The terror became more present as the smoke, moved by the violent gusts of wind, revealed the bodies of those who had been reached by the explosions. Three bombs had shattered one after the other, in a matter of seconds, leaving us helpless in the face of the great demand for succor in so many areas. Three strategic locations. A planned attack. One inside the tunnels, another at the gates, and the last one in the training field.

The Narval Officers ran scattered, possessed by the panic of another assault. The gooey smell of burnt iron constricted my lungs. Heather, who watched the scene as if she was witnessing her worst nightmare, took out her Narval whistle and blew it with all her strength. The shrill sound pierced the air, freezing the chao,s and everyone turned to her.

"Everyone listen to me! Take the wounded to the Narval House, the rest go to the training field to help, the reinforcements will be here in no time. Come on!" She yelled.

All obeyed her immediately.

When I scanned the area, looking for the wounded, I noticed the gates had been bombed with some kind of extremely powerful explosive, leaving a massive dark stain on the closing. A significant portion of the gate had broken away, and now there was a large hole connecting our divided worlds. When I approached it, something in the distance caught my attention.

Dressed in their bloody red uniforms and with their distinctive face masks and tattoos, a group of Phoenix soldiers ran toward us, engulfed in war screams. They looked like a herd of wild beasts, their faces masks covered with red paint as if they had been gutting prey and were now ready for more.

"Heather!" I yelled. She glanced at me and then at the unstoppable soldiers behind me, who were nearly reaching the broken gate.

"Shit!" She mumbled, and then she whistled again, making the Narval Officers turn to her once more.

"Leave the wounded! Get ready to fight!" Heather yelled as she took out her laser gun and walked to the gate, fearless.

We all formed a tight line behind her, standing shoulder to shoulder like a human shield, bracing ourselves to defend the border at any cost. The deafening screams of the Phoenix soldiers seemed to suck air from our lungs, draining the oxygen we so desperately needed at that moment. I stole a glance at Heather, who stood beside me with her gaze sharp as a blade, capable of slicing through any creature that dared to stand in her way.

"Stay close." She said without averting her gaze from the gate.

I held my breath and tried to focus on the tumultuous soldiers, but the relentless pulse of my own heart refused to let me forget the fear I was so fiercely suppressing.

Suddenly, the man at the head of the group hurled a small silver capsule towards us.

"Close your eyes!" Heather yelled immediately. The ball hit the ground, and thick red smoke swiftly filled the air in a small explosion. Heather shielded my eyes with her hands just before the smoke engulfed us.

"Don't open your eyes yet! It won't last for long." Heather said.

Screams from our comrades told us that the Phoenix soldiers had breached the gates. I heard sounds of impacts and fighting, but we couldn't react, not until we could see what was happening.

Suddenly, someone knocked us down, and we both crashed to the ground. I rolled to the side, losing contact with Heather.

I opened my eyes, but the smoke enveloped me like a dense curtain of blood.

"Grace, here!" I followed her voice blindly and suddenly grasped the arm of someone. Only by getting extremely close could I distinguish that he was, in fact, a soldier from the Phoenix group. Without seeing a single thing, I clenched and pinned him to the floor with all my strength.

"Grace, are you okay?!" Heather's voice rang out nearby, but the smoke made it impossible to pinpoint where she was.

"Yes, I'm right here! I have one of them!" I replied as the soldier struggled against my grip. With a final punch, I left him unconscious.

The faint buzz of the Reg Drones passed above us. The reinforcements had arrived. They started to dissipate the smoke, and gradually, I recovered the sight of my surroundings.

The fights were everywhere, with not a single Narval Officer free from their attack. I scanned the place until I found Heather on the floor, resisting against a woman, who was wearing a red mask, and had her pinned down.

"Leave her alone!" I shouted, running to her and pulling the soldier away. But before I could react, she sprang up and landed a sharp blow to my back. I staggered in pain. Heather witnessed the attack and immediately jumped on top of her.

"Grace, now!" Heather yelled.

I crashed my leg into his head while Heather held her, and the soldier fell unconscious immediately.

"Well done. Are you okay?" Heather asked, recovering her breath.

"Yes, thanks. Are you okay, too?"

"I think so." She said, gazing at the sky. The drones had started to chase the soldiers, and many of them were running back to The Other Side. But Heather's face was far from relieved; her eyes still flickered with worry, her mind turning gears.

"Hey, what's wrong?" I asked her.

"Nothing. It's just... there is something I'm not grasping about all this..."

"What do you mean?" I asked.

Before Heather could answer, two Phoenix soldiers charged toward us again. Heather sprinted to one of them and, with a swift jump, captured him in her arms. The other one, however, slipped away.

"I'll handle the other one!" I shouted, giving chase.

The soldier ran fast, without hesitation, his gaze fixed ahead. He definitely knew where he was going—but how? I chased him to the tunnels, where he vanished, swallowed by the billowing smoke. No way was this one getting away. I would take care of him, no matter what.

When I got down, the surroundings forced me to stop, not only to the almost nonexistent light but also because of the destruction unfolding in front of me. Large sections of the tunnel ceiling had collapsed, and piles of stones and heavy bricks were clustered in every corner like the runes of an old and forgotten civilization in despair.

The dust, impregnating the air, danced in the faint light of the emergency system. I scanned the place, but the soldier seemed to have vanished like a specter in the darkness. The place was full of halls and intersections, the perfect labyrinth for a rat like him to hide. But it was impossible, he knew that place better than me.

A grating noise resonated through the tunnel. I moved towards the sound as discreetly as possible, circling a big pile of stones. My foot tripped on something, and I looked down. An ice spike bolted through my heart. An unmoving hand stuck out from under the pile of stones, revealing someone who had been buried after the explosion. It was gripping a laser gun.

"Damn it!" I couldn't contain my anger and spoke out loud. I took the weapon and clenched it tight. No matter what, I would find that soldier, now more than ever.

Suddenly, rasping steps. I was close. The door to the control room hung half-dislocated, clinging only to its bottom loop. The noise came from there, which wasn't surprising. The Phoenix group might want something from there, I thought to myself, the same place where the flood had begun, the place where they damaged some machinery, the place where Laura was hit.

I positioned myself along the door, back to the wall, waiting for him to come out. A clattering noise. He was definitely there. I just had to wait and be as fast as possible once the moment came; I couldn't fail. There was so much at stake. They couldn't have their way. Not after the deaths. Not after the destruction I'd witnessed.

Like a venomous snake strike, the soldier darted from the room, ready to escape. I surprised him from behind and wrapped one arm around his neck, pulling him to the ground.

He tried to resist, so I squeezed him harder. Moans of pain escaped from his mouth. I had him. Gradually, he ceased his struggles and fell unconscious in my arms.

Whoa, that was fast. I'd tie him up here, then bring Heather to him. At least if we had a prisoner, we might be able to get some intel and figure out what the hell they were planning with all this destruction.

When I took both his hands, he suddenly revived, delivering a sharp elbow to my stomach. Son of a bitch. He had faked it. I stood up, staggering backward in pain, only to crash to the ground again as he jumped on me. His legs encircled me, and a brutal punch landed on my face.

"Let me go, and you won't die." He said while his grip tightened around my neck.

Wait.

That voice.

I knew that voice.

"What the hell..." He whispered.

He pulled his hands away. Stood up in shock. I gasped, desperate to fill my lungs with air after the suffocation. He stared at me, speechless. I rose from the floor, still reeling from the fight and unsure if I had imagined that voice. I gazed at him, standing there just a meter away, still as if he had transformed into a lifeless human statue.

"Grace?" His voice was now devoid of the anger, fear, and adrenaline that had before, replaced by a mere whisper with subtle notes of sadness or... was it happiness?

His eyes filled with tears. Slowly, he pulled down his face mask, revealing what I had suspected: he was none other than Michael.

Author's Note:

Hey there, dear reader! Thanks for joining me on this journey. These recent chapters have been intense to write, but oh-so-exciting!🤩 The tension is high. What did you think about the chapter? Are you feeling the thrill? How do you think Grace will react to the soldier's true identity?

Thanks a ton for your support! 😊

Ava💫