Chapter 4

Dev and his men were exhausted. They had fought for several hours that day, and many were the saddles that had been emptied that day. Dev led his tired men back to camp and slid off his horse, very tired himself.

He made a mental recount of the men that had died in the battle, and went to report to the captain. After making his report, the captain told him to stand his men down for a week. They would not be needed again for at least that long. Troop D was now waiting for much needed replacements.

Dev notified his sergeant that they would be on standby, until replacements came in for the company. Still, they would have daily work to be done, but mostly they were to relax and recover from this last battle.

A groom had taken Dev's horse to the corral and he was grateful. He did not think he had the strength to even unsaddle his horse. He went to his tent, pulled off his boots, and that was all he remembered until breakfast the next morning.

The next morning right after breakfast, he went to the medical tent and visited his wounded. Most would recover, but two had wounds so severe that they would not be remaining in the army.

One had had to have a leg amputated, and another was missing four of the fingers of his right hand. Dev was saddened that nothing could have been done for them. While healers were available, they had been swamped by the wounded.

Dev left the tent angry that this was called a border skirmish. What he had lived through for the past two months had been battles of war, pure and simple. The kingdom to the south was once again trying to push north and claim a large portion of the border area, well into his own kingdom of Darlonther.

Since Dev was at loose ends, he wandered to the peddlers' and vendors' area. It never failed, according to his friend and fellow officer Silar Bartlesby, that a military camp drew camp followers, vendors and peddlers.

Dev's stomach rumbled as he smelled cooking. There were plenty of good smells to part soldiers from their money. Dev bought a meat pie and savored it as he wondered the impromptu market.

He spotted a small colorful tent with an awning and a table before it. Items of all sorts populated the table. Knifes, swords, boots, bows, cups, plates, pots, you name it, it seemed to be there.

"Ah lieutenant, do you see anything you like?" The peddler asked.

"How did you know I was an officer?" Dev asked.

"By the cuff of your left sleeve, of course. All know that officers have colored bands around the cuffs of their left sleeve, while sergeants have different colors around their right," the elderly man answered.

For some reason, Dev was perturbed that this man knew this. In garrison, officers wore colored cloaks to identify them as officers, but here in the field, it was just colored bands on the cuffs of their left sleeves.

"No, I see nothing that interests me, thank you," Dev responded and started to walk away.

"I have more sir. Maps, books, rare treasures within my tent. Come see for yourself," the old mans voice quavered.

Dev thought for a moment, then decided it would do no harm to see what the man had. He followed him into the tent and looked around. It took a moment for his eyes to make the adjustment from the brightness outside to the dimmer interior of the tent.

A table loaded with items was on one side of the tent. The other side was where he had his bedding set up. The old man gestured at the table.

"My best is here. Only the best for you," he said in that quavering voice.

Dev looked closer and saw items of value. Rings, bracelets, lockets, engraved cups. At one end was a box and it was to this box the old man went too. He opened it and took out several folded parchments. They were maps Dev saw, when they were unfolded. Maps of this area and south of the border into the kingdom of Ralm.

The old man also pulled out an old leather bound book. It's pages were of parchment, Dev noted when he opened it. His eyes widened when he read the title page.

Telgar's Book of Spells

written by the hand

of Rufio Telgar

Great Goddess! If this was truly written by Telgar, then it was valuable, indeed. Even he had heard of the mage Telgar. He was legendary, and was reputed to be the mightiest mage of all.

"Can you read it? I have had many look at it, but none could decipher it. I will sell it to you for two silver. I have carried this book for years," the old man said.

"I will take the two maps and this book. How much for all three items?" Dev asked.

"Two silvers for the book, and two silvers for the two maps. Four silvers total," the old man rasped out.

Dev set the book down and untied his money pouch. He withdrew four silver, not even bargaining. He also bought a small backpack to carry the maps and book in, so none would see them. He wanted to study everything alone and did not want everyone to see what he had bought.

For the next few days Dev was distracted with his purchases. One map was particularly interesting as it showed a path through the swamps to the south. If what he was reading was accurate, then the army of Darlonther had a path through enemy lines that was not watched or guarded.

Dev brought the map to captain Onders who looked at it with an incredulous look.

"Where did you get this map?" He asked Dev excitedly.

"From a peddler. When I realized what I had, I went back, but he is gone," Dev responded.

"By the gods! Do you know what this means? I have to get this to general Forran right away," captain Onders stated.

Captain Onders left troop D in the care of his senior lieutenant, Silar Bartlesby. Silar told Dev that the captain was likely to be gone for a few days at least. In the meantime the troop was still waiting for replacements and for their wounded to recover.

Dev made sure to keep on top of his platoon, but spent a good deal of daylight hours reading the book by Telgar. For some reason, when a spell written by Telgar was read by Dev, the spell seemed to leap into his mind!

He had several spells already in his head ready to use, and was worried that this might be a dangerous occurrence to him. So he started to just read the spell titles and brief description of the spell that always preceded the spell itself.

While he had memorized other spells before, none that he had learned at Calderling castle had had this same effect. There was a purity and strength to the spells he had learned from the book he had bought so few days ago, that had not been present while he was learning magic back at the Calderling Castle.

He also studied the second map in his possession. This one was a little more interesting to say the least. He still did not know what to do with it. If it were true, it purported to show all the secret entrances and exits of Ralmston Castle, the home of the king of Ralm.

How in all the hells did an old man come by all the treasures that Dev had bought, and for only four silver? Dev was not a religious person by nature, but things were just happening in such a way as to make him believe someone up there liked him.

Over the next two days, reinforcements started trickling in. Dev found his platoon back up to its full strength of fifty riders, one corporal, one sergeant, and himself for a total of fifty-three cavalrymen for the platoon. That made first and second platoons complete. Third and fourth platoons were still short, but more men seemed to be coming everyday, now.

Captain Onders came back, and with him rain. Dev and his fellow officers were gathered in the captain's tent and the news was good. He had brought back more replacements with him, and this brought the company back up to full strength.

"Dev? General Forran was extremely interested in the map you bought from that peddler. He is already having several copies made, and is going to scout the route. He sends a well done," Captain Onders said, well pleased.

In other news, the captain said that intelligence discovered that a sickness was hitting the kingdom of Ralm right now, and so could expect hostilities to drop off for sometime.

"From the sound of it, some sort of sickness came to their kingdom by ship. While it does not appear to be deadly for the most part, it caused high fevers, pock marks on the face, arms, back, and stomach... and vomiting.

"It is said to last anywhere from four to eight days once you get it, and it makes the individual extremely ill. We are asking all of our healers if they have ever heard of this. Also, we have asked the mage's guild for extra healing potions," the captain explained.

They discussed the best way to keep any illness from spreading in their camp, and it was back to basics. Keep the area clean of trash, clean all plates and cutlery in very hot water, and keep the body clean.

Dev was surprised that they were still to remain at camp. He had assumed that now that the company was up to full strength, they would be moving out in massed patrols at a minimum. No, instead they were being kept in reserve.

As Dev made his way back to his tent, rain lashed down at him. He had his foul weather cloak on. It was one of the few things he had bought sometime ago for himself, as it had a hood, and was waterproof.