Chapter 60: A Dire Situation
Chapter 60: A Dire Situation
The afternoon in Cairn carried an unusual sense of languidness.
Sunlight slanted through the wooden lattice windows, casting mottled shadows across the floorboards. The air was thick with the bitter yet comforting scent of medicinal herbs, mingled with the warm fragrance of pine needles baking in the sun outside. Nearly all the hunters in the small town had departed, answering calls for commissions or missions, and without the men's hearty laughter and shouts, the settlement had grown considerably quieter.
Cade leaned against the headboard, idly flipping through an old travelogue he'd borrowed from town. His left shoulder remained immobilized beneath thick bandages, and every motion of turning a page tugged at the wound, sending waves of dull pain through him. But the ache wasn't sharp—rather, it served as a reminder that he was still alive, that he was healing day by day.
The only person who disturbed him was the doctor. Whenever she came in to change his dressings, she couldn't resist teasing him.
"Keep this up and you'll turn into an old man."
Cade would grunt dismissively, enjoying the peace.
This life without endless pursuit, without nerves constantly on edge, without life-or-death decisions demanding immediate action—it wasn't so bad, he supposed.
But there remained a thorn lodged in his heart.
Mia had left it there.
She'd departed too decisively. She'd written down everything he needed to know in those stacks of care instructions, left that coat carrying her scent at the head of his bed, then walked away alone without giving him a single reason to follow.
He was nursing a quiet anger.
Even on this sun-drenched afternoon, his chest felt stuffed with damp cotton that refused to dissipate. This resentment had led him, after he'd become well enough to leave, to choose to stay a few more days. He was waiting for that cotton ball to unravel, or perhaps for a reason that would force him to leave.
Until the messenger appeared.
That day, Cade had just finished having his bandages changed and was leaning by the window, lost in thought. He still held that book, but today he hadn't absorbed a single word. When the messenger pushed through the door, he brought with him the dusty scent of the road.
"Mr. Cade?" The messenger confirmed his identity, then cut straight to the point. "I've been sent by the palace. I have urgent news."
Cade set down his book, his gaze slowly focusing. "Speak."
"Miss Mia—that is, Her Highness the Princess—she's in danger." The messenger caught his breath, speaking rapidly. "A dark sorcerer captured in the royal city confessed before his self-destruction that another accomplice has already gone to hunt her down. Lord Rendell sent me tracking all this way to bring this message to the person closest to the Princess."
Cade sat on the edge of the bed, motionless.
The room fell so silent that the sound of leaves falling outside could be heard.
"Where is she now?" Cade asked, his voice soft.
"I don't know," the messenger said. "I only know she headed in the direction of the Sky City. She's going to Aethon."
Cade stood up.
The movement came too quickly, wrenching his shoulder wound and making his brow furrow slightly. But he stood steady, without the slightest hesitation.
That damp cotton ball lodged in his chest burned away in an instant, consumed by flame.
He crossed to the corner and took down Coldveil where it leaned against the wall. The sound of the long sword settling into its sheath rang out crisp and decisive. He carefully folded the stack of care instructions Mia had left behind, tucking them into his inner pocket, then rolled up that coat and tied it around his waist.
"Doctor," he called toward the door. "I'm leaving."
The physician happened to be walking in with a bowl of medicine, glancing first at his fully armed appearance, then at his shoulder that hadn't yet properly healed.
"Your wound hasn't recovered," the doctor said. "You need at least three more days of rest."
"It's enough," Cade said.
He strode out of the clinic. The messenger chased after him, already exhausted from his long journey but still asking anxiously.
"Mr. Cade! Wait! In your condition... shouldn't you make more preparations? Provisions, perhaps, or medical supplies?"
Cade didn't look back.
"She's already being hunted," he said, his voice carrying an unquestionable finality. "Every day I wait is another day she's in danger."
He rented the fastest horse in Cairn.
Before the dust kicked up by the horse's hooves had settled, his figure had already disappeared down the highway leading north.
After delivering his message, the messenger followed Rendell's instructions and returned to the royal city without delay to report.
Rendell went to see the King on the day the messenger returned.
The light in the King's study was dim, with only the fire in the hearth crackling. He sat behind his desk, listening to Rendell's full report, and for a long time said nothing.
Rendell recounted everything—the mansion in the eastern district, the capture of the dark sorcerer, the explosion in the dungeon, what the sorcerer had confessed—all of it truthfully. By the time he finished, his tone had lost its usual composure.
"Your Majesty, I request that you mobilize forces to protect Her Highness the Princess."
Edran stared at the fireplace for a while before finally asking a question.
"What does Corvus say?"
"Corvus believes these dark sorcerers are concealing a much larger conspiracy," Rendell answered. "He says this matter runs deeper than anyone imagines."
Edran finally turned his gaze from the flames to look at Rendell.
"I'm afraid the situation is more dire than what you've reported," Edran said at last, his voice carrying a profound weariness.
He rotated a massive rolled parchment map that lay spread across his desk, pushing it toward Rendell.
The map depicted the entire continent. Across it, densely scattered, were numerous marks made in red ink. Rendell looked at those red dots, and his heart sank heavily.
Those red dots were marked with black skulls—places that had been invaded by Rift creatures.
"After the dark sorcerers appeared in the city," Edran said, "the activity of Rift creatures has become far more frequent than before. This is no coincidence. The dark sorcerers are using some method to intensify the Rift invasions."
His finger tapped several red dots around the royal city on the map.
"These," he said, "are villages surrounding the capital. They've been destroyed. Not even bodies remained."
His finger moved outward, sliding across the more densely clustered red dots in the territories of other kingdoms across the continent.
"These are other kingdoms," he said. "The entire continent is being invaded. The scale exceeds any recorded incursion in history. The dark sorcerers are deliberately cultivating these monsters. Their forces are expanding, expanding faster than any of us anticipated."
Rendell stared at the map.
On that map, he saw something clearly. Everything Mia had done along her journey, the prophecy she pursued, the Sky City she sought, the curse upon her—none of it existed in isolation. They connected with those red dots on the map, weaving together into an enormous, suffocating web.
"Your Majesty," Rendell said. "Then will you deploy troops?"
Edran stood up.
He walked to the study window, gazing out at Aldenmere beneath the twilight. The royal city still blazed with lights, but beneath this peaceful facade, crisis had already reached their throats.
"I will deploy them," he said. "But before I do, I must go somewhere first."
"Where?"
"The Wizard's Tower," Edran said. "I need to see Osric."
He turned around, looking at Rendell with eyes that held a desperate determination.
"This matter has exceeded what any army can resolve," he said. "Before I send soldiers out to die, I need to understand something first."
"What?"
"What kind of path my daughter has been walking for this continent all along," he said. "Corvus will accompany me to see Osric, my old friend in the Tower. It's time we put together the halves of knowledge each of us possesses."