Penitent

Chapter 246 Book 4 Ch 27: Southwind Redux

Southwind looked the same as he remembered it. Or at least, Michael imagined it did behind the massive makeshift wall made of thick logs blocking it from their view. He could see a half dozen men and women wielding bows at the top of the wall. One of them fired off an arrow in their direction as they left the brush to the south of the town but it luckily slid off the edge of Laird's helmet

"Hold!" Yelled Michael. "We're friendly!"

The archer who'd made the shot slowly lowered her bow. Even from where Michael was standing he could tell she was an aelf. She put two fingers in her mouth and let out a loud whistle. The other archers along the wall all moved from their stations and three of the logs that made up the wall were slowly lowered by ropes so that they could enter the town.

Michael saw a number of familiar faces looking at them with serious expressions, but once he removed his helmet their expressions softened immediately. His armor's look had definitely changed a bit since the last time he was there, so he didn't blame them for not recognizing him.

"Michael!" Yelled a young guard he'd remembered healing more than a year prior.

"Hylan. How's the arm?"

"Still perfect since you healed it. What are you doing here?"

"I'm with a delegation from Old Hume. We're heading north to negotiate a possible peace between Burndan and Swandia."

The young man spat. "Damn those Burndan bastards and their power hungry king. I doubt you'll have much luck with such a bloodthirsty bastard."

Michael frowned. "Well. I have to try." He patted his horse's neck. "Please take me to wherever the injured are."

"And I need to speak with the Mayor," added Lance.

Hylan nodded, and looked to another of the guards. "Bick, help the knights to the stables, and then go get Mayor Speclan."

He nodded and started guiding everyone away while Michael followed Hylan.

"Things have been hard?" he asked.

"They have been. Rifts were too frequent and the new mercs quit quickly. We tried to close as many as we could ourselves, but our diviner died. Now we just try to hunker down and stay as safe as we can. Attacks slowed down for a while, but they sped back up this last month. Almost every night those harpies drop wasps nests into the streets or swoop down on anyone who is alone. The horned ones test the walls. Occasionally a spell is thrown in our direction seemingly from nowhere."

Michael frowned at that. It sounded like they were gearing up for a larger attack. He'd need to work on sealing the rifts sooner rather than later.

"Well I'm impressed with you," he said looking at the number of men and women that were holding weapons, ready to use them. "Even without help readily available you've done an incredible job protecting what's yours."

Hylan smiled a bit at that. "Thank you, sir."

"Myself and a few of the men with me will start working on sealing nearby rifts tomorrow. It's part of the deal for the mediation. Hopefully that will give all of you some breathing room."

"Praise Seras," he replied.

"Praise Seras," agreed Michael with a smile.

The Rose Petal, a brothel in town, had been converted into an infirmary. It made sense, they had a number of beds, and no one was bringing coin into town to spend with the southern border closed anyway. He saw a number of the women who he'd healed from moderate bruising or even some mild diseases that last time he'd been through were no longer wearing their low-cut outfits, but were instead dressed in common clothing, a few of them even wielding spears as they headed to reinforce the wall. More were tending to the sick and wounded.

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Michael saw and sensed the usual injuries from fights with the rift creatures. Spear wounds, slashes from harpy claws, fireball burns, it was all familiar to him. There were thirty three wounded overall. He didn't bother conferring with whoever was in charge, he saw no reason to wait. He raised a hand gathering divine energy into it and sent out a burst of healing energy. There was no reason to hold back and force anyone to endure longer than they had to. He had the power to spare.

After the bright burst of golden light, he heard a voice yelling from a bed deeper inside.

"Michael? Is that you?"

"Gurndan?" asked Michael as he started walking toward the voice, eyes and thank yous following him as he walked back.

The dwarven smith was peeling a thick bandage off of his leg as Michael entered the room.

"It's good to see you," said Michael with a smile.

"Yeah, yeah. You too," he looked him over with a frown. "By the buried gods. You are absolutely covered in titled gear. I could buy half a mountain with what you've got on." He squinted. "How is that the same armor I used to patch for you? It has none of the marks that were left on it, but it still has the slightest visible seams where I'd patched… Your gods make no sense."

Michael chuckled. "I've been busy. The gods have been generous with their rewards."

"Generous? Seems fair pay for the way they work you like a donkey." He finished unwrapping the bandage revealing a healed leg. He stood up on it, not even bothering to test placing weight on it first. He knew there was no reason to. "Whenever you're done slaying monsters or praying, come by my shop and let me look at all of this new gear, would you?"

Michael nodded. "Of course."

He started to make his way out of the Rose when he was stopped by a woman whose bosom couldn't be hidden by plain clothes. She was older than the other girls, and had streaks of white in her blonde hair.

"Michael, welcome back."

"Hello Madam Berk, how are you?"

"Better now that fewer people will be bleeding on my beds. Would you care to use one of them?"

"I'm afraid I'll have to decline," he replied, holding up a hand.

"Your friends never seemed to mind a roll. They told me you've partaken in the past. Makes a woman feel unwanted."

He chuckled. "If you were available as a choice I'd never be able to stay away, but since you're retired I must decline."

"Smooth. Almost makes me want to end my retirement just to see if you mean it." She shook her head. "Is Marcus with you? He still owes me more than a little for that cockfight bet. I won't be driven off with a beating and a sermon like the boys he played dice with."

"I'll let him know you're looking for him."

"Good." She gave him a long look up and down. "No, no. Retirement has been good to me. Too old to have a throw with a body so young. Though you could probably heal the bruises after-"

Michael said a quick goodbye and made his way out of the Rose where he found Hylan still waiting, leaning against his spear as he smiled and chatted with a girl that just got an unexpected break from watching the wounded.

"Do you know where the others would've been taken?" Michael asked.

"The Human Stable, they have the spare beds."

"Thank you."

He nodded. "I'm going to head back to the wall."

They clasped arms and Michael made his way to the inn. He'd spent quite a long time in Southwind, so it was easy to find his way. He exchanged nods, had brief conversations with those he passed that he was familiar with, and said a short prayer for the people there. He also made a mental note to find out who would most benefit from him bestowing some blessings before he left.

At the Human Stable the aelven owners weren't there to insult him for being human, but there were a few people running it still. He wondered if the owners were the ones on the wall with the bows. They liked to poke fun at their human neighbors and visitors, but that didn't mean that they weren't protective of their home.

Ollie, Marcus, and Pyotr were waiting for him by the fire, a mug of ale and a place to sit ready for him.

"Welcome back. You kiss enough boo boos?" asked Marcus, grabbing the extra mug and holding it to him.

Michael took it gratefully and sat down, having a quick sip to clear his throat. "For now, but some other people may need help later."

"So, what's the plan?" asked Ollie.

"Well, I sense a number of nearby rifts that we need to take care of before we can head up. Time is limited though. I was thinking that we travel just the four of us. We hit two together, letting Marcus close one and Pyotr another."

"Pop their rift closing cherries?" asked Ollie.

"That is the worst way anyone could've put it, but yes. After that we split into pairs to hit two more, then we split up completely and each hit two a piece. We move too fast for any forces that have built up to react to us, and then we all reunite and return here together."

"Sounds risky, brother," said Pyotr.

"I know," said Michael, his head down. "But the faster we get this done, the more quickly we can head for the border. I was even thinking we could send Lance, Laird and Blake ahead with the others so we can move more quickly to meet them once we're done."

Pyotr scratched his beard. "For your boy, I will risk it."

"I can always fly to meet whoever's closest and give support when I'm done," said Ollie. "I say we risk it."

Marcus shrugged. "They won't even see me coming. I'm doing it for you though. From what I've heard and seen myself, your son seems to be kind of an asshole."

Michael looked around.

"Where's Lance?" he asked.

"He went straight to bed. Seemed down," offered Ollie.

Michael frowned with worry, taking another sip of his ale.