Episode 94
The tunnel walls grew tighter as Raian advanced, the air stale with dampness and the faint smell of rust. Each step echoed like a threat. His earpiece buzzed, white noise interrupting all contact.
The trap was closing.
He knew it.
But he didn't care.
Aria was here. That was enough.
---
Inside the underground prison
Aria dangled limply, her lips cracked, wrists raw. Her consciousness flickered like a candle in the wind. But her heart—her heart beat with defiance. Not because she was strong.
Because Raian was near.
She felt it in her bones.
Even through the layers of rock and steel.
Suddenly, the cell door groaned open. Saira stepped in with a metal briefcase.
She placed it on the table, opened it, and pulled out a syringe filled with a deep amber liquid.
Aria weakly turned her head. "What is that?"
Saira didn't smile. She didn't gloat.
"It's the last thing Raian will remember about you."
Aria's pulse spiked.
Saira approached her, lifting the syringe.
"You won't die," she said softly. "But you won't wake up again either."
---
Outside – Tunnel breach point
Ishaan's voice cut through a different line. "Raian! You're not responding. Malik is moving snipers to the east trench. If you don't pull back now—"
"I'm not pulling back," Raian growled.
He reached a rusted door embedded in stone. He placed a shaped charge on the lock and stepped back.
Boom.
The door blasted inward, smoke swirling as Raian charged through.
Gunfire exploded in the distance.
---
In the surveillance room
Malik and Saira watched the monitors.
"He's coming in too fast," Malik snapped. "Seal the central tunnel!"
Saira's face was unreadable.
"He'll still reach her," she said. "He always does."
Malik shot her a look. "Then you better do your part before he arrives."
Saira looked at the countdown.
Three minutes until Aria's heart stopped.
She hesitated.
Then walked out.
---
Inside the cell
Aria screamed as the needle pierced her neck. The amber liquid burned as it entered her veins. Her vision dimmed instantly. Her body jerked once.
And then stilled.
The door burst open.
Raian flew in, gun raised, breath ragged.
His eyes locked on Aria's limp form.
For a split second, he froze.
Then the scream tore from his throat. "ARIA!"
He dropped to his knees, hands trembling as he yanked the chains, breaking them with brute force. She collapsed into his arms, unconscious, lips pale.
"No… no no no," he whispered, slapping her cheek gently. "Stay with me. Aria, breathe—"
Behind him, Saira stood with a detonator in hand.
"I told you," she said. "Saving her would cost everything."
Raian turned, eyes red.
"You injected her?"
"She's not dead. But she will be—if you don't get out in sixty seconds."
"What did you do to her?" he hissed.
Saira stepped closer. "It's a paralytic. Shuts down the system one organ at a time. There's only one antidote—and I have it."
She tossed a vial onto the floor. It rolled toward him, stopping just inches from Aria's foot.
Raian stared at it.
"What do you want?" he asked, voice hollow.
Saira's eyes glinted. "Your surrender."
---
Above ground – sniper tower
Lina adjusted her scope, watching through the smoke as Malik's soldiers repositioned.
"Ayan, can you hear me?"
"Loud and clear," Ayan replied from the rooftop across the way. "I see Raian's heat signature. He's not alone."
"We have to buy him time."
A beat.
Then Ayan said, "Cover me."
He leapt from the roof onto the adjacent platform, gun blazing.
Lina provided cover fire.
Bullets screamed through the air.
---
Back underground
Raian didn't move.
Saira raised the detonator. "Thirty seconds left. Decide."
His eyes darted between the vial and Aria's still form. Then he reached forward, grabbed it, and uncorked it with his teeth. Carefully, he injected it into her neck where the other needle had left a mark.
"Come on," he whispered. "Please come back to me…"
Aria twitched.
Her chest heaved.
And then… her eyes fluttered open.
Raian choked back a sob. "You're okay. You're okay."
But Saira didn't flinch.
"I expected you to save her," she said. "That's why the building you're in is wired to blow."
Raian's eyes widened.
She pressed the detonator.
---
Explosion – surface collapse
The tunnel behind Raian lit up in a chain of fire, rock and concrete raining down. He threw himself over Aria, shielding her as the shockwave ripped through the ground.
Dust filled the chamber.
Smoke choked the air.
But they were alive.
Barely.
Raian coughed, voice hoarse. "Hold on to me."
She nodded weakly.
He hoisted her into his arms and ran.
---
Outside – rooftop evac zone
Ishaan and Lina waved flares as the helicopter dropped ropes.
Raian emerged from the smoke like a phantom, Aria clutched tight in his arms.
Lina gasped. "They made it."
As the chopper lifted off, Malik watched from the shadows far below, eyes narrowed.
"They won this round," he said to himself. "But they have no idea what's coming."
---
Final scene – In the helicopter
Aria rested against Raian's chest, her heartbeat finally steady.
She whispered, "You came for me…"
He kissed her forehead. "Always."
She looked up at him, eyes wet. "She said saving me would cost you everything."
Raian's voice was low. "Let her try to take it."