Erowen stared wide-eyed at the map, the weight of Harlon's brutal statistic, 'less than 20% survival' sinking in.
A trace of fear laced her voice as she finally spoke.
"W-Why are we even considering that route then? We need to avoid it and move past it using some other route. Any other route!"
"That's where the problem is, Princess," Alvaro replied, his tone heavy with helplessness.
He gestured broadly at the map. "The whole northern front of the forest has turned into a permanent, grinding battlefield. There are no routes left to take except this one. Everything else is either swarming with beasts or heavily fortified by them."
Harlon added, his gaze fixed on the spot marking the marsh. "If we encounter even a single enemy beast on any other path, hundreds more of them would follow, drowning us in unending battle. We must move unseen, and the Cloud Marsh, deadly as it is, offers the only veil of concealment."
