Lys had everyone up and moving back to Southwind quickly after they finished clearing the immediate area of the rift. The knowledge that one of the rifts was able to be held open was something that needed to be communicated to the twins, and Swandia itself, as soon as possible. They made it back in nearly half the time as it had taken them to reach the rift. Lys drove them hard, but they also didn’t have to approach Southwind nearly as cautiously as they had to approach the Lake of Beasts with the large number of rifts and other surprises that seemed to be hidden around every corner there.Michael himself gave the twins a report on what he’d seen on the other side along with Ollie and Marcus. They were dismissed after the twins let Michael and the others know that they likely would be insisting on increased pay for their contract with Swandia from then on, as well as a number of other assurances and benefits. That meant he had eight days off while that was negotiated.Michael went back to his tent and enjoyed the lightness of his limbs as he stripped off his armor and threw his kit into the quickly wearing canvas triangle he’d called his home for several months.“Eight days off, I’m not sure what I’ll do with myself,” said Davi, stretching. “I already had trouble filling the three and a half when you guys were gone.”“Aw, we missed you too,” said Ollie, deepening Davi’s frown. “Let me go ahead and take the wind out of Michael’s sails a bit by warning you that he has a plan to get us all killed.”“I thought it was my turn,” said Pyotr with a grin.“Well, Michael gets two for everyone else’s one. I had mine for the desertion, and now it’s his turn again,” said Marcus.Michael shook his head, sighing. “I found out from Lys that there are a number of fishing villages along the Lake of Beasts. I told you all that the gods want me to find something out there. I want to use this time to find one of them and charter a boat (...)