NOVEL NEXT Chapter 73: Escaped with a price
Harlon roared in frustration as he was forced to step backward, narrowly avoiding a Meck that lunged for his exposed neck.
He was nearing his limit. Fighting blind, unbalanced by Alvaro's dead weight, and defending two unconscious people against countless psychic predators was an impossible, draining task.
His sword strikes were becoming slower, his aura flickering with exhaustion.
With a final, desperate snarl, Harlon decided he couldn't wait for Erowen to wake up. He needed a solution, now.
He quickly pulled an object from his Dimensional Ring.
He retrieved a small, circular glowing yellow pendant, its surface faintly carved with sunburst patterns.
Gripping the pendant tightly in his fighting hand, Harlon momentarily ceased his sword strikes and pushed all his remaining aura, every ounce of energy left in his body, into the artifact.
The pendant responded instantly. It flared to life, glowing with an intense, golden heat that felt searing against Harlon's palm.
The light rapidly intensified, becoming a scorching, miniature sun in the middle of the dark marsh.
The Mecks reacted violently, the sudden, overwhelming reality of the light shocking them.
They turned, hissing and recoiling from the pure, anti-illusion energy.
Finally, the pendant could hold no more. With a deafening, psychic screech from the retreating Mecks, the artifact erupted in a huge, blinding flash of yellow-white light. The force was raw and purely anti-magical, a wave of reality that washed over the entire area.
When the blinding flash subsided, silence descended.
The air was clean, sharp, and cold. The swirling, milky fog had completely dissipated, and with it, every single Illusion Meck had vanished, obliterated by the overwhelming wave of concentrated energy.
A clear, though still marshy, path stretched out directly in front of them, leading out of the worst of the Cloud Marsh.
Harlon looked down at the object in his hand.
The Sunstone Pendant, which had just saved their lives, was now nothing more than a dull, useless piece of cloudy glass, utterly devoid of light or magical trace.
He clicked his tongue and shook his head in disappointment.
That was a relic worth a fortune, and now it was wasted.
With a sigh, he tossed the spent pendant onto the marshy ground.
Without pausing to rest, Harlon adjusted his grip. He hoisted the unconscious Erowen onto one shoulder and shifted Alvaro securely onto the other, bearing both burdens with a grunt of immense effort. His mission was not over.
With two heavy, inert bodies draped over him, Harlon started moving immediately, following the newly opened, clear path out of the deadly Cloud Marsh.
The ground beneath their feet was finally firm, the air blessedly free of the oppressive marsh fog.
Harlon gently lowered Erowen and Alvaro onto a patch of dry, slightly sun-dappled earth near the edge of the woods.
He himself immediately collapsed to the ground, his breathing loud and ragged, his muscles screaming from the immense exertion of carrying two grown, inert bodies out of the sucking terrain.
Just as he was starting to collect himself, a familiar, powerful sound sliced through the quiet forest canopy, a loud, resonant screech.
Harlon didn't flinch; he merely looked up, a faint smile touching his lips.
With powerful gusts of wind that whipped the surrounding leaves, his Griffon descended, its massive talons gripping the earth near Harlon.
The majestic beast immediately lowered its feathered head and gently nudged Harlon with its great beak, a clear expression of concern.
"You missed me, huh, buddy?" Harlon murmured, reaching up to rub the Griffon's face and pat its massive head, assuring the creature that he was, despite appearances, fundamentally alright.
"Let's get the two of them up now," Harlon said to the Griffon, his attention returning to the pale, still figures of his companions.
He pulled a small, intricately carved vial from his ring.
The liquid inside was a stunning, shimmering gold, and it radiated a faint, comforting heat.
Harlon's expression was one of clear disappointment and reluctance as he looked at it.
"I didn't want to use this now. But I guess there's no choice," Harlon thought, recognizing the profound cost of the marsh.
This was no ordinary potion. It was the Sun's Grace, capable of healing any wound, physical or, crucially, spiritual and psychic.
The entire elven kingdom possessed only a handful of these vials, underscoring its immense value and importance.
He carefully uncorked the vial, the golden light momentarily illuminating the forest floor.
He crouched down and, with meticulous care, placed a single, precious drop onto Erowen's lips, and then one onto Alvaro's.
The potent liquid slid down their throats, and Harlon watched, stunned, as he could momentarily see the glowing golden substance travel beneath their pale skin, tracing faint, warm lines as it rushed towards their afflicted minds and souls.
After a few tense seconds, Alvaro gasped and bolted upright, screaming, his eyes wide with a residual terror from the illusions.
"Calm down! We're out of the hell hole, Captain!" Harlon said quickly, his voice low but firm, instantly cutting through Alvaro's panic.
"H-How?" Alvaro stammered, still disoriented, his dark eyes wide and darting around the clear path. "Did someone save us? I remember... the shadows..."
"Who would come inside to save us?" Harlon countered, pushing himself fully upright and flexing his aching shoulders.
"It was me. I managed to break through the Mecks' attack."
Before Alvaro could press for details, Erowen groaned and slowly sat up, cradling her head.
"Are you alright, Princess?" Harlon asked, the stern commander replaced by a flash of genuine worry.
"I-I'm fine," she whispered, her voice husky. She looked lost, her eyes still haunted. "What happened in there? I was inside the marsh and then... I-I saw myself in the palace... when I was young... and..."
Harlon didn't let Erowen complete the terrifying recollection. He cut her off gently but firmly.
"It was an illusion, Princess. You were trapped in the illusions of the Mecks and the fog. They feed on fear, showing you your deepest anxieties and memories."
Silence descended again. Erowen was stumped, confused, as well as deeply shaken.
The horrors she had witnessed, the burning world tree, the skeletal faces, they were far too real for her senses.
She couldn't shake the unnerving doubt: were they truly just illusions, or were they some kind of terrible, forced visions?
"Collect yourselves," Harlon commanded, pulling them back to the present danger.
"We have to move. The sun may go down any minute now, and this is still hostile territory."
"There's still some distance left, though," Alvaro pointed out, already consulting the sun's position and the density of the woods ahead.
"Even moving fast, it will be nightfall before we're truly out of the Woods."
"Don't worry. It will be quick, since we have him here," Harlon said with a confident smile, pointing to his enormous Griffon.
The Griffon let out an excited, triumphant screech, spreading its massive wings out as if asking them to leave the speed and safety of the rest of the journey entirely to him.