The trio froze, their breaths caught in their throats. Akhaqia strained his ears, listening for any hint they'd been discovered. Outside, the footsteps paused, and the tension tightened like a noose.
Adinim stepped forward cautiously, peering around the corner of the door. He gestured for the others to follow him. "We need to move. Now."
Without hesitation, Akhaqia followed, his eyes scanning the narrow corridor ahead. The hum of machinery droned on, red lights flickering steadily like a heartbeat. The plan had gone off course more than once, but there was no turning back now.
Huia finally spoke, his voice low and urgent. "They'll know soon. If we're caught here, we're done."
"Then let's not give them the chance," Akhaqia replied, his voice tight. He moved swiftly, his every step calculated, his mind racing with possibilities. Each turn seemed to lead them further out from the heart of the tracklance.
Adinim led the way, his sharp gaze flicking over every shadow and crevice. "Where's the exit? How much further?"
"We're close," Akhaqia replied, though the weight of uncertainty lingered in his voice. He could almost taste it now—the bitter feeling of nearing the end of a job that could either make or break them.
The hall they were in opened into a larger room, its walls lined with various equipment. The room was eerily silent, except for scattered footsteps echoing in the distance. Akhaqia's instincts eased; the scattered boots were a good sign.
"They're close," he whispered, barely audible. "Too close. We need to take a detour."
Adinim cursed under his breath. "Damn it. We've got no more time for detours."
But Akhaqia wasn't listening. His mind was already working overtime, weighing every possible outcome, all the benefits. Upon hearing Adinim's concern, Akhaqia gave an order: "We split up. We'll double back. I'll find the back entrance. You two—keep them occupied."
"Are you out of your mind?" Adinim shot back, disbelief coloring his voice. "We're already spread thin as it is!"
"We don't have a choice," Akhaqia said, his tone hard. "Trust me."
"Things were going better than I thought.".
Before Adinim could protest further, Akhaqia slipped into the shadows. He could feel the eyes of the others on him, but there was no time to explain. They had a job to do, and if this was the only way to get out alive, so be it.
Huia didn't say anything, but Akhaqia could feel his gaze lingering on him. It was the look of someone who wasn't sure whether to trust the plan but understood there was no other choice. With a quick nod, Huia turned to Adinim. "We cover the other way. Don't let them find us."
The trio split, each moving in their own direction, the weight of the plan hanging heavy over them. Akhaqia's heart raced as he crept through the labyrinthine halls, listening for any sign of pursuit.
The minutes dragged on, each second stretching longer than the last. Akhaqia's pulse quickened. Where were the others? Had they found a way out? Or was it already over?
Then, finally, the sound he had been waiting for—a faint hiss of air and the soft slide of a door opening. Akhaqia exhaled, relief flooding through him.
He slipped through the door just as it closed behind him.
But what he saw made his blood run cold.
Before him stood a tall figure, cloaked in shadow in the dark room. Their eyes glowed an unnatural shade of green, and for a moment, Akhaqia froze, unable to move. The figure didn't speak, but the air seemed to grow heavier, as though the very room was closing in on him.
Akhaqia thought he heard faint whispers, his name threading through the air like a ghost. His confidence cracked.
"You're too late," the figure said, their voice a low growl, like the rumble of thunder before a storm. "I know what you're after, or rather I know what you took. I can assure you there's no way you make it out of here. well, not alive anyway
The words hit him like a slap, and for the first time, just when he started to believe his plan was all but a guaranteed success, now that reality shattered right in front of his face, doubt twisted in his gut, making him sick and nauseous. This was something he hadn't accounted for.
But there was no turning back now.
Akhaqia took a deep breath and prepared to face whatever came next.
The man emerged from the shadows, stepping into the dimly lit room. the man's appearance was shown He was tall, with blonde hair neatly combed to the side, with piercing blue eyes. His pristine uniform made him stand out—a figure of authority. It wasn't the uniform of the guard like they had previously run into beforehand on the three-track lance. It was the uniform of the army of the Alfeheim Empire, and on his uniform, his name was written in blue. Muntiqi Atefi, the man, spoke in a cold tone: 'You can either surrender and hand over what you took or die.'".
Muntiqi Atefi
Looking at the boy from a distance, he had matte black hair with an undercut. Lost in thought, the boy looked like a kid. A blue crest was visible on his hand, which confused him as to why a Stoet would steal the shadow cultivation book. He thought the thief would be a Shafatenian, one of the outcasts of society. Why would a stoet risk alienation or the death penalty over some damn book that was so useless they were supposed to destroy?
None of this made any sense to Muntiqu Atefi. First, from higher up, they told him to guard a tracklance, not one worth any notoriety. Now a fellow stoet was robbing something that was of no worth whatsoever. Whatsoever, everything seemed confusing to him, and then, without any warning, the light went out, followed by a screeching noise across the hall, followed by the light going out.