A Soldier's Life

Chapter 88: Battered and Bruised

Chapter 88: Battered and Bruised

Chapter 88

The manticore’s voice was guttural, as I would expect from its flat ogre-shaped face. He was not talking to me, but Maveith was speaking in a language I could not understand. It was a few harsh phrases before Maveith responded in the same language. Two exchanged words, and my grip got sweaty on my hilt. The smaller manticore was lying down in misery, and I think Maveith’s first arrow did more damage than I thought.

His arrows were as thick as my thumb and longer than my arm. It must have penetrated the chest cavity, and the arrowhead had done serious damage. On the other hand, the arrow he had shot into the adult male had barely penetrated six inches and was already ripped out by its maw. My pilum had entered through a much softer part of the hide. Standing next to the goliath, I asked, “What are you two so chatty about?”

Maveith said another phrase in the harsh language and then addressed me, “It speaks the language of the stone giants, not very well, but it has some grasp on the speech. They were a mated pair from Stone Mountain Island. A half dozen of their kind were summoned by a mage and released north of here to cause havoc. It recognizes my race and is trying to bargain for it’s life, knowing we honor our word. It is offering its treasure if you heal it and its child.”

Lyonis was moaning near his cabin door, trying to pull himself inside and unable to fight. A manticore quill was in his shoulder and another one in his hip. The manticore ground its sharp, angular teeth in impatience and discomfort. I could tell movement was difficult for it with the long pilum piercing it. Maybe it couldn’t fly. Its body would ungulate in flight, and, like its suffering offspring, the long rod of the pilum was just too painful. The beast looked at its mate and spoke again.

When it finished, Mavieth asked, “It thinks you poisoned its mate and is worried you poisoned it as well.”

I exhaled, “Yeah, let us go with that.” Maveith looked at me sidelong, not taking his eyes off the creature twenty feet away.

Maveith spoke slowly, “How did you kill the female?”

“I gave her indigestion,” I quipped. The female was on her side, leaking a steady flow of blood from her mouth. I asked seriously, “Are you going to be able to kill the male? I am all out of aces.”

There was silence, and I figured Maveith was trying to puzzle out what I meant by aces. He slowly spoke, “The potion gave me my movement, but I think the manticore could reach us before I pulled my bow again.”

“Maveith crushed the beast’s spine. It is dead. I will go make sure after we get Maveith on the table to rest,” I explained. Maveith was laid out, and Lyonis used red aloe on the wounds to prevent infection. It looked like he was going to live.

“I am going to make sure they are all dead,” I told the two, but Mavieth was already off in dreamland, and Lyonis was having difficulty standing.

I reached the male manticore and watched it intently, making sure it was still. I didn’t have to open my dimensional space to retrieve items completely. However, I had to wait ten more minutes before I had enough aether to produce the essence collecter. I placed it on the creature and had to wait another minute for some aether to activate it.

The familiar blue wisps formed and congealed into a major glossy black sphere of essence. If I was not mistaken, the channeling attribute. It determined how fast aether was restored to an aether core. I eagerly did the female next after, getting a second major glossy black essence.

I approached the young manticore, but it was still breathing foamy red blood. I moved and sat on a log to watch it and wait for it to expire. I was in no rush. I would have preferred to put it out of its misery, but one wrist was broken, and my other shoulder burned in pain. I also wanted to conserve my aether, so there was no healing for the moment. I popped one of the large black pearls into my mouth.

A chilly feeling extended from my stomach and kept going past my body, into my surroundings. I felt like I was momentarily experiencing an out-of-body experience, and then my senses snapped back. I realized I was feeling the aether in the environment, just briefly. I did not feel any different after the sensation passed, and continued my death watch on the young manticore. The beast finally expired as the sun was setting. It had held on for hours, forcing itself to breathe. I stood, walked over the creature, and stabbed it in the ribs with my sword. There was no reaction as the blade slipped between the ribs.

I set the collecter and activated it. The blue wisps seemed thinner and uncertain as they collected in the center of the collector. A minor essence eventually formed, but it was not black. It was azure blue with white swirls. It was a magic affinity. I smiled as I moved both essences to my dimensional space for later consideration.

With the last creature confirmed dead, I could start using my aether to heal. I focused on my shoulder first. The poison had damaged my muscles, and I needed to repair them first. I had recovered a fair amount of aether in waiting for the manticore to die. I closed the wound, the scab flaking off and showing new skin, and then repaired the muscles. I did as Larita told me and just focused on what needed healing. After I was done, I tested the arm and was happy with my healing.

Next was the wrist. It was swollen so much that my hand looked like a club. I felt out the bone with my healing senses, and it took a lot more aether than I thought it would to set and meld the bone together. I tested and then reinforced the healing again, using all my aether. The swelling was already diminishing, but it was going to take time.

I returned to the cabin to find both wardens sleeping, Maveith on the table and Lyonis in his bed. I set a chair by the window to listen to the night insects and owls. I, too, soon fell asleep.