Book 2 Ch 26: Ode to Joy

They reached one of the villages that had reported the rift just a little bit after dawn. It was small, with only a dozen or so buildings, most of which had their windows boarded up. Unlike the structures they’d seen in Swandia so far, these were built of wood rather than brick. Given their heavily forested surroundings, that made sense. Those few people who came out to meet them were skittish, with their eyes darting left and right. They were led by a young man wearing a scarf of ochre and glancing back and forth at the gaps between buildings, as if something could come for them at any time.

“You’re the mercenaries? The ones sent to seal the rift?”

Suraj nodded. “Yes. Please, tell us where we can find it.”

The man looked at them. “There are so few of you.”

“There are as many of us as we need,” replied Suraj. He didn’t say the words as a boast, more as a statement of fact. Somehow that seemed to settle the young man in front of them.

“We believe it is in the woods to the northwest. We have not been able to see it…at least no one we have sent has returned.”

Suraj nodded. “Can you describe what’s come out of it?”

He shook his head. “No. When we searched for those taken, the only things we found were large footprints, and the things people dropped when they were taken. A few times before people began to go missing we saw glowing yellow eyes in the woods. None of us have left the village in days. Children are not allowed to leave their homes.” He sighed heavily. “We are used to seeing more dangerous things. Those things would leave a corpse behind though, or bones. The lake has never been so cruel to us before.”

Michael clenched his teeth. He could feel the fear this was causing them. He imagined it was the same in all of the other nearby villages as well. He took the holy symbol from within his shirt and clenched it as he listened to the words of the gods.

~protect~seal~defend~return~joy~

It seemed as if it was a blend of Nykas and Seras speaking to him. He intended to honor their wishes, as he always had since he’d begun hearing them.

Once Suraj had the information he needed, they all placed their excess equipment into the village chief’s home to free up some weight and made their way into the woods to the north. When they reached a clearing, Suraj stopped everyone.

“Syl, I want you to go scout the area and find the rift. I know there’s a chance the village was being watched based on what they said, but we need to know more about its location as well as the enemy’s location and disposition.

Syl nodded and left, her footfalls silent even when walking over thick patches of dead leaves.

Everyone waited tensely for Syl to return. Their scout had been gone for almost an hour and it was beginning to make everyone antsy.

“Should we just go for the rift now?” asked Clara as she fussed with one of the many rings on her hand that she used as a focus.

“Syl is always thorough. Give her some time,” replied Suraj, as he leaned against a tree. He seemed to be the only one unaffected by the length of her absence.

Nearly ten minutes later, Syl returned. Her short blonde hair had a few branches tangled in it and she was rubbing some dirt from her green eyes, but otherwise she was fine.

“The information was good. The rift is only about ten minutes west of us. I saw about fifteen guards, all of them were large, two legs, two arms, and two horns. They had armor and weapons, mostly close ranged aside from some spears they could probably throw, and seemed prepared for a possible attack.”

Suraj nodded as he absorbed the information. “Do they sound familiar to you?” He asked Michael and Pyotr.

“Yes. The first rift I closed had them inside of it. They’re maneaters, they’re strong, and they work together well.”

“Well, if you can kill three yourself like last time, I think we’ll be fine,” said Pyotr, already starting to tighten his armor up and ready his sword.

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“I had the element of surprise. They didn’t expect me to jump through the rift.”

Some of the others raised eyebrows at the exchange.

Suraj nodded. “How long do you think it’ll take to close the rift once you start?”

Michael frowned. “I’ve only closed two…but how big was it?”