Bookworld Online: Marsh Man

It took us four hours to get the revised numbers and schedule worked out. Only a slight reshuffling of the supplies for each boat load was necessary, since we would just be loading the second double boat with what we would have loaded onto the first several hours later. We just had to add a second crew to load the barge boats while we were gone with the first ones.

We weren't going to waste all the efforts that the boatbuilder had been expending on the army's behalf and they had a large amount of flat bottomed boats for us to use. At last count, they had just enough for our use to get us all to the new site, then the boats would be harvested for their materials and used to construct the new garrison.

“Oh, my god.” Gillis whispered as we all stared down at the new plans. “I can't believe that worked.”

“It's still going to be tight, safety wise.” Gary said. “However, it does give us some room to have little things happen and it won't affect the whole too much.”

“This still hinges on getting a few mages to learn David's marsh magic.” Sandra the CO said.

“They don't have to learn everything about it.” I corrected. “They only need to learn how to use it.”

“That is a fine distinction.” Mage Lukas said. “How will they operate it if they don't know how it works?”

I smiled and pointed to Gary. “Thanks to him, we've had the boatbuilders add in rudders to the backs of the flat bottomed boats for steering. The mages only need to use their magic to power the boats and a more experienced boat handler can steer it, rather than taxing the mages to do something they probably have no experience with.”

Donna looked at me with surprise. “That's how you were extending your operating times in the plans! You'll be physically turning the boat and only using your magic to propel it!”

I nodded. “I can travel all day without rest if I minimize the amount of magic I use for movement.”

Mage Lukas took in a deep breath and let it out. “What is the minimum requirement for powering the boats?”

“I need mages who can infuse at least three potions in order.” I said and it was his turn to look surprised.

“That might be a difficult order to fill.” Mage Lukas said and glanced at Princess Ellen.

“David, remember that this brigade is where I had to reinforce with the worst of the worst.” Ellen said. “I took everyone that was willing to come, no matter how inexperienced.”

I had to think about that. “If they can do at least one, we could add a second and third mage to make sure the boat has continuous power.”

Donna nodded when I looked at her. “One of the provisions is extra slots for backup mages, in case someone gets hurt or can't continue.”

“I've allotted spaces for them in the convoy command structure, too.” Alex said and looked at Mage Lukas. “That's only until we get to the destination, though. Once there, they'll be back under your authority and responsibility.”

Mage Lukas waved the comment away. “I can bring two or three people with me, if all they need to do is be able to infuse a single potion.”

“How many can you do?” I asked. “Mage Griffin at the training base could only do four.”

Mage Lukas smiled. “I've been working for the Royal family for fifteen years. I can do seven consecutive potion batches before I'm too weak to move.”

“You've had a lot of practice.” I said and he nodded. “Do you need the backup mage?”

Mage Lukas smiled. “As Staff Sergeant Simms has smartly reasoned, I'll take them just in case.”

“Then we should put them on both boats. An extra on the main boat and two with the cargo.” I said.

“I'm sure that I can find six capable people from the available mages.” Mage Lukas said. “Assuming you don't mind a woman or two being there.”

“I'd prefer them.” I said and he widened his eyes. “I've had more pleasant experiences with women on both a professional and personal level. Men, not so much.”

“Hey, now.” Gary said and Alex gave me a look.

“You're two out of how many men I've encountered, most of which have treated me harshly?” I asked and they exchanged looks for a second, then nodded. “Steve is pretty good, too.”

Alex sighed as he thought about it. “The ratio of women treating you harshly right off the bat is definitely a lot less.”

“I think it's because men see me as a threat and women seem to sympathize with me.” I glanced at the princess. “Mostly.”

Ellen sighed. “David, I love my little brother dearly and I will do anything I can to take the pressure off of his shoulders. I tried desperately to get this plan enacted to achieve that, because even if the Eastern Empire diverts a fraction of their troops to fight against this offensive, the face of the entire war will change just enough to reduce the danger he's in.”

“It's your older brother doing this.” Gillian said and Ellen hissed. “Yes, I know you don't want to hear that from me again; but, it took Sandra and I three days to convince you that this plan was the best option you had and that David wasn't denying your original plan to spite you.”

Ellen looked from her to me. “They said that; but, were you doing it to spite me?”

“You mean like you putting me on trial in the middle of all this?” I asked.

Ellen's face went sad. “I was... I wanted to force you to get to work. If I found you guilty of any of the charges, I could make you do it without questioning why it had to be done.”

“David's right. You can't just say 'do it because I said so'.” Sandra the CO said and touched her cousin's arm. “We all have to be on the same page and working towards success, or this whole thing will be for nothing.”

Ellen nodded. “I know, it's just... I have a hard time with...” She glanced at me. “...trusting someone.”

“It takes time and that's not really what we have a lot of at the moment.” Alex said and tapped the plans. “We're going to need those mages brought up to speed as soon as possible.”

Ellen looked at the mechanical clock and then at me. “You've got six hours to teach them how to work the boats. We sleep tonight and then at dawn, the first mission starts.”

“Dragon hunting.” Everyone said as one.

Ellen smiled. “Alex, let the strike platoons know. Gary, get the heavy work crews to load the boats with the half-size catapults and ammunition. Donna, set priority for them to eat first thing in the morning. We don't want hungry men traipsing around in the marsh and hoping for food.”

“I'll alert the mess hall to precook everything and they just have to reheat it in the morning.” Donna said.

“Good thinking.” Ellen said. “Mage Lukas, I assume you have your best mages prepped for an assault.”

Mage Lukas nodded. “Two for each strike team. One offensive and one defensive.”

“I assume they won't crisscross with the boat operators?” Ellen asked.

“That's why I wanted to know the minimum magic needed. The loss of them as a combatant won't impact our fighting force at all.”

“Excellent.” Ellen said. “Thank you all for this.” She said and reached down to pick up her Colonel hat and placed it on her head. “Dismissed.”

We all saluted, even Mage Lukas, and we left the office to complete our assigned tasks. I asked Mage Lucas to bring the people he thought could be used to the meeting room in the main building and I went to my building. I unsealed the hidden compartment under my bed and pulled out my old pack and dug out all of the wildwood wooden coins I had.

I had already engraved them previously for use and felt that they had been expended of all magic. I took out my knife and charged it up, then carefully sliced off the previous engravings. I knew the protection, weight, and the movement enchantments off by heart and I had practised so much making them from scratch that I knew what parts were needed for each effect.

I took out my carving tools and very carefully carved out a very basic movement enchantment for forward only. I also added a lot of errors, so that not only wouldn't it accept a lot of magic, which was perfect for low magic users, it would also only go so fast. I had planned on going slow because of the tandem boats; but, if someone else was the one controlling it, I did not want them discovering the entire enchantment or what it could really do.

I did the same with the weight enchantment. It wouldn't completely lift the boat like mine did and would only negate so much of the weight, as to not slow down the movement of both boats. I made three of each and infused them to activate the enchantments, so I could add them to each of the other three boats. I would need to find a good wildwood tree in order to make them for the rest of the cargo boats that would only need the weight enchantment.

I did the protection ward last and reduced the area of effect to that of what the Hag had originally used when I was a kid. It was actually more difficult for me to make it like that, because it took a lot more skill to make them not work at their full potential and it brought back a lot of bad memories, especially of them failing and having to deal with all the creatures that had sneaked in to kill us.

I made a three foot wide wooden box for them and added one of each enchantment to it after fortifying them. I sealed the box with number ten potion and it looked like a normal thick piece of wood, because there was nothing remarkable about it. I did two more and added the other enchantments to them, then sealed them as well.

No one could open them without damaging the enchantments, since damaging their container damaged them. I had learned that lesson when I cut up the small boat to extend it. I had to replace the enchantments because I couldn't get the old ones to work again.

I took all three boards with me and went to the main building and stepped inside. The secretary there smiled and waved slightly to me, which was a bit of a surprise, so I waved back. Her smile grew and she didn't speak, so I entered the meeting room off to the left. Inside were seven mages, three of which were men, three of them women, and Mage Lukas. They sat around the large table and were waiting for me.

“Hold on, you were serious?” One of the men asked Mage Lukas. “An army private is going to teach us magic?”

Mage Lukas glared at him and he quieted down. “No, he's going to show us how to use it.”

I put the three pieces of wood on the table and a few curious glances came my way and a few went right to the wood. Two of the women and one of the men looked at the wood with intense stares.

Mage Lukas turned to look at the wood himself and then looked at me. “That's your marsh magic?” He asked, surprised. “Enchantments?”

“Enchantments!” One of the women exclaimed and almost jumped out of her seat. “I knew that's what I felt!”

I nodded and sat down. “I've been using them for years; but, my knowledge is very limited. I couldn't read for the first half of my life.” I said and the women looked sad and the men looked annoyed. “Once I did start to learn, I still couldn't read what the enchantments were about.”

“You learned by copying them.” Mage Lukas said and I nodded again.

“The Hag only made a few of them and those are the only ones I know.”

“I don't see how this helps us if you only know two or three enchantments.” The same man said.

“Please be quiet while he explains.” Mage Lukas said and gave the man another glare. The man sighed and crossed his arms over his mage robe.

“The three main enchantments that I know are for movement...”

“No WAY!” The excited woman exclaimed and actually stood this time.

“Mage Henrietta.” Mage Lukas said sternly.

“I'm sorry! It's just... I've only heard stories...”

“Please sit.” Mage Lukas motioned for her to do so.

“Yes, sir.” Mage Henrietta said and sat down.

“...reducing weight...” I said and two of them men sucked in a quick breath. “...and a ward of protection from creatures of a moderate size and smaller.”

“By the Son's Light.” Mage Lukas said and everyone looked completely shocked.

“Is it possible? Can he really have one of the Noble House's secrets?” One of the women asked.

“He claims he does.” One of the men said. “We'd have to see it work for ourselves to be sure.”

“It's in the reports from the Eastern Empire scouting mission that First Lieutenant Smith led.” Mage Lukas said. “Animals fled from them as they passed over a small land piece to get to another waterway.”

“Oh, god!” The excited woman said and seemed to shake a little. “We get to use fabled magic!”

“If you can handle it.” One of the men said to her.

“Just watch me!” The excited woman said and gave me a happy smile. “Please, teach us how to work your marsh magic!”

I couldn't deny that it was nice to have someone else that was so eager to listen to me, since I thought that having Diane was all I would ever find, then I found Gillis and she was almost as eager. Now here was a mage, of all people, and that should have been impossible. I glanced at the other faces around the table and even the skeptical man was looking interested in how it worked.

“The Hag only taught me about how to do it after I discovered how to do it by accident.” I said and that made the excited woman squeal a little. She apparently loved finding things out like that. “I should probably tell you about it, then let you experience it for yourselves.”

“Please do.” The woman said and gave me a huge smile.