Michael started moving person to person, taking the time to carefully heal those that had the most complicated or severe injuries. Those whose injuries were lesser he let Trina work on, though with the fighting that had just happened she tired quickly after only a half dozen and Michael finished the work.
“You did a good job, you’re already better at being choosing which injuries to focus on than I am,” he said as he finished mending the broken arm that she had nearly completed before becoming unsteady on her feet.
“If I had your reserves I wouldn’t need to be selective either.”
Michael shook his head. “No, I should’ve been more selective from the start. I’d’ve been able to help far more people and kept myself more useful if I’d had more restraint from the start. Don’t sell yourself short.”
She nodded, though seemed a bit unconvinced.
He smiled at her. “I dedicate this sealing to Seras, eh?”
She nodded. “You know your prayers aren’t very quiet, right?”
Michael chuckled. “Why would they be? I want people to hear them. What made you decide to try that though?”
“You’re strong. I want to be strong too. If you say your gods made you that way, then it made sense for me to try it myself.”
“And did you feel anything?”
She nodded. “I did. When I said the words I felt steel in my spine. It felt easier to close the rift, and not just because you were there helping me.”
“Do you mind if I divine you?” he asked.
He focused for a moment, and was certain he saw the flicker of a title with Seras’s name on it, but it faded as the rest of her titles and deeds came into focus.
“You’re close to something, I saw a wisp of it for a moment.”
She nodded, her head heavy.
“You should rest a bit.”
She nodded again and went to find a tree to lean against and close her eyes. Michael made sure that another mercenary was watching her, but the twins had already set several men to keep watch on the perimeter.
He looked over to see Davi stripping off his boots and socks and rolling up his pants.
Michael approached him. “What’re you doing?”
“I haven’t been to a beach in a lifetime. I’m putting my damn feet in the water.”
There were responses Michael could’ve given, about how that was foolish given what they just fought off. He could’ve reminded him of the name of the lake which seemed to imply that it would be a bad idea to get too close to it. Instead of all that, he started to strip off his boots and roll up his own pants as well.
He sunk his bare feet into the sand and began to walk toward the water, feeling the edges of the gentle waves start to lap against the tips of his toes. He walked until he was standing next to Davi, whose eyes were closed as he stood, stiller than Michael had ever seen him. He seemed to soak up the sun, sand, and water into his very being. It made sense. Davi had lived in Rio for his entire life. Since they’d been in this new world it had been a long winter in a forest followed by this only brief bit of summer they’d only just reached. To lose those endless beaches and sunny days must’ve felt like losing a piece of home.
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Michael kept his own eyes open, but tried to enjoy the feeling of the water as well. It was cold, but clear, and the movement of it against his legs and the seemingly endless expanse of clear water in front of him granted him a kind of calm stillness. He said a silent prayer to the divine as he enjoyed the feel of it, and then he felt a tug.
He jolted, thinking for a moment that it was something in the water before realizing that it was his entire body that was being dragged. He recognized the pull of it, it was his Godseeker title that was trying to drag him forward. He looked more closely along the water, in the direction he was being pulled, but he couldn’t quite tell what it was. It was a strong pull though. Reminding him of the one he’d received when he was moving toward the statue of Bruntus in the hidden village.
He was considering his options in regards to how to traverse the water, but as his thoughts were solidifying a shock of cold water hit him in the face and chest nearly causing him to fall backward.
He reached for his mace, but saw Davi laughing.
Michael dipped his own hands in the water and flung some right back at him. He kept laughing and splashed more at him and soon they were in a full blown back and forth that ended with them wrestling until Davi lifted him over his head and chucked him into the water.
“Aren’t you two supposed to be old men?” asked Finnegan with a bit of an exasperated expression on his face. “I would expect you to have the wisdom not to be playing around in water we just saw-”
A massive splash of water slammed into him, interrupting him and he looked to his left to see Tai smiling ear to ear.
“I’m an old man too, and you stopped expecting wisdom from me a looong time ago.”
Finn pushed the wet hair out of his face and seemed to be considering, if only for a moment, retaliating, but instead he walked toward everyone else and started to bark orders for the rest of them to get moving.
Michael, Davi, and Tai got back onto the shore, stripped to ring out their clothes, then re-dressed before hauling ass to catch up with the others. Michael tried to formulate a spell to dry his clothes, but had only limited success and so had to deal with squelching as he moved and hoped to change clothes and hang his other ones out to dry when they made camp.
They didn’t have any more issues on the way back, and in general everyone was in good spirits. They’d only two men, which was a shame, but it was far better than it could’ve been. Michael had given their bodies the same kind of makeshift last rites that he’d grown very used to granting over the last year.
When they finally reached the barn after a few days of travel, everyone was excited to have the twins back and Michael and Davi made their way back to the circle of tents they’d put up with the others, finding that only Ollie was there.
He stood up and embraced each of them. “Glad you both got back safe.”
“Good to be back,” said Michael. “Where are the others?”
“What, am I not good enough for the two of you?” asked Ollie.
“Absolutely not,” responded Davi, stone faced.
“Well I’m afraid that neither of you could compete with elf strange or a chance at gambling.”
Michael laughed. “Well, good for Pyotr. I hope he and Syl have a nice time.”
“Of course Marcus found a place to gamble,” said Davi, moving to place down his pack and start stripping off his armor.
“Places responded Ollie. There’s a card game the mercs all like to play, a few dice games in town, and cockfights.”
Michael frowned at the last one.
Ollie shrugged. “Different world, mate. And apparently a few of them actually become titled. You can’t say you wouldn’t want to watch two titled roosters going at it.”
He sighed. “I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t curious, but I’m still put off by the idea.” He looked at Ollie. “What’ve you been up to?”
“Me? Just training with some of the other mages. They all learned things very differently from how we did back in Stent. Picked up a few things, but there are some cultural gaps that are making it harder to pick up some of what they do for me.”
“I’ve noticed that Clara has focus rings.”
“That’s part of it. A lot more focus on the fingers and hands, whereas we were taught more about the words and the tools, like staffs.”
Michael nodded along, stripping off his own armor. “Has Pyotr been joining you at all?”
“He has, and he seems to pick up on the things they’re talking about very quickly. Probably because his soft Russian mind can bend so easily, unlike my firm and powerful Australian psyche.”
“Yes. The Russian people are well known for their flexibility,” replied Davi as he found a dry patch of ground to sprawl out on.
Michael yawned and sat down.
“If I needed to go out onto the Lake of Beasts at some point, would you be up to helping me?”
“Can I ask why?” asked Ollie.
“The gods want me to find something out there.”
“Oh, well as long as it’s something reasonable and normal like that, then absolutely.”