Scene: Forest Ravine – Hidden Crevice Under Rock Ledge
POV: General Soren Vask
> "General…"
Chris's voice was low, calm, almost too calm for a man with blood on his collar and a collapsed Empire waiting for his next breath.
> "I have a flare."
I turned slowly. The snow crunched under me. He pulled a small red flare from the inside of his ruined tactical coat—likely tucked there before the mission even launched. Always ten moves ahead.
> "You want to call them here?" I asked, confused. "They're crawling over this ridge like ants with rifles."
> "No. I want them to see the flare. Not where it came from."
He held it out to me.
> "You'll go ten meters west. Out into that clearing. Fire it straight into the sky, not angled—make it visible across the continent. And then you run. Fast. Back to this crevice."
> "Sir, they'll triangulate it."
> "Exactly," Chris replied. "Let them come for a dead king's ghost. Meanwhile, we go the other direction."
I took the flare, stared at it for a beat. The wind howled.
> "You trust me to make it back?"
He looked me in the eye.
> "You're the last sword I have. If you don't come back… they'll never find your body."
We shared a grim nod.
Then I moved.
---
Ten Meters West – Tree Clearing
I sprinted out, low and quiet. One breath at a time.
My ribs screamed, but I bit it back.
Then I knelt behind a fallen log.
Pulled the cap from the flare.
Took a breath.
Strike.
Fwoooooosh.
The red fire roared into the sky like the heavens were bleeding.
It was beautiful.
Deadly.
And unmistakable.
If anyone was watching, they'd know now:
> The King is Alive.
---
I ran.
Gunfire erupted a moment later—distant, but moving fast. They'd spotted the light and were racing toward it.
Which meant the king?
Was safer.
For now.
---
Back at the Crevice – Minutes Later
> "Status?" Chris asked as I slid back in, panting, blood on my knuckles.
> "They're baited. Saw movement—ten rebels heading west. Maybe more."
Chris gave one slow nod.
> "Then we go east. Shadow Route. The one from the invasion maps."
> "That's a twelve-kilometer crawl through ice and mountain veins."
> "Then let's start crawling."
---