2025-12-14 19:02:49The next morning came heavy with mist.
Drax’s voice echoed through the comms. > “Report status, Squad Seven. Movement near the western ridge: verify and proceed.” Kael responded, “Understood. Moving now.” He motioned to Reyna, Kyna, and Jared. “Same formation. No lights.” Reyna adjusted her blade. “We’re running half-rations and no reinforcements. Doesn’t this feel wrong to you?” Kyna frowned. “Like being sent to find a ghost with one candle.” Jared smirked. “Or like being bait.” Kael didn’t argue. His gut said the same thing. Still, he kept his tone flat. “We stick to protocol.” They advanced through the ruined canyon, boots grinding over gravel. Stormhaven banners still hung in tatters along the cliff walls. Kyna’s eyes flicked upward. “No patrols. No scouts. Even the birds are gone.” Reyna muttered, “I hate quiet like this.” Kael stopped suddenly, scanning the ground. The Rift inside him stirred again, faint as a heartbeat. “There’s movement. Not here, up ahead, forty meters. Two sets.” Reyna lifted her crossbow. “Could be another patrol.” “Or a trap,” Kael said quietly. They edged closer until the canyon opened into a clearing. A single tent stood in the center, fire smoldering out front. It looked too deliberate. Jared said, “You thinking what I’m thinking?” Reyna nodded. “We’re being funneled.” Kael crouched, studying the ash ring. “Someone was here recently. Two hours at most.” Kyna’s gaze swept the ridges. “No watchers.” Kael straightened. “There are watchers. Just not where we can see.” He looked to Reyna. “We should pull back.” Inside, the air was stale. Scrolls, half-burnt, littered the ground. Kyna sifted through them. “Supply routes,” she murmured. “But look, Stormhaven’s insignia. Why would they burn their own records?” Kael frowned. “Because they were never Stormhaven’s to begin with.” Reyna crouched beside him. “Meaning?” He pointed to the ink. “This pigment: Veridale issue. These were our reports. Forged.” Jared crossed his arms. “So we’re chasing our own lies.” Kael nodded slowly. “Looks like it.” > “Stand by,” came a cold reply through the comms. “New directive incoming.” Kael’s pulse kicked. He knew that voice. Archon. Even through static, it carried authority like steel drawn slow. > “Squad Seven is to proceed deeper into the canyon. You’ll find the remains of a rebel hideout. Destroy all contents. No retrieval. This is not a recovery op.” Reyna’s jaw tightened. “That’s not intel-gathering, that’s cleanup.” Kyna whispered, “Cleanup of what?” Kael said, “Of evidence.” They followed the canyon until the path split into three narrow cuts through the rock. Kael slowed. “Something’s wrong,” he said. “The Rift’s… flickering.” Reyna gave him a look. “Meaning?” “Meaning time feels off.” He blinked hard. “Like we’re being looped.” Jared scoffed. “You sure it’s not your nerves?” Kyna shook her head. “No. I feel it too. The echo’s wrong.” Kael stepped forward, scanning the rock. “There’s a sigil here. Stormhaven code, but tampered with.” Reyna said, “Trap rune?” “Likely,” Kael muttered. “Back…” The explosion tore the air. Stone shattered. The blast threw them all sideways. Kael hit the ground hard, pain flaring through his ribs. The Rift reacted on instinct: energy spilling outward, freezing the debris midair for a fraction of a second before it collapsed again. Reyna’s voice broke through the ringing. “Kael! Are you…” “Fine!” He pushed himself up, coughing dust. “Where's Jared?* Jared spat blood. “Barely.” Kael’s eyes narrowed. “That wasn’t a rebel trap. It was designed for us.” But before they could regroup, figures appeared through the haze: Shadow Corps insignia glinting faintly. Reyna swore. “Those are ours.” Kyna’s knives flashed out. “Not anymore.” The first agent lunged; Kael parried, sparks hissing through the air. Reyna engaged another, blade meeting blade with the precision of old instincts. Kael’s Rift surged again, freezing a blade mid-swing before it could reach Reyna. She turned and finished the attacker with ruthless efficiency. “Kael, your control…” she started. “I know!” he shouted, forcing the distortion back under his skin. The air shuddered, time briefly stuttering around them. The world flashed white, then stilled. Only silence remained. Five bodies. One canyon full of echoes. Reyna’s voice trembled with restrained fury. “Archon set this up. He’s trying to kill us.” “Or test us,” Kael said darkly. Jared spat to the side. “Same thing.” Kyna wiped blood from her temple. “We can’t go back empty-handed.” Kael crouched beside one of the fallen agents. He pulled a small disc from the man’s belt: Veridale’s command seal. On the back, faintly scratched into the metal, was a name: Velreth. Kael’s heart dropped. “Velreth knew.” Reyna said, “Damn! What now?” They buried the dead beneath the canyon ridge, no words, no rites. Rain began to fall again, thin and cold. From far above, two shadowed figures watched the squad vanish into the storm. One of them: a tall man in a dark coat, spoke first. “Report to Archon. The Rift-bearer survived.” Lightning flashed. The man turned, his face briefly illuminated. Lo and behold, it was Velreth.
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Chapter 96
Rain hammered the mountain path as Kael and Reyna stumbled through the southern pass, their cloaks heavy, boots sinking into mud. The city’s glow was long gone behind them, Veridale now a smear of orange and smoke against a dark sky.“Keep low,” Reyna muttered, pulling Kael down beside a rock outcropping. “If Archon sent trackers, they’ll have falcons scanning the ridges.”Kael nodded, catching his breath. “He won’t settle for exile. He’ll want us dead before we can speak.”“Then we don’t give him the chance.”Reyna peeked over the ridge. Below, the valley stretched open, a river winding through black pines, pale fog threading its course. The sound of distant hooves broke through the rain.Kael stiffened. “They’re close.”Reyna drew her blade. “We’ll move through the ravine. The water will mask our trail.”Kael reached into his satchel, pulling out the folded scrap of parchment Kyna had given him before the trial. “The map she slipped me, there’s a mark here. A refuge south of the Div
Chapter 95
The Grand Hall of Veridale’s Academy had never been so silent. Rows of soldiers and students lined the marble floor, banners drawn back to reveal the royal crest. What once symbolised honour now loomed like a verdict.Kael stood between two guards, wrists bound in silver thread that dulled his Rift’s pull. Reyna was beside him, her posture steady but eyes sharp, her every breath measured.Archon stood at the dais, flanked by Lord Eryndor and the royal emissary. King Elric himself sat upon the high chair, robes trimmed in gold. His gaze, cold and formal, did not meet Kael’s.Reyna leaned close. “This isn’t a trial,” she whispered. “It’s theatre.”Kael’s jaw flexed. “Then let’s play our parts.”When Archon stepped forward, the crowd quieted. His voice carried easily across the chamber. “Cadets Kael Estaran and Reyna Thorne are charged with conspiracy, falsification of state documents, and unauthorised contact with Stormhaven operatives. The evidence is clear and irrefutable.”Kyna, stat
Chapter 94
Jared moved through the shadows with deliberate steps, his gloved hand brushing the cold marble of the wall. Behind him, the Academy’s banners hung limp. He could hear his own heartbeat.“Late again,” murmured the voice ahead.Lord Eryndor stood beside a tall window, moonlight cutting across his armour. “You’re becoming predictable, son.”Jared kept his tone dry. “Predictable means reliable.”Eryndor’s eyes flicked to him. “It means hesitant.”“Maybe I’m tired of errands that make me look like a rat.”“You are a Varion. Rats survive, fools die. Which do you prefer?”Jared’s jaw tightened. “You said this was the last time.”“It will be if you do it properly.” Eryndor opened a case and drew out a thin folio bound with the royal seal of Veridale. “These papers link Kael and the girl, Reyna to Stormhaven operatives. They include ciphered exchanges, signed under Darius’s name. All forged, of course.”Jared t
Chapter 93
¶One week later¶The council chamber was dim.Archon stood near the window, rain streaking the glass. “He’s gathering pieces,” he said quietly. “The boy’s smarter than Darius gave him credit for.”Across the table, Lord Eryndor folded his hands. His rings caught the firelight. “You should be more grateful. My son’s been feeding you reports for weeks. He’s done his part.”Archon smiled faintly. “Jared’s loyalty bends easily, like his father’s.”Eryndor’s jaw flexed. “You’d best watch your tone, Archon.”“You’re a politician,” Archon said. “I’m a soldier. You watch mine.”The tension hung sharp as glass.Then Archon leaned back. “Veridale needs a purge, Eryndor. A cleansing before the throne falls into weakness. Darius was a start. Kael will be the reminder.”“And the King?” Eryndor asked.Archon’s smile didn’t reach his eyes. “He’ll thank me when it’s done. Or he won’t. Either way, I’ll be here.
Chapter 92
The next morning came heavy with mist.Drax’s voice echoed through the comms.> “Report status, Squad Seven. Movement near the western ridge: verify and proceed.”Kael responded, “Understood. Moving now.”He motioned to Reyna, Kyna, and Jared. “Same formation. No lights.”Reyna adjusted her blade. “We’re running half-rations and no reinforcements. Doesn’t this feel wrong to you?”Kyna frowned. “Like being sent to find a ghost with one candle.”Jared smirked. “Or like being bait.”Kael didn’t argue. His gut said the same thing. Still, he kept his tone flat.“We stick to protocol.”They advanced through the ruined canyon, boots grinding over gravel. Stormhaven banners still hung in tatters along the cliff walls.Kyna’s eyes flicked upward. “No patrols. No scouts. Even the birds are gone.”Reyna muttered, “I hate quiet like this.”Kael stopped suddenly, scanning the ground. The Rift in
Chapter 91
The moon hung low over the ruins of Stormhaven’s border fort, its light catching on the shattered stone like cold glass. The squad had been tracking their target for three nights: an officer rumored to be ferrying invasion orders through the burnt corridor north of Kharrow Vale.They moved without torches. Only Reyna’s soft gestures guided them through the mist. Kael followed close behind, his fingers brushing the cold edge of his blade. Every sound pressed tight against his nerves.Reyna glanced back. “We clear?”Kael nodded once. “Footsteps ahead. Two, maybe three.”Kyna whispered, “Scouts?”“Could be,” Reyna murmured. “Or bait.”Drax’s voice crackled faintly through the comm bead. “Keep the formation. Don’t engage until confirmation.”They inched forward. The rebels appeared first as silhouettes: thin, bent shapes framed by moonlight. Kael’s hand hovered near the hilt, but Reyna lifted hers. Wait.When the fi
