Kazunai slowly opened his eyes and slumped himself up with a painful groan, his throat dry and his chest aching like fire was eating him from the inside. He was laying on a cold metal operation table, stripped down to his underpants, his abdomen and head bandaged thickly from his brutal clash with the Sovereign-class Beast Khazrun. The dull vibration beneath him told him he wasn't in a hospital bed but in a moving vehicle—one of the armored medic transports rumbling along the cracked asphalt roads on their way back to base.
"You're awake," came a cheerful voice.
Kaz turned his head with effort, eyes focusing on a young nurse in a white uniform. She stood by a side tray of medical tools—scalpels, clamps, syringes glinting under the pale cabin lights. She picked up a scalpel and smiled innocently.
"I was just about to dissect you."
Kaz stiffened, heart lurching. His hand twitched toward the strap tying down his wrist, black sparks flickering faintly in his bandages.
The nurse tilted her head, then giggled lightly. "Relax. Just kidding." She set the scalpel down with a clink, though her smile lingered, almost too sweet. "You're tougher than most soldiers I've seen. Don't move too much, though—the bear shredded your muscles like paper."
Kaz exhaled, pressing back against the table. "Great bedside manners," he muttered. His body throbbed in waves, and somewhere deep in his chest he could still feel it—the faint sear of the glowing rune Khazrun had branded onto him. No one else seemed to notice it, but the whispers in his skull hadn't stopped since.
The rest of the journey passed in silence, broken only by the muffled cries of other wounded men and the hum of the vehicle's engine. When they finally reached the military base, Kaz was wheeled into the infirmary. Doctors checked his vitals, poked at his wounds, and declared he was stable enough to leave but to come back in a few days to be examinated.
Kaz didn't wait. As soon as his head stopped spinning and his legs would hold him, he pulled on his uniform jacket, ignored the protests of the nurses, and slipped out. The base smelled like oil, sweat, and gunpowder, its halls echoing with shouting officers and clattering boots. But Kaz wasn't in the mood for lectures or more training. He just wanted to go home.
Night had already settled over the city by the time Kazunai stepped off the bus near his neighborhood. The street lamps buzzed weakly, illuminating cracked sidewalks and rows of familiar houses. He adjusted his collar against the evening chill, bandages tight under his clothes. Each step sent dull pain radiating through his ribs, but his mind was elsewhere—back on the battlefield, on Khazrun's strange behavior, on the rune still etched faintly against his chest like a brand he couldn't scrub off.
Then he froze.
Up ahead, a black van idled at the corner of his street. Its windows were tinted, its engine low and steady. Just as Kaz turned the corner, the van rolled forward, heading out. For a moment, the headlights caught him in their glow.
Kaz's eyes narrowed slightly.
Through the driver's window, he caught a glimpse of Vali. His older brother's hands gripped the wheel firmly, eyes fixed forward—until they flicked to the rear-view mirror.
Their gazes met momentarily.
Vali's lips curled into a subtle, sinister smile, he knew what was coming, goosebumps ran up his arm and his blood started pumping like a oil ridge. He didn't slow. He didn't roll down the window. He didn't say a word to the others inside. He just drove on.
Kaz's fists clenched at his side, but his body was too broken to chase, all he wanted to do now was fall into bed, fold up and hibernate like a damn bear. He could only watch as the van turned the corner and vanished into the night.
Inside the van, Jamie's voice carried over the hum of the engine. She was leaning forward between the seats, briefing everyone in rapid detail.
"The trackers locked onto Kimara and Amy's signals—they're being held in a heavily fortified laboratory compound, two clicks east of the city limits. And it's not just a standard lab….....my intel told me theres a bunch of other captives, many of them children being experimented on" Jamie's tone hardened. "Intel also says Grigorovich is there. If we're going to do this, we end it tonight."
Toma shifted in her seat, her face pale in the dim cabin lights. "That's suicide if we go in blind. His men will expect resistance, not to mention the asshole is there himself."
"That's why we're not going in blind, we have them right where we want them" Jamie replied, pulling out her comm device. She typed rapidly, sending out encrypted signals. "I'm calling for reinforcements. If Grigorovich is present, then this isn't just about Kimara and Amy anymore. We cut the head off the snake while we've got the chance."
Vali said nothing, his sinister smile long gone as he drove, eyes sharp and calculating. But in the rear-view mirror, he could still see Kaz's face burned into his memory—standing on the street, wounded, watching, it was only a matter of moments before he found out what was really going and stormed after them.
The van rumbled down the highway toward the outskirts, toward the compound where the battle to end the war awaited.
And back on the quiet street, Kazunai stood alone under the flickering streetlight, his chest still burning where Khazrun had touched him, his mind filled with whispers that would not quiet.
He sigh and slowly made his way through the gate of manor, he creeped his way to the giant dark oak double doors and pushed the open with a loud creak, "of course those assholes would plan a road trip without me" Kaz sigh staring up at the dangling chandlers and listening to the heavy silence that crept through the halls of the yaizumei manor.
"At this hour though?" Kaz questioned walking down the hall towards the kitchen, he also noticed something off, the manor was usually quiet, but not this quiet there was usually your group of grunts standing guard or patrolling or having hushed conversations.....but this, this silence was so thick you could cut it with knife.
Kazunai soon spotted a trio of goons, they all looked barely older than he was pacing frantically up and down the hall, as soon as they saw him their blood ran cold, Jamie's words echoed through their minds a loud speaker.
"One word of this to Kaz and I'll break your necks, you punks got that"
"Uh heyyyy boss" one of them greeted him nervously, he was short and chubby, with buzzcut and pair of shades that for some unknown reason seemed to piss kazunai off.
"Whats with weird atmosphere? And where did you get those stupid sunglasses" Kaz asked with a slightly irritated tone. The trio of the goons froze, Kazunai's words slowly crept down their spine, and no one dared open their mouth.