Book 2 Ch 9: Cantankerous

They all quickly filed inside and the old woman slammed the door, locked it, and showed a surprising amount of strength by pushing a large wooden table in front of it immediately after.

“Thank you,” said Michael.

“Who in the divine are you, and what are you doing here?” she asked.

“We’re deserters from Stent on our way to Swandia for Mercenary work,” said Marcus without hesitation. Francesca had already had her hood drawn tightly to protect from the cold, and drew it even tighter to hide her tattoos. She still had a fair amount of dirt covering it, but it was better safe than sorry.

“Hrmm, can’t blame you. Stent’s a shithole.”

Lance frowned a bit at that, but said nothing.

“So, what’s the situation here?” asked Michael, buckling his sword hilt back in.

“It’s fucking cold and there’s monsters out there.”

“Holy shit, I had no idea,” replied Ollie, looking at Davi, “Had you noticed anything like that?”

“No, and I’ve always considered myself very observant,” responded Davi with a dry affect.

The woman snorted.

“Is there anything else you can tell us?” asked Michael, patiently.

“It started a few weeks ago. A cold wind blowing from the east. It built up more and more, and soon snow was coming through as well… then those hairy fucks started showing up.”

“And you’ve been trapped inside since then?” asked Michael.

“Fuck no. We drove them off a half dozen times. Took out pitchforks, made spears from knives, clubbed some of the fucks to death. They’re tough bastards, but once we killed one or two they would usually run off. We even managed to make it all the way to where they were coming from, a big fucking rift. The problem is that we don’t have any local diviners and they just keep coming. Eventually we lost a few people, and had too many injuries. Now we only try to drive them off when we need to exchange supplies. We got a few of our boys on the road north to Visan to see if they’ll send some troops to help. No clue if they made it though.”

Michael nodded along as she spoke.

“I pledge in Seras’s name that I will drive these beasts off and seal the rift for you people,” said Michael.

“Who?” asked the woman.

“It’s the name of one of the divine before they lost their names.”

“Suuure. Listen, I’m happy to have a lunatic go out there and freeze to death taking some of the heat off the village, but we aren’t wealthy. We wouldn’t be able to pay you for your work.”

“It’s also not our job to solve problems in every village we come across,” said Marcus, looking at Michael with a frown.

“We should help them,” said Lance, prompting a surprised look from Michael.

“It’s the duty of the strong to protect the weak,” he said.

“I could kick your ass up, down, left, and right kid,” said the chief looking him over. “As I said to the other pretty boy, I don’t expect any help from you. Besides, only diviners can close rifts.”

Michael smiled. “I am a diviner, and I’m going to help you. I already made my pledge.”

She snorted again. “Fine. I won’t check a gift sheep for ticks.” She pointed to an empty table. “Make yourself comfortable over there. I’m going to go signal to the others that the village is clear for now. We need to take advantage of this time in case you all die and we’re stuck here longer.”

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Michael nodded gratefully and moved over to the table, carefully placing his pack on the ground next to him and unbuckling his helmet to clip onto his waist.

“I don’t like this,” said Marcus.

“The altruism, or the lack of payment?” asked Michael.

“The attention,” replied Marcus. “The snowstorm is a boon for us, and a rift right on the path between Tusinia and Swandia is a major distraction in our favor. Svict will eventually be able to clear up the problem for themselves. We just have to leave things as they are.”