Page 95 of A Reign of Chromes & Shadows

Rain blinked up at them, suddenly aware of their alarm.

“Oh, sorry. At ease. Everything’s fine.”

He slipped the stone back into its pouch. “My powers glitched for a second. Caught me off guard.”

They watched him carefully, brows furrowed, too exhausted to question further.

“Is that something we should be worried about?” Hamish asked.

“No. I feel great.” They all stared at him in response, their energies frayed and depleted. “I wish I could say the same for all of you. Sit down.”

They obeyed.

“We need to reconsider our strategy. It doesn’t make sense to risk exposing ourselves while you’re all in this condition. We have the advantage; no one knows we’re here, and everyone’s attention is on the southern front. You need more rest. Let’s set up camp.”

“That isn’t an option,” Renn argued. “Once the sun comes up, we’ll struggle more than we are now.”

“Are we forgetting there’s no pit stop at the end of this?” Rain countered. “Once I’m out of that tower, we’re seven hours from Grey territory. By then, we may have alerted them to our presence. We’ll have a captive; possibly deadweight. We don’t know if she’ll come willingly or if we’ll be carrying her across a hell-path of desert. And we’ll be retracing our steps in blistering heat. That seven hours could easily become twelve.”

“Damn it… you’re right,” Renn muttered, mind racing. “New plan: we wait, we rest, we scout and then we hit the tower a couple hours before sundown. Enough light to complete the mission, enough darkness to travel back.”

Relief washed through the squad; all except Short.

“That goes against direct orders,” she said sharply. “The king requested we finish this in a timely manner.”

“My father doesn’t understand what it’s like in the field. I’m not risking our lives for the desires of a mad king.”

“He may be your father, but he is our command. And respectfully, our king.”

“I hate to pull rank,” Rain said, voice low, “but out here, I am the command.”

Short’s jaw clenched.

“Alright then. You heard your orders. Let’s get comfortable.”

Her tone was clipped; tiredness fraying her discipline, but she obeyed.

“We’re going to have to take out all fifteen guardians,” Vass announced.

They were concealed beneath fruit trees bordering the perimeter. The orchard framed a rectangular plot of barren earth, at the centre of which stood three rust-red cylindrical towers. At the base of each tower were five small huts; likely the guardians’ quarters.

“I can maybe take out ten from here,” Rain said, eyes narrowed. “But even then, the remaining five will be alerted.”

He had already scanned the towers. Four aetherial signatures pulsed inside; all females. One extremely young, Navy’s age. Children. Not criminals.

The oldest signature; the one he was meant to retrieve, felt older than the others, but still younger than him.

He forced himself not to dwell on it. First, he needed to get inside.

“If you take the ten on the left, I’ll take the five on the right,” Glass said, lifting her rifle.

“I’d like to limit fatalities.”

Glass scoffed.

“Shall we walk up and ask for a cup of tea?”

“She’s right, Royale,” Hamish said. “We’re not getting close without casualties.”