Not engines.
I stood at the edge of the corridor, staring toward the tunnel he’d taken.
“Come back,” I whispered.
The mountain answered only with the deep, steady hum of the vents.
It sounded like a heartbeat.
But it wasn’t his.
Chapter Sixteen
The Trail Burns Hot
Rygnar
The pass was narrow and steep, a ribbon of shale and frost threading through pines that clung to the rock by sheer will. We left the basin before dawn—five of us carrying shaped plasma charges to collapse the old mining road that led straight to the colony’s lower vents.
The air was thin, metallic. Every breath tasted like snowmelt and iron.
I led the line, my internal scanner mapping the slope as we moved. Behind me came Mara’s nephew Jalen with the detonation gear and three more from the defense team—Mesaarkans who had once been soldiers like me.
None of us spoke.
When the ridge turned west, we reached the old mining road. It looked harmless—just a curve of stone half-swallowed by time, tracks of ancient machinery buried under moss. But beyond that bend, it cut straight into a hollow that led directly to the hidden valley.
I crouched and pressed my palm to the ground.
The vibration came—faint, steady.
Engines.
“They’re closer than we thought,” Jalen said.
“Yes.” I studied the slope. “Two charges here. The rest we plant lower as a fallback.”
“Should we call the council?”
“Not yet. If they see the collapse, they may turn back. We need confirmation before we move the colony.”
We worked fast, cutting grooves into the rock and sliding the charges into place. The plasma cores hummed faint blue—contained lightning.
When I sealed the last housing, the vibration surged—engines climbing hard.
Jalen looked up. “They’re pushing fast.”
“Two minutes,” I said. “Arm them.”
The charge lights blinked red, then steady amber.
I checked the wind—southwest, carrying smoke away from the colony.
“Move.”
We scrambled down the slope, boots sliding on loose stone. The first crack of engines broke through the trees. I turned just long enough to catch sunlight flashing on metal—two trucks, armored in scrap, mounted guns bristling.
Raiders.
