Up and down. Up and down. Norman watched the motion of Kalia’s body as she groaned.
“Why are we doing this?” she asked breathlessly.
Norman chuckled, slightly out of breath himself. “You said you wanted to spend more time together.”
A grunt of exertion escaped his lips.
“Yeah, but I meant like going for a walk or something. Not this. I can’t believe you wanted to do this.”
Norman braced himself, letting out one final grunt of effort as he finished the final pushup. Seeing him finish, Kalia stopped and began to stand.
“Oh no you don’t. No slacking off.”
She groaned again before finishing off her set and climbing to her feet.
Norman handed her some water and a towel.
“I’m an enchanter, why do I need to push myself this hard.”
Norman chuckled. “Trust me, it’s easier to push through the pain than it is to see Eugene’s disappointed face. I swear that man practices that face in a mirror for maximum effect.”
She sighed. “I’ll take your word for it.”
“Besides, didn’t you tell me you wanted to get into shape?”
“Yeah, but I kind of wanted to ease into it,” she complained as she rubbed her sore arms and shoulders.
Norman walked over and started to massage her shoulders. Kalia groaned in pleasure under his ministrations. “This is easing into it. You should see what Eugene has me go through in combat training.”
After the short massage, the two went their separate ways to shower and get dressed for the day. Their relationship was growing, but they weren’t quite at the sharing a shower portion yet. He was fine with that. It was just nice being able to connect with someone for once.
In the shower, his thoughts turned toward the expedition. It had been a few days since the squad of Death Knights had summoned him. Which was good. He hadn’t really taken into account getting summoned while in the middle of something, and the first time he had been mid-conversation with his advisors when his mind got whisked away. He could have canceled the spell and returned, but what the Marines were doing was more important than the minor administration work he was working on with the advisors at the time.
He did apologize to Nolia, and Stewart when he returned. But both seemed to understand. He did set a few new ground rules for summoning him though. There was a two-hour block where he would be free to be summoned. It was a time when he wasn’t meeting with anyone or working with potentially volatile spells.
Seeing as they hadn’t summoned him the previous day, it was likely they didn’t need his assistance with anything. He almost hoped they needed him today.
***
Avery watched the strangely armored Gabriel kick over the large dead form of one of the sasquatches, he refused to call them Bigfeet. It was a feat that none of his men would have been able to repeat. So either Gabriel was enhanced physically or that armor was magical. Honestly, it could be both. He would need to speak to the man when they stopped for the night. If the SAS could get weapons and armor like that, they might be able to push back against their neighbors. Assuming there was anyone left to do the pushing. His team had been gone for over a month. A lot could change in that time.
He pushed those thoughts to the side though and answered Gabriel’s question. “Yes, this is where we were attacked.”
The small rocky clearing was littered with holes. He wasn’t sure if they were naturally formed caves, or if something had dug them, but he knew they had saved the civilians, and maybe some of his men.
One of Gabriel’s men stuck his head into the cave before crawling farther in. After ten or so minutes, the man crawled back out. “Cave is empty. Seems like they were able to exit from another opening.”
Avery sighed with relief. It meant his people had survived and escaped.
“Any idea which direction they would have gone in?” Gabriel asked.
Avery pointed in the direction of some rocky bluffs. “That is the path we took to enter this area. There are a lot of loose boulders and small canyons. Easy places to remain out of sight.”
Gabriel nodded. “Alright, let's keep moving then. We have a few more hours until nightfall and I want a more secure place to camp.”
The group of seven trudged on. They had been going almost nonstop the entire day. With those potions, there was very little pain or discomfort associated with such long hikes. He knew these potions weren’t miracle cures though. They seemed to strip the body of essential nutrients to fix any damage. It meant they needed to eat and drink more as they traveled. But it was better than camping in the hostile wilderness where things worse than the sasquatches roamed.
One of Gabriel’s men was sent ahead to scout and the man quickly vanished from view in the twisty rocky landscape.
They caught up to the scout an hour later as he stood over the corpse of a drake. At least that’s what his people had called the flying lizards. And it wasn’t a juvenile one either.
“Bloody hells!” one of his men commented upon seeing the twenty-foot-long creature dead on the ground.
The group approached, seeing only a single spear hole in its head. Before he could ask how the man had managed to pierce the creature's armored hide, the scout spoke up.
“Big bastard tried sneaking up on me. Didn’t realize I had spotted him.”
Gabriel only nodded at the man’s words, but Avery knew they weren’t saying something. He had led men long enough to know when they kept stuff to themselves. He would give them the benefit of the doubt though, since they had saved him and his men from a rather gruesome fate.
“It’s an adult drake. Which is good. It means there won’t be any juveniles in the area. There should be a cave nearby. I suggest we camp there for the night, it’ll be the safest spot around until this big bastard's scent fades.”
Gabriel pointed to his people, “You three go find this cave so we can get some shut-eye.”
The three nodded before hurrying off in different directions. It didn’t take long for the first man to come back. “Found it.”
The cave stank of drake musk but it was clean and dry. Despite the fact that the large lizards had membranes that stretched between their front limbs and bodies, they couldn’t fly, not really. It looked like they should be able to, but the surface area was much too small to allow for flight. Even the juveniles could only glide for short distances. It still made the creatures dangerous though. A ten-foot-long juvenile gliding off a cliff face could pierce a man with its back talons and also crush them under its bulk before you realize it was even there.
They managed to start a small fire using the scraggly trees and brush that littered the area. To help save on the Marine’s rations, the seven ate drake steaks. It was edible, but that was about all Avery could say about the meat. It tasted like chicken that had gone slightly bad. And it was oily as well, leaving a nasty aftertaste in the mouth.
Honestly, it wasn’t the worst thing he had eaten. Some of the stuff he had been forced to consume during his survival training was much worse.
After the meal, everyone got some rest, with Gabriel and his men taking turns at watch. Avery felt like he was taking advantage of the man’s generosity, but the former Marine had insisted his people recoup and recover. It was probably for the best, his people were still recovering from their malnutrition.
Avery still took that opportunity to join Gabriel outside the cave for a quick heart-to-heart. “I haven’t thanked you properly for saving us.” He spoke candidly.
The man only glanced at him briefly before continuing his vigil. “Just doing what’s right.”
“Still… thank you. If it wasn’t for you, we would all be –,” he left the rest unsaid. He didn’t want to think about what could have been.
“You wanted to ask about something?”
Avery chuckled quietly. “Am I that transparent?”
Gabriel shook his head. “I’m just good at reading people.”
“I wanted to ask about your weapons and armor. They are magical aren’t they?”
“I’m not at liberty to discuss that.”
Avery nodded in understanding. “That’s fine. But your boss could, couldn’t he?”
Gabriel didn’t answer.
“All I ask is that he speak with my leadership when we arrive. If something doesn’t change, you saving us and us saving those civilians won’t mean anything.”
“I will bring it up the next time we speak.”
“That’s all I ask. Thank you.” Avery gave a final nod to the man before heading back into the cave to rest.
***
Gabriel chewed over the man’s words. He had no authority to disclose the nature of their weapons or armor. It was bad enough he was going to have to reprimand Thomas, his scout, for using his terror bird mount to take down that drake. Lord Norman had told them to keep the creatures hidden unless absolutely necessary.
And while the drake was large, Thomas should have been able to kill it by himself. Not with one attack though. The man wasn’t that good.
Deciding he needed clarification, he pulled out the little plastic sheet and began writing on it. When he was done, he folded it back up and stuffed it back in his pocket. It was strange wearing clothing over armor. Not because it felt weird it felt perfectly normal due to the sensory feedback the armor provided. It was just that you normally wore armor on top of clothing, not the other way around. Although he supposed this way did have the advantage of surprising people.
***
Morning came and the group moved out. He now had new orders and was happy he didn't have to make the difficult choice.
After two more days, they finally exited that zone and entered the lush fields of England. Or the part of it that Avery and his people resided in. It didn’t take long for them to spot the small city in the distance. But it was the smell that Gabriel first noticed.
“What is that?” he asked, wrinkling his nose.
“Troll,” Avery replied with disdain. “They must have broken through the valley again, we need to hurry.”
Gabriel cursed under his breath. He had fought trolls when he had been stationed in California. But those had been undead ones. Either way, he knew the creatures were a nightmare to deal with.
The group rushed through the quiet city streets until they reached a walled-off section. There were clear signs of fighting, but everything was silent now and two large bullet-riddled corpses sat off to one side of the gated area. A group of soldiers were dousing the bodies in gasoline, getting ready to burn them before they regenerated.
Someone must have spotted their approach and an armed vehicle screeched to a halt thirty feet away, its top-mounted turret facing them.
“Halt!” A loudspeaker-amplified voice spoke from inside the vehicle.
The group stopped and Captain Avery took a step forward, the barrel swiveling towards him. “It’s Captain Avery.” The man also gave his tag number followed by a passphrase before the hatch on the vehicle popped open and someone exited the top.
“Sorry, Captain. We just needed to make sure.” He then glanced at Gabriel and his men, who were obviously not local.
“It’s fine, soldier. These four are with me, they helped rescue us.”
The man nodded. “The General will want to see you… and probably your new friends. You want a ride?”
“We would appreciate it.”
It didn’t take long for the armored personnel carrier to cross the city and deposit Gabriel and the rest outside a building.
Avery turned toward him. “I need to make my report and find out about the rest of my men. Will your boss be able to meet with my boss? I’ll be honest, I haven’t seen any sign of him during our travel.”
At first a bit confused, Gabriel eventually understood what the man was getting at. He chuckled. “That wasn’t my boss. He was just inhabiting the creature. My boss is human, that I can assure you. I can summon him again for a meeting but not until a certain time.”
“Well, that makes things a bit less complicated. I wasn’t sure how I was going to explain asking some tree-dwelling creature for assistance to my superior.”
They both shared a laugh at that. Afterward, Gabriel gave the Captain the timeframe during which he could contact Lord Norman. Avery saluted him, even though it was unnecessary. Then he left to give his report. His four men were led to a small cafeteria to wait.
Up and down. Up and down. Norman watched the motion of Kalia’s body as she groaned.
“Why are we doing this?” she asked breathlessly.
Norman chuckled, slightly out of breath himself. “You said you wanted to spend more time together.”
A grunt of exertion escaped his lips.
“Yeah, but I meant like going for a walk or something. Not this. I can’t believe you wanted to do this.”
Norman braced himself, letting out one final grunt of effort as he finished the final pushup. Seeing him finish, Kalia stopped and began to stand.
“Oh no you don’t. No slacking off.”
She groaned again before finishing off her set and climbing to her feet.
Norman handed her some water and a towel.
“I’m an enchanter, why do I need to push myself this hard.”
Norman chuckled. “Trust me, it’s easier to push through the pain than it is to see Eugene’s disappointed face. I swear that man practices that face in a mirror for maximum effect.”
She sighed. “I’ll take your word for it.”
“Besides, didn’t you tell me you wanted to get into shape?”
“Yeah, but I kind of wanted to ease into it,” she complained as she rubbed her sore arms and shoulders.
Norman walked over and started to massage her shoulders. Kalia groaned in pleasure under his ministrations. “This is easing into it. You should see what Eugene has me go through in combat training.”
After the short massage, the two went their separate ways to shower and get dressed for the day. Their relationship was growing, but they weren’t quite at the sharing a shower portion yet. He was fine with that. It was just nice being able to connect with someone for once.
In the shower, his thoughts turned toward the expedition. It had been a few days since the squad of Death Knights had summoned him. Which was good. He hadn’t really taken into account getting summoned while in the middle of something, and the first time he had been mid-conversation with his advisors when his mind got whisked away. He could have canceled the spell and returned, but what the Marines were doing was more important than the minor administration work he was working on with the advisors at the time.
He did apologize to Nolia, and Stewart when he returned. But both seemed to understand. He did set a few new ground rules for summoning him though. There was a two-hour block where he would be free to be summoned. It was a time when he wasn’t meeting with anyone or working with potentially volatile spells.
Seeing as they hadn’t summoned him the previous day, it was likely they didn’t need his assistance with anything. He almost hoped they needed him today.
***
Avery watched the strangely armored Gabriel kick over the large dead form of one of the sasquatches, he refused to call them Bigfeet. It was a feat that none of his men would have been able to repeat. So either Gabriel was enhanced physically or that armor was magical. Honestly, it could be both. He would need to speak to the man when they stopped for the night. If the SAS could get weapons and armor like that, they might be able to push back against their neighbors. Assuming there was anyone left to do the pushing. His team had been gone for over a month. A lot could change in that time.
He pushed those thoughts to the side though and answered Gabriel’s question. “Yes, this is where we were attacked.”
The small rocky clearing was littered with holes. He wasn’t sure if they were naturally formed caves, or if something had dug them, but he knew they had saved the civilians, and maybe some of his men.
One of Gabriel’s men stuck his head into the cave before crawling farther in. After ten or so minutes, the man crawled back out. “Cave is empty. Seems like they were able to exit from another opening.”
Avery sighed with relief. It meant his people had survived and escaped.
“Any idea which direction they would have gone in?” Gabriel asked.
Avery pointed in the direction of some rocky bluffs. “That is the path we took to enter this area. There are a lot of loose boulders and small canyons. Easy places to remain out of sight.”
Gabriel nodded. “Alright, let's keep moving then. We have a few more hours until nightfall and I want a more secure place to camp.”
The group of seven trudged on. They had been going almost nonstop the entire day. With those potions, there was very little pain or discomfort associated with such long hikes. He knew these potions weren’t miracle cures though. They seemed to strip the body of essential nutrients to fix any damage. It meant they needed to eat and drink more as they traveled. But it was better than camping in the hostile wilderness where things worse than the sasquatches roamed.
One of Gabriel’s men was sent ahead to scout and the man quickly vanished from view in the twisty rocky landscape.
They caught up to the scout an hour later as he stood over the corpse of a drake. At least that’s what his people had called the flying lizards. And it wasn’t a juvenile one either.
“Bloody hells!” one of his men commented upon seeing the twenty-foot-long creature dead on the ground.
The group approached, seeing only a single spear hole in its head. Before he could ask how the man had managed to pierce the creature's armored hide, the scout spoke up.
“Big bastard tried sneaking up on me. Didn’t realize I had spotted him.”
Gabriel only nodded at the man’s words, but Avery knew they weren’t saying something. He had led men long enough to know when they kept stuff to themselves. He would give them the benefit of the doubt though, since they had saved him and his men from a rather gruesome fate.
“It’s an adult drake. Which is good. It means there won’t be any juveniles in the area. There should be a cave nearby. I suggest we camp there for the night, it’ll be the safest spot around until this big bastard's scent fades.”
Gabriel pointed to his people, “You three go find this cave so we can get some shut-eye.”
The three nodded before hurrying off in different directions. It didn’t take long for the first man to come back. “Found it.”
The cave stank of drake musk but it was clean and dry. Despite the fact that the large lizards had membranes that stretched between their front limbs and bodies, they couldn’t fly, not really. It looked like they should be able to, but the surface area was much too small to allow for flight. Even the juveniles could only glide for short distances. It still made the creatures dangerous though. A ten-foot-long juvenile gliding off a cliff face could pierce a man with its back talons and also crush them under its bulk before you realize it was even there.
They managed to start a small fire using the scraggly trees and brush that littered the area. To help save on the Marine’s rations, the seven ate drake steaks. It was edible, but that was about all Avery could say about the meat. It tasted like chicken that had gone slightly bad. And it was oily as well, leaving a nasty aftertaste in the mouth.
Honestly, it wasn’t the worst thing he had eaten. Some of the stuff he had been forced to consume during his survival training was much worse.
After the meal, everyone got some rest, with Gabriel and his men taking turns at watch. Avery felt like he was taking advantage of the man’s generosity, but the former Marine had insisted his people recoup and recover. It was probably for the best, his people were still recovering from their malnutrition.
Avery still took that opportunity to join Gabriel outside the cave for a quick heart-to-heart. “I haven’t thanked you properly for saving us.” He spoke candidly.
The man only glanced at him briefly before continuing his vigil. “Just doing what’s right.”
“Still… thank you. If it wasn’t for you, we would all be –,” he left the rest unsaid. He didn’t want to think about what could have been.
“You wanted to ask about something?”
Avery chuckled quietly. “Am I that transparent?”
Gabriel shook his head. “I’m just good at reading people.”
“I wanted to ask about your weapons and armor. They are magical aren’t they?”
“I’m not at liberty to discuss that.”
Avery nodded in understanding. “That’s fine. But your boss could, couldn’t he?”
Gabriel didn’t answer.
“All I ask is that he speak with my leadership when we arrive. If something doesn’t change, you saving us and us saving those civilians won’t mean anything.”
“I will bring it up the next time we speak.”
“That’s all I ask. Thank you.” Avery gave a final nod to the man before heading back into the cave to rest.
***
Gabriel chewed over the man’s words. He had no authority to disclose the nature of their weapons or armor. It was bad enough he was going to have to reprimand Thomas, his scout, for using his terror bird mount to take down that drake. Lord Norman had told them to keep the creatures hidden unless absolutely necessary.
And while the drake was large, Thomas should have been able to kill it by himself. Not with one attack though. The man wasn’t that good.
Deciding he needed clarification, he pulled out the little plastic sheet and began writing on it. When he was done, he folded it back up and stuffed it back in his pocket. It was strange wearing clothing over armor. Not because it felt weird it felt perfectly normal due to the sensory feedback the armor provided. It was just that you normally wore armor on top of clothing, not the other way around. Although he supposed this way did have the advantage of surprising people.
***
Morning came and the group moved out. He now had new orders and was happy he didn't have to make the difficult choice.
After two more days, they finally exited that zone and entered the lush fields of England. Or the part of it that Avery and his people resided in. It didn’t take long for them to spot the small city in the distance. But it was the smell that Gabriel first noticed.
“What is that?” he asked, wrinkling his nose.
“Troll,” Avery replied with disdain. “They must have broken through the valley again, we need to hurry.”
Gabriel cursed under his breath. He had fought trolls when he had been stationed in California. But those had been undead ones. Either way, he knew the creatures were a nightmare to deal with.
The group rushed through the quiet city streets until they reached a walled-off section. There were clear signs of fighting, but everything was silent now and two large bullet-riddled corpses sat off to one side of the gated area. A group of soldiers were dousing the bodies in gasoline, getting ready to burn them before they regenerated.
Someone must have spotted their approach and an armed vehicle screeched to a halt thirty feet away, its top-mounted turret facing them.
“Halt!” A loudspeaker-amplified voice spoke from inside the vehicle.
The group stopped and Captain Avery took a step forward, the barrel swiveling towards him. “It’s Captain Avery.” The man also gave his tag number followed by a passphrase before the hatch on the vehicle popped open and someone exited the top.
“Sorry, Captain. We just needed to make sure.” He then glanced at Gabriel and his men, who were obviously not local.
“It’s fine, soldier. These four are with me, they helped rescue us.”
The man nodded. “The General will want to see you… and probably your new friends. You want a ride?”
“We would appreciate it.”
It didn’t take long for the armored personnel carrier to cross the city and deposit Gabriel and the rest outside a building.
Avery turned toward him. “I need to make my report and find out about the rest of my men. Will your boss be able to meet with my boss? I’ll be honest, I haven’t seen any sign of him during our travel.”
At first a bit confused, Gabriel eventually understood what the man was getting at. He chuckled. “That wasn’t my boss. He was just inhabiting the creature. My boss is human, that I can assure you. I can summon him again for a meeting but not until a certain time.”
“Well, that makes things a bit less complicated. I wasn’t sure how I was going to explain asking some tree-dwelling creature for assistance to my superior.”
They both shared a laugh at that. Afterward, Gabriel gave the Captain the timeframe during which he could contact Lord Norman. Avery saluted him, even though it was unnecessary. Then he left to give his report. His four men were led to a small cafeteria to wait.
