Arrows hissed through the mist and thudded into the soft ground around us. One passed close enough that I felt the wind of its passage against my cheek. We ran.
The northern marshes offered little solid ground and even less cover once the pursuit began in earnest. Reeds snapped under our boots. Water sprayed with every hurried step. Behind us, the orcs came on in a ragged but determined line—at least twenty strong, with two heavier warriors pushing to the front. Their horns continued to sound, calling more hunters to the chase.
"Keep moving!" I ordered. "Lira, left flank. Harlan, watch the rear. Cael, stay in the center and do not use your powers unless I say so."
Cael staggered along between us, face pale and sheened with sweat. Blood still trickled from his nose. The system’s earlier warning had not been exaggerated.
[Target Condition: Magical Core Strain – Critical]
[Risk of catastrophic feedback: Elevated]
Lira shot me a hard look but followed the order, her spear ready. Harlan’s expression was grim. He kept glancing at Cael with a mixture of duty and dread.
The first group of pursuers closed the distance faster than I liked. Three orcs broke ahead of the rest, howling as they charged through the shallow water. I turned to meet them. Brutal Strike flared as my sword cut the first across the chest.
[You have slain Level 4 Orc Hunter. +18 XP]]
The second came in with a heavy axe. I sidestepped, drove my blade up under his ribs, and shoved the dying body into the path of the third.
[You have slain Level 4 Orc Hunter. +18 XP]
Lira’s spear took that one through the neck before he could recover.
More were coming, and they had no intentions of letting us escape.
We ran again. The mist thickened in places, giving us brief moments of concealment, but the orcs’ tracking was relentless. Arrows continued to fall. One grazed Harlan’s shoulder, drawing a sharp curse from him. Another struck the ground near Cael’s feet and made him flinch hard. The magical energy around him flickered in response, uncontrolled sparks dancing across his fingers.
"Don’t," I snapped.
He tried to obey. I could see the effort in the way his jaw clenched and his hands shook. But the power Elandor had forced into him did not care about orders.
A larger group of orcs, eight this time, flanked us from the right, trying to cut off our path. We were forced to turn and fight. The clash was brutal and close. I cut down two in quick succession, using the uneven ground to my advantage.
[You have slain Level 3 Orc Warrior. +14 XP]
[You have slain Level 5 Orc Warrior. +24 XP]
Lira moved like a shadow between the reeds, her spear finding gaps in armor. Harlan fought with the steady, economical style of a veteran, but the numbers were beginning to tell.
Then Cael broke. A raw scream tore from his throat as the unstable magic surged. The air around him distorted. A wave of concussive force exploded outward, slamming into the nearest orcs and hurling them backward through the water and reeds. Two more were caught in a secondary burst of searing energy that left them screaming and burning. The display was devastating, and completely uncontrolled.
The backlash hit just as hard. Cael’s body arched violently. Blood poured from his nose and the corners of his eyes. The energy continued to leak from him in wild arcs, scorching everything within several paces. Harlan, closest to him, was knocked off his feet and nearly caught by a stray lance of power.
I moved as quickly as I could, activating Phantom Edge to phase through the pulses of energy as I crossed the distance and slammed into Cael, driving both of us down into the shallow water. The uncontrolled energy scorched my side the second I materialized, but the contact seemed to disrupt the surge. Cael convulsed once more, then went limp in my grip, gasping like a man drowning.
"Harlan!" I shouted.
He was already scrambling up, face pale. "I’m fine. Move him, now!"
Lira covered us, her spear keeping the remaining orcs at bay long enough for me to haul Cael’s semi-conscious form over my shoulder. We ran again, harder this time. The explosive display had bought us a temporary gap, but the horns were still sounding, and more orcs would be coming.
The next stretch of marsh was a nightmare of narrow paths and sucking mud. Cael’s weight slowed me, but leaving him was not an option, at least not yet. Every few dozen paces he stirred weakly and tried to speak.
"I... can’t hold it..." he whispered against my back. "It’s... tearing..."
"Stay conscious," I ordered. "That’s all you need to do right now."
Lira fell into step beside me, breathing hard. "He’s going to get us killed."
"Possibly," I answered. "But we can’t leave him behind."
Harlan brought up the rear, glancing back frequently. "They’re still coming. We need distance or a place to break the line of sight."
I scanned the terrain ahead. A denser stand of reeds and low, twisted trees offered partial concealment near a wider channel of water. "There. We cross and use the water to kill our trail."
We pushed for it. The pursuing orcs were closer than before, close enough that I could hear individual shouts. An arrow struck the pack on my shoulder and glanced off. Another buried itself in the mud at Lira’s heels.
Two more orcs managed to close the gap just before we reached the water. I turned and immediately cut one down without any hesitation.
[You have slain Level 4 Orc Tracker. +19 XP]
The second swung wildly. I stepped inside the arc and drove my sword through his throat.
[You have slain Level 3 Orc Tracker. +14 XP]
[Total XP: 401/600]
[Current Progress: Level 7 – 401/600 XP]
We reached the channel and plunged in. The water was chest-deep and cold. I kept Cael’s head above the surface as we crossed. On the far side, we dragged ourselves into the thicker cover and kept moving until the sounds of pursuit began to fade behind the mist and distance.
We did not stop until the horns sounded farther away and the immediate threat had lessened. Even then, we only slowed to a fast walk. Cael’s condition was deteriorating rapidly. His skin had gone gray. The magical energy around him no longer flared, it simply leaked in weak, erratic pulses, as if the core inside him was cracking under the strain.
[Target Condition: Critical Magical Collapse in Progress]
[Core Integrity: Failing]
"We need to get him back," Harlan said, voice tight. "If he dies out here—"
"Then your uncle will have his answer about the process," Lira finished coldly. She looked at Cael with a mixture of anger and reluctant pity. "This is what happens when you force something that doesn’t belong."
I adjusted my grip on the semi-conscious mage. "Save the judgment for later. Right now we should worry about surviving and deliver the information we have. That outpost is no minor camp. Grimgor is preparing something large."
We pressed on through the fading light. The journey back toward safer territory was a blur of exhaustion, pain, and constant vigilance. Every sound made us tense. Cael grew heavier in my arms as the last of his strength left him.
By the time the familiar glowing plants of the outer marsh paths came into view, night had fully fallen. The outpost was still some distance ahead when Cael’s body suddenly seized.
A final, weak surge of uncontrolled magic flickered across his skin. His back arched. A choked sound escaped his throat. Then the energy died completely, and his entire body went limp.
I lowered him quickly to the ground. His eyes were open but unfocused. Breathing was shallow, irregular. The system’s final update was grim.
[Target Condition: Magical Core Collapse – Critical]
[Status: Unconscious – Severe Systemic Strain]
[Prognosis: Uncertain]
Harlan dropped to one knee beside him, checking for a pulse. "He’s alive. Barely."
Lira stood over us, spear still in hand, expression unreadable. "What now?"
I looked from Cael’s broken form to the dark path that led back toward the rebel outpost—and toward Elandor.
"Now we carry him the rest of the way," I said. "And then we find out whether your uncle’s great success is still breathing by morning."