Chapter Twenty-Three #10
In an agonized trance, Maxi was barely able to register their conversation as she wiped the sticky vomit from her mouth. After swaddling her in the cloak he had laid on the ground, Garrow rose to gather firewood.
Ulyseon slipped out of his cloak and bent down to cover her with it. He suddenly froze. Seeing his fellow squire turn to stone, Garrow threw him a perplexed glance.
“What’s wrong?”
“There’s blood…”
Was her nose bleeding again? Maxi forced her drooping eyelids open. Her blurred vision could only make out the outline of the forest as it faded into the black of night. It felt like she was trapped in an endless abyss of dark water.
“Please pardon me, my lady.”
Pushing Ulyseon aside, Garrow crouched next to her and pulled off the cloak. Unable to think straight, Maxi could not comprehend what they were doing. She lay there in silence, slowly blinking her eyes as the world seemed to spin in slow motion.
Garrow felt the hem of her dress and took in a sharp breath. He quickly bundled her with the cloak once again and hoisted her onto his back.
“We must take her to a healer as soon as possible,” he said, panicking. “She’s losing too much blood.”
“L-Let me carry her!”
“I’ll be faster in the mountains. You guard the rear!”
True to his words, Garrow ran down the slope at a frightening speed.
Each step he took felt like a horse kicking her chest, but Maxi no longer even had the energy to moan.
Her breaths came in shallow rasps as she swayed like a rag doll on his back.
Everything was growing faint. She could not even tell if her eyes were open or shut.
“Goddammit!” cried Ulyseon. “Trolls! They know we’re here!”
Maxi’s eyes fluttered. Something in the dark was charging after them, snarling. She soon heard the clash of steel.
“Keep running!” Ulyseon shouted.
The sound of the monsters’ roars, grunts, and clanging steel swirled around them in a hellish symphony.
The thuds across the ground made Maxi break out in a cold sweat.
As Garrow darted down the steep slope, it felt as though they were plummeting into a void.
The violent movement caused Maxi to briefly lose consciousness.
The next thing she knew, a hand was tapping her face. She had no idea how long she had been unconscious. Her eyes sluggishly opened to find everything blanketed in darkness. She heard Ulyseon’s breathless voice in the pitch-black night.
“You must stay awake, my lady, or your temperature will drop even further,” he murmured, wrapping a cloak around her.
Though the pressure of Ulyseon’s arm on her side was unbearable, she merely bobbed her head. He sat behind a rock to catch his breath and wrapped his arms around her to warm her as much as possible.
After a brief rest, they continued their descent in haste, with Maxi drifting in and out of consciousness. Time passed in either agonizing flashes of white-hot pain or dim, stretching eternities.
The squires traversed the dark forest without a moment of rest. The sound of their rhythmic footsteps, their heavy breathing, and the bone-chilling cold consuming her body were the only things Maxi’s senses could register.
Why did their journey back feel so long when it had not been so the other way? She was vacantly mulling this over when she saw a far-off light.
“It’s our cavalry!” Ulyseon exclaimed, his voice tinged with profound relief. “They must have gotten our message.” Rushing out of the trees, he cried out, “Trolls in pursuit! We request protection!”
“Are you deserters?”
The voice that replied was incongruously calm amid the urgency of the situation. It sounded familiar, but in her dazed state, Maxi could not place it. Still carrying her on his back, Ulyseon rushed over to the man and bent to one knee. Garrow quickly did the same.
“We are squires of the Remdragon Knights,” said Garrow. “Lady Calypse was gravely injured while we were traveling through the forest. Please help us!”
Maxi barely managed to open her eyes. In a haze, she could make out a group of figures holding torches on horseback. The knight at the head of the group dismounted. His armor clinked imperiously as he approached them.
“We are about to go into battle,” he said flatly. “We can only offer emergency treatment.”
“We would be grateful for any help!” Ulyseon pleaded. “Her ladyship has lost a lot of blood.”
There was a pause.
“Very well. I’ll heal her with divine magic.”
With that, the man knelt in front of her. When she felt a familiar energy seeping into her body, Maxi strained her bleary eyes to see. An instant later, a stony face enveloped in silver light came into focus.
Maxi briefly met the man’s eyes. They were a stunning green with light brown flecks. When it finally sank in that this was the commander of the Temple Knights, she closed her eyes, relief flooding her. His presence meant that the coalition army had arrived earlier than expected.
They were saved.
As her tension drained away, she could no longer fight the pain and weariness consuming her entire being. Maxi finally allowed her consciousness to slip away.