I forced myself to not think about what happened and focused on staying alive for now. Being distracted in the marsh was not a good idea. I also made sure to take many twists and turns down different waterways as I could while still moving forwards and then brought us to a stop at a spot with interconnected waterways.

“Why are we stopping?” Roy asked and I heard the sadness in his voice.

“Forget that.” Rich said. “Why is that boar staring at us?”

“Because we stink.” I said and took off the pack on my back. “We smell too much like things that don't belong here.” I pulled out the canvas bag and Donna visibly shivered.

“No, you... you can't...” Donna whispered.

“Now you know why I brought it.” I said and cut it open. There was no breeze, so the smell only flowed out a little, until I dug my hand in and pulled out a handful of mud. Rich gagged and Donna had her mouth and nose covered.

“You can't really expect us to...” Alex started to say and then he winced when I rubbed it all over my new uniform and my face, both hands, and my boots. “That is never coming clean.”

“I'm not worried about being clean. I'm worried about dying.” I said and took out another handful. “Who's next?”

“Nope. Just nope.” Rich said. “I did not sign up for this mission to rub shit all over myself.”

“Do you want a dragon to eat you?” I asked and they stared at me with their mouths open. “One moved into the marsh just before I came to town.”

“By the Son's Light.” Donna whispered. “You still want to live here?”

“It's my home.” I said and walked over to her. “I'll do it so that you don't have to touch it.”

Donna looked at Alex for a moment, who nodded. “All right.”

I started on her sleeves and moved up to rub it on her shoulders, then her hands reached up and caught my wrists before I touched her chest.

“Alex can do that part after you cover him.” Donna said. “The same with my backside.”

I raised my eyebrows at her.

“A woman's sensitive parts shouldn't be... fondled... by someone other than the man she is with.” Donna said. “You see, when a man and a woman are intimate with each other...”

Alex stepped forward. “You can leave off the romantic commentary, dear.” He said and took a bit of mud from me. “She just doesn't want to be aroused by another man if he touches her there, even if he's being professional about it.”

“Alex!” Donna gasped and Roy and Rich laughed.

“You can't tell David only one viewpoint, or he won't understand why he shouldn't be offering to grope every woman he sees.”

“I can't?” I asked and Roy and Rich laughed.

“Not now that you know not to.” Alex said and rubbed his hands on Donna's chest. Her face went red and she closed her mouth to stop any sounds from escaping. He rubbed her ass next and she let out a little humming moan.

“Now tell him the exceptions.” Roy said with a grin.

“Don't go there.” Alex cautioned him.

“Aww, come on! We've got fresh bait right there!” Roy said and motioned to me. “Do you know how many laughs we can have if we teach him right?”

“I order you to teach him properly.” Alex corrected him. “David needs to know how to interact with more people, not learn how to piss them off for offending them.”

“Says the rich kid that has a hard time talking to commoners.” Roy said with a smirk.

“David, may I?” Alex asked and held a hand out to the sack.

I shrugged and handed it over, then Donna suddenly took my hand and pulled me out of the way. I stood on one of the balancers on the side of the boat with Donna, after I finished covering her uniform and hat with mud. We also watched a small mud ball fight as she explained what was going on. I thought it was an odd way to achieve doing something that had to be done to live.

“They are building camaraderie with each other.” Donna whispered. “It's difficult to create a mutually beneficial relationship with people if you don't carry on or joke occasionally.”

“How do you know when to do it?” I asked.

“I should just say that you'll know it when the moment comes; but, you've never gone out and played games with children, have you?”

“What are games?” I asked.

Donna caught her breath and turned to stare at me. She looked even more surprised than Rich did when he was splattered in the face with a stinky mud ball. It took her a while to explain what she meant by games and what people did to play them. It was pretty confusing, since there didn't seem to be any particular point to playing them.

After a short while, we all smelled pretty much like we belonged there and the boar that had been a hundred feet away, snorted and sauntered off.

“I wonder if he liked seeing the fight, too?” Donna asked with a chuckle and that made Alex, Roy, and Rich laugh. We got moving again and I backtracked a little and took a different route.

“Why aren't we being attacked?” Alex asked me after an hour of going deeper into the marsh. “I thought you said that we would have to dodge snakes and spiders constantly?”

“We would have if I hadn't given Gloria a protection ward.” I said.

“What? How did giving her a ward stop us from being attacked?” Alex asked, surprise on his face.

“She showed me that it worked when moving.” I said. “It was like a big bubble around her. When she moved, creatures moved away from the bubble.”

“How did you not discover this before?”

“I always hung them up after they were activated.” I said with a shrug. “I've never put one on a boat before, either.”

“You did this time.” Alex said and I nodded.

“No wonder you were attacked by creatures so much while travelling to town.” Donna said.

“We were never attacked while I was with the Hag.” I said and then I realized something. I remembered what Hope had said about searching for me for years and only saw me last year. It was because I wasn't with the Hag. I thought. The Hag must have hidden me from her... from my family... to delay or stop what had happened today. I looked ahead and came to the turn to go to the house.

_______________

You have a minor choice to make. Will you be all business or have some fun?

A) Warn them to look out for the Hag. B) Stay silent. C) Delay going back home. D) Rush in.

I have to keep up the ruse, or they won't be afraid of doing what they want with me. I choose A.

_______________

“We're coming up on the waterway that leads to the house.” I said, almost in a whisper, and the four of them tensed up a little. “If we don't see the other boat by the house, it means the Hag is out on the water somewhere.”

“I think you could have every boat in the village out here and still not meet each other.” Alex said and looked at me. “I have no clue how to get back to the garrison.”

“I've travelled these things for years, usually on foot.” I said and he gave me wide eyes. “There's a lot of places that a boat can't go in the marsh; but, I still had to cross the waterways.”

Alex nodded and looked forward, while Donna looked backwards and Roy and Rich looked off to the sides. I slowed way down and took that last turn and proceeded up the waterway to the front of the house. I wasn't surprised when the water splashed and there was a wave away from the front of the boat.

“Water beast.” Alex said. “Damn, they move fast when cornered.”

“I'll write it down.” Donna said and wrote it out without looking down at the paper. “Estimation of speed?”

“Fifteen clicks, maybe eighteen.” Alex said. “We're moving, so go for the upper estimate.”

“Done.” Donna said. “We're clear in the rear.”

“Sides clear.” Roy and Rich said.

“Front clear. No boat in sight.” Alex said and the others relaxed.

“Hold on.” I said as I slowed us down a little more. I turned the boat slightly and angled it to the dry area, added more magic to the weight enchantment and then pumped a quick burst of magic into the movement enchantment. The boat popped out of the water and slid to a stop on the dry area perfectly.

“Holy shit!” Roy nearly yelled. “Do that again!”

“Roy.” Alex said and he sighed.

“Fine, fine.” Roy said and smacked Rich's back. “You take left and I take right.”

“Go! Go! Go!” Alex said and hopped out.

The three of them took six steps and then stopped dead.

“WHAT THE HELL IS THAT?!?” Rich yelled at the 60 foot wide house.

“That's my house.” I said.

Donna whispered to me and I nodded, then helped her out of the boat like a gentleman would. “David, that thing is massive.”

“I told you it was.” I said. “It took a long time to build.”

“How long?” Alex asked, genuinely curious as he stared at the roof peak that was 60 feet above the ground.

“Almost two months.” I said and Donna let out a little squeak sound.

I walked over to the door and pulled out my knife. I touched the door and used the dispel spell. They all saw the glow dissipate and I cut open the parts I had sealed and used the key in the lock. The door swung open and I went back over to the boat. I grabbed it and used the weight enchantment to make it really light and dragged it over to the house.

“The crate storage room is the first one on the right.” I said and picked up a stack of five crates with empty potion bottles from the boat and went inside.

“Can I look around a little?” Donna asked as she followed me in with a crate.

“What's that word Alex used when he showed me around the garrison?” I asked.

“A tour.”

“I'll give you a tour.” I said and stepped out of the way as Roy and Rich came in with two creates each.

Alex was right behind them with a single crate. “We'll finish taking the empty bottles into the room and start loading the potions.” He said. “Show her everything.”

“She's already seen everything.” Roy said with a chuckle and then ducked when Donna swiped at him. “Ha! Missed me.” He said and ran outside.

“He's implying me seeing you naked for the inspection.” Donna said as he came back in with two more crates.

“You were crying because I'm so mangled.” I said.

Roy almost ran into Rich as he was coming out.

“Hey! Watch it.” Rich said. “You need to work on your land legs.”

“Y-yeah.” Roy said and looked at me, then he went into the room to drop off the crates.

“Let's drop off those pots.” Donna said and took my arm as if we were going for a walk, or so she said, and I led her around and told her what each room was for. She was really interested in my work room and then she gasped when I showed her my smoke room that was still half full of smoked meat of all kinds.

“You can't eat most of it.” I said and pointed to the piles of rabbit meat and near-deer jerky. “Those are okay.”

Donna took out a canvas bag and filled it with all of the meat and jerky I had that was safe for normal people to eat. I took out a canvas bag and filled it with all the nice choice cuts of meat that I had prepared for myself. I was definitely going to need it back at the garrison.

We went out to the kitchen and I took off my pack to untie the pots. I set them up on the spots that I had previously prepared and they fit perfectly.

“It's too bad I'm out of ingredients.” I said and went to my large cooking pot. It was still half filled with meat stew, so I extinguished the fire it was on and took out my last canvas bag.

“David! What are you doing?” Donna asked.

“Oh! Right. I forgot to waterproof it.” I said and took out some waterproofing potion and treated the bag. “That would have been a nice mess if I poured it in.”

Donna chuckled and helped me tilt the pot into the bag when it was ready. “You'll have to eat it quickly because it won't last too long without being on the heat.”

“That's why I usually let it simmer.” I said and closed and sealed the bag. I tied the meat bag and the stew bag to the sides of my pack and put it back on.

“David? I haven't seen a bedroom yet. Where do you sleep?” Donna asked.

“A BED!” I said loudly. “I knew I forgot to buy something when I was in town.”

Donna laughed and pat my arm. “I'm sure you'll have plenty of chances to pick up a bed later.”

“It's through there.” I said and we went through the side door into the room.

“It's huge, just like all the other rooms.” Donna said. “There's not much in here.”

“I don't have much need for anything, besides what I already have.” I said and we went back out to the main room and then the front room.

“We're just about done.” Alex said and passed by us with a full crate of potions.

“You know, I don't even smell the mud anymore.” Rich said as he started to pass by us. Thanks to my vigilance technique, I heard less clinking than there was supposed to be in the crate he was carrying.

_______________

You have a critical choice to make. It will affect your relationship with Rich.

A) Confront him. B) Ignore it. C) Never trust him again. D) Kill him. E) Hit him. F) Choose two.

I'm sure that army men aren't supposed to be stealing. I thought. I'll choose A and C.

_______________

I reached out and grabbed Rich's arm, then pulled him around to a stop and grabbed the crate from him. “How many potions did you take?” I asked him, point blank.

“I didn't take any!” Rich said.

“David, you can't just accuse...” Donna started to say.

“What's going on?” Alex asked as he came back in.

“There is at least one potion missing from this crate.” I said and opened it to discover that there were actually two healing potions that were missing.

“Rich!” Donna gasped.

“Hey, that crate was like that when I picked it up.” Rich said.

“SOLDIER!” Alex yelled. “I order you to empty your pockets and pack immediately!”

Rich's face turned slightly red and he looked angry. “I don't have to submit to that illegal order. Sir.”

“It is NOT illegal to search for stolen goods. You are to follow my lawful order or you will be facing a court hearing for conduct unbecoming an officer when we get back to the garrison.” Alex said.

“Then you're just going to have to charge me, sir.” Rich said.

“Fine.” Alex said. “You are hereby charged with said offence under the articles of military law...”

“Sir! It was me.” Roy said as he came out with his own crate. He put it down and dug out two potions from his pockets.

“I'll get to you in a minute.” Alex snapped at Roy to get him to be quiet, then he ran through the entire articles that Rich had broken, including the refusal of a superior's order while in a hostile area. When he was done, Rich's face had lost the anger and he looked a little sad. Then it was Roy's turn.

I had no idea that letting someone else take the blame for your crime was also covered under military law, as was theft from a fellow soldier and civilians. Of course, this was all completely new to me, so everything Alex said was giving me background on everything that a serving officer needed to know.

After their dressing down, both men had their hands tied behind them and were put in the boat. Every loaded crate had to be searched and four more potions were found to be missing. Two more were in Roy's pack and the last two were in Rich's pack, which meant that they were both guilty.

“You two...” Donna looked at them and shook her head. “How are we supposed to finish the side mission if you two idiots are confined?”

“Side mission?” I asked.

“Yes. Once we had all the products you have for Diane all loaded into the boat, we were going to offer to help gather potion ingredients for you.” Donna said.

“Why?” I asked.

“Because you're the Marsh Man.” Alex said. “You know where the best ingredients are and how to harvest them properly. No one at the garrison has your expertise, not even the potion maker we brought along.”

“He was surprised by what you had in your pack.” Donna said. “We all were.”

“We can worry about it later.” Alex said and looked at me. “We need to finish loading the boat.”

I nodded and we went inside and I opened the door to the the left front room.

“Good lord.” Alex whispered. Half of the room was filled from floor to ceiling with skins, leathers, and pelts. The other half of the room was nearly half filled with near-deer antlers, horns from various animals like marsh lizards, and tails from anything that had a tail.

“Don't just stand there.” Donna said and stepped into the room. “It's not going to magically move all by itself.”

Alex nodded and stepped in to grab some things, and I went in as well. We had a lot of work to do.