battlefield had likely been picked clean of most runic artifacts over the millennia, so stumbling upon them was a stroke of absurd luck. Maybe they weren’t from the final battle at all. Maybe some warlord fell off his flying mount and died out here alone five thousand years ago. I kept that thought to myself. Glasha was in a good mood, and I didn’t want to ruin it.

The next day, about two miles from the pauldrons, I found three buried shields relatively close together. They were a bit deeper down, almost twelve feet, but I was guessing they were artifacts since they had stood the test of time. “Benito, it’s time for your skill at digging again.”

Benito eagerly dismounted with Mateo and Maveith to start digging. Glasha had healed their hands from digging up the pauldrons. Raelia sent Baldo into the sky to scout, and Blaze took up the watch with her. It was going to be a long dig this time as the shovels Glasha had brought were not very large. I could have accelerated our progress with my dimensional space, but I didn’t want to reveal my true capabilities to Glasha.

“What did you find?” Glasha said anxiously as she watched my companions toss earth.

“A trio of shields. They are all for a normal man, though, not Titan artifacts.” My revelation made her deflate. She started chewing on the end of her scarlet ponytail in nervousness as we waited. It was three hours before the Maveith struck the first shield and handed it up to us.

Not caring about her clothes, Glasha eagerly started clearing the decorative shield. I could already tell it was not a dungeon artifact. It was far too ornate and lacked the persistent silvery appearance. It was also much more challenging to clean than the pauldrons. The cleric went through all the waterskins and ended up caked in mud herself.

Benito blessed Fortuna as his shovel clanked against the next shield. “The other one is just a few inches below that one,” I yelled down into the hole. Soon, my three companions climbed out of the pit, their hands torn apart from blood blisters. I interrupted Glasha, and she took a break from her efforts to heal them.

Benito’s eyes were wide as the ancient artifacts were slowly cleaned. “Are they made of gold?”

Glasha shook her head. “No, bronze. And they are not shields,” she said triumphantly. I was confused. They were a bit small for shields, but their round shape and shank for the forearm strap indicated they were shields. “They are buttons!” she proudly declared.

Benito’s face twisted in confusion, unable to puzzle it out. “What type of Titan would have buttons that size?” Blaze asked.

“Stone giant craftsmen probably did the relief work, but this was probably worn by a storm giant, the largest of all giants,” Glasha said distractedly. “Give me time, and I will delve into its secrets.”

I sent Maveith and Mateo to get Glasha more water, since Benito had done most of the digging, and we set up camp by our hole in the ground. I figured the cleric would not move until she had used her revelation spell on all the shields—buttons.

As I prepared food for Maveith to cook, I asked her, “How does your spell work? What does it tell you?”

The filthy cleric cocked her head. “It is more of a lore spell. Not only can I see the runes buried deep in the artifact, but I get flashes of the artifact’s history.”

“What did you see with the pauldrons?” Blaze asked, intrigued.

“I didn’t invest enough aether to see far enough back. The only impression the artifact gave me was that a powerful warrior once wore them, and the runes are designed to resist lightning,” Glasha replied. Her eyes were following the returning Maveith.

“Magical lightning?” Raelia asked.

“All lightning,” Glasha confirmed with a tusky grin.

I left her to her work as we set the perimeter for the camp and settled in. I was hoping that with the excavation of the Titan artifacts, we could end this job early. Glasha continued to work well into the evening while we hobbled, watered, and fed the horses, and Maveith cooked a small feast. Mateo and Benito were famished from their shoveling, and Maveith had a larger portion than normal as well.

Glasha shouted late into the night, “I found it! These were worn in the Last Battle!”

Everyone came out of their tents at the commotion. Glasha was even filthier than before. “We found the site of the Last Battle?” I asked hopefully.

The orc cleric hesitated for a moment. “The last time these were worn, a storm giant wore them during the Last Battle. This one magnifies your voice. This one keeps you constantly clean. This one serves as a guard against poison. There were six buttons in the complete set, judging from the image flashes I got from my revelation spell, but I don’t know if the others were artifacts.”

Stolen story; please report.

Under all the filth, I could see the orc cleric was exhausted. She had expended a lot of aether, and it showed in her deep-set eyes. “You found your proof. Rest, and we will escort you to Grila tomorrow,” I said with finality. Her look reminded me of a kid upset that it was time to stop playing. When did I become the adult? “Go to your bedroll!” I ordered. Glasha jumped at my tone but obeyed.

In the morning, we stopped at a stream so everyone who needed it could clean themselves. Glasha oriented us toward the city of Grila. I thought her all-seeing eye was more powerful than Castile’s.

As we rode, I debated whether to ask for her help in using her lore spell on some of my artifacts. I was most curious to learn more about the black spear and magebane. I also had a few unidentified artifacts: a large sapphire necklace from the Shimmering Labyrinth, Boris’s dungeon blade, and Corvus’s dungeon dagger.

It might be too early to trust the odd orc cleric. If she could see flashes of the artifact’s history, she would know how I obtained them and would figure out what I could do. Glasha spent all her time in the saddle examining the titan buttons. I hoped she didn’t burn her aether channels with all the spellcraft she was using on them. I tried to distract her by insisting we continue with my language lessons. She acquiesced and stored the large bronze buttons in her saddlebags.

A day’s ride from Grila, Blaze emitted two sharp whistles of warning. He was riding at the vanguard, twenty yards ahead. I rode up next to him. “What do you see?” He pointed to some half-buried bodies a quarter mile away. The spyglass was soon out, and I examined the site. The bodies had not decomposed, and the skin clearly marked them as orcs. The others approached as I dismounted and sent out an earth pulse, finding nothing.

“We should ride around,” Raelia offered after handing me back the spyglass.

Glasha, still fatigued from using so much aether on the buttons, used her scrying spell to examine the site. She had a distant look on her face, and she informed us, “I don’t see any warriors among the dead. Two oxen. It looks like the earth just swallowed them. Probably ankhegs. It is mating season, and the corpses were probably left there to feed the young when they hatch.” Glasha’s eyes focused as she released the spell. “We need to take care of them or find a warlord immediately who can.”

I had fought ankhegs many times in the dreamscape. They had a tough shell but turned slowly. Their acid spit was troublesome, but you could dodge it easily enough if you recognized their thorax undulating just before they sprayed. “I will go confirm it is a nest. Blaze, Raelia, and Maveith, cover me with your bows. Mateo and Benito, protect the cleric.”

I drew Boris’s dungeon blade and walked confidently forward. I was pulsing earth speak as I went and soon found the underground tunnel network. My footfalls attracted the ankheg, and I waited for it to erupt from the earth. The ground trembled under my feet, and I dodged by pushing off an air shield for leverage. The air shield also had the added benefit of slowing the creature, as it was confused by the brief resistance to its emergence.

I went to a two-handed overhead swing and removed one clawed appendage. I circled behind, targeting the six support legs to immobilize the monstrosity. It was not as large as the ones in the amulet, and I quickly had the creature flailing on the ground. Without its legs, it could not pull itself back underground to escape.

During the brief fight, the archers barraged the head with arrows, scoring a number of hits. It wasn’t long before the beast succumbed to its wounds. After pulsing earth speak, I yelled, “All clear!” I walked to the mostly buried bodies and found the corpse of another ankheg a few feet below. If this was the male, then the female would have laid eggs within it after mating.

The others rode up, and Mateo’s jaw was already jabbering, “Are you sure you need us along?! Killing a pack of werewolves and taking down this giant roach in moments!”

“The arrows killed it, I just immobilized it,” I replied indifferently. The dreamscape ankhegs were much larger and stronger than this one. Still, I could see the awe and worship in Mateo’s and Benito’s eyes.

“You slew a pack of werewolves by yourself?” Glasha asked, interested.

“Not all at the same time,” I said, dismissing the claim. “There are likely fertilized eggs under the bodies. Should we handle them?” I wasn’t going to reveal the collector to Glasha. I was sure the ankheg would only yield a minor essence anyway, judging by its size.

That was how we spent our afternoon, digging down and destroying a dozen ankheg eggs laid inside the male specimen. Well, that was Benito and Mateo’s afternoon anyway. The rest of us supervised. In return, Glasha was going to certify the eggs’ destruction at the Adventurers Guild. Each egg would earn Mateo and Benito a large silver as bounty. The ankheg itself was worth another gold on top.

Covered in yolk and mud and starting to attract flies, Benito and Mateo rode as the rear guard. Still, both were happy they had earned 120 silver for an afternoon’s work. I thought Blaze looked slightly regretful he hadn’t joined them.

Grila was a large city, and soon, we approached the surrounding farmlands. Glasha paused to tell the first orc farmer we met about the bodies and the dead ankheg. They would reclaim the bodies and harvest the beasts. The majestic walls soon loomed larger as we approached our destination.

Outside the stone walls of Grila we prepared to part ways with Glasha. Still atop her pony with her treasure secured in the saddlebags, she thanked us. “You performed beyond expectations. I will report the job complete to the Guild and leave a bonus. You can claim your bounty for the ankhegs as well.” She paused, and I could tell there was something else she wanted from us.

After an awkward pause, she continued, “The clerics of the Boutan Caliphate are going to elect a new Supreme. The death of the last Supreme has not been made public. If you are interested, one of the candidates requires—an escort.”

Raelia interrupted Glasha. “Escort? That should be the responsibility of the elites. Why would a candidate require outside adventurers?”

Glasha winced. “She has no allies and refused my advice to withdraw her candidacy. So far, no one has taken up her sigil, so she has no escort.”

“While that is a tempting offer,” I said, trying to sound gracious, “we have other plans and have booked queues for two dungeons. The one outside of Grila, for one.”

Glasha looked surprised. “You plan to delve into the Vault of the Spirit Arachnid?”

The plan was just to check on our space in the queue and then head north toward our true destination. “Yes, but if the wait is too long, we will continue to the Whispering Grotto.”

A devilish grin appeared on her face. “Yes, it is a popular dungeon. I will make sure you are placed at the top of the queue.” Before I could object, she turned her pony and entered the gates of Grila. Dragon shit, I didn’t consider that the cleric would have sway with the Adventurers Guild. My companions looked over at me questioningly.

His face a little paler, Benito asked innocently, “We are going into the dungeon then?” Benito had a hard time in the Shimmering Labyrinth. Not only had he been injured and almost died, but we had all lost a lot of companions and friends.

“There is a limit of five for this dungeon; you do not have to enter,” I replied, to his relief. If we had to delve into the dungeon to keep up appearances, I would make it quick. “Maveith, don’t worry. This dungeon run will only take a few hours, and we will be riding north toward our true goal.”

The gray man nodded in acceptance. “I understand the necessity and I am ready to enter with you.”

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