- A D A R A - K O N S D O T T I R -

     Natalia.

     The image of the acid-laced wound burns into my skull as I look at the Ali siblings with wide eyes. "What the hell?" I hear from Kali, her now quiet voice dripping with concern as I begin to accept the horrific reality in front of me. Maelstrom is here, and they're gunning for the Kamar. I manage to hold myself from throwing up as I stand up, eyes on alert.

     "This is an acid wound," I mumble, almost to myself, as I throw the shawl off and chamber my sniper. The two look at me, having a hard time realizing what is going on. This suddenly went from a simple escort to... war. If Maelstrom is here, then the King is doomed.

     Unless I stop them.

     "How?" Suri exclaims, barely staying quiet enough.

     "An acid-laced blade," I answer, thoughts swirling around my mind. "From... someone I used to be on the same side as. Maelstrom is here."

     The two look at me in horror as I open up my holster, palm on my pistol. My arm, reflexively, pulls it out and pulls back the slide. Loaded. I flip it around, extending the offer to Suri. "Adara, no, you need this," he says, fear soaked in his voice.

     "No, Suri, you two need this," I insist, beckoning for him to take the pistol. With reluctance, he reaches out and grabs it, staring at it with shaking hands. Kali eyes it, her breath shortening with each second as the panic sets in. It's a panic I know all too well, one that surfaces the first time you're given a mission in the armed forces: the weight of pressure.

     "You two listen to me carefully," I say, my voice low and quiet as I make their collective eye contact. "I believe in you, but this just turned potentially lethal. If you follow what I say, you will be fine. Do you understand?"

     "Adara..." Suri mumbles, his jaw tightening as he fights back emotion. "This is bad. This is really bad."

     "No, it isn't," I reassure, my gaze piercing into his eyes. "But you need to listen to me."

     "I'm listening," Kali chimes in, her brow furrowed as she looks at me with a striking confidence. It catches me off guard for a moment, seeing her so resolute. Suri glances at her, also surprised.

     "Your compass," I gesture, pointing to the royal heirloom still in the palm of Kali's hand. "That leads you to the Kamar, yes?"

     "Yeah," Kali answers, Suri steadying himself as some of Kali's confidence catches him as well.

     "You need to get to the Kamar," I plead, my head on a swivel as I look down the halls. "Take every backroom, every secret passage, whatever you can to make it to that Kamar before anyone else does."

     Kali nods, a long, heavy breath escaping her as she dives into thought. I look at Suri, nodding to my gun in his hand. "You only use that if absolutely necessary. If you fire it, they'll try and pin you down."

     "Maelstrom?" He asks, already knowing the answer, as I nod quietly. 

     "No matter how elite they are," I assure, pointing to the pistol. "A round to the head ends anyone."

     Suri gulps as I remember his fighting in the ruins outside Qarah. He's a hardened man, and he'll do what he needs to do to survive. "What about you?" He asks, a bit less worry present in his tone than before.

     I sigh, feeling my sniper against my hands. "I'm going to find them before they find you."

     "Adara," Suri says in disbelief. "That'll get you killed."

     "I stand a chance," I retort, my voice calm as the two look at me in quiet shock. "And, a little birdie told me once that some things need to be done alone."

     Suri's eyebrows raise as I send his philosophy back his way. "Yeah? You told me I need a team."

     I step back, nodding towards Kali. "You have one," I counter, adjusting my grip as I step up a staircase, and annoyance graces Suri's face yet again. "Now go. We're against the clock."

     My feet ascend the steps quietly as I listen to them scurry away below. As I reach the top landing, I survey the hall before taking a few deep breaths. Do they believe in Raleigh's math, too, or are they just too scared to stand up to it? Why would Raleigh even have them here? Surely, he wouldn't just send them al-

     ...alone.

     ALONE.

     My legs get weak as it all clicks into my mind at once. Barr presented a coup for Suri. Raleigh arranged for Barr to take Suri in the first place. If Maelstrom is here... I shudder as my eyes dart around. The only light, aside from the moonlight shining through the various openings in the pillared balconies and courtyards, is from torchlight. They dance aimlessly on the walls, tugging their shadows along in perfect harmony.

     Suddenly, I see a waft of flame rip through some open space to my left. It roars from the distance, but just a fraction makes it to my view. Across the courtyard, I spot movement on the opposite side. Men in black suits crouch behind pillars, advancing as one tight, synchronized, deadly formation - unmistakably Delta Force.

     Now, not just Raleigh is working with Delta Force, Maelstrom as a whole is too. I feel anger well inside my soul as I realize everything I've stood for over the years is being destroyed in real-time. Raleigh has broken the spirit of our unit, and for what - to prevent a hypothetical civil war?

     The sound of flame continues as I sneak through the hallways. Ice runs in my veins as my mind races between the reality in front of me and the cold, rehearsed tactics I'd used for years. What would they do, where would they be... Raleigh wouldn't send them directly with Barr's men. They must be on the perimeter, waiting for... something. Or, someone.

     My steps slow as I get closer and closer to the sound of the flame. I'm backed against a wall, turning around the corner as I see... another empty hallway. Where are you mother-

     I hear footsteps ahead, quickly ducking behind the corner as they get louder. My eyes squint, barely seeing the hall as I watch familiar faces move down another hallway about halfway down. In front is Natalia, followed closely by Dominik, Lucas, and Mena. The torchlight bounces off their faces - Nat in stoic form, Dom in operator mode, and Lucas in a sort of trance-like state, going through the motions.

     Mena walks through, and my heart melts as I see the suppressed horror she's holding just below the surface. Her eyes are wide as her lips tighten - like she needs to scream, but isn't allowed to. Nobody would hear. My eyes glisten as she disappears down the hallway, and I want to cry. I'm the only one she's ever been comfortable enough with to share her worst moments with, and that face - it's exactly what she looked like before telling me them.

     This can't happen.

     I find my legs moving, crouching slightly as I sneak down the corridor. As I approach the hallway they just moved down, bile rises in my throat. How could we even end up here? These people are my friends, practically my family...

     'Not anymore,' I remind myself.

     "Maelstrom!" I exclaim, the soft patter of boots giving way to immediate silence as I stand with my back against the wall, the hallway to my right. My eyes focus on the dancing torch immediately ahead of me, my heartbeat soaring as the situation begins to feel too big for me.

     "Adara," I hear from down the hall, Dominik's flat but somewhat shocked voice bouncing off the wall in front of me. I hear a quiet rattle of his exosuit as he seemingly adjusts his posture.

     "You can't do this," I assert, shadows dancing around as I feel sweat bead on my forehead. It's as if I'm in a horror movie, with a demon mocking me in the voices of my friends.

     "You can't be here!" I hear Lucas say, his tone filled with fear, as I imagine his eyes wide in disbelief. He's not scared for himself, though... he is for me.

     I sigh, my brow furrowing further. "Where else would I be?" I respond, my voice tired and my grip tightening on my sniper rifle. My head flashes with images of how tonight could be my last, like the hideout with Suri outside Erbil. 

     "Adara, stand down," I hear Natalia order, the words delivering cold and calm. "We're not here for you."

     "No shit," I mutter quietly, picturing the four of them as I close my eyes. "No, you're here to hand a military a country like breakfast in bed."

     "You turned your back on us!" Dom barks, the volume barging in over my quip. "We're trying to save people!"

     "At what cost, Dom?" I fire back, knowing this is futile already, but clinging to threads of hope, threads of who I know is inside these four.

     "Maybe you should ask yourself," he counters, his tone rising. "You're fighting so you can watch civilians die to save a freak! A pervert! All because you can't get over your own shit!"

     The silence is deafening as his words sink into my brain, quiet rage boiling up inside. Maybe I would've believed him before I'd watched them turn their backs on me in unison, before I saw him fire a round towards my skull - but not anymore. My hand slides the bolt of my sniper back, a part of me appreciating the jolt of fear he must feel as the sound of it echoes through the halls.

     "I'm fighting for what I stand for, Dom," I state quietly, my teeth gritting. "Doing the right thing."

     "Adara," Natalia says, her voice cautioning. "Leave. Raleigh said you can come back-"

     "Raleigh sold your souls to make the math work," I say, my voice low. "And he convinced you it was a good deal."

     "Adara, you won't survive this," Natalia warns.

     "I won't let you," I mutter, accepting that I won't convince them. "That's a promise."

     "Adara," I hear Mena cry, her voice stammering as the hitches form in her throat. My heart breaks again as I imagine her face, her tears glossing over her eyes.

     "Have it your way, traitor," I hear Dom say, his voice on the floor as I hear his exosuit whir up. My eyes go wide as I recognize the sound, the distinct symphony of metal indicating his attack. I jump out of the way as an explosion rocks the wall behind me, my body flying a few feet as I struggle back to my feet.