There was no time for deliberation. The intel from Umbra's scout run had shattered their timeline. Voss was already at the gates. The race to the outpost was over; the race to claim it had just begun.
"We're going in," Draven's voice was a blade in the cold mountain air. "Tonight. We take the outpost before he knows we're here."
Kara didn't flinch. She simply checked the string on her bow, her expression a mask of pure, focused intent. The plan was no longer a cautious, multi-day infiltration. It was now a ghost run—a high-speed, high-stakes surgical strike to seize the heart of the Enclave and turn its own defenses against the enemy.
"The drainage grate Umbra found is our entry point," he continued, his voice low and urgent. "We move fast, we move silent. Kael, you're too large for this. You and the Rune-Hound will create a diversion on the eastern ridge if I give the signal. Not before. Understood?"
Kael gave a low, rumbling growl of confirmation, his disappointment at being sidelined overridden by the cold, hard logic of the command.
"Kara, Umbra, you're with me," Draven finished. "The Thornling stays with Kael. We are a three-person infiltration team. Our objective is the central power conduit. We get it online, we activate the defenses, and we lock Voss out."
They moved down the mountainside like shadows, the descent a blur of controlled slides and silent footsteps. The outpost loomed, a city of silent, geometric ghosts under the twin moons. At the base of the wall, the drainage grate was a dark, uninviting maw. Draven went first, the rusted iron bars groaning in protest as he squeezed through. Kara followed, a fluid shadow, with Umbra melting through the gap behind them like a wisp of smoke.
They were inside. The air was cold, sterile, and hummed with a low, dormant power. And all around them stood the guardians. The Stone Golem sentries were everywhere, silent, moss-covered titans frozen in mid-stride. Draven's mind screamed at him to pull up the System interface, to analyze their weak points, but he suppressed the urge. Any active use of his System could be the spark that woke this army of stone.
They moved through the graveyard of golems, their path a tense, silent ballet. They communicated with a language of hand signals and shared glances, a testament to the trust they had forged. Their first objective was to neutralize Voss's scout team. Umbra, a creature born of shadow, led the way, its green eyes cutting through the darkness.
They found them near the main gate, a small team of four men huddled around a low, smokeless fire, their presence a profane intrusion in this clean, ancient place.
"Kara, you take the two on the left," Draven whispered, his voice barely a breath. "Umbra, the one on the right. The leader is mine. On my mark. Silent takedown."
He waited for the perfect moment, when the wind rustled through the empty walkways, a perfect acoustic cover. "Now."
Kara's arrows were silent whispers in the dark. Two of the men crumpled to the ground without a sound, shafts protruding from their throats. Umbra was a blur of motion, a pounce from the darkness, a single, decisive bite to the neck of the third man.
The leader, sensing the sudden, silent death of his men, spun around, his sword half-drawn. But Draven was already there. Not with a weapon, but with a simple, brutal hand-to-hand technique. A strike to the throat, a twist of the arm, and a final, sharp blow to the back of the neck. The man fell, his alarm forever silenced.
[Threat Neutralized: Voss Scout Team Eliminated]
[Stealth Bonus: +150 Experience]
They dragged the bodies into the shadows and continued their push toward the center of the outpost. The central power conduit was a massive, cylindrical structure, humming with a deep, resonant energy. A single control panel, dark and lifeless, was set into its base.
"This is it," Kara breathed, her eyes wide.
"Get to work," Draven said, his gaze fixed on the valley below. Through a gap in the buildings, he could see them. A line of torches, like a fiery serpent, snaking its way up the mountain pass. Voss's main force. They had minutes, at best.
Kara, with her coder's intuition, began to decipher the alien interface of the control panel, her fingers flying over the strange, runic symbols. "It's a sequence puzzle," she murmured. "A power-up protocol. I can bypass the security, but I need to divert auxiliary power."
"Do it," Draven urged, his hand resting on Kael's bond in the System, ready to give the signal for the diversion.
The torches were getting closer. He could hear the faint, distant shouts of men.
"Almost there…" Kara hissed, sweat beading on her forehead. "Just… one… more… sequence…"
A loud, grinding clunk echoed through the outpost as the main breaker engaged. The control panel flared to life with a brilliant, blue light.
[Enclave Defense System: Online]
[Primary Wards: Activated]
[Sentry Golems: Activated]
All around them, a thousand stone eyes snapped open, glowing with the same blue light. The dormant golems straightened, their moss-covered limbs groaning as they moved for the first time in centuries. A shimmering, impenetrable shield of pure energy erupted around the entire perimeter of the outpost, its light a blinding flash in the night.
Draven and Kara raced to the main wall, looking down. Voss and his army had just reached the gate, only to be met by the newly activated ward. The warlord roared in fury, slamming his massive sword against the shield, the impact creating a deafening boom but leaving not even a scratch.
Then, the golems moved. They marched toward the walls, their heavy, stone feet shaking the ground, taking up defensive positions with a silent, terrifying efficiency.
Draven looked at Kara, a slow, triumphant grin spreading across his face. They were safe. But they were also trapped, in a fortress of their own making, with an enraged army at their doorstep.
They had won the race. And the siege had just begun.