The Workshop
The air in the workshop smelled of solder, dust, and nervous energy.
Eiden stood before his Pack—Harry, Hazel, and Margot. They were looking at him with a mixture of expectation and dread.
"The mission at the school is over," Eiden said, his voice quiet. "I'm leaving tonight. With Emily."
Hazel adjusted her glasses, looking at a clipboard. "Just so we're clear on the data points... the last time you took this girl on a trip, she shot you. In the back. Twice" She looked up at Eiden, deadpan. "Statistically speaking, Eiden, this is a terrible date idea. The survival probability is lower than zero." "It's not a date, Hazel," Eiden sighed. "It's an extraction." "Where's Emma?" Harry asked, looking around. "She wouldn't miss this." "She's already gone," Eiden said. "I sent her ahead an hour ago. She's taking the fast route to the Den." "Why?" Margot asked. "Because Master Durai needs to know before we get there," Eiden said, his face grim. "He needs to know that Evergreen is dead. He needs to know that Akuma is the General. If I walk in there with Akuma's daughter without warning... the Wolves might kill her before I can explain."
Harry sniffled. He pulled a small, densely packed circuit board from his pocket and pressed it into Eiden's hand.
"It's a tracker," Harry whispered. "Long-range. If... if you get there... turn it on. I'll know you're safe."
Eiden smiled. "I will."
He hugged them, one by one.
"Now go," Eiden ordered. "Go home. Lay low. If anyone asks, you haven't seen me."
"We'll be watching," Hazel promised. "From the shadows."
The Dormitory
Emily was packing a small bag in her room when Linda burst in.
"You're leaving?" Linda hissed, locking the door. "With him? To the mountains?" "We have to, Linda," Emily said, throwing a heavy sweater into the bag. "My father... he isn't who we thought he was." "I know he's a super-villain, Emily, I was present in all this!" Linda cried, throwing her hands up. "But the mountains? It's winter! There are wolves! And bears! And... no plumbing! Do they even have conditioner in the Wolf's Den? Your hair is going to be a disaster!"
"I'll survive, Linda," Emily said, a small smile touching her lips.
"You say that now," Linda huffed, sitting on the bed. "But wait until you have to eat a squirrel."
She looked at Emily, her bravado crumbling. Her eyes filled with tears.
"You're really going," Linda whispered.
"I have to find the truth," Emily said. "And I have to protect Eiden."
Linda stood up and hugged her cousin fiercely.
"Just... don't die, okay?" Linda sobbed. "If you die, I'm stuck here with these lunatics and your father. And if you let Eiden die again... I will personally climb that mountain and slap you."
"I promise," Emily said. "I'll come back for you."
"You better," Linda sniffed. "Now go. Before I change my mind and scream."
Emily grabbed her bag and slipped out the window, climbing down the ivy trellis to meet Eiden in the shadows. Linda watched her go. She sat on the bed and prayed to God with whom she hadn't talked to in years.
The Hallway
The hallway outside the dormitory seemed empty. But in the shadows of an alcove, a figure stood perfectly still.
Eva.
One of the guards.
She had followed Emily from the History classroom. She had heard the plan with Sebastian. She had heard the goodbye with Linda.
She pulled a secure radio from her blazer pocket.
"Penthouse," she whispered. "Target is moving."
The Study
Akuma Cronus picked up the phone. "Report." "They are leaving, Sir," an unknown voice crackled. "Emily and the Wolf. They are heading North." "To the Den," Akuma said, his voice cold. "He is taking her to his masters." "Should I intercept?" the unknow voice asked. "Can you?" Akuma asked. "No, sir." Akuma replied, "I know you can't do anything alone."
He hung up and pressed a button on his desk. "Maverick. Mobilize the battalion. Send men. Heavy transport. Mountain gear." "Sir?" Maverick's voice came over the intercom, sounding tired. "We are attacking the mountains?" "We are hunting," Akuma said. One of Rook's men got off the radio.
"The Wolf is making a run for it?" "He is leading us to the Den," a man said. "Good," Rook said. "All of us will join them. That makes a hundred of the best killers in the country." "Do not engage yet," Rook added sharply. "Let them reach the mountain. I want the exact coordinates of that village. We find the Den.... And listen" "Yes, sir?" "Save the girl for me. We have a wedding to plan."
The Carriage
In the east stables, an old, sturdy carriage stood ready, hitched to two restless horses. It smelled of hay and worn leather. Eiden sat on the driver's bench, gripping the reins. Emily sat beside him, looking pale but determined. "Ready?" Eiden asked. "Drive," Emily said. "Before I realize there's no conditioner where we're going." Eiden laughed. It was a good sound. He snapped the reins, and the horses surged forward. The carriage clattered out of the stables, smashing through the wooden gate, and sped into the night, heading north. They thought they were escaping into the dark. They didn't know they were leading an army to their home.
The Wolf's Den - The War Room
The massive stone doors of the Keep groaned open.
Emma stumbled in, her "Elise" disguise torn and muddy from the climb up the secret goat paths. She was gasping for air, her legs trembling.
The room was full. Master Durai, Kael, Malachi, and Jiro were huddled over the maps.
But there was someone else there, sitting in a chair with a blanket over his shoulders, looking pale and thin but awake.
Oliver.
"Emma?" Oliver croaked, trying to stand.
"Oliver!" Emma rushed to him, nearly tackling him in a hug. She checked his face, his arms. "You're awake! You... you idiot, you slept through the whole war!"
"I heard I missed the food fight," Oliver grinned weakly. "And Eiden becoming a King. I have a lot of catching up to do."
Emma pulled back, her face serious. She looked at Durai.
"Master. Eiden is coming. He's bringing the girl."
"Emily Cronus?" Durai asked, his voice guarded. "The enemy?"
"She's not the enemy," Emma said. "She's a pawn. And she's defecting. But that's not the news."
She took a deep breath. The room went silent.
"Master Sebastian found the truth. The Founder of St. Swithin's... Akuma Cronus... he isn't a businessman. He erased his past."
She looked Durai in the eye.
"He is The General."
The color drained from Durai's face. It wasn't a gradual shift; it was instant, like a candle being blown out. The stone-faced warlord looked, for the first time in sixteen years, terrified. "The General?" Oliver asked, confused. "Who is that?" "Have you never read a book before, Oliver?" Jiro asked. "The man who fought beside Evergreen," Emma said. "The man who invented our fighting style." And added "Emily has told Eiden that Akuma is the one who killed Evergreen years ago."
"No," Oliver argued, shaking his head. "That doesn't make sense. The spy... the one I met in England... he said Evergreen lives. He said he saw her. I saw the photo, Emma! She is alive! She was walking the grounds!" "That can't be!" Emma shouted back. "It must have been a trap by Akuma. I have in the academy for so many days. Akuma lied to everyone! He told Emily that Evergreen was a murderer who killed her mother, Triste. He poisoned her mind!" "Lies?" Oliver rubbed his temples. "But the photo..." "It's a mess, Oliver! He's playing games with history!"
"Quiet!"
Durai's voice was a thunderclap. He seemed very confused.
He walked to the window, staring out at the snow. His hands, usually steady as rocks, were trembling.
"The General," Durai whispered.
The room faded for him.
Flashback: 1917 - The Trenches
The sky was gray smoke. The ground was mud and bodies.
Durai was younger then. Stronger. He wielded a claymore, cutting through enemy lines. Evergreen was beside him, a blur of motion, laughing as she fought.
But behind them... there was him.
The General.
He didn't run. He walked. He held a simple revolver in one hand and a combat knife in the other.
An enemy soldier charged him with a bayonet. The General didn't block. He stepped inside the guard—a movement so fast it blurred—and slit the man's throat before the body even hit the ground.
He moved to the next. And the next.
He killed with a cold, mathematical efficiency that made the Wolves look clumsy. He didn't fight for glory. He fought to erase.
Durai remembered looking into the General's eyes during a lull in the fighting. They were black voids.
"You enjoy this," Durai had said, disgusted.
"I enjoy order," The General had replied calmly, wiping blood from his watch. "And death is the ultimate order."
Later, Durai saw him planning. Not a battle, but a massacre. A sacrifice of his own men to secure a strategic point.
"They will die," Evergreen had argued.
"They are resources," The General had said. "Spent to buy victory."
Present Day
Durai turned back to the room. He looked at Emma. "You said Akuma killed Evergreen?" Durai asked. His voice was hushed. "Yes," Emma replied. "He's been planning something big." "No, if that is the truth" Durai whispered. "Could it be that-" Durai looked at the lamps, "Evergreen is-" Durai realized, horror dawning on him.
Durai grabbed his gauntlets. "Sound the alarm," he roared, the fear in his eyes replaced by desperate action. "Get everything ready!"