Page 27 of Broken Oath

Saw Fathom disappear beneath a wave of debris.

Then the ground vanished beneath his boots.

Pain exploded through his body.

Something struck his helmet.

Then another impact came.

Darkness swallowed him.

Complete darkness.

Nothing.

Cold wind moved across the battlefield hours later.

Smoke drifted through the ruins. Small fires burned among the shattered rocks.

Bodies lay scattered across the mountain.

Enemy fighters moved through the wreckage, checking each one and finishing anyone who remained alive.

No survivors.

No witnesses.

One fighter stopped beside Rook’s motionless body.

Blood covered half his face. Dust coated his gear.

The fighter nudged him with a boot.

Rook didn’t move.

Satisfied, the man raised his rifle.

A suppressed shot cracked through the darkness.

The fighter dropped.

Dead before he struck the ground.

Another man spun toward the sound.

A second suppressed shot.

Another body.

Then another.

Silent.

Precise.

Merciless.

The darkness itself seemed to be killing them.