“Are you ready, my Knights?”

  Five hands struck chests in a uniform, easy metallic thump. Two eager and ready to go. Two more were giving him disappointed looks and the fifth was unreadable but that said something to. He ignored them.

  He would not become some deskbound courtier!

  “And your men, Sir Leosige?” He glanced at the 6 brand new tier 2’s in their scale-reinforced hide armor, spears and composite bows.

  “They aren’t ready, My Lord. But it will have to do.”

  Ethan nodded easily. The bow wasn’t a weapon you could pick up in just a few months. No more than any weapon was. Just training the skill could take a decade. Much less the skill itself. That could take a lifetime of Work.

  At least they were experienced with the spears they sported. Not quite the same spears they’d used as Peltasts. But close enough to hum a few bars.

  “Then wrap up and let’s be about it.”

  He suited actions to words, tightly wrapping the wolf fur cloak around his armor first, then a thick wool scarf across the bottom half of his face and a few more turns for his ears and head. His helmet was hanging on a leather thong to his side, his spear upright as a walking stick before him and a large oval-shaped scutum strapped to his back.

  “Open it.” He ordered, and a pair of waiting Hastati unbarred and dragged open the doors sized for a wagon; four more rushed forward with rakes and shovels to remove the drifts of snow that half-collapsed inside. Another two decade ran out the wooden drawbridge. Six two-foot wheels helped them push it, and a guide rope to the other end, looped through a loop of stone on the ceiling and down to another half-decade held the bridge upright as it extended over the 30-odd feet of river. Covering the distance across the gap at speed and slamming the end into a snow bank that stood above the carved stone landing point.

  Ethan didn’t wait for more than that. Rushing outward and forcing himself not to flinch as he crossed the exit plane and the cold hit him like a physical blow. Even with the Core’s Mountain Adaptation buff, it was hard to take. The wind over the river was like a pumice stone on the strip of exposed skin around his nose and eyes.

  Just for a little while. He reminded himself. Until they could get into the rift.

  Blake’s ritual had found it, and Leo had found them a usable path. Now they just had to get there.

  And trampled down the snow a bit on the way. They scrambled down the makeshift snow-covered ramp. Piled dirt in the fall rather than anything permanent and moved out into the meadow. Shivering against the wind that stole heat and life from their exposed skin.

  Pushing forward quickly. They were working up a sweat tromping through the snow this way, which under normal conditions would have been foolhardy.

  But the Rift was only 2 miles away. It was more important to stay warm getting to it; they could dry off and recover inside.

  And with 13 Tier 2’s, He didn’t imagine it would be too much trouble.

  Ethan flinched. Feeling like slapping himself. Now why would he ask for trouble like that?

  Hadn’t he enjoyed the God’s sense of humor enough before this to know better?

  Idiot!

  He pushed on, keeping his eyes on Leo’s cloaked back. Or rather on the brightly colored scarf flapping wildly in the wind behind it. And despite that flickering bit of color in an otherwise white world, he felt oddly isolated. Alone but for a flicker of color and a line of footprints. Robbed even of sound, but for the wind’s incessant howling.

  He pushed through snow banks, over the top of a seemingly soft hill of snow, only to avoid clean-looking flat stretches. Circled around snow-mounded drifts that disappeared into the fog overhead. All of it within a few miles of Alfwin Fortress.

  And yet in a different world entirely.

  It seemed like hours that they existed in that alien state. Seemed, but was probably under a single hour, when a wall appeared before them. Startling Ethan with its invasion of his private, oh so cold world. It emerged from the windblown snow and fog and dominated the horizon.

  They moved closer and the wall began to resolve itself into a thick mass of evergreens interspersed with birch and aspen, their trunks and branches stripped bare of even snow by the rampant wind.

  They ducked between needle-laden branches and into a calmer blow. Calmer, not calm. The wind still spoke through and around the trunks and branches yet, if in a quieter tone.

  And instead of worrying about freezing to death, he had to worry about breaking his legs in hidden root hollows or deceptively shadowed footing.

  Or would have if they didn’t have a path to follow. However rudimentary. Thank the Gods for Leo.

  They trooped, and with the lessening of the wind and snow blown on it, it did feel like they again. Moving figures of white and gray against the background of the wood as they tromped along, audibly through the trees for a time, then a quick turn around a boulder that extended up into the snow storm above and the familiar pulsing lights of a rift were in front of them.

  Gold, red and rich brown energy threads twisted and turned over one another in a mesmerizing display. A color scheme that Ethan had never seen before.

  He stepped into it easily, unwilling to stay longer in the cold and wind than they needed to. He glanced around as he began to fumble his shield free of its straps. Revealing a similar image around him. Shivering, snow-crusted, fur-robed and wrapped figures fumbling in the cold with weapons, armor and the occasional shield. Ethan caught each knight's eye, and ran a proprietary eye over the new Pahadi, who seemed considerably less bothered by the cold, before nodding.

  Yes!

  The world spun around them, snow and frigid cold replaced by a wave of hot air he practically had to chew to breathe. His eyes searched his designated zone, shield up and spear braced. He was looking at the ragged remnants of a wall. Once of excellent dressed and carved stone. Now but a ruin, the ceiling left in piles on the stone-flagged floor.

  And nothing waiting in the entrance room! He let out a breath.

  “Brush it off! Now. All the snow before it melts.” Leo’s voice broke through his wonder, and he flinched, sweat already beginning to bead his cloth-wrapped face and fur-wrapped body.

  With fingers still stiff with the cold and knots half frozen with it, it took him longer to get his cloak free than he’d like. He waved it through the air vigorously, flapping it about like a bullfighter's cape, shedding packed on snow with every movement. Quickly followed by the rest of his gear, from boots to headwrap.

  And it wasn’t enough. He was sweating like a pig still. It was like the Heartlands at high summer, right beside the river where you felt like you should be able to swim in the wet air.

  He ran his eyes again over the ruins of the room. The ruins of a large doorway, its frame gone on one side, but a massive carving holding up a shard of the lintel on the other.

  Some kind of horse body and lion head? Chimeric rift… Well, it might be a warning.

  He let his eyes dance around them, resting for a moment on the once ceiling now piled about the floor.

  No.

  That wasn’t the only entrance. His eyes lifted to take in the dappled blue sky, with a rampant sun burning down.

  Up. This too could be an entrance, as he’d learned to his cost.

  But an empty entrance at the moment. They’d have to risk it.

  “Every other man,” Ethan ordered softly, his voice pitched to go no farther than it had to. “-strip. Lay out the furs and trousers to dry. We’ll have to come back for them after.”

  He moved at his own words, dragging his wrapped head covering free before beginning to wiggle free of a split-sided hide coat covering his scale armor.

  Sweating into his Gambeson was an old problem. And one he’d have to suffer through, despite the dangers of ice on his skin once they left the rift.

  “You ok there, Sir James?” He asked softly. The Quartermaster was white faced, shivering and sweating at the same time.

  “No!” He barked, his teeth still chattering. “My balls can’t decide if they want to crawl up me or sail away! No, I’m not ok.”

  Snorts of laughter, half stifled but plenty audible for all that resounded around them and even Ethan had to fight to keep his face clear. Not that his state was surprising. James had the lowest physical stats of the lot of them. Almost as much as the scouts a full tier below him, but without their Mountain Tenacity sub-skill.

  Even Ethan, a nominal mind class at this point, had come up through both Hastati and Lancer to get where he was. James had focused on logistics, information and management for his last two classes. With only his first class, Hastati, as a pure physical one.

  Not that this made him any less dangerous. A mind was a deadly thing, and if he lacked the sheer physicality of Conner or Guile, he made up for it by being a tricky, vicious bastard in a fight.

  Still, that didn’t stop the other knights from poking jokes at his expense. Nor at each other as layers came off and the results of the cold became a bit more obvious.

  “Yous going to cut some ice wit does?” Conner snarked at Guile.

  Who fired back by glancing down at Conner, then himself and simply grinning proudly.

  “Don’t start, I’ve had ice on mine.” Conner snapped back without being bothered.

  Jokes and jabs shot back and forth as first one set, then the other struggled awkwardly out of armor and now unneeded under layers. But in under a half hour, they were all more appropriately dressed. Trousers and well-stuffed boots left to the side. But if they left clothing behind to dry, the Armor was not. Their legs might be near bare, but they were still covered by greaves and pturgis. Their arms likewise were covered by bracers and pauldrons.

  It was good to

  They were fully equipped, weapons-free and quite frankly, fairly comfortable in the temperatures they’d lived most of their lives in.

  “Ready?”

  “My Lord!” They barked together. Conner and Guile, both bearing scutum shields, one with a spear and the other a spatha, moved to the front without prompting. Ethan's shield was the only other such in their party.

  An oddity that grated at Ethan's sensibilities for a moment, before he pushed it away.

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  They pushed through the doorway and expanded in a thin bubble outward. Ethan 3rd in and taking in the massive chimera’s that graced the other side of the crumbling ruin.

  Large Chimeras at that, their flanks and torso larger than the horses they somewhat resembled, with a lion’s head, a snake’s tail and great, sharp tusks sticking gracing the sides of their fanged mouths.

  Ethan moved to the side easily, delaying for several seconds while the odd beasts pranced and twisted to face them.

  Then, “Lose!” he ordered. Gold light pulsing outward and turning skills of 3 or 4 ranks to jump to around 10. Still not good, but enough to do a bit of damage… if they could hit the broad side of a barn at 20 paces.

  Which only 2 of them did.

  Andrew’s arrow punched halfway to its fletching while two more stuck in a bit before shattering under the force of the shot against a thick head.

  The beasts, wounds or not rushed them with loud growling roars that made the hair on Ethan's arms and back stand on end. He stepped forward into it, bracing his spear against a lip of stone to take the charge while Guile stepped to the side, sword raised high and waiting.

  A whip snapped out and fouled its hind legs a step before it reached them, leaving it stumbling forward onto Ethan's spear, its end wedged against a raised flagstone. It stuck in a half-foot deep before Ethan had to let the spear go and leap backwards to dodge a pair of 3-foot-long and exceedingly sharp tusks that nearly slashed his face.

  Then Guile struck from the side, deftly cutting its throat.

  With a blow from the bottom that only stopped on the monster's spine. Leaving its head dangling by a thread in a waterfall of blood. He danced backward, sword and shield performing a parry and deflection from the monster's final vicious struggle.

  Ethan turned to the side and to the other dying beast. Three braced spears had stopped its charge while the other three had driven deeply into its throat and bared flanks.

  With Conner and Leo standing to the side, watching and advising, but mostly uninvolved.

  “Yali Guardians.” Leo offered, giving the beasts a respectful glance. “Bottom of tier 2, but nasty for all that. Take a lot of killing, they do and that snake's venomous.”

  Ethan gave the tail a second look and half winced. Those fangs were two inches long! Not to mention the rest of it. “Hide looks thick. Strong to.” He offered.

  “Aye, be worth something. Good armor. Them tusks is better though.” Leo returned, crouching along with a suddenly present Andrew.

  “Strong and a bit flexible. Decent material for a bow.” He offered after a careful look.

  Leo shrugged. “Or a spear. They hold a good point. Might hold an edge too.”

  Ethan shrugged. Either would work. “Meat?”

  “Doesn’t identify as poisonous, but with that snake tail? Be a bit careful till you find the right glands.”

  Not bad then. Not that they’d be able to take advantage. They could only carry so much back, and the meat already in front of them was probably over that limit. And that was ignoring what else they might find.

  He glanced around the room and shrugged. Not that the environmentals were worth much. Not yet at least. He had no interest in carrying blocks of stone back through a snowstorm.

  Though in the summer… He wouldn’t turn it down if it was close. Shaped stone would greatly discount the cost in BP’s for building. Learning that one had the dual bonus of clearing up much of the piled scree. Much to the disgust of those who’d spent a day trying to clear the gap.

  “Cut the snake tail off and hang them up, just in case. But I doubt we’ll have room or weight for the meat.” Ethan ordered, pulling a coil of rope from the back of his belt and moving to wrap it around a pair of rear hoofs.

  It took but a minute to hang both to drain from the convenient wall carvings that bore much the same image, if only in reverse.

  There was again only one doorway going on, and it opened into an interior garden. The remains of pillared wall alcoves and splintered flagstones surrounded nearly half an acre of overgrown plots. And not flower beds either, if he were to judge from the mess of still living plants.

  Nearly choked out by weeds, grass and clover were eggplant vines, chickpea bushes, peas, red chillis and even tomatoes. Not large amounts of any of them, nor the largest specimens of them amid so much competition, but a welcome change of diet, that was for sure.

  “My Lord!” Leo’s voice pulled Ethan up short.

  “Yes?”

  “It’s all tier 2!” The scout offered, slightly breathlessly.

  Ethan flinched. Turning back to plants that glowed like piles of gold to his suddenly ardent gaze. Tier 2? For that, even he’d turn farmer! He reached down with a shaking hand to pull an eggplant off the vine, wiping it briefly, then took a bite.

  An explosion of flavor made an assault on his taste buds.

  And they quickly surrendered! He could feel his stamina regen shooting up too! He took another small bite, unable to help himself, then passed the vegetable back, picking two more and handing one each to Andrew and Conner. Each taking a bite then handing them on themselves.

  “Good Rift!” Leo barked.

  Laughter rang out easily. Well, when he was right, he was right!

  Still, they had a rift to run. So after a few minutes of satisfying their somewhat deprived taste buds, Ethan reluctantly gave the garden a last look, then turned away. Calling his men to follow.

  The next series of rooms were much like the first. Chimeric mixtures of horse, elephant, snape and lion in various mixes and configurations, but all with the same name and roughly the same danger level.

  Ethan and his five knights, each at the top of the second tier, could have walked over this rift by themselves.

  A fact Andrew didn’t fail to note. “Bit easy this, a wonder that a man with responsibilities felt the need to risk his self.” The knight offered while they watched the new classers handle an encounter.

  Ethan snorted, “You can’t have it both ways, Andrew. If it’s easy, then it’s not a risk.”

  “The trip here’s a risk, Ethan.” Conner offered softly. “One yous didna need to take.”

  Ethan turned his head the other way. “What about you, James? You want to pile on.”

  “I’m not in a habit of wasting my breath. You made up your mind not giving a hoot for objections. What good will they do now?” He shot back easily and Ethan had to wince. Coming from that angle hmm? Bastard.

  “I needed to see the new class for one. Can hardly work them into larger plans if I haven’t seen them work.” It was a bit of a soft reason at this point. But still true.

  “Be a better sight to see once they gain a bit of skill.” Leo offered.

  “And who can help them get that more than I? Is there a better buffer in the Band?” he shot back.

  Andrew sighed and gestured a touch. But Ethan kept going anyway. “I didn’t get ennobled as a sa-baron Sirs. No courtier here. I got it by fighting and leading fighting men. That is not going to change just because we have a keep.”

  “And if yous die? Did yous think o dat? Then wes lose everything. The Band loses everything! And don’t bullshit me dat yous is to good for dat. Kieron gets everyone in der time. Yous is no exception. Get a heir before yous think to keep it business as usual.” Conner fired back, some real heat in his voice.

  That… dammit. That wasn’t an unreasonable request. “Trust me, I’m working at it.” He offered, if a bit crassly.

  Snickers resounded around him. “We know that to.” Guile led the way with a twinkle in his eye. “On that list of yours, might want to add getting Blake to drum up one o’ his sound spells on your rooms.”

  Ethan waved it away, then barked, “Brace!” Darting forward, though not nearly as fast as Andrew’s arrow, or Guile with his sword, to catch a leaker. This argument wasn’t over, but Ethan would be damned before he’d let them fix him behind a desk!

  They kept going. A dozen fights of a similar nature. Till they stepped into a long hallway, its walls covered in even more carvings and the remains of pillars lining it to either side.

  They walked down it easily, till Leo turned and shoved his spear into a wall carving, and blood poured down the handle. “Ambush!” He barked even as the rest of them turned and struck out at carvings that abruptly came to life.

  No patiently letting the new classers get experience and training this time. It was sharp and brutal, and over before the fake statues managed to fully step off their pedestals.

  “Good catch, Sir Leo.” Ethan offered, walking forward again as if his heart wasn’t beating over a hundred times a minute. As if he didn’t want to bounce with the adrenaline pumping through him. “Bracing, that was.”

  There was a soft snort from Conner, but no arguments. The hallway opened up into another abandoned garden, though one that was more than half stripped. As if a herd of goats had a go at it.

  They marched forward into the space, eyes tracking around and finding nothing. Ethan moved carefully out behind Leo into the waist-high grass, forgoing a tasty-looking spinach plant in favor of keeping his spear ready.

  Something didn’t feel right.

  “Ware the sky!” Leo abruptly barked, already turning, pilum raised and poised.

  From the sky to the right a massive Yali, half again the size of its lesser brethren, was swooping down on them with wings the size of a river raft!

  Shields and spears Conner jumped into the way of a clawed forelimb, slamming his shield into claws with a hair curling screech before the blow sent him rolling away in one direction, the monster winging away in the other, speedily ducking up and over the far wall, a pilum sticking from his horse-like rear flank.

  Flying now? That was new.

  “Bows!” Ethan ordered. Tossing his spear to his shield hand and helping Conner off the ground, a bit battered but uninjured, then pushed him lightly to the east, while he headed to the south. Guile, James and Leo easily spacing out over the other directions without needing direction. The Pahadi and Andrew likewise moved to the middle without prompting, bows raised with an arrow on the string.

  Then they waited.

  And waited.

  And waited.

  “Here!” Guile barked, and Ethan spun in time to see bows drawn and raised. “Steady!” He barked to get the buff on them.

  “Lose!” Andrew barked, letting an arrow fly free and followed quickly by 6 more. The first struck true and deep in the monster's chest, but of the rest, only 1 hit.

  Right into a wing. Was it luck? Or Luck that the other 5 manage to miss something that big!

  It was nearly on them then, front lion feet extended in a grasping motion that turned into a roar of pain as Guile spun, blade and shield moving together to deflect and remove three of those clawed toes. Or were they talons?

  A snapping noise rent the air and a thing thong of leather wrapped around the opposite leg before the claws could rake at Guile. James, feet braced and whip held tight, was jerked right off those braced feet to drag through the grass, but the Boss, moving as fast as it was could not handle the tether gracefully either. Twisting sideways against it for just long enough for a wing tip hit the ground.

  Then the grass and plants exploded as it hit and rolled end over end, screaming in pain and rage, before climbing back to its four feet, wings twisted and broken and nothing but frothing madness on its caricature of a lion’s face.

  It charged!

  And they met it with spear, shield and spatha.

  And dragged it at last to the ground.

  For good.

  Ethan let his breath go. Easy huh?

  ____

  “Here!” Leo’s voice brought them to the middle off the garden and to a fountain like stone platform with a Rift core floating above it. They lined up quickly, saluting and thanking the rift for its bounty, before the wooden haft of Ethan's spear shattered the crystal.

  He’d considered leaving it open, but at tier 2, and with that boss, he really didn’t want to risk anyone but his knights and he handling it. And they didn’t have the time to keep just this rift under control.

  The lights of evaporating rift core blinded them for a moment, then faded away to leave an odd sort of short sword lying on the stone. Forward swept and quite thick about the blade. A workman-like tool or a weapon? Or both?

  It bore a symbol on its blade, ???, though not one he recognized. A blade that glowed subtly as he turned it under the overhead light. He handed it to Conner.

  “Durability. Seen dat one to many times to mistake it. Right useful ting to have on a belt blade. Inspect says it’s a tier 2 ku-kri.” The alien word was clearly awkward on his tongue.

  Ethan gave it a careful look. Hooked forward like that it was half axe. But still agile enough for a bit of skinning or cutting. Might even work like a shovel with that wide blade… if you were willing to mistreat a blade that way. Could also do a fair job at opening a man’s head too.

  Useful.

  “Alright. Time to gather the rest of the loot. I want every tusk, a few sinews and hides too. Then I plan to raid the gardens.”

  “Hell Yes.” Guile barked. Already pulling a sack from the back of his belt and moving towards a small patch of chilies. Ethan didn’t blame him. He could use some spice in his food too!

  They quickly split up the garden. Harvesting the more obvious vegetables and any valuable herbs they could recognize, removing the boss’s tusks, claws and a half bag of feathers for fletching. Then they moved back through the rift. Doing the same to any beast they came across. Each of them soon sported a bundle of ivory over their shoulders and a bag of vegetables or two tied to their belts.

  Then they reached the first garden. Splitting it up for harvest again. But with a slightly different twist.

  Ethan grabbed bundles of sweet clover first, filling a rough sack with them, then the new blade in hand, grabbed an armful of wild grain plants and cut them off at knee height. Then another, and another. Moving carefully through the rows and trying to get more grains and less grass.

  “What yous up to, My Lord?” Conner appeared at his elbow, his own sacks filled to the brim. He was soon followed by the rest, already on the edge of overburdened.

  “Celer will like it.” Ethan offered, unembarrassed and without stopping. His mare had been with him for several years now and was a damn fine animal. Worth a bit of work. Especially as he expected her to be little better than skin and bones by spring. This should help a bit at least.

  “Oh ho? Yous, the horse killer? Yous has a heart?” Ethan shot the man a surprised look. It wasn’t like him to spout such nonsense. He knew the score.

  Conner, a smile on his face and a twinkle in his eyes, shifted them slightly toward the Pahadi, clustered nearby and being very obvious about not listening in.

  Ahh.

  “I have no heart, Sir Conner? You ever seen an animal starve to death? I have, and I still occasionally dream about it. No. I should have had most of them butchered when the first snow fell, but I can’t leave it any longer.”

  “There was no other way, Milord.” One of the former scouts asked, his hands rubbing together and real sorrow in his eyes. “My Stella, she was as good a horse as any could ask for.”

  Ethan grimaced. And that made it worse. It wasn’t just beasts of burden he’d had put down this morning. It was men’s personal property. It was damn near pets! Compensation only went so far. Ethan grabbed another armful and carefully cut it. Thinking through his answer.

  “We couldn’t find one.” Ethan spoke at last. “And we looked. Leave things as they are and every non-meat eater starves to death. The hay, grain and beans running out 2 months before spring. As it is, keeping just breeding stock for the herds and the most strategically dominant Lancer chargers will be pushing it.”

  “But yous picking food for dem now? Couldna wes do the same?”

  Ethan sighed. “How much can you carry through the snow? How many men can we risk marching to and from? Without your passive tenacity or our 2nd tier stats? I’m going to bring back what I can, and we might get lucky with other rifts… Then again we might not. I can hardly plan on such luck.”

  The man nodded reluctantly. Ethan couldn’t blame him. It was a raw deal, however you looked at it.

  But it was the only deal they had.

  “It won’t bring your Stella back, but with a bit more fodder, the goats as are in milk will keep producing. Make the food a might more appetizing before spring.” He offered softly. Shrugging, then cut another arm full.

  Taking several bundles piled together and pressing them down hard. Tightly wrapping a somewhat grisly sinew about the resulting bundle and twisting a knife handle into the loop, spinning it a few times over, before making a few more loops and tying it off. He pretended not to notice with Andrew dropped half his collected tusks and grabbed the kukri.

  Nor when the rest took turns doing the same.

  They left later with bags of vegetables, spices, clover, a few tusk each and a big bundle of animal fodder tied into a bundle on their backs.

  ____