Chapter Twenty-Three #6
Maxi reluctantly followed the squires through the passage. She glanced back to see the entrance slide shut behind them, leaving them enveloped in a disorienting darkness.
Garrow rode next to her and seemed to sense her distress. He said in a soothing voice, “There is a secret exit at the end of this passageway, my lady. There’s no way the monsters would know about it, so please be assured.”
Maxi took a shaky breath. “I-It’s so dark.”
“If you give me your reins, I will lead your horse for you. You can hold on to the saddle.”
Maxi obediently handed him her reins. For about ten minutes or so, the only sound was hooves hitting the ground as they navigated through the passage. Ulyseon stopped at the front of the group and banged on the wall. Seconds later, light filtered into the passageway as a narrow exit opened.
“As soon as we recaptured Eth Lene, Sir Riftan ordered a thorough inspection of the castle’s layout,” he said. “That’s how we discovered this secret passageway.”
Maxi squinted as sunlight flooded in. An uneven forest path shrouded by thick trees led away from the opening. Riding ahead, Ulyseon urged them on.
“We must be out of here before nightfall. We’ll have to ride fast, so try to keep up, my lady.”
“H-How long will it take…for us to reach the coalition army?” Maxi asked.
There was a pause.
“We should reach them by tomorrow if we hurry,” Ulyseon finally said.
“D-Do you think the city will be able to hold the fort until then?”
“Mage Ruth is with them. He won’t let it fall that easily.”
Maxi pursed her lips at the strange tension in the squire’s voice. Something was clearly off. They rode in silence for a while until she was unable to quell her doubts any longer.
“D-Did you lead me out of the city…b-because you’ve determined that Eth Lene will fall?”
Ulyseon flinched, and his face was pale when he turned to meet her gaze. Maxi bit her lip. She had thought it was odd that they were bringing her along on a mission that required utmost haste. Now seeing the truth on the squire’s face made her heart sink.
“If the situation was that dire…sh-shouldn’t we have…evacuated everyone through that secret—”
“The monsters would have discovered us if we’d tried to evacuate hundreds of people at the same time. And fleeing with the wounded would’ve been difficult,” Garrow said, firmly cutting her off. “Right now, informing the coalition army of the invasion is our best option.”
Crestfallen, Maxi spurred her horse on. They rode in frantic haste along the winding forest path. Soon a steep rock face emerged between the dense trees.
Changing course, Ulyseon rode along the craggy ridge. Maxi was galloping behind him when she abruptly pulled her horse to a stop. Garrow, riding at the rear, reined in his mount with a baffled expression.
Maxi’s face hardened as she checked the sun’s position above the forest. “W-We aren’t going north. Where…are we going, exactly?”
“My lady…”
“I want the truth,” she demanded. “Are we r-really trying to meet up with the c-coalition army?”
Ulyseon’s face blanched. He pressed his lips together and hung his head. That was all the answer Maxi needed. When she turned her horse around, Garrow swiftly blocked her path.
“If we travel southeast around this cliff, we’ll arrive at a fortress held by Baron Gideon, which has been safe from monster invasion so far,” he said. “It might be a little far, but it should be the safest place. Sir Riftan ordered us to take you there straightaway in the event of any problems.”
Maxi stared at him. “Then…who will inform the army o-of the invasion?”
“We’ve already sent a messenger.”
Maxi flushed with anger at Garrow’s calmness. “If we’re not going to the coalition army…I-I am returning to Eth Lene Castle. I cannot j-just escape on my own! Not when Ruth, Sir Hebaron…a-and the female clerics are still in there—”
“My lady,” Ulyseon said, his voice heavy.
Maxi flinched and clenched her mouth shut. The squire rode up to her and continued grimly, “Do you know who those ghouls originally were?”
Before Maxi could say anything, Ulyseon launched into a rapid-fire explanation.
“A corpse turns into an undead when it is contaminated by magic. The ghouls were the original inhabitants of the city before it fell to the monsters. When they captured Eth Lene, those fiends turned the human corpses into ghouls and buried them. If we return to the city now…we will be facing the same fate.”
Maxi covered her mouth with a shaking hand. When Ulyseon’s words finally sank in, she was suddenly overcome with the urge to vomit.
Ulyseon looked mournful at Maxi’s sickened expression. “Please consider how devastated Sir Riftan would be if something were to happen to you, my lady.”
“But…But…”
Her face crumpling in anguish, Maxi clutched Riftan’s copper coin. She could not chase the image of the black, rotten ghoul corpses out of her mind. She did not want to end up like that, but the thought of never seeing Riftan again tore at her heart.
She was certain she was not the only one who felt that way. Idsilla had a brother who cared for her greatly. The other female clerics had friends and family of their own, and no soldier wished for death.
Maxi looked at Ulyseon pleadingly. “Then l-let’s…b-bring a few more with us. I-I won’t ask that we take everyone—”
“We cannot turn back, my lady. Imagine the commotion if we did,” Garrow replied, adamantly shaking his head.
The two squires’ woeful expressions reflected her own.
“We also don’t want to abandon the city, my lady,” Ulyseon said miserably. “Please try to understand. For us, Sir Riftan’s orders come first.”
Maxi’s eyes stung with tears. “Th-There is a Livadonian noblewoman wh-who came to Eth Lene with me. She is a mere girl of eighteen…but she c-came because she was worried about her brother. She said she would see him a-after the war….”
For a moment, Ulyseon’s expression grew troubled before he shook his head. “It would be too dangerous for us to return now, my lady. I am sorry, but your safety is our priority.”
“I-I am not that important! I’m n-not the lofty noblewoman you think—”
She bit her lip as she began shaking with sobs. Garrow watched her with a bewildered expression. He sighed, taking the reins of Maxi’s horse.
“We have no time to waste arguing, my lady. There might be monsters lurking about the city walls. We must cross the gorge before we’re discovered.”
He tugged at the reins, and Maxi’s mount obediently followed. Maxi tried to suppress her tears as he dragged them along.
The faces of the people she cared about flashed through her mind.
There was Ruth, who always looked out for her despite his grumbling, and Idsilla, who always tried to act strong despite being tenderhearted deep down.
Then there were Hebaron and the female clerics, whom she had unknowingly grown very fond of.
It wouldn’t have made much difference had I stayed in the city. I would have just become one more ghoul that the returning army would have to deal with.
Though she desperately tried to justify escaping, she could not deny that she was abandoning everyone to preserve her own life. Maxi squeezed her eyes shut, tears splattering on the saddle. Her heart sank in a dark, bottomless ocean of helplessness and guilt.
Think of Riftan. Remember your promise to him. You assured him that you’d be careful, that you wouldn’t do anything reckless….
Despite her efforts, tears continued to trickle down her cheeks as they pressed onward.
The trio rode wordlessly through the darkened forest. Again and again, Maxi turned to look behind her.
She thought she could hear screams echoing from afar.
She could not tell if the sounds were real or an auditory hallucination caused by her guilt.
Ulyseon suddenly spoke up. “I think we’ll have to change course.” He caught sight of Maxi’s haggard face and flashed her a sympathetic look. “I sense a horde of monsters coming this way,” he said, his expression hardening. “We should turn back.”
“How many?” Garrow asked gravely.
“About thirty…no, forty.”
“Trolls?”
Ulyseon stared into the dark forest as if he could see through the trees and shook his head. “Kobolds or red goblins, most likely. It’s best we just avoid them.”
Garrow turned his horse around. He then handed Maxi back her reins and said grimly, “We truly cannot go back now, my lady, so please ready yourself and follow our lead.”
Fighting to suppress her sobs, Maxi bobbed her head. Ulyseon took the lead and galloped away. Spurring her horse behind him, Maxi desperately tried to regain her composure. This was not the time for her to be crying like a child. Ulyseon and Garrow could be endangered because of her.
They traveled through the dense forest for about twenty minutes before Ulyseon pointed up the slope. “This way, my lady. We’ll follow this path to cross the mountain.”
The path was so narrow and rugged that it could hardly be called such. Maxi stared at it with dismay. “Do we have to…go up?”
“It’s likely that the monsters sent garrisons up north as well in case we tried to escape. Going around is no longer an option,” Ulyseon explained. “We’ll have to climb over and head east.”
“B-But what if there are monsters waiting on the opposite side?”
Ulyseon shook his head. “They have no reason to scatter their troops in so many places. And even if there are monsters, they’ll likely be scouts. The two of us should be able to handle them.”
“I’ll take the lead from here,” said Garrow, riding up the slope. “I’m more adept with this kind of terrain.”
Maxi’s whole body grew tense as she climbed up the dizzyingly steep incline. Sweat streamed down her body like prickling rain, and her breathing grew ragged as she clung to her mount.
It felt as though they had been ascending forever when they suddenly came to a stop. An unobstructed view of Eth Lene Castle stretched below them. Maxi straightened in her saddle as she listened to the faint sounds of the siege.
Garrow muttered under his breath. “Damn it…”