The acrid smell of burnt meat clung to the back of his throat. Kael coughed, trying to force the disgusting scent from his lungs. He pushed himself to his feet, every muscle protesting. The fireball had left a black, gaping hole in the middle of the forest, the surrounding trees still smoldering, their trunks blackened and cracked.
Gryphon and the others returned, moving cautiously through the devastated landscape. Rook and Jotun were supporting Viper, her face still pale but her breathing a little more even. Her arm was crudely bandaged, the bleeding had stopped but the wound still looked horrific.
"What's the situation?" Kael asked, his voice a raw rasp.
"She'll live," Gryphon answered, his eyes sweeping over the crater. "If we can get her out of here. The morphine won't last long. The pain will be back soon."
He walked to the edge of the crater, looking down at the charred fragments of the B.O.W. "You killed it."
"We killed it," Kael corrected. "Without Jotun and Wraith, I'd have been its dinner."
"Either way, you saved our lives," Gryphon said, then he turned to Kael, his eyes narrowing. "By nearly getting us all killed. That was a reckless gamble, Spectre."
"Reckless is better than dead for sure," Kael shot back. "It was boxing us in. I just changed the board."
"You burned the whole damn board!" Gryphon growled, gesturing to the burning forest. "Fire and a massive explosion. You think the MLF didn't notice? You just painted a giant map with the words 'WE ARE HERE'."
"They knew we were here the second that dog barked," Kael said, his voice unwavering. "I just gave them a reason to be afraid of this jungle. They won't come deep to hunt us. Not tonight, at least."
Silence hung between the two men. The crackling of the fire was the only sound. Rook and Wraith watched silently, not interfering in the confrontation between the two alpha wolves.
Finally, Gryphon let out a long breath, the tension seeming to drain from his shoulders. "You're right. Damn it, you're right." He looked toward Viper. "But it came at a cost. We've lost a soldier. Viper is combat-ineffective."
"Then the priority is getting her to the extraction point," Kael said.
"The extraction point is a two-day hike, in the best conditions," Gryphon said bitterly. "And we've only just started. No. The mission continues. Rook, you're on Viper duty. The rest of you, we need to find a secure shelter, re-check our gear, and contact Oracle."
They found a small rock alcove behind a waterfall, just large enough for the team to squeeze into. The roaring water would muffle their sounds and mask their heat signatures. It was a temporary hideout, damp and cold, but safe.
While Rook changed Viper's dressing, Gryphon set up a small satellite antenna, draping a camouflage tarp over it. After a few minutes of searching, a familiar voice, distorted by static, came from the small speaker.
"...ryphon... do you... copy? Respond..."
"Oracle, I read you," Gryphon said, leaning close to the mic. "Signal's very weak."
"I know... interference from the... sphere... That explosion damaged some equipment... you made a mess, Gryphon." Anya's voice sounded annoyed, but there was also a hint of relief.
"We encountered an unknown B.O.W. Hunter-class. Heavy armor, high speed. Viper is wounded. Condition is stable but she can't continue the fight."
A long pause from the other end, filled only by the hiss of static. "...Acknowledged. Damn it. Alright, listen up. Your explosion created an opportunity. The entire MLF force on the western flank has been mobilized to fight the fire and investigate. That means... the eastern side of the complex... their lines are thinning."
"Good news," Gryphon said.
"Here's better news," Anya continued. "Our satellites picked up an unencrypted conversation right after the explosion. Between Hunnigan and the MLF commander, a man named Kante. Hunnigan was furious. She said the 'package' could not be put at any risk. She's moving it to a more secure facility... an underground lab on the northeast side of the complex."
"Do you have coordinates?"
"Sending... now. But Gryphon... there's something else. Our sensors detected a sudden population drop in this region... about five kilometers south of your position. A village... its life signs went completely dark two days ago."
"What do you mean, dark?" Kael asked, interjecting.
"I mean gone, Spectre. One hundred and thirty life signs, then nothing. No signs of an exodus. Just... silence. Be careful. Something is very wrong in that area."
The connection began to break up violently. "...ryphon... signal... weak... stick to the... plan... gather intel... Do not..."
A loud screech, then silence.
"Oracle? Oracle, are you there?" Gryphon called.
Only silence answered.
They were alone again.
"Wraith and I will go on recon. Find a clean water source," Kael said after they had settled in. It was an excuse. He wanted to see the surrounding area for himself.
Gryphon nodded. "Don't go too far."
Kael and Wraith moved out of the alcove, their weapons ready. Wraith, though still shaken from the attack, moved with silent professionalism. She was a ghost, true to her callsign.
They followed a small stream south, in the direction Oracle had warned about. The air was cleaner here, free of the smell of smoke. But the silence remained, heavy and haunting.
After about fifteen minutes, they found it.
The village wasn't on their maps. It was just a cluster of a few dozen mud-and-thatch huts, nestled in a small valley.
And it was completely silent.
No children laughing. No women talking. No dogs barking.
"Something's wrong," Wraith whispered, her voice tense.
They entered cautiously. The cooking fires were cold. Clay pots were still on the hearths. A wooden toy lay abandoned on the ground. It was as if everyone had suddenly vanished mid-activity.
Kael stepped into one of the huts. It was empty. But on the mud wall, he saw long, deep scratch marks. Not from an animal. They were too uniform. Like human fingernails... or something shaped like them.
"Spectre, come see this," Wraith's voice called from outside.
Kael went out. Wraith was standing in the center of the village, staring at the ground.
It was a mass grave, crudely filled in. A few arms and feet were still sticking out of the thin layer of dirt.
But the horrifying part wasn't the grave. It was what was around it. Countless brass shell casings littered the ground. 7.62mm and 5.56mm casings.
"This wasn't a B.O.W.," Kael said, his voice going cold. He picked up a casing. It was still relatively new. "This was an execution."
"But why?" Wraith asked, her voice barely audible. "Why kill everyone? The women, the children?"
Kael had no answer. He looked at the silent huts, at the sloppy grave. He had seen the horrors of war. He had seen what B.O.W.s could do.
But this was worse. This was systematic cruelty. A silence created by men.
They walked back to the waterfall without a word. The image of the silent village was seared into their minds.
As they sat in the darkness of the alcove, Wraith finally spoke.
"Before Hummingbird, I worked for the Chinese Ministry of State Security," she said, her voice flat, but Kael could hear a hidden tremor. "My job was to 'clean up' messes. Dissidents who disappeared. Nosy journalists who had accidents. I believed I was doing it for a greater purpose. For national stability."
She looked into the darkness. "Then one day, they ordered me to 'clean up' a family. A university professor, his wife, and their seven-year-old daughter. They said he was selling state secrets. I watched them. They were a normal family. They laughed. They went on picnics. The little girl... she looked like my niece."
Wraith was quiet for a long time. "I couldn't do it. I ran. And they hunted me. Oracle found me before they did. She gave me a new target."
"What target?" Kael asked softly.
"To hunt the real monsters," Wraith replied. "Not the grotesque, mutated creatures. But the ones who create them. The ones who order the executions. The ones who believe human life is just a number on a balance sheet. Like the ones who did that to the village."
She looked at Kael. "That's why I trusted your plan earlier. As insane as it was. Because sometimes, to kill a monster, you have to become an even more ruthless hunter yourself."
Kael said nothing. He just nodded. He understood. Two ghosts from two different worlds, united by a past of betrayal and a twisted desire for justice.
Kael and Wraith reported what they had seen to Gryphon. When they finished, the alcove was silent, save for the rushing water and Viper's heavy breathing.
Gryphon sat there, his face an unreadable mask. He was weighing the options.
"Oracle said we go to the lab in the northeast," Rook spoke up. "That's the order. Gather intel on Hunnigan and the package."
"But a hundred and thirty people were just massacred," Jotun countered, his voice low and angry. "We can't just walk away."
"Our mission isn't to save the world," Rook argued. "Our mission is to hunt The Broker. That village, tragic as it is, is a distraction."
"Is it a distraction, though?" Kael interjected. "The MLF killed them. Why? To silence them? What did they see? Maybe it's connected to what's happening in that lab. Maybe they're two sides of the same coin."
All eyes turned to Gryphon. He was the commander. The final decision was his.
He rubbed his chin, his scar more prominent in the faint light. He looked at his team. One soldier badly wounded. The rest, tired and on edge. They were deep in enemy territory, hunted by man and beast.
Following orders was the safer path. Deviating could be a death sentence.
But the image of the mass grave, of the abandoned toys, wouldn't leave his mind.
He looked at Kael, then at the others.
"Get ready to move," he said, his voice firm.
"Which way, commander?" Rook asked. "Northeast, to the lab?"
Gryphon stood up, his face set like granite.
"South. To the village."