Chapter 955: Closer. Closer

Vlad looked past him toward the trees. The black haze still lingered between them, and the broken vegetation marked the direction from which the creature had charged. A trail of crushed brush disappeared into the gloom, wide enough for several men to walk abreast.

"Already? We still haven’t established how far this reaches."

Harven wiped his sword clean while looking into the same stretch of forest. His voice had lost some of its earlier force, though the concern was reasonable.

"There could be more of them farther in." He said.

"Which is why we should report what we have found. The nearest portal city is not terribly far from here. Once we reach it, we can travel directly toward Solania."

Vask looked at Pedri. They had spent enough time discussing their route that this change deserved an explanation, even if he suspected the answer.

"There were other villages we intended to check."

"That was before we found the idol, the Demonlings, and this creature. We have enough evidence to require a proper response. Continuing from village to village could leave us spending weeks following destruction that has already happened."

Pedri’s gaze passed over the soldiers tending their injured companions. One man held a dressing in place while another struggled to fasten it, and a priest knelt beside them with a hand pressed against the wounded man’s leg. Several others waited nearby for their turn. One had lowered himself against a tree and closed his eyes, keeping his injured arm tucked carefully against his chest.

"Once we reach Solania, the Holy Order can dispatch investigators, priests, and knights equipped for this work. They can search several locations at once and bring what is needed to cleanse them. We cannot do that with the force we have here."

Vask followed his gaze across the men. The argument would satisfy anyone who had just fought through the forest, while also delivering them to the Holy Order far sooner than their original route allowed. Clementine had acquired witnesses, evidence, and an escort. A report bearing a captain’s name would carry more weight than the claims of an unknown priest travelling with a random unknown boy.

There was little reason to keep walking through villages once everything they needed could be brought directly to the people they intended to impress.

Vask looked back at Pedri, who waited with the patient expression of a man concerned only with getting the wounded somewhere safe.

If Pedri acted like this back when he was clementine, he probably never would have lost his seat. Though from what Vask remembers, he always had a thing for theatrics and fooling other people, even when he was still the pope. One man’s face can change, but never his habits.

"That would be more useful than following one ruined settlement after another." Pedri said with all the patience of a true priest.

"Considerably. Besides, these men have done enough."

Several soldiers heard him. One looked up from the wound being bandaged along his arm, while another gave Pedri a tired nod. The old priest’s concern for them was proving almost as useful as Vask’s sword.

Vlad remained focused on the trees. Whatever he thought of the proposal, he was still the officer who would have to explain why he had left corruption spreading behind him. Another patrol would eventually follow the route recorded in his report. He needed to know what he would be sending those men into. If things go right, he’ll be questioned for his inability to do his job properly. If things go wrong, he’ll wish he lives to be questioned for that bit.

"The miasma hasn’t settled. If we leave while it is still spreading, the next patrol could walk into something worse."

"It is already retracting, Captain. The change is difficult to see yet, but the concentration has begun falling."

"You’re certain?"

"I am. Have one of your priests examine it, if you wish."

One of the Lotostran priests stepped forward before Vlad needed to ask. He closed his fingers around the holy symbol at his neck and lowered his head. A quiet prayer accompanied the light gathering around him, much narrower than the wave Pedri had released earlier.

The priest remained still while the light spread into the surrounding haze. After several seconds, his eyes opened, and he turned slowly toward the giant corpse. Surprise gave way to concentration as he checked the area again, taking longer this time before offering his judgment.

"Father Pedri is right. There is still corruption in the soil and vegetation, but the active miasma is weakening."

Vlad followed his attention to the demonling. Black growths covered the creature’s back, and the thorns that had made its charge so threatening now lay pressed into the earth beneath its weight.

"Because we killed that?"

The priest approached the body, stopping well short of touching it. He extended his holy symbol toward one of the growths and watched the light change around its edges.

"The smaller Demonlings carried the corruption with them. This creature appears to have been sustaining it throughout the area. With it dead, the concentration is dropping continuously."

"How long before it clears?"

"Days, perhaps. The remaining contamination will still need attention, but proper cleansing should shorten that considerably."

Pedri waited until Vlad looked toward him again. He had allowed the other priest to establish the conclusion, leaving little reason for the captain to dispute it. The recommendation would now come with the support of someone Vlad already trusted.

"Then we can report its location and have the appropriate people sent here. Your men would gain very little by exhausting themselves in a forest that is already beginning to recover."

Vlad examined his force before answering. The wounded were only part of the problem. His priests had spent much of the retreat keeping the corruption away, his mages were quieter than men with comfortable Mana reserves tended to be, and the mercenaries were inspecting damage to equipment they might need again before reaching a safe road. Every man needed to support an injured companion would be one fewer holding a weapon if they were attacked.

Vask stood among them looking ready for another fight. Vlad could not decide whether that was reassuring or merely an unpleasant reminder of how badly he had judged the boy. Either way, one capable swordsman did not turn an exhausted expedition into the force needed to search an entire corrupted forest. He sheathed his sword and turned toward his officers.

"Prepare to move. Anyone who cannot walk takes a horse, and the priests finish treating the worst injuries before we leave."

The men began responding immediately. Relief showed in the speed with which some gathered their packs, although Vlad waited until the mercenaries were listening before continuing.

"Mark this location and record the route. We need enough detail for another force to reach it without searching half the forest. Include the direction the creature came from. Everything we have found goes into the account we deliver at Solania."

Father Pedri inclined his head. His expression held the quiet approval of a man pleased to see a sensible decision made, with no sign that the decision had also accomplished everything he wanted.

Harven remained beside the corpse for another moment. His eyes moved toward Vask, then to the sword resting at the boy’s hip. Whatever he was considering saying apparently required more courage than he could find just then, because he turned away and went to help one of the wounded soldiers.

Vask let him go. Demanding an apology would only give Harven another argument to defend himself in. The silence would leave him time to decide what he had witnessed, and whatever conclusion he reached would probably serve their purpose better than anything Vask could tell him. People tended to defend ideas more stubbornly when they believed they had arrived at them alone.

Pedri returned to his side while the soldiers organized the march. He adjusted the strap of his pack and looked toward the route leading out of the clearing, waiting until the nearest men were occupied before speaking quietly.

"The portal city should be less than two days away, provided the roads remain clear."

"And then directly to Solania?"

"Yes. We have spent long enough establishing that someone there ought to speak with us."

Vask glanced north. The old Hero’s sword rested quietly against his hip, its light concealed again, although hiding the blade would do little to change what the soldiers had seen. By the time they reached the city, he doubted anyone in the column would still describe him as an orphan carrying a rusty weapon.

Somewhere beyond those roads waited the Holy Order. He would arrive under a name they did not know, carrying an obligation they thought belonged to another man. The people walking beside him would help explain why they should take an interest.

Vask smiled faintly and joined Pedri as the column began moving. Behind them, the miasma thinned between the branches, allowing the first traces of sunlight to reach the creature lying dead in the clearing.