Chapter 112 – The Killing Ground
The slope narrowed into a spine of rock no wider than a cart track, flanked on both sides by steep drops. The wind here was brutal, tearing at clothes and stealing breath, but Kairo kept moving until he found the place he'd been looking for—a break in the ridge where the path pinched between two sheer walls of stone.
He stopped, scanning it like a craftsman inspecting his work.
"This is it," he said.
Elira looked around. "It's a dead end."
"For them," he replied.
The narrow cut between the rocks formed a natural choke point—ten feet long, barely wide enough for two men to stand side by side. On either side, loose rock sloped down steeply enough to be lethal in a fall. There was no cover here, no place to hide, no room to dodge.
"They'll have to come through one at a time," he explained, unslinging his pack and dropping it beside the wall. He pulled free two small charges wrapped in waxed cloth—homemade, but effective enough to make the stone sing.
"You've been carrying explosives this whole time?" she asked, eyebrows lifting.
"Among other things." His hands worked quickly, fixing one charge near the base of the left wall and the other halfway along the right. "When they reach the middle, I'll bring it down on them. The debris will block the pass."
"And if you're wrong about the distance?"
His eyes flicked up to hers. "Then we…then we don't walk away," Kairo finished, matter-of-fact.
Elira's jaw tightened, but she didn't argue. She moved to the far end of the choke point, pulling her dagger and pistol, eyes fixed on the path below.
Minutes stretched. The wind howled. Then—faint at first—came the crunch of boots on stone, the low murmur of voices, the clink of metal.
Kairo met her gaze once, a silent signal. She nodded.
The first shadow spilled into view, then another. Men in dark coats, rifles slung low, eyes scanning ahead. The lead man's mouth opened—maybe to call out, maybe to sneer—but he never got the chance.
Kairo's thumb found the detonator.
The world became light and thunder.
Stone screamed as the walls collapsed inward, swallowing shouts and bodies alike in a cloud of dust and debris. The air stank of powder and shattered rock.
When the echoes finally died, the choke point was nothing but a jagged heap of boulders. No one was following them now.
Kairo turned to Elira. "We move. Before someone finds another way around."
And without another word, they left the killing ground behind.