Malrik's pov
War was never quiet.
Even in the lulls,between the gunfire, the screaming, and the orders barked over comms,there was a pressure. Like the world was holding its breath, waiting to exhale through another round of chaos.
Tonight, the northern wall exhaled fire.
I was already moving before the second explosion hit. The compound shook, concrete groaning beneath our boots as chunks of smoke and flame lit the sky in terrifying bursts of orange and white. The sirens wailed in their familiar pitch, shrill and indifferent to our dying.
We weren't just under attack. This was a message.
A warning written in shrapnel.
And I didn't run toward the danger because I was brave.
I ran because she did.
Eira's voice cut through the comms like a blade. "Squad Four, on me. Secure the east alley. Malrik, take the rear flanks and push them inward."
Already ahead of you, I thought grimly, vaulting over the bodies of two downed rebels and tearing into the smoke-clouded back corridor.
