There was a cheer as the rift closed and Michael found himself jostled a bit by the group.

  “Making short work of two rifts with no casualties or even lingering injuries. I’d say we’re on track for our best day in a long time,” said Hu.

  “We should push the advantage,” said Laird between orders to head back to the wagon and making sure that their supplies were accounted for. “There were three more rifts. If we can close them then we may be able to rejoin with the other knights at Creekbend to help them with their last few. If we can get that done then the villages should be okay on their own for some time. We could move back towards Lataxia and help them clear the roads again.”

  Hu frowned. “Is this about supporting the kingdom brother, or about seeing your wife again?”

  “It’s about both, Hu. I can serve more than one oath at a time and if Lataxia remains closed off then we lose access to one of the only two real cities left to Hume.”

  Hu sighed. “If we were among soldiers and other knights I would say push, but militia is different.”

  “Ollie and I can go and scout them, then meet you back at the village,” suggested Michael. “At the very least you need to inform people about the maps they were making. We shouldn’t risk not getting that information to the people who need it.”

  The knights exchanged a glance and Laird shook his head. “I don’t think we should send them scouting at all.”

  “Because he’s a taker?” asked Hu.

  “No, because he’s too valuable to be left alone. We’ve now seen him heal dozens of wounded, close two rifts, and slay enemies we as knights may have died to. The other just threw more spells in a few breaths than any other mage I’ve ever seen. They are assets, and while I do not like him or any other murderer, I am a knight of the realm and have a responsibility to recognize that which is useful to it.”

  “What do you suggest then?” asked Hu.

  “I suggest we bring him to the knight captain, but unfortunately our orders here are paramount. We cannot leave the people here undefended with so many rifts still open close by.”

  “And so we’re back to where the conversation started.”

  “Why don’t you ask them?” asked Ollie.

  “What?” asked Laird.

  “The militia that have been listening in on this entire conversation. Why don’t you just ask them if they want to try and push toward the other rifts? Seems kinda stupid to pretend they might not want to have a say.”

  Hu chuckled a bit and looked at the group. “Well? Should we press on?”

  There was a general sound of assent among the group.

  “My husband will be in the next group out,” said a heavyset woman with a scar across her cheek and a spear that Michael had seen her wield with tremendous force. “I think I’d rather keep him to myself with no rifts to worry about.”

  Hu shrugged. “I guess I underestimated them.”

  Laird nodded. “They are true warriors of the realm. As honorable as any.”

  Hu looked to the squires. “Bawn, Clyde go back to the village and let them know what we’re doing. Take a rest and then both of you head to Creekbend to let them know about the maps the rift monsters were making. Take the maps we took from them with you.”

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  “We can still fight,” said Clyde.

  Hu went to respond, but Laird cut him off. “Any blade can cut, but you are not only a blade as a squire. You are a shield, an arrow, and right now, a message. Go, and do not question orders this way again.”

  Clyde bit his tongue, maybe literally based on the pained expression that crossed his face, and nodded. Bawn did as well, slamming a fist against his chest in salute and the two of them began moving their horses back toward the main road toward the village.

  Hu turned to Michael.

  “So, where’s the next rift?”

  Michael closed his eyes, focusing on the sensation of wrongness and dread within his chest and pointed. "About five miles that way."

  “Alright, let’s move.”

  …

  They made good time for the next rift. The militia members were in high spirits still and the knights were watching the area around them very carefully as they moved. When they were within a mile of the next nearest rift Laird went off to scout it. He returned less than fifteen minutes later.

  “Rift is medium-sized, there are a number of small floating eyeballs surrounding it and near those eyeballs are a number of creatures who seem to be frozen in place. The eyes seem to have the ability to freeze anything they see. One of them had… well, opened up and revealed teeth it was using to eat a doe that had been frozen in place by the others. I counted nearly twenty of them.”

  “I think I have something for this,” said Ollie. “I’ll fly up over them and throw something down at them to blind and kill most of them. Then you can all run in and take care of them while Michael seals it."

  Hu blinked at him. “I’m sorry did you say you’d fly over them?”

  Ollie smiled at him, and minutes later he was floating carefully in the direction of the rift, muttering curses under his breath as an orb of fire began to manifest in one of his hands and an orb of concentrated light in the other.

  The rest of them waited just a short distance away, looking in the opposite direction of their target. There was a brief gap of time in which it was quiet, then the sound of a fireball striking along with a blinding flash of light that lit the entirety of the nearby patch of woodland which they were carefully facing away from. They all charged in after it.

  Michael caught sight of the rift immediately. It was a swirling miasma of different hues of pink and gray that looked a bit sickly. The eyeballs were as Laird described, though much more disconcerting to see in person. They were roughly the size of a man’s head, and floated under some magical force that he couldn’t detect. They were all moving quickly about in confused patterns and a few of them had split open to reveal the rows of sharp teeth hidden within them, making them look like the most horrifying version of Pac-Man that Michael had ever seen. He smashed one aside with his shield and bashed another with his mace as he made his way toward the rift.

  Once he was close enough he began to clench his will around it and begin sealing it, but he found his movements suddenly arrested.

  A half-dozen more of the eyes flew out of the rift and toward them. Three of them already had their mouths opened wide and launched specifically at Michael. Several of the militia members managed to take more of them down and keep standing, as did Hu and Ollie who moved quickly to avoid their gaze or strike them down before they could ensnare them.

  Even though he was frozen in place, Michael was still able to exert his will on the rift and he focused on doing so, slowly crushing it beneath his will and trying to close it. The three eye monsters that had targeted him began to bite at his patchwork armor, scraping rends in it, but were seemingly unable to penetrate it. Where they did manage to get to him, he quickly healed as that was also not restricted by movement. He continuously healed the rest of them at the same time, keeping a man who had a chunk of his throat bit out alive, though he was likely terrified as he had been frozen in place for the entirety of the large bite.

  Eventually Michael managed to close the rift entirely, and once he did he used his returned focus to try and channel the pain he and those around him felt into one of the monsters that had its gaze locked on him. It did, surprisingly, fall to the ground and begin rolling around it like a marble, letting out an odd yelping sound.

  He quickly stomped it to death creating a horrific squelching sound as he did so and bashed another with his mace before his movement was arrested again, but this time it was for only a moment as a villager skewered that one with his spear. After a few more of the creatures were killed the momentum was on their side and they managed to kill the rest of them without too much difficulty.

  When they were done Michael began healing everyone again. They needed to dig several fingers out of one of the creatures for him to be able to make one man’s hand whole, but aside from that he’d managed to heal the worst injuries in the midst of battle.

  “I wish Davi was here,” said Ollie as he poked at one of the creatures with his foot.

  “Me too, but why in this case?”

  “I bet he would’ve kicked one like a football into another one killing them both. I would've liked to see it.”

  Michael sighed. “Damn… me too.”