86

There wasn’t any sleep to be had after the ambush. Instead, they packed up their tents, repaired any torn gear with the needle and thread they’d all been given, and had a long breakfast as they waited for the sun to come up. They could’ve travelled in the dark with relative ease thanks to their Night Eye spells, but their horses couldn’t, and it made more sense to wait for the speed they granted them.

When it was first light again, they all got onto their horses and started again toward the Eastern front. They were well past anything that Michael recognized at this point, and the forest was giving way to long stretches of rocky plains. That made him nervous, as he’d grown used to being surrounded by trees, but he supposed it was also a lot easier to see trouble coming this way.

At one point he saw a massive bird with what looked like a mountain goat clutched in its talons. It let out a terrible cry that sounded like thunder.

“A roc,” said Jakub, squinting and keeping the sun from his eyes with a hand.

“Never heard of a rock that could fly, mate,” replied Ollie with a smile.

Jakub looked confused. “I just told you of a flying Roc? I don’t think there’s another kind.”

Ollie frowned. “Why do I keep trying English puns here? So much good humor wasted.”

Michael shrugged. “I thought it was funny. Should we worry about the Roc?” he asked.

“They’re dangerous for lone travelers, but we shouldn’t have any issues with them. Especially since that one already found a meal for the day,” replied Jakub.

The rest of the ride went by quickly, with only the usual discomforts of a long ride to deal with. Michael’s thighs were starting to hurt a bit less from riding. He guessed it was a combination of growing better able to sit properly in the saddle and his recovery causing his skin to callous and toughen a bit, even with his frequent self-healing. The others weren’t so lucky, though Ollie had actually stopped complaining at one point, and Michael saw that he was floating a bit above his saddle for long periods of time. Clearly he’d found a magical solution to the problem.

That night, alongside the watches that Lance and Jakub took, a single Penitent joined each of them. After the ambush with the aelves, it was clear that they needed to be more cautious. Michael took the first watch, since he needed less sleep than the others anyway, and after a few dice rolls, Pyotr was unlucky enough to take the second one alongside Jakub.

That night passed quietly, only the strong winds across the plains occasionally stirring them as they slept. The next two days passed similarly, with very little to break up the boredom until they started coming across remnants of battles. It was clear that there had been fighting all across the path that they were on. There were broken spear shafts, bones picked clean by birds and insects, and even the occasional fallen banner.

Michael would say quick prayers for the fallen when they came across them. They seemed to be mostly dead Tusynians, so he presumed that the camp they were heading toward had been in pursuit of Tusynian forces for a long time, but he was just guessing. There hadn’t really been a focus on grand strategy for the Penitents at the academy.

Toward evening the camp finally started to come into view, and by the time they reached it, they could see two more camps further in the distance.

Lance led the way at the camp gate and was waved inside by the patrol. From there, they made their way straight for the center of the camp, where the command tent was, and made their way inside.

The camp was massive, containing thousands of soldiers. It was the largest number of them Michael had seen gathered aside from those at the siege. The soldiers in the camp looked tired. Their armor had a fine layer of dust across it, and they seemed as if they’d been marching and fighting hard for a long time. Michael was eager to get to the infirmary tent to see how he could help, but it wouldn’t be wise to go wandering before Lance had made their presence known.

Inside the tent, Under-General Hans was hunched over a map and muttering softly to the lieutenant standing next to him taking notes. The general was a tall and broad man with a head of thick graying blonde hair and dark brown eyes. He looked at them as they entered, squinting for a moment.

“Lance Kreg,” he said, looking him up and down. “I received word that you would be here soon.”

Lance saluted sharply, and Hans returned the gesture, allowing him to stand at rest.

“Yes, we have a covert mission of highest importance to the war council. We’ll be resting here for the night, then make our way further east and north to the mountains.”

Hans shook his head. “No, you won’t.”

Lance frowned. “Excuse me, sir?”

“Between me and a raid deep into Tusynian territory are two-thousand soldiers in camps across the plain. Once they’re removed, I can pivot hard to the west and help crush the forces moving to retake Castle Reinback. We can go from hoping for a stalemate by winter to actually making gains. You just delivered to me a mage, a healer, and two strong officers, one heavy with noble Titles. That’s not the kind of advantage I can let go.”

“I have orders from the war council,” said Lance, gritting his teeth.

“I supersede those orders as the highest-ranking officer in this camp. You will stay here and participate in the battle tomorrow. If you manage to live past that, then I’ll consider letting you go.”

“This mission is more important than a single battle,” said Lance, stepping toward Hans. “It could completely reshape the war.”

Hans laughed. “There have been many missions, battles, and engagements that generals have thought would ‘reshape’ the war. Yours is no more valid than mine, and I have rank. You will be fighting with me in the morning.”

“I—”

“If you continue to argue with me, I’ll have you caned.”

Lance’s lip curled into a scowl, but he kept himself from saying anything and slammed his fist into his chest in salute.

Hans returned the gesture. “You and Jakub go to support the cavalry—you Penitents should know where to go. Whichever is the healer, go to the infirmary first.”

They all saluted as well and were dismissed. Lance stopped them all before they could go to the infirmary and Penitent tents.

“Make it through tomorrow,” he said simply. “Don’t die.”

“I’ll keep everyone standing,” said Michael. “They just might wish they were dead.”

“Thanks so much,” said Marcus dryly.

“Jakub, you escort Michael to the infirmary, and I’ll meet you later. I don’t want him to have to deal with any trouble.”

Jakub nodded, and they walked together to the infirmary tent. It was as full as any he’d ever seen, and after a quick explanation to the medic, he was able to get started. He started with those who were the most hurt and came across, surprisingly, a woman. Her head had been shaved bald, and she was pouring some kind of liquid into the throat of a man that was near death. She had a Penitent brand on the back of her neck. She turned around, and Michael saw familiar half-lidded gray eyes. It was Crim, the alchemist from the academy who’d done so much to hurt Marcus and Ollie.

When she turned around and saw him, her eyes grew wide in surprise and her hand drifted to a dagger at her belt.

Michael stepped past her and placed a golden hand on the man she’d been tending to. He mended the man’s smoke-damaged lungs and shredded leg. He turned and looked at her again. Her face was thinner, and her lips were cracked from dryness.

He raised a golden hand between them and repaired the bruises, cracked lips, cuts on her scalp, and lice bites.

He lowered his hand and looked into her eyes, seeing confusion in them.

“I’ll pray for you. I hope you live a long time,” he said.

He moved on to the next bed. She didn’t say anything to him, just stood there for a while until the medic briefly activated her brand, and she got back to work. Michael managed to heal everyone there. It was hard, and he was exhausted by the time he was done, but just like every time, he persevered and said his thanks to the Divine as he walked out of the tent and toward where the Penitent tents were. The others had been nice enough to stake his and get his stuff inside of it, and he saw them talking with another group of six Penitents as he got there.

As he got closer, he recognized the Penitents as Lee, Feng, Ogun, Iqbal, Prakash, and Adebisi. They were all Takers that had trained at the academy with him. Lee had actually been the one that had tried to steal his blanket when he’d first arrived there.

Michael walked forward and clasped his hand in a firm shake.

“I’m glad to see so many of you alive,” he said, looking at all of them.

“I’m glad you’re here to heal us,” said Ogun with a smile. “I’ve been missing that quite a bit since we got here.”

“They’ve been telling us how the fighting is going,” said Davi. “It seems they’ve been chasing half of the enemy for quite some time, and the other camp has only just joined them.”

“So they’re half fresh and half tired, whereas we’re all tired,” said Prakash.

“Have they been pushing you hard?” asked Michael.

Feng laughed. “Only if being the spear tip every time is considered pushing hard.”

“Not all bad—we’ve been able to keep the non-Taker Penitents in front of us the most of it,” said Adebisi. “They make great shields.”

Crick coughed a bit.

“Not you, do not worry. If you are with them, you are one of us.”

“Have you lost many?” asked Michael.

Lee nodded. “We’re all that’s left at this front from the academy.”

Michael grimaced—they were down to less than half.

“Any idea what the orders will be for tomorrow?” asked Ollie.

“Same as last time, us up front and in the middle,” replied Ogun.

“We’ll be with you this time,” said Michael, clenching his fist. “And I’ll make sure we all stay standing.”