72:00:00
Shadowhunt
Montegue did what he did best, the royal court, at council meetings, at business proposals, in revenge for Danielle; he waited. He had learned well to not strike first, because one barely struck true.
The air in the dense woods was neither humid nor frigid. It was saturated with dread that made you force the oxygen in your lungs to stop so you could listen for the cue you needed to strike.
They acted as though the red haze over the world did not exist in the moment.
The gammas in his division flanked him, all positioned at strategic points. Some in the trees, others holding their places amongst trunks, most camouflaged in uniforms that made them blend with abundant foliage.
The heat registers picked up more and more figures in the distance. The heat registers picked up more and more figures in the distance. The numbers climbed steadily—twenty, fifty, a hundred, more—until the thermal display looked less like a tactical readout and more like a swarm.
