Of Fates And Fetters Ch 5

Good afternoon, holy hell where did the day go? XD

I finished chapter! Yey!

Also, did the last writing update sound good? I'm still learning the whole voice recording software and hardware thing. If anything on it didn't work out or you feel could have been made better, please let me know. I won't know I made a mistake if I'm not told I fucked it up. Pretty please? With a cherry on top?

And sprinkles?

I added sprinkles, you can't say no now.

Joking aside, here is chapter 5. Hope you enjoy it.

=][=

I gnawed on salted horse as I brought my fist up to bring Lavitz and Shana to a halt.

“What is it?” Lavitz asked as Shana took the opportunity to sit down.

“We can’t keep going.” I said, looking at a cloud of dust and smoke in the horizon. “Not toward Seles.”

Lavitz walked up to me and studied the cloud of dust. “Ah yes, I see.”

“Why not?” Shana asked, not getting up from her seat on the ground.

“Sandorans.” I said, squinting. I’d have to see about saving up for a spyglass after all. “A brigade at least. Think they’re trying to secure Seles as a forward operating base?”

Lavitz shook his head. “It’s too far forward, there is at least one fort that could be used as a rallying point and attack their supply lines. They must be redeploying, preparing to launch an offensive on a different front.”

“Well, they’re between us and Seles.” I muttered. “So…we’re right fucked. I don’t know what to do.”

Shana sighed tiredly, but didn’t voice a further complaint.

“Come with me to Bale.” Lavitz said suddenly.

“Pardon?” I asked.

“King Albert needs to be informed that I’m still alive.” He said with a firm nod. “Not to mention, I’m certain he’d be willing to send aid to Seles as thanks for your aid in helping me, Sir Leon, and Sir Bart escape.”

“Uhh…not to poke at recent wounds but…” I began.

“That they died does not change the fact that you risked your life to help us.” Lavitz said with conviction.

“There’s also the fact tha—”

“That you were there to rescue someone else does not change things either.” He cut me off, his eyes shining with Knightly conviction. “You could have used us as a diversion. But instead, you chose to join forces with us. Sir Albert will reward you for that loyalty.”

The fact that the only reason I dove in to save Bart and Leon was to use them as meat shields to get Shana out burned.

“Well…better than being stuck out here without a direction.” I said, not meeting his gaze.

“Then it is settled.” Lavitz said with a nod. “Lucky for us, I know of a way that we can bypass the Sandorans and make it back to friendly territory.”

“Oh?”

“There is a system of caves near the border that connects both sides of Serdio.”

I scowled. “Then why hasn’t either side secured it?”

“There is little point.” Lavitz said, moving forward. He waited for me to pull Shana to her feet before continuing. “It is far too narrow to send even a company through. Not to mention, it is rather dangerous. The more men you try to send through it, the more likely it is you’d suffer casualties. One or two men might slip through, but you’d never get enough through it to make a difference for the war effort.”

I grunted. “What about sending men through it as sappers and saboteurs? A small group of people could mine roads, set up traps, poison wells, and overall make life difficult.”

Lavitz nodded. “You are correct. I probably should have mentioned that the passage is not marked in most maps, nor is knowledge of it widespread. It was discovered some three years ago, and most advisors, myself included, are keeping it quiet. We are waiting for the right time to use it to our advantage, using the very tactics you mentioned, but so far we haven’t had an opportunity.” He cleared his throat, and I pulled out the water skin from my handy sack. He took a few swigs gratefully and handed it back. “Not to mention, King Albert expressly forbid us from poisoning wells, he feels the cost to the people of Serdio would be unconscionable.”

“Civil Wars are the most wasteful kind of war.” I agreed. “There is nothing more pointless than a battle to the death between brothers. I’m surprised Baena hasn’t taken advantage.”

Lavitz nodded. “They had just recovered from the plague that ravaged their country a decade ago. But last I heard, the sultan was deposed in a coup last year. His successor is still consolidating power.”

“Ah, that’d explain that.” I nodded.

Shana sighed. “I can see Lavitz knowing about this stuff, he’s a Knight and works for the King. But how do you know so much Dart? We grew up in the same village, my governess was the best educated person in Seles and I know she didn’t let you into her lessons, and even she wouldn’t be able to keep up with your conversation.”

Ah shit. Well…time to Lead with Informative Exaggerations.

“You learn a lot in five years traveling the world looking for people to beat up in a martial arts journey.”

“A five year martial arts journey?” Lavitz asked.

“Rogue School tradition.” I answered with a sniff. “Rite of passage kinda thing. My ma wanted me to do it. I was reticent but agreed. I’ve been to Tiberoa and worked on a boat that traveled back to Mille Seseau, though I didn’t leave the port, working as a deck hand and general repairman doesn’t leave one with a lot of free time. Also found a few martial arts schools and challenged them to friendly spars along the way. The tradition used to be going to other schools and challenging them for the sign of their school to prove the superiority of Rogue School Martial Arts, but that seemed impolite, so I didn’t do that.”

Shana giggled. “That’s so like you, Dart.”

“Huh? What’s so like me?”

She smiled radiantly at me. “Nothing.”

I gave her a narrow eyed stare, then pointed at my eyes, then at her. “I’m watching you.”

She blew a raspberry at me, rude.

“An interesting tradition.” Lavitz said. “I’m surprised I’ve never heard of the Rogue School, I would imagine that any school of martial arts that can produce such an impressive fighter would be known across the Kingdoms.”

“Meh. I don’t think I’d like fame.” I said as a non-answer to his non-question.

“I’m serious. That attack you made on Fruegel. It was impressive.” Lavitz insisted.

“That the name of the fat fuck?”

“Dart!” Shana whined. “Language!”

“What? He was one fat fuck!” I defended. “Speaking of, why was he like, fucking twelve feet tall? I thought the Giganto went extinct.”

“There are many rumors about the man, the most popular is that he is a half-breed of some kind, or perhaps a runt among Giganto.” Lavitz said. “Either way, a few of them survived the purge by the Mille Seseau Templars, though I hear the order that perpetrated it was excommunicated from the church of Soa after the fact.”

“Huh, small world. I guess. Guy needs to go on a diet though.” I said. “He is one fat fuck.”

“Dart!” Shana whined again.

“What!? He was nearly wider across than he was tall! And he was like, fuckin’ twelve feet tall! Do you know how fat you have to be so that fat hardens and can repel sword blows!? I don’t! He is one fat fuck!” I shouted.

“You don’t have to curse!” Shana chastised. “You could just say he’s fat!”

“I’m a grown-ass man and I will curse if I want to!”

“I’ll tell auntie Claire!”

Urk! “I…” I crossed my arms and turned away from her. “I’m a grown man and I can curse if I want to!”

We continued to bicker, Lavitz watching in amused silence. Over the next couple of days, the forest thinned out, and we made our way overland, if I weren’t the only one with a firearm, I’d worry about the open sightlines.

Though really, I’d have to figure out smokeless powder to make hitting someone at proper medium range into a sure thing.

“We are almost there.” Lavitz said as we reached a beautiful prairie, the grass green and tall thanks to it being on the shore of a large lake.

“Well goodie.” I said. “I’ve always wanted to go spelunking.”

“What does spelunking mean?” Shana asked.

“Cave exploring as a hobby.”

“Aaaah.”

“Thankfully, the cave has already been explored. So we know of most of the dangers going in.” Lavitz said, then an arrow slammed into his leg, buckling it and making him fall to the floor with a grunt.

“Take cover!” I growled, tugging Shana by the arm and all but throwing her in the direction of the grass, I reached down, grabbed two handfuls of Lavitz’s mail shirt, and pulled him up as I dragged him.

“Apologies.” He gasped. “I should have been more vigilant.”

“Shut the fuck up!” I hissed, getting into the shoulder-height grass and setting him down next to Shana, who crouched with her bow ready.

We waited in tense silence for several eternities before we finally heard voices.

“So? Where are these people you shot? I don’t see anything.” Said a gruff voice.

“They were here! See! Here’s my arrow!” Answered another, younger, if I were to make a guess.

“Ah yes, the arrow. The arrow you loosed, that arrow. The arrow that you shot at an enemy. The arrow if you will.”

“Y-Yeah?”

“I…The enemies were armored! I bet they’re in the grass!”

I considered drawing my rifle, but decided against it, if there were any other enemies nearby, they’d be drawn in by the noise. This would require close-up work.

I drew my bayonet, Shana’s grip tightened on her bow, and Lavitz gripped the haft of his spear with a grimace.

Hopefully, these two wouldn’t be expected long enough for us to make headway on our escape.

Something moved in the grass to my left, and turning, I saw a ratter, a rodent that was roughly as long as my forearm, with big prehensile ears. Its chubby body covered in grey fur. It lay very still, hoping against hope it wouldn’t be seen.

“You there! In the grass! Come out!” One of them shouted. “You’ll pay for all those goddamn traps, you made our lives hell!”

Okay, in for a penny.

I lunged for the ratter, grabbed it by the ears, and tossed it toward the voices, it screamed a surprisingly child-like scream before scampering.

“Found you!” The younger one said, the exclamation followed by a thump and a squeal of pain. “Fuck!”

There was a long silence, before the older man said. “Oh yeah, very dangerous and armored. Whoda thought it. Truly Lord Fruegel will reward us.”

“Shut up! I saw them!”

“Fuck this, we’ve wasted enough time! And bring the ratter, at least we’ll have a decent dinner tonight thanks to your fuckup.”

“But—”

“I said move it!”

The younger man grumbled, but their voices slowly faded away.

We waited in tense silence for several minutes, then I exhaled and sheathed my bayonet.

“Okay. That was a little too close for comfort. ” I murmured. “Yo, Lavitz, how’s the leg?”

“The arrow punched a hole in my pants, but didn’t break skin.” Lavitz reported as he pushed himself up to unsteady feet. “I’ll have a nasty bruise, but that’s it.”

“Well goodie, think you can walk on it?” I asked.

“I can.” He answered, his leg shaking as he clearly favored the uninjured leg.

“The fuck you can.” I muttered, walked up to him, and tossed the arm on the wounded side over my shoulder. “Alright, just try and match my pace. Shana, move a bit ahead, let me know if there are any holes or something on the road.”

“O-Okay!” She said and did as I asked.

“That’s not a very useful thing for her to do.” Lavitz muttered as I started walking.

“Yeah well, this way if their aim is bad, it’s less likely to hit her.” I muttered back.

He grunted in agreement.

I hauled Lavitz’s ass a good distance before we ran into a shack in the woods. It was a quaint little homestead, with a stump for chopping wood.

“The place is abandoned.” Shana reported.

I wanted to chastise her for taking the risk of scouting the area, but at least she did it while having her bow and arrows at the ready.

I nodded and dragged Lavitz into the sparsely furnished shack, and set him down on the one chair.

“Alright.” I said, trying to hide the sigh of relief at laying down my burden. Lavitz was heavy, his body felt like it was pure muscle as I’d helped him walk. I dug into my handy sack and pulled out my medkit. “Here are some medicinal…uhh…shit. Shana, you take care of Lavitz, I’ll go scout, make sure we weren’t followed.”

“R-Right!” Shana said.

“My apologies.” Lavitz said.

I flicked him lightly on the forehead, making him twitch back in surprise. “None of that, far as I see it, you did me a service.”

He blinked and made a confused grunt.

“Yeah.” I spat with a laugh. “If the arrow didn’t hit you, it might have hit Shana. Anyways, be right back.”

=][=

Lavitz watched the lovely Shana Seles, as she expertly applied a medicinal poultice on the bruise and tied a bandage around it.

“It’s a good thing Dart has always been obsessive about keeping medicine and boiled cloth. He even labeled them all.” Shana commented as she worked, utterly uncaring of Lavitz’s necessary…nakedness.

It was shameful to be reduced to his smallclothes in front of an unwed woman who was not a servant, but unfortunately the field of battle cared little for propriety.

“You have my thanks, Shana.” Lavitz answered, the poultice spreading pleasant heat, then numbing cold over the wounded skin. “And Dart as well, I know many who would not be so eager to part with their medicines.”

Shana blew a raspberry, the childish action catching him by surprise, it so contrasted the steady hand with which she worked. “Don’t worry about the price, that cheapskate definitely made as much of this as he could get away with.”

Lavitz blinked. Swordsman, martial arts master, sapper, saboteur, strategist, tactician, forester, scholar, cook, and apothecary? “Dart is…a man of many talents.”

Shana’s hands stilled for long seconds before she continued. “He is. I…I learned archery, and how to treat wounds in an attempt to catch up with him. But as always, it seems I lag far behind.”

“I do not believe you have to worry much.” Lavitz said. “You will be an amazing wife, and he literally dove into Hellena for you. Not many men would do the same.”

Shana shook her head as she finished and began putting the healing supplies away. “It’s not a poor assumption to make but…But Dart is just like that.”

“Nonsense.” Lavitz said as he put his pants back on, his leg feeling much better. “It’s obvious he adores you.”

Shana giggled shyly, but there was a morose air to it. She looked out the door at the trees surrounding the hut. “He…He helped raised me, you know? He’s looked after me since I was three. One of my earliest memories is the day Dart and his mother arrived in Seles.” Shana finished tying an elegant knot around the waxed cloth where Dart kept his poultices and bandages. “You’ve heard him. He thinks of me as his baby sister not…”

Improper as it was, Lavitz found himself reaching out to lay a hand gently on her shoulder. “It is often said that girls mature faster than boys. He may be…somewhat blind to you, Shana. But that’ll pass, certainly. He cares for you deeply, that much is obvious, it’s just a matter of time.”

Shana’s smile turned her from a girl who had yet to shake off the trappings of youth, into a truly stunning young woman. “Thanks, Lavitz.”

“That said, I have seen his type before.” Lavitz said with a grin. “I feel that he’ll probably be weak to the direct approach.”

Shana’s face turned cutely red.

“Still.” He said, testing his leg, it gave him nary a twinge. “I’d be interested to know where he learned so many things.”

Shana giggled. “Dart has always just been like that. Bothering Master Tasman for lessons in swordsmanship, bothering Old Johnathan to teach him forestry, bothering Auntie Claire to teach him how to fight, bothering Uncle Dan to teach him blacksmithing, bemoaning the lack of books whenever a merchant happened to drop by Seles.”

Lavitz grunted. “Think he’d be interested in joining my Knighthood?”

Shana hummed. “I dunno, he would always go on about how taxation is theft so…”

“Okay, I was able to sneak up on the assholes following us.” Dart said, gliding through the door as silent as a ghost.

With how deadly the man was, Lavitz mentally added ‘assassin’ to the list of the enigmatic warrior’s abilities.

“They looked like they’ve been through the wringer.” He continued, leaning against the frame of the doorway and looking out as he gave his report. “There’s a few dozen, my guess is that a whole company was sent out at first, but they ran into enough traps that a not insignificant quantity of them ended up laid out on the road here. Not sure if they took care of those who couldn’t keep up, or abandoned them, but either way, their morale and discipline looks to be pretty shit.”

He turned back to Lavitz and Shana. “I considered trying to poison their supplies, but they were kept under a surprisingly strong guard. My guess is there’s been some trouble on that front. Either way, they’re currently making an early dinner, and they have a few people searching the wrong end of the prairie. But they’ll get around to coming here eventually so uhh. We’re not exactly in a hurry, but neither can we dawdle, so how we doin’?”

Lavitz nodded. “I am far better, that poultice of yours does exemplary work.”

Dart shook his head. “Sit, the pain being deadened is a side-effect, but the healing properties won’t set in for at least thirty minutes.”

Lavitz blinked at that, but followed his advice and sat on the only chair. “What was in that poultice?”

Dart sniffed, and spat out the door. “It’s just ground up medicinal herbs boiled with animal fat and laced with a healing potion.”

“What!?” Lavitz did not remember coming to his feet.

Dart snorted. “Yeah it took me a few years to figure out the ratios, but I think I got it.”

Lavitz shook his head. “But healing potions lose their potency a short time after they’re opened! Everyone knows that!”

“They do!” Dart said with a sly grin. “But if you mix ‘em with the right herbs and keep the resulting mixture safe from exposure to air, it lets you really stretch that healing potion!”

“And…and how long does it keep?” Lavitz asked, breathless.

Dart shrugged. “Dunno, I made that batch some five or six months ago. The current field test seems to point to it still being good.”

Lavitz sat down, his hand over his mouth.

This…this changed things. It changed everything. Depending on the ratios of course, but even if it worked much slower than ingesting a potion or pouring the contents directly on a wound...currently potions were used to bring the dying back to health, or in a battle to keep the men in the fight. But any who were too lightly wounded to use a potion on, but too heavily wounded to work or fight, were stuck waiting for weeks or months while their bodies healed naturally.

It might boggle the mind that this had not been discovered earlier, but potions were always scarce and difficult to produce, the war quickly burning through Bale’s stockpile that had been shepherded for two decades.

This poultice could work as a middle ground. Again, depending on how much poultice resulted from the investment of a single potion. But this discovery could change the war.

“Could I convince you to give me the recipe?” Lavitz asked, wondering what someone with an attitude of ‘taxation is theft’ would demand for—

“Sure. I’ll jot it down for you when we reach Bale, I don’t have much paper on me at the moment.” Dart said with a shrug.

Lavitz stared.

Shana giggled.

“Who…Who are you, Dart?”

Dart shrugged. “Dart Feld, originally from Neet in Mille Seseau. Ended up in Seles. Just your average guy, really.”

Lavitz stared.

Shana giggled louder.

One thing in particular that he’d said stuck in Lavitz’s mind however. “You’re from Mille Seseau? Dart that’s on the other side of the world, how did you end up in Serdio?”

“Ah well, you know how it goes.” Dart said with a shrug. “One moment you’re a kid minding his own business, doing kid shit. Next thing you know the Black Monster has burned your village down and killed almost everyone you knew and loved.” He gave Lavitz a flinty smile. “Like I said, just your average guy, really.”

Lavitz was not sure what to say to that.

“The Black Monster?” Shana asked. “Oh Dart, I never knew.”

The smile Shana received was warmer, but no less bleak. “It’s fair you didn’t, I didn’t really mention it growing up.”

There was a long uncomfortable silence before Shana said. “Could…could you tell me about it?”

Dart remained quiet for a long time, as if he hadn’t heard her, his gaze unfocused, his stare that familiar mix of intent and hostile that men often had when recalling past battles. He absently spat out the door again before saying. “So, as I recall, it went something like this…”