The base being locked down lasted for two days and I spent a majority of that time with Mage Henrietta. We even ate together, to the consternation of some of the other mages, who were mainly the new ones that hadn't been with us during the dragon hunt. They still had their innate hostility towards outsiders, not realizing that I was more like them with my magic than I was like a normal soldier.
Mage Henrietta and the others I knew laughed it off and explained when they could. Even the weight mage that had sent his brother home for losing an arm, praised me for my work and for getting them the time they needed to get to safety during the dragon fight. That wasn't enough for some of them, because they let my social status, namely none personally and bottom of the rung in the army, make their judgment for them.
When the base finally opened up and we were allowed to go about our business again, I discovered how the battle had gone. Unfortunately, it went poorly by normal standards, even though we had won. Both forces were almost on even ground, mainly because the enemy had twice as many badly trained troops to throw at the battle and did so without concern or worry about losing those troops.
The Colonel couldn't afford many battles like that, because every single soldier she lost to bodily injury or death, was one less soldier she had to utilize from her very limited pool. She even had to reinforce the occupying forces she had stationed at the two port towns when they suffered casualties during multiple attacks from approaching enemy ships and from enemy skirmish squads.
They held their positions, mainly because of my catapult ammunition. Seeing half of a ship's crew merging with the magic fire covered webbing and the deck of the ship because of the number ten potion, made everyone panic, even our own troops. They knew to treat the prepped barrels with care and now all of the soldiers completely understood why. Word of things like that spread quickly.
Mage Henrietta and I were in the middle of mixing up another series of batches of number ten potion for the barrels when the door to my area opened and the Colonel stood there with two guards.
“Private Drake, I'm assigning you to an urgent mission.” Colonel Rivers said. “I've talked to the surviving construction crew members from the dragon battle and they told me you left important construction equipment behind. You are to retrieve that equipment and return here to begin construction of Mage Lukas' kracken tubes.”
“They're my kracken tubes.” I said. “I invented them, designed them, and built them.”
“Conscripts are not allowed to claim ownership of battlefield weapons.” The Colonel said. “Before you argue about it, neither are civilians below a certain social status.”
“Who claimed ownership of my catapult ammunition?” I asked, not really caring about the answer, except to maybe take revenge on them if it wasn't someone I approved of.
“Chief Warrant Officer Gary Stromboli.” She said. “He'll be going with you to help.”
“These potions will be done in...”
“You are to leave immediately and return as soon as possible.” The Colonel said.
“No, I don't think so.” I said and she squinted her eyes at me. “If I leave now, all this work will be useless. I have to stay to infuse the potions or they won't be any good.”
“You can redo them...”
“No, I won't.” I said and she scowled. “If you can't value these as necessary, even knowing the troops need them, all because you want to gain an advantage in the next battle that you don't know when it's going to happen, I won't bother making any more.”
“I am ordering you...”
“You can order all you want. The trip back to my house is going to take all day, because I have to go all the way back to the village first and then go in the other direction to get there. The routes aren't connected, as you very well know. Having to wait thirty minutes for essential potions before I leave won't make any difference to that trip.”
We could all hear the Colonel grind her teeth as she mulled it over.
“When you return, you are to be held in the stockade for a week.” The Colonel said.
“You should belay that order for the immediate future, since I'll be needed to make the potions to construct the kracken tubes.” I said and she growled.
“The more you try to hamper my David, the more you hamper yourself.” Mage Henrietta said, her voice filled with satisfaction. “I thought you knew that by now, since he has proven his immense value, over and over.”
The Colonel shifted her gaze to the mage.
“I'll be accompanying him as well.” Mage Henrietta said. “I want to make sure that he doesn't run away from his responsibilities, now that you're finally letting him out from under your oppressive thumb.”
The Colonel took a breath and let it out. “Ensure that he returns as quickly as possible. I need those weapons.”
“Don't worry, Colonel. I'll make sure that he does exactly what he needs to do while on this mission.”
The Colonel nodded, then smiled. “You'll be taking a load of the wounded back to the garrison as well, since you insist on going back to the village. Check with the CO for any messages from the capital as well.”
“I doubt a message could be lost from there to here.” Mage Henrietta said.
“Check anyway.” The Colonel said and nodded to the two guards as she left.
The guards stayed and waited for us to finish the batch of potions. I had exaggerated the need for the potions, just because I could. If she had taken me away, I could have used it as an excuse to stop helping her. She didn't want that, since she desperately needed my help, and she had caved in to let me finish my work. I knew I couldn't do that too many times because she could easily assign me to the battlefield and still leave me in a support role.
We infused the potions and Mage Henrietta passed the word to the other mages that she was going to be gone for the day and I left instructions for the men to load the barrels and to pack them onto the carts to ship out to the port towns. Gary had helped me modify the pots and now they swivelled in a bracket when a lever was pulled. It poured them out into a barrel that was placed in front of the pot, which made it very easy to work with.
Only half of a pot was needed for each barrel, so we could get 24 barrels out of one brewed batch of 12 pots. Having the catapult ammunition replaced was not a problem with so much efficiency and the crews appreciated getting restocked so quickly. I had already had three steak dinners given to me by the crews when they rotated back to the forward base for a rest.
Gary met us at the dock and the injured had already been loaded into my boat. “David, you need to stop making the Colonel angry.”
“She tried to take me away in the middle of brewing a whole batch of potions.” I said and stepped into the boat and reached back a hand for Mage Henrietta.
Gary didn't say anything for a moment, then he sighed. “She's under a lot of pressure.”
“We all are.” Mage Henrietta said and stepped into the boat. “Thank you, Private.”
“Mage Henrietta, would you care to sit beside me?” I asked, formally.
“I would. Thank you.” She said and we sat on the front bench together. “May I borrow your arm? I assume you'll be going at a significant speed.”
“When we are out far enough from the new garrison.” I said. “We still have to be careful of oncoming boats.”
“Understood.” She said and didn't grab on.
“Is everyone secured?” I asked the two healers coming with us.
“Would you be so kind as to not do any sudden starts and stops?” One of them asked. “Nearly everyone has a missing limb or two.”
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“Of course.” I said and lifted my wooden leg and knocked on it.
The healer smiled and nodded as she sat down and held on. I used the weight enchantment to make the boat raise up almost completely out of the water and then eased us back away from the dock with the movement enchantment.
Mage Henrietta leaned in close to whisper as I swung the boat around in a slow arc. “Thank you for telling me that this has a full enchantment and not the truncated one that you made on your own.”
I faced the boat in the right direction and slowly added magic to get us going. “It could still have four different enchantments for movement.” I whispered back.
“Yes, and I know that the full one requires a lot more magic than the one you showed me.” She whispered. “I really want to know how you made your own movement enchantment from what I assume was a complete mess.”
“Like I told the weight mages, just because I couldn't read the writing, that didn't mean I didn't understand what the parts did.” I responded. “They showed me their full weight enchantment and their family crest, too.”
“Did you fix it for them?” Mage Henrietta asked as she put her arms around my arm to hold on as I increased the boat's speed.
“No, I only gave them the modified one I had.”
“They were happy with that?” She asked, surprised.
“Only because it was something they could use.” I said and she had to smile at that. “I think they said that only their father was able to power the full one for a few minutes.”
Mage Henrietta nodded. “It's a magic heavy enchantment, which is ironic, considering it's a weight reduction enchantment.”
I actually understood that irony and gave her a smile, which she returned and gripped my arm a little tighter. I slowed the boat down as we approached a sharp turn and eased the boat around it. A few people groaned, even from that slight movement, and the healers tended to them. I increased speed again and the gentle turns were easy to navigate without causing distress on the hurt passengers.
I stopped briefly at the relay stations along they way, in case they had people changing out for guard duty or more injured. It also gave the passengers a brief reprieve from the constant boat travel. Mage Henrietta and I chatted in whispers about different things, mainly what we were going to do when we were back at the new front line. She was technically in charge of the mages and she had some say in how they were deployed; but, that was where her authority ended.
Unlike Mage Lukas, she wasn't a combat mage and didn't have the required knowledge to command them in battle effectively, so she left that to the experienced combat mages. She knew her own limitations and she was smart to rely on people that knew knowledge that she didn't have. She accepted their advice and their suggestions, altered her own decisions based on the knowledge available to her, and was quite efficient in what she accomplished.
Colonel Rivers could have learned a lot from her if she wasn't so stubborn and believed that she was always right. Her overconfidence was actually hurting her effectiveness, especially now that she had been forced to adopt a purely defensive posture and stopped all offensive operations. It grated on her nerves that she hadn't received a message back from anyone that she had tried to contact, despite the urgency of her communications, and it had been a couple of days.
About nine hours after we had left the new garrison, I docked my boat at the large dock in front of Diane's place. It was odd not seeing any other boats there, considering the amount we had used and taken with us. They had mostly been harvested and used in constructing the new garrison and only a few were left for the mages to use to continue ferrying supplies and people to and from the relay stations and the two garrisons.
I secured the boat and held it steady as the two healers and several soldiers helped all of the injured climb out of the boat and into a large horse cart. It was then that I saw something I wasn't supposed to see. It was something that never should have happened and I had planned around it and had Donna confirm it with everyone under her command.
Diane's son was one of the injured from the new garrison.
Spencer was missing his right hand and that seemed to be the only thing physically wrong with him. However, the look on his face showed that he was completely terrified. I didn't curse, even though I wanted to, because Spencer wasn't supposed to see actual combat. His position was supposed to be with his squad on rotation with the relay station guards and not anywhere near the front line of battle.
Spencer's eyes didn't really see anyone around him as they loaded him onto the cart to deliver him to the garrison... or so I thought. Mage Henrietta and I walked behind the cart as it was pulled by the horse up the short road to Diane's place and then the cart stopped. One of the healers knocked on Diane's door and she answered. After a short exchange, Diane burst out crying and ran over to the cart.
“MY BOY! MY SWEET LITTLE BOY!” Diane yelled and took Spencer into her arms. He didn't react at all to her yell or to her touch, and that made her cry all the more.
The two healers asked a couple of the soldiers to help bring him into the house, since there wasn't anything else they could do for him. Diane followed them, clearly anxious and a little frantic. When they came back out, Diane was right behind them. She strode right over to me and hauled her hand back as she approached. I whispered to Mage Henrietta to not interfere, then Diane swung her hand at me as hard as she could and slapped my face.
“YOU PROMISED ME!” Diane yelled.
“I did.” I said and didn't bother telling her that she had struck the damaged side of my face, since I was sure she had hit me there on purpose. I also didn't rub it, even though that had really hurt, and tears came to my eyes.
“He wasn't supposed to fight!” Diane said and tears came to her own eyes.
“No, he wasn't.” I said.
“He wasn't supposed to be stationed at the new garrison!”
“No, he wasn't.”
“The healers can't fix him, they said!” Diane exclaimed and wiped at her face. “He's suffering battle trauma and he lost his hand.”
“I saw that.”
“Why didn't you tell me?” Diane asked, her voice full of accusation.
“I didn't know until a couple of minutes ago.” I said.
“You said you were going to watch him and protect him!” Diane exclaimed.
“I did, right up until I was sequestered at the forward defense base three days ago.” I said. “He was at relay station 12 the last time I saw him. I gave him his own protection ward and two extra healing potions, which is two more than what everyone else had.”
“That. Wasn't. Enough.” Diane said, angrily.
“He didn't know the deployment changed.” Mage Henrietta said. “He's not in command and...”
“Shut your mouth!” Diane spat at her. “He promised that he would do everything he could to protect my son and he didn't!”
“Yes, he did.” Mage Henrietta said, unperturbed my Diane's anger. “If you didn't realize it, David's plan was executed with the minimum of injuries and loss of life. His responsibility to the troops ended when everyone was finished deploying last week.”
Diane looked like she was getting even angrier. “Listen here, you... you...”
“Wanton woman.” Mage Henrietta offered.
Diane looked slightly surprised, then she shook her head. “David promised me, so his responsibility was to me and my son, not to the army.”
Mage Henrietta laughed softly. “You're deluding yourself if you thought his promise was for your son's entire stay in the army, because no one can promise that.” She said and waved at my foot. “David sacrificed himself for the army to complete one mission and he lost a foot and almost his life. He also did everything he could, against army policy I might add, to keep your son out of harm's way.”
“It wasn't enough.” Diane said.
“Then take it up with the Colonel, since she was the one that has the authority to order a change to reserved troop deployments.”
“Reserved?” Diane asked, her anger eased and she looked confused.
“Of course! David arranged with Donna, the staff sergeant that helped form the plan in the first place, to make sure that your son was well protected and kept well away from the fighting. The reserves are just that, reserves. They are the very last troops that can be called to fight in the field and only when all other avenues are exhausted.”
“But... but, there's...”
“Yes, there are a few hundred troops left that can be used instead of the reserves, except that they are here and the reserves were in the relay stations.” Mage Henrietta said. “The rest of the troops will be sent to the front while David, Gary, and I go on another mission to complete for the army.”
Diane looked from her to me and back to her. “How do I get a message to her?”
“She's not accepting correspondence from anyone except family and equal or higher authority.” Mage Henrietta said, haughtily. “You can send any inquiries to the CO and I'm sure she'll do what she can for you.”
Diane opened her mouth to respond, I assume because she was so easily brushed aside verbally, and looked at me. Her face went to anger, then to disbelief, then back to anger.
“I'm sorry he was hurt.” I said, before she could start yelling again. “I promise to do everything I can to...”
“Your promise doesn't mean anything to me anymore.” Diane said and her angry face slowly faded to only show sorrow. “You don't mean anything to me anymore.”
“There's no need to overreact.” Gary said, finally speaking up. “I'm sure that...”
“I want nothing to do with the army.” Diane said and looked at all of the injured in the cart. “I would block off the road if it wasn't in the land ownership contract that you always have access to the dock.”
Gary sighed. “I'll have the guys build a separate road beside yours and have a fence constructed between them, so you won't have to see anyone using it.”
Diane nodded and gave me one last look. “I'll leave your half of my sales at the purser's office.”
“Keep it, along with all the other money.” I said. “I don't need it.”
Diane took a breath and let it out. “Of course you don't.” She said and walked away.
We all stood there and waited until she was inside the house and had shut the door before the soldier in front with the horse started walking. We followed along and Mage Henrietta offered her arm to help me balance.
“Thank you.” I said and I kept up with the others with her help to make it easier to walk. To my surprise, Mage Henrietta didn't immediately ask me to make a decision about marrying her. I gave her several glances to look at her face and she kept it blank and showed no emotion. It wasn't until we reached the main building in the garrison that she spoke.
“David, I am very sorry that I couldn't get Diane to put the blame where it belongs.” Mage Henrietta said as Gary opened the door for us.
“So am I.” I said and the secretary was very surprised to see me wearing two boots. “You were half right about her not being able to handle someone with an injury. If I'd known that Spencer...”
“It's too late for that.” Mage Henrietta said as we sat down to wait to meet the CO. “What would you have done if you did know? Offer to work harder for the Colonel to get Spencer sent back to the relay station?” She asked with a small smile to try and lighten the mood a little. “You already work sixteen hours a day and can't work any more.”
I didn't say anything in response, so she hugged my arm and stayed quiet as well. Both of our faces were sad and as Gary sat down on her other side, I saw that his face was just as sad.