The barracks were at the far side of the garrison and inside were several soldiers.

“Sergeants Russell and Sanders!” Lieutenant Alex Smith said into the room and two men stood up. “You're with me.”

“Sir.” The two men said and saluted. They looked nearly identical, except one had a slight blue tint to his grey uniform. Even their short brown hair was identical in color and they could have been brothers or even twins. They jogged over to us with packs on their backs and they both carried broadswords and shields as well.

“She opted for close combat.” Sergeant Donna Simms said and nodded to them.

“She must have heard about David telling the old CO about ranged attacks being almost useless in the marsh.” Alex said and the five of us left the barracks. “I assume you drank the potions.”

“Sir.” Both men said with nods.

“How did you like the energy boost?” Alex asked with a bit of a smile.

“I wish I was back home with my lady, sir.” Sgt. Russell said.

“I think for the duration of this mission, we can drop the ranks and sirs.” Alex said. “I'm Alex.”

“Roy.” Sgt. Russell said.

“Richard or Rich.” Sgt. Sanders said.

“Donna.” Donna said.

“David.” I said.

“You're the Marsh Man?” Roy asked and I nodded. “I don't see any moss growing from your back...”

Rich grinned. “...or an extra arm with a knife attached...”

“...or a smell so bad that it puts hair on your chest, even if you already have hair...” Roy continued.

“Guys.” Donna gave them a look and the two men barked a laugh and nodded.

“Shutting up. Aye, ma'am.” They both said and saluted.

“We have to grab our things as well.” Alex said with a small smile.

We went to a smaller building and Alex strapped on a sword onto his hip that looked thinner than a normal sword and Donna had a similar one.

“I can see you staring.” Alex said. “It's not a normal sword. It's half the thickness and half the weight, which makes it ideal for quick strikes and slashes.”

“It's also weak if you try to go blow for blow with a normal sword.” Donna said. “It's deflect only.”

I looked at Alex.

“No direct blocking.” Alex said and showed me what he meant.

“Is that better?” I asked as they grabbed their packs and slung them over their shoulders.

“Every weapon has advantages and drawbacks. Mine is quick movement and bad at blocking.” Alex said and did several quick thrusts and swipes with the smaller blade after we were outside.

“Broadswords are great for blocking and heavy attacks and they are heavy and slow to swing.” Roy said and did the movements.

“Shields are great for blocking and they also slow you down and make you take blows that you would normally try to dodge.” Rich said and showed me how to use the shield.

I looked at Donna to see what she was going to say.

“I'm not carrying my bow to show you.” Donna said with a chuckle. “All I can say is that I can shoot well... for as long as I have arrows.”

I nodded in understanding and we walked over to the front gate of the garrison.

“Try not to have too much fun while you're away.” The guard joked and opened the gate.

“It's just a quick in and out.” Alex said as we stepped through the opening.

“That's what she said! Ha ha!” The other guard exclaimed and they laughed, as did Roy and Rich.

“Children.” Donna said with a shake of her head and walked down the road.

“I don't get it.” I whispered to Alex as we walked behind her.

Alex explained how it was a joke that referenced sex and did the motions with his hands.

“Ohhh.” I said and thought about it. “Is it supposed to be quick?”

“Not if she's lucky.” Roy said and he, Alex, and Rich laughed.

I had to smile at that, because now I knew that Diane was lucky. I hadn't been quick at all.

“Oho!” Roy said at my smile. “I see someone's been getting some!”

“Don't tease him.” Donna said.

“Who's teasing? I wanna know when he did it.” Roy said.

“Didn't you hear that cat wailing last night?” Rich asked.

“You're kidding!” Roy said and Rich shook his head. “Damn, David! You lucky dog!”

“Don't you dare ask who.” Donna said and Roy laughed.

“Who cares who it was! He must have wrecked her to make her yell like that!” Roy said loudly. “David, you gotta tell me if she could walk straight afterwards!”

Rich laughed and smacked his shoulder. “Don't be vulgar.”

“Hey, we can joke around. We're going into the marsh that no other scout has ever gone in and come back alive.”

Alex chuckled. “You make that sound like they come back dead.”

“I'm sure if they came back at all, they'd be dead.” Roy said. “Wait, that can't happen, right?”

“Not so far.” Donna said and turned down the road to Diane's place. “We haven't heard all of the local legends yet.”

“If you mention the walking dead even once, I'm submitting my resignation.” Roy said.

“Good luck with that. We're in this for a term of service for five years.” Rich said.

“I've only got eight months left.” Roy said. “I'll ask for a desk job...”

Rich laughed and laughed.

“What?” Roy asked.

“You want a desk job? On a ship!” Rich said and kept laughing.

Roy got the joke and laughed, too.

“Why are they laughing?” I asked Alex in a whisper as we passed Diane's new house.

“Normal boats rock all the time on the water and nothing would stay on the desk. Papers, pencils, cups of coffee, they would all be on the floor after a couple of minutes.” Alex whispered back.

“Oh.” I said and we arrived at the spot where the old dock used to be.

“By the Son's Light, we're travelling in a wooden brick!” Roy said with a laugh and jumped onto the balancer on the side. “I love it!”

“Careful, now. It hasn't had its maiden voyage yet.” Alex said and stepped onto the balancer as Roy stepped into the boat. “You were right, David. These things are great to stop a boat from tipping.”

We all climbed in and I dispelled the locking charm on the rope, sliced the melded part off, and pushed us away from the shore.

_______________

You have a choice to make. Will it be the right one?

Love what you're reading? Discover and support the author on the platform they originally published on.

A) Pole the boat normally. B) Make the enchantments. C) Let the others pole the boat. D) Choose two.

It's going to take me a little while to make the enchantments, so I'll choose C and B.

_______________

“You need to make a new dock for Diane.” Alex said and I nodded as I went to the back of the boat.

“I want to make her a better store, too.” I said and knelt to dig out the wooden squares out of my pack. I took out another protection ward and two blanks. I hadn't made a movement or a weight one, since I hadn't expected to get another boat so soon.

“Does someone want to start poling the boat along? I'm going to be busy for a while.”

“What are you doing?” Roy asked and picked up one of the push poles. “I'll get us going.”

“You might need Rich on the other side, since the boat's so big.” I said and took several minutes to carve the weight enchantment out, added the potion, then infused it with my magic to activate it.

The two men grunted as they used the poles to try and push us along. The boat was heavy, even in the water, and they were not used to using their arms in that manner.

I put a drop of number ten potion on the back of the weight enchantment and stuck it to the underside of the back bench. I activated it with the smallest amount of magic I could and the boat rose up in the water nearly six inches.

“Hey, it's suddenly a lot easier to push this damn thing.” Rich said as the boat picked up speed.

“You're just getting stronger, now that you're getting marine exercise, Army Sergeant Rich.” Roy joked.

“You do realize I have a long pole in my hands, don't you?” Rich asked.

“I do, too.” Roy countered and they glared at each other, then they both laughed.

“Water joust when we stop to rest?” Rich asked.

“You know it.” Roy said, and they both went back to poling the boat along.

I added the protection enchantment and added it to the underside of the bench as well. I doubted that we would need it while moving away from the marsh; but, it was better to be safe than sorry. I started working on the movement enchantment and it took me nearly fifteen minutes to carve it out. I intentionally added in little nicks and flaws to the carving, on purpose to make it less efficient, then I used the enchanting potion and infused it with my magic.

“This is actually nice.” Alex said as he sat back on the middle bench and leaned back on his pack. “I can't remember the last time we had a nice and relaxing boat ride.”

Donna sat down next to him and put her pack behind her back as well and leaned on it. “It's been ages.”

“Well, my dear, the next three days of this is going to be like a tiny vacation for us.” Alex said and put his arm around her shoulders. “Then we get three days to relax while coming back.”

_______________

You have a choice to make. It could be good or bad, no matter what you decide.

A) Potentially ruin their trip and use the movement enchantment. B) Ignore them. C) Go normally.

Ah, dammit. Thanks. I thought sarcastically and then sighed. I'm not spending a week travelling when we can do it in just a few hours both ways, just like from my house to the village. It was then that it hit me. The Hag hadn't lied. It really would be that long to go from the house to the village, if we didn't have the movement enchantment. I'm glad I never questioned her about it. I thought. I'm choosing A.

_______________

I felt bad about doing this as I attached the movement enchantment on the underside of the back bench, right beside the weight enchantment. “I'm sorry. I can't allow that.”

Alex and Donna turned their heads to look at me.

“What do you mean?” Alex asked.

“It'll take too long if we don't use my magic.” I said and sat down on the back bench. “Roy, Rich, you can stop poling.” I said and put the tiniest amount of magic into the enchantment that I could.

“Whoa!” Roy said and staggered slightly. “What was that?”

“Marsh magic.” I said and he nodded. He pulled the pole in and shook it, not realizing that no water had stuck to it, and he sat down.

Rich did the same and he smiled as he sat. “Okay, this isn't too bad.”

“Yeah, you better hold on.” I said and gripped the front of the back bench myself.

“Hey, wait!” Roy said. “How are you going to steer without a pole?”

I gave him wide eyes and he laughed.

“Magic. Right.” Roy said and looked forward. “All right, Marsh Man. Show me your magic.”

I added a bit more magic to the weight enchantment and the boat rose up to be only a few inches in the water. I started using the vigilance technique, so that I would have the best control of the boat as possible. I wouldn't learn until much later that there were things on other boats that would allow me to steer, without having to use additional magic.

“Good lord.” Rich said. “We're almost floating.”

No one corrected him by saying we were floating already, especially when I slowly added more magic to the movement enchantment and the boat took off. With barely any of the boat in the water, the design proved sound and didn't slow the boat down at all as we sped along, faster than any of them had ever moved in a boat before, even the marine.

The boat took the turns and only tipped slightly, just enough to keep everyone in the boat, and no one was flung out, even going so fast. Alex and Donna turned their heads back to stare at me with surprise on their faces and a little bit of fear.

“WOOOHOOOO!” Roy yelled and looked like he was having the time of his life. Water splashed his face and he would hoot and holler every time. He stayed that way for the entire three hour ride to the next village. “That was GREAT!” He yelled as my boat lost power and slowed down. He picked up his pole and started poling without being asked. “I'm really glad the CO picked me!”

“At least... someone... is happy.” Rich said and stood up a little shakily with the other pole.

_______________

You have a minor choice to make.

A) Pole yourself. B) Let Rich do it. C) Use a bit more magic.

I think I'd rather play it safe and pole myself. Rich doesn't look too good, even though he took the general health potion. I thought. I choose A.

_______________

I stood up and walked over to Rich and put a hand on his shoulder as I took the pole from his weak hands.

“Thanks.” Rich said and sat down. “Ugh. I feel sick.”

Alex reached forward and pat his shoulder. “Was this your first time on a fast boat?”

Rich nodded. “Even in a storm, the ship I was on barely went a quarter of that.”

Alex laughed and leaned back. “Donna and I were on this nice schooner back in the capital harbour about five years ago.”

“Don't make it sound like we were on a date or anything.” Donna said and he laughed again. “It was a patrol of the wrecks and I have to say, the choppy water and the high winds when you approach the sea, sure make you feel small.”

Roy pointed to a good spot on the ten foot high dock and I widened my eyes. “We can get in there. Trust me.” He said and I nodded, then we did our best to work our way into the spot.

“The run back into the harbour with the prevailing winds that day was something else.” Alex said.

“Yes, scary.” Donna rolled her eyes.

“It was exhilarating.” Alex chuckled and kissed her. “You know I would never let anything happen to you if I can help it.”

“Exactly how would you have stopped a boat from careening into the shoals and wrecking?” Donna asked.

“I prayed hard, of course.” Alex said as the flat bottomed boat bumped into the very large dock that had a ton of boats and even a full ship docked to it. He stood up and slung his pack over his shoulders, then helped Donna with hers. Rich was next and he swayed a little.

“I think Rich just volunteered to watch the boat.” Roy said as he put on his pack.

“Good... idea.” Rich said and took off his pack.

I tied us up and deactivated the weight enchantment to let the boat settle, then used the same tricks to secure it. “Canvas and tarps first. I need to finish the boat before we can store anything else on it.” I said and everyone agreed.

We climbed up onto the walkway and went up the stairs to the top of the dock. I had never seen a dock with stairs before and it was neat, because the top was level with the larger ships to make loading and unloading easier. Back at the village, they only used winches and ropes.

“Has anyone been here before?” Alex asked and no one raised their hands. “Right. Let's look for boat building signs as we approach the land.”

The flurry of activity on the dock was almost mind-boggling, because the village wasn't a village at all. It was a town with thousands of people living in it.

“I see one!” Donna said and pointed. It had a nice flag with a boat design and 'Craig's Shipbuilders' stitched onto it.

“Good eye.” Alex praised her, since it was nearly hidden in a sea of other flags, and we made our way down the dock and through a side street to the building. It was three times the size of Michelle's building and inside had several boat slips and three large boats being built. A dozen people were working and one of the men saw us standing there.

“What cannai do fer you folks?” He said in an odd accent.

“We need a large piece of sail canvas.” Alex said and told him the dimensions.

“Ha! Barely a baby ship! Is it a foresail er something?” He asked and led us over to a huge roll of the fabric.

“Something like that.” Alex said and the man pulled out the right amount, gave it a look, and pulled out another couple of feet. The thing was already square, so he didn't have any extra work to do to cut it. He whistled and two women ran over. One was a blonde and the other a brunette, and then the ends were folded over, sewn with a hem, and metal grommets were added to the four corners.

“You'll be looking fer eyehooks, too.” He said and handed over a handful. “It's best ta replace them with the new sail. Don't trust the old ones ta hold a new thick sail.”

“How much?” Alex asked.

“Thirty six silver.” The man said and saw Alex's surprised face. “Ah, I know it's a bit expensive; but, yer not getting ready made sail anywhere else. It's a three day wait, if'n yer lucky.”

_______________

You have a choice to make.

A) Pay without a word. B) Complain. C) Pay and complain. D) Give a bit extra for the quick service.

I saw the other ships outside and the ships in here. Having sail canvas right here and done in five minutes? That's a great service. I'll choose D.

_______________

I knew that was true, considering it was going to take Michelle part of the winter to make it for me, or so she said. I took some of my money out of my pocket and held it out as I counted it into the man's hands. When I reached thirty six, which just so happened to be the number of potions inside a crate, I had two silver coins left. I lifted my head and saw the two women had rolled up the canvas for me and held it out.

I remembered Mrs. Hansen and how happy she looked when Alex had given her that money, so I flipped the rolled canvas onto my shoulder and held my hand out to them with the two silver coins on it. Both women took in sharp breaths and looked at the man.

“Aye, go ahead. If'n he wants ta waste his money on trollops, let it be on his own head, not mine.”

“I prefer the term 'lady of the night'.” The brunette said and plucked one of the silver coins from my hand. “If you're still around tonight, come back here and we can have some fun.”

“She means have sex.” Roy whispered in my ear.

I widened my eyes and raised my eyebrows at her as I touched my face with my other hand.

“Don't worry about that none.” She said as the blonde took the other coin with a blush. “It'll just be something interesting to stare at when we're in bed.”

“Okay, now I'm regretting getting here so fast.” Roy said and winked at her. “We have to leave as soon as we get some supplies.”

“Aw, that's too bad.” The brunette said with a sly smile. “I wouldn't mind having another handsome face giving us a hand.”

“By the Son's Light.” Donna whispered and smacked Roy's shoulder. “Come on. Out. OUT.”

“Sorry, darling! Duty calls!” Roy laughed and led the way back out.

“I'll be waiting in case you're late leaving! For some reason! Like me!” The brunette waved at us and Roy waved back.

“She definitely smelled easy money.” Alex said and looked at me. “What was that about?”

“I just remembered Mrs. Hansen's happy face when you gave her that money.” I said.

Roy laughed and Donna sighed.

“You need to be careful who you offer money to, especially if they are... ahem... ladies of the night.”

“What's that mean?” I asked and Alex explained in a very polite way what the job really entailed. My mouth was hung open in surprise when he was done and Roy laughed pretty hard for the rest of the walk to Steve's place.