Chapter : 241

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She opened her eyes and looked across the camp at Ken. He was lying on his back on the mossy rock, his arms spread wide. He looked like a starfish. A very dirty, very tired starfish with a torn suit and a hole in his shoe.

Ken, Iris said quietly.

He opened one eye. Yeah?

What happened last night? With the corruption wave. How did you stop it?

Ken stared at her for a moment. Then he sat up, scratched his head, and gave her his best confused look. I have no idea what you are talking about, Princess. I hid behind Sayma barrier the whole time. Then I think I fell asleep. Then the darkness was gone. It was probably a really strong breeze. Definitely not me. I do not do things. You know this about me.

Iris studied his face. He looked perfectly sincere. Perfectly innocent. Perfectly, undeniably lazy. And she knew, with absolute certainty, that he was lying. But pushing Ken was like pushing a cloud. It would just shift and drift away. So she just nodded and let it go. For now.

The hours crawled by. The sun began its slow descent toward the treetops. The rainbow from the waterfall shifted and stretched as the angle of light changed. The group ate their remaining rations in near silence. Everyone was thinking the same thing, but nobody wanted to say it. What if the Glayin did not come? What if Paul emerged empty-handed? What if they had fought all these battles for nothing?

Naomi stood at the edge of the pool, skipping stones across the still water. She had been doing this for an hour, and her aim was perfect. Every stone bounced exactly three times before sinking. It was a small, repetitive action that kept her hands busy while her mind worked through problems that could not be solved with daggers.

Ken appeared beside her, holding a handful of flat stones. He tried to skip one. It sank immediately with a sad plop. He tried again. Another plop. On his third try, the stone somehow bounced six times before vanishing beneath the surface.

Lucky shot, Naomi said.

Pure skill, Ken replied. I am secretly the greatest stone skipper in the empire. It is my hidden talent. Along with napping and avoiding responsibility.

Naomi almost smiled. Almost. She threw another stone. Three skips. Perfect as always. You are a strange person, Ken Eliot.

I get that a lot, Ken said. He threw another stone. It sank immediately. He shrugged. Consistency is overrated.

The sun was touching the treetops when the waterfall changed. It was subtle at first. A slight brightening of the mist, as if someone had turned up the light behind the curtain of water. Then the mist began to shimmer, not with rainbows, but with a soft, warm, golden glow that pulsed like a heartbeat.

Everyone was on their feet instantly. Sayma grabbed her notebook. Iris stepped forward, hands clasped in front of her. Laxmi and Zinia moved to either side of the princess, their bodies tense. Ira raised one hand, water mana already gathering in her palm.

The waterfall parted. Not like it had for Paul, a brief opening that closed behind him. This time, the curtain of water split down the middle and peeled back like a pair of curtains, revealing the deep jungle beyond. And standing in the gap, his hand resting on the antler of the most magnificent creature any of them had ever seen, was Chief Paul Dimitri.

The Glayin was not what they had expected. It was small, barely reaching Paul waist, with slender legs and a delicate frame that made it look fragile, almost ephemeral. Its coat was pure white, so white it seemed to glow from within, as if moonlight had been woven into its fur. Its eyes were large and dark, filled with an intelligence that was clearly not animal. This was not a beast. This was a being.

And on its head, rising from between its ears like a spiral of living light, was its horn. Not long, perhaps thirty centimeters from base to tip. But it blazed with a golden radiance that made the waterfall look dim. The light was warm and clean, the exact opposite of the cold, corrupt darkness of Black Magic. This was pure mana, refined and concentrated into a single, perfect point.

The Glayin stepped through the waterfall and into the clearing. Its hooves made no sound on the wet rocks. Its gaze swept across the 13th Unit, pausing on each face for a single, measured moment. When it reached Ken, it stopped. Its dark eyes locked onto his, and something passed between them. Not words. Not mana. Something older and deeper, a recognition that transcended language.

Ken met the Glayin gaze without flinching. His usual lazy expression was gone. In its place was a stillness, a depth, that none of his teammates had ever seen. It lasted only a second. Then he blinked, and the goofy, half-asleep Ken was back, yawning and rubbing his eyes.

Cool deer, he said. Very glowy. Ten out of ten. Would recommend.

The Glayin made a sound. Not a call or a cry. A single, clear note, like a bell struck in a quiet room. And as the note hung in the air, the horn began to glow brighter. Brighter. Brighter still, until the light was almost blinding.

Then, with a gentle, deliberate motion, the Glayin lowered its head and touched its horn to the rock at Iris feet. There was a soft chime, like crystal singing, and when the Glayin raised its head again, the horn was still there. But on the rock, gleaming with golden light, lay a perfect, spiral-shaped fragment. A piece of the horn, given freely.

The Glayin had answered. The pact was not broken. The forest spirit had chosen to help.

Iris fell to her knees. She picked up the horn fragment with trembling hands, cradling it like the most precious thing in the world. Tears streamed down her face, but she was smiling. For the first time in days, she was smiling.

Thank you, she whispered to the Glayin. Thank you.

The Glayin regarded her with its ancient, dark eyes. Then it turned, stepped back through the waterfall, and was gone. The curtain of water closed behind it, and the clearing fell quiet again, except for the endless roar of the falls and the sound of a princess crying tears of relief.

Paul walked over to Iris and placed his hand on her shoulder. It will work, he said simply. The Glayin does not give false gifts. If it offered the horn, then the cure is real. Go back to your friend. Save her.

Iris nodded, unable to speak. She stood up, clutching the horn fragment to her chest, and turned to face her team. Every single one of them was looking at her with the same fierce, desperate hope that she felt burning in her own heart. Laxmi was crying. Zinia jaw was set with fierce determination. Sayma was already calculating. Ira was nodding, just once, which was practically a celebration by her standards.

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