The morning after the Pale Stalker, Einar woke with blood dried on his neck.
He sat up on his cot. The barracks were empty except for Astrid, who sat at the table with a cup of water. She looked at him, saw the red crust on his jaw, and said nothing.
Einar touched the wound. The skin was raw but closed. He wiped it with his sleeve.
[SYSTEM: HUMANITY LEVEL: 85%]
[PHYSICAL INTEGRITY: 98%]
[WARNING: PSYCHOSOMATIC RESPONSE DETECTED]
He stood and walked to the water basin. The water was cold. He splashed it on his face, scrubbing the dried blood off. His reflection in the basin's metal surface was pale, the scar on his jaw dark against his skin.
"Torben wants to see us," Astrid said.
Einar nodded. He picked up his rifle, checked the bolt, and slung it over his back.
---
Torben was in the command room, a small stone chamber at the end of the barracks. A map of the Frostfang Mountains was spread across a wooden table, weighted down at the corners with iron ingots. Three other Frostwatch scouts stood around it: Ukko Ranta, the huge bearded axeman; Aino Kivi, the archer with a quiet smile; and Pyry Kallio, the youngest, who looked at Einar with wide eyes.
Torben pointed to a spot on the map. "Veldin's main force crossed the Icefang Pass yesterday. Two thousand men, maybe more. They're moving south along the river valley. They'll reach Jarnheim in ten days if we don't slow them."
He looked at Einar. "That's where you come in. We need you to hit their supply lines. Food wagons, ammunition stores, officers. Make them crawl."
Einar studied the map. The pass was a narrow gap between two peaks, marked with a red X. The valley widened south, with the river running through it. There were two likely spots for a supply depot: a cave system at the valley's midpoint, and a small village called Iskog that the Veldin would likely use as a staging ground.
"How many in the supply train?" Einar asked.
"We think a hundred men, maybe fifty wagons. Light guard, mostly infantry. Their heavy armor is still at the pass." Torben pointed to the cave. "They'll cache supplies here first. If you can take out their quartermaster, the rest will be chaos."
Einar touched his jaw scar. Then he pulled his hand away deliberately. "I'll need a position with a view of the cave entrance."
"We have a hunter's blind on the ridge above it. Two hundred meters elevation, clear sightline." Torben looked at Astrid. "You go with him. Spot, cover, carry supplies."
Astrid nodded. "When do we leave?"
"Tomorrow at first light. Rest today. Stock up from Freya."
---
Freya's workshop smelled of hot metal and ozone. She was at her forge when Einar entered, hammering a piece of glowing metal into a shape he didn't recognize.
She looked up. "You're still bleeding."
Einar touched his jaw. The wound had opened again. "It's nothing."
"It's the system." Freya set down her hammer and walked to a shelf. She pulled out a small leather pouch and tossed it to him. "Frostbite paste. Stops bleeding and numbs the area. You'll need it."
Einar caught the pouch. "I need ammunition. Armor-piercing. And subsonic rounds."
Freya gestured to a crate in the corner. "Already made them. Twelve armor-piercing, eight subsonic, and four incendiary for special occasions." She crossed her arms. "I also found something in the archives last night."
She pulled a folded piece of paper from her pocket. It was a drawing—a schematic of a rifle similar to Einar's, but with additional components. A cylinder attached to the stock, and a wire leading to a metal disk.
"What is that?"
"The Architects' original design for the World Ender. They had a stabilization module. It would reduce the system's psychic bleed—the Soul Echo degradation." She tapped the cylinder. "If I can build this, it might slow down the humanity drain. Maybe even reverse some of the damage."
Einar looked at the schematic. "What do you need?"
"Star-iron. About the size of my fist. There's a deposit in the caves beneath Frostfang Peak, but it's deep in monster territory." She paused. "Or you could take it from the Veldin supply train. They've been mining star-iron in the occupied territories. They might have some in their stores."
Einar folded the schematic and put it in his pocket. "I'll find it."
Freya watched him for a moment. "You're not going to ask what happens if the system keeps eating you?"
He turned to leave. "I already know."
---
That night, Einar sat on the northern wall, alone. The moon was a thin crescent behind clouds. The snow on the plain below reflected what little light there was.
He touched his jaw scar. His fingers traced the raised line. 'One more.'
He said the words aloud, quiet, to himself. The system hummed in response.
[SYSTEM: PREPARING FOR MISSION]
[COLD BLOOD POINTS: 127]
[LEVEL: 2 (HUNTER)]
[SKILL TREE 1 UNLOCKED: SILENT TREAD, EAGLE EYE, COLD BLOOD]
He had not spent any points yet. The skills were there, waiting. Silent Tread would make his footsteps silent in snow. Eagle Eye would double his magnification. Cold Blood would increase damage the longer he aimed.
Each one would make him a better killer.
He closed the interface.
Boots crunched behind him. Astrid sat down beside him, her spear across her knees.
"Can't sleep?" she asked.
"Don't need much."
They sat in silence for a while. The wind picked up, blowing loose snow across the wall.
"My father used to tell me stories about the Pale Stalker," Astrid said. "He said it was a spirit that hunted hunters. That it remembered every person who ever wounded it, and it came back for them."
Einar said nothing.
"It knew your name," she continued. "That means it's been watching you. Maybe for a long time."
Einar thought of the Frostheart Core, the vision from the mage's memory. The crystal pulsing blue, the whispers. "It's not a spirit. It's a monster. Monsters can be killed."
"Can they?"
He looked at her. Her face was half-lit by the moonlight, her expression serious.
"I'll kill it," he said. "When I find it."
Astrid held his gaze. "You say that like it's simple."
"It is. You find the target. You put a bullet in it. You move on."
She shook her head. "You really believe that?"
He didn't answer.
She stood. "Try to sleep. You'll need it."
She walked back down the steps. Einar stayed on the wall, watching the snow.
---
At first light, they left.
Einar had his rifle, a pack with ammunition and food, and a small brass monocular. Astrid carried her spear, a hand axe, and a pack of supplies. Torben saw them to the gate.
"Hit the supply depot, then fall back. Don't engage the main force. If you're compromised, signal with a red flare and we'll send a rescue."
Einar nodded. "Understood."
Torben gripped his shoulder. "Come back."
They walked into the snow.
---
The journey to the valley took two days. They moved through pine forests, across frozen streams, and around the base of the Frostfang foothills. Einar set a steady pace, stopping only to check the terrain.
On the first night, they camped in a cave. Einar sat at the entrance, watching the snow fall. Astrid slept against the wall, her spear across her lap.
[SYSTEM: HUMANITY LEVEL: 85%]
[STABLE]
The system's readings were unchanged. But Einar felt something different—a dull pressure behind his eyes, like a headache that wouldn't start. He touched his jaw scar. The skin was warm.
He pulled his hand away.
'Not now.'
---
On the second day, they reached the ridge overlooking the cave.
Einar lay on his stomach, his rifle resting on a rock. Below, the valley spread out, a white plain broken by the dark line of the river. The cave entrance was a black hole in the cliff face, two hundred meters below and eight hundred meters distant.
Astrid lay beside him, her monocular pressed to her eye. "I see the supply train. They're unloading."
Einar looked through his scope. Wagons were lined up outside the cave, fifty of them. Men in grey uniforms moved between them, carrying crates and barrels. He counted forty, maybe fifty soldiers. The rest were likely inside the cave.
"Guards?"
"Four at the entrance. Two more on the ridge above the cave, maybe a hundred meters east of us."
Einar adjusted his scope. He found the two guards on the opposite ridge. They were sitting, their rifles resting against rocks, talking to each other.
"We take them first," he said. "Then the four at the entrance. After that, we work on the officers."
Astrid nodded. "How do you want to do this?"
Einar pulled back from the scope. "You stay here. Watch the main group. If anyone starts running toward the ridge, signal me."
He began crawling to the east, keeping his white coat low against the snow. The ridge was rocky, with patches of ice. He moved slowly, a meter at a time, his rifle dragging beside him.
It took him forty minutes to reach a position fifty meters from the two guards. They were still talking, their voices carrying in the cold.
Einar laid his rifle on a flat rock. He aimed at the guard on the left.
[SYSTEM: TARGET ACQUIRED]
Distance: 52 meters.
Wind: 0 km/h.
Fatal zone: 99%.
His finger touched the trigger. Then he stopped.
His other hand was rising to his jaw scar. He caught it, held it down against the rock.
'No ritual,' he thought. 'Just shoot.'
He squeezed.
[CRACK]
The guard's head snapped sideways. He fell.
[SYSTEM: TARGET ELIMINATED]
[PLAYING LAST MEMORY...]
A young man laughing, arm around a woman. She has red hair, a gap-toothed smile. "When this is over, we'll get married." He nods, kissing her forehead. "Promise."
[END]
The second guard turned. Einar already had the rifle on him.
[CRACK]
The man dropped.
[SYSTEM: TARGET ELIMINATED]
[PLAYING LAST MEMORY...]
A boy, no older than twelve, waving from a farmhouse door. The guard's voice: "Stay inside, Tomas. I'll be back with candy."
[END]
Einar reloaded. "Thirty-eight left," he whispered.
He crawled back to Astrid's position.
"Two down," he said. "Now the entrance."
He settled his rifle on the rock. Below, the four guards at the cave entrance were standing in a loose line, their backs to the cliff.
He touched his jaw scar. 'One more.'
[CRACK]
The first guard fell.
[SYSTEM: TARGET ELIMINATED]
[PLAYING LAST MEMORY...]
A man fishing through a hole in the ice, his line taut. A fish breaks the surface, silver. He grins. "Dinner."
[END]
The other three guards started shouting, looking for cover.
Einar fired again. The second guard dropped before he could move.
[SYSTEM: TARGET ELIMINATED]
[PLAYING LAST MEMORY...]
A letter being sealed with wax. A seal with a wolf on it. "To my dearest Anna. I will return by spring."
[END]
The remaining two guards ran toward the wagons.
Einar tracked the one on the left. [CRACK] The man stumbled and fell.
[SYSTEM: TARGET ELIMINATED]
[PLAYING LAST MEMORY...]
A child's wooden horse, painted blue, held in two hands. "For my son. He'll be born when I come home."
[END]
The last guard reached the wagons. He disappeared behind a cart.
Einar shifted aim. He waited.
A head appeared above the cart's edge. Einar fired. The head vanished.
[SYSTEM: TARGET ELIMINATED]
[PLAYING LAST MEMORY...]
A woman crying at a train station, her hand pressed to the window of a departing train. The guard's voice: "I'll write every day."
[END]
"Thirty-four left."
Below, the camp had erupted. Soldiers were shouting, grabbing weapons, running toward the wagons. An officer in a grey coat with silver trim was pointing toward the ridge.
Einar found him in the scope. Distance: 830 meters. Wind: 5 km/h, left to right.
He touched his jaw scar. 'One more.'
[CRACK]
The officer fell.
[SYSTEM: TARGET ELIMINATED]
[PLAYING LAST MEMORY...]
A tent, candlelight, a map. The officer traces a route with his finger. "We'll be home by midwinter. I promise."
[END]
"Thirty-three left."
The soldiers were organizing now, forming a line facing the ridge. Einar counted thirty of them. The rest had gone inside the cave.
He chambered an armor-piercing round. "Astrid, watch our flanks."
She had her spear ready. "I see them."
Einar aimed at the soldier in the center of the line. The man was pointing, shouting orders.
[CRACK]
The man went down. The line broke.
[SYSTEM: TARGET ELIMINATED]
[PLAYING LAST MEMORY...]
A tavern, a mug of ale, a friend clapping him on the back. "To the old country! We'll drink there next year!"
[END]
Einar fired again, again, again. Three more soldiers fell.
[SYSTEM: TARGET ELIMINATED]
[SYSTEM: TARGET ELIMINATED]
[SYSTEM: TARGET ELIMINATED]
The memories came in a flood: a mother braiding hair, a dog barking, a field of wheat, a man carving a wooden spoon. Einar blinked, trying to focus.
[SYSTEM: HUMANITY LEVEL: 83%]
[EMOTIONAL BUFFER: 47%]
"Twenty-nine left."
The soldiers had scattered, hiding behind wagons, rocks, anything. Einar counted ten visible. The rest had run for the cave.
He shifted his aim to a wagon. An incendiary round. He fired.
[CRACK]
The wagon exploded, a ball of fire that sent soldiers running. Three men caught fire, screaming.
[SYSTEM: TARGET ELIMINATED]
[SYSTEM: TARGET ELIMINATED]
[SYSTEM: TARGET ELIMINATED]
Three memories hit at once: a young soldier's first kiss, an old man's hands around a grandchild, a woman's voice saying "be safe." Einar's vision blurred. He shook his head.
Astrid grabbed his arm. "Einar!"
He blinked. A soldier had broken from the group and was running toward the base of their ridge. He was fast, carrying a rifle, looking up at their position.
Einar raised his rifle, but his hands were shaking. The soldier was two hundred meters away, closing.
He touched his jaw scar. Hard.
'One more.'
[CRACK]
The soldier stumbled. Not a headshot—a chest wound. He fell, but he was still moving, crawling toward a boulder.
Einar chambered another round. His hands steadied. He fired again.
[CRACK]
The soldier stopped moving.
[SYSTEM: TARGET ELIMINATED]
[PLAYING LAST MEMORY...]
The same woman's voice: "Come back to me." A kiss. A door closing.
[END]
"Twenty-five left."
Astrid was staring at him. "You missed."
Einar didn't answer. He reloaded. His hands were steady now, but the shaking had been real.
---
**[UPGRADE: CHAOS MOMENT – NEAR FLANK]**
A shout came from behind them.
Einar spun. Three Veldin soldiers had emerged from the trees on their left, only fifty meters away. They must have circled around the ridge while Einar was focused on the cave.
The lead soldier raised a crossbow. He was aiming at Astrid.
Einar didn't have time to aim. He fired from the hip, the bullet catching the soldier in the shoulder. The man spun, dropping the crossbow.
Astrid threw herself behind a rock. The other two soldiers were already moving, one with a sword, the other with a short spear.
Einar chambered another round. His hands were shaking again. He fired at the sword-wielder. The bullet tore through the man's leg, but he kept coming, dragging himself forward.
The spearman was ten meters from Astrid's position. Einar fired again. The bullet missed—struck the rock beside the soldier's head, sending chips of stone into his face.
"Damn it." Einar pulled the bolt back, slammed it forward. His breathing was fast, too fast. He forced it down, touched his jaw scar.
'One more.'
The spearman was raising his weapon to throw. Einar aimed at the man's chest and fired.
[CRACK]
The soldier fell backward, the spear clattering on the rocks.
[SYSTEM: TARGET ELIMINATED]
[PLAYING LAST MEMORY...]
A small garden, a woman in a blue apron, a child running between rows of cabbages. The soldier's voice: "I'll be back in time for the harvest."
[END]
The wounded soldiers were still moving. Einar dispatched the sword-wielder with a shot to the head, then the crossbowman.
[SYSTEM: TARGET ELIMINATED]
[SYSTEM: TARGET ELIMINATED]
[PLAYING TWO MEMORIES...]
The memories overlapped: a birthday cake, a soldier's hand on a door handle; a dog barking, a man laughing.
Einar's stomach heaved. He turned his head and vomited into the snow. His hands were trembling, his chest tight.
"Einar!" Astrid was at his side, her hand on his shoulder. "Are you hit?"
He shook his head. He spat bile and wiped his mouth with his sleeve. "I'm fine."
He looked at the three bodies. They had almost flanked them. If Astrid had been hit—
He forced the thought down.
"We're exposed," he said. "We need to move."
---
Below, the camp was chaos. Bodies lay in the snow. The wagons were burning. The survivors had all retreated into the cave.
Einar scanned the entrance. No one emerged.
"They're not coming out," Astrid said.
"They're waiting for night."
He pulled back from the ridge. "We move. Find a spot closer to the cave. If they try to move supplies after dark, we hit them again."
They descended the ridge and circled around, keeping the cliff between them and the cave entrance. Einar found a cluster of boulders a hundred meters from the cave, with a clear view of the entrance and the remaining wagons.
He settled in, rifle ready. Astrid crouched beside him.
"How many did you get?" she asked.
He counted in his head. "Nineteen. Maybe twenty."
"Twenty men."
"Yes."
She was quiet for a moment. "Does it get easier?"
Einar looked at the cave entrance. His hands were still trembling faintly. "No. But you get faster."
---
The sun set behind the mountains. The valley darkened, shadows filling the hollows. The burning wagons had died to embers, casting a faint orange glow.
Einar had not moved in four hours. His breathing was thirty-two beats per minute, but his hands were cold, and the trembling hadn't fully stopped.
Astrid shifted beside him. "They're not coming out."
"They will."
Another hour passed. The moon rose, half-full, casting pale light across the snow.
Then movement.
A figure emerged from the cave. Then another. They moved low, carrying crates, heading for the wagons that weren't destroyed.
Einar counted six, then eight, then ten. They were pulling the wagons toward the cave, salvaging what they could.
He raised his rifle. The distance was ninety meters. The wind was still.
He touched his jaw scar. 'One more.'
[CRACK]
A man fell.
[SYSTEM: TARGET ELIMINATED]
[PLAYING LAST MEMORY...]
A boy catching snowflakes on his tongue. "Look, Papa! It's snowing!"
[END]
The others dropped the wagons and ran for the cave.
Einar fired again. A second man fell.
[SYSTEM: TARGET ELIMINATED]
[PLAYING LAST MEMORY...]
A man standing at an altar, a woman in white beside him. "I do."
[END]
The rest made it inside.
Einar lowered his rifle. "Twenty-two left."
Astrid was looking at the cave. "They're not going to come out again."
"No. They'll wait for reinforcements." He stood, his legs stiff. "We've done enough. We go back."
They moved away from the cave, into the trees. The forest was dark, the branches overhead blocking the moonlight. Einar led, his rifle up, scanning.
After a hundred meters, he stopped.
"What?" Astrid whispered.
Einar pointed to a tree ahead. A piece of cloth was tied to a branch—grey fabric, Veldin uniform. It hadn't been there before.
He turned. Another piece of cloth, tied to a tree behind them.
"They're marking our path," he said.
They started moving faster, not running, but walking with purpose. Einar's eyes darted between the trees, looking for movement.
A branch snapped to their left. Einar raised his rifle, but nothing emerged.
Another snap, to the right.
"They're flanking us," Astrid said.
Einar stopped. He pulled Astrid behind a thick pine. "Stay here. Don't move."
He moved into the trees, low, fast. He found a fallen log and lay behind it, his rifle aimed at the space between two pines.
Footsteps. Heavy, deliberate. A Veldin soldier stepped out from behind a tree, sword drawn. He was looking in the direction of the trail.
Einar touched his jaw scar. 'One more.'
[CRACK]
The soldier fell.
[SYSTEM: TARGET ELIMINATED]
[PLAYING LAST MEMORY...]
A girl's face, tear-streaked. "You promised you wouldn't go."
[END]
Einar chambered another round. He waited.
Another soldier emerged, this one with a crossbow. He saw the body and raised his weapon. Einar fired before the man could aim.
[CRACK]
[SYSTEM: TARGET ELIMINATED]
[PLAYING LAST MEMORY...]
A man kneeling in a garden, pulling weeds. A woman's voice: "Lunch is ready." He smiles. "Coming."
[END]
Einar counted in his head. Three left? Four?
He heard shouting deeper in the forest. Voices calling to each other, getting farther away. They were retreating.
He waited ten minutes, then returned to Astrid.
She was where he left her, spear raised, eyes wide. "You got them?"
"Two. The rest ran."
They moved again, faster now, not stopping until they reached the trail that led back to Jarnheim.
---
They walked through the night. The sky was clear, the stars bright overhead. Einar's legs were numb from the cold, but he kept moving.
[SYSTEM: HUMANITY LEVEL: 78%]
[COLD BLOOD POINTS: 267]
[LEVEL UP: AVAILABLE]
He ignored it.
At dawn, they saw Jarnheim's walls. The gate was open, the guards on alert. They walked through without speaking.
Torben was at the gate. He looked at them, at their faces, and nodded.
"Get some rest," he said. "Report later."
Einar walked to the barracks. He sat on his cot, removed his rifle, and counted his ammunition. Seventeen rounds left.
He touched his jaw scar. His fingers traced the line once, twice. He pulled them away.
'One more,' he thought. Then he corrected himself. 'No. Not now.'
He lay down. His eyes closed.
He dreamed of the cave. Not the supply depot—a deeper cave, one with a blue light pulsing in the darkness. A voice whispered his name.
When he woke, his hand was on his scar, pressing. His face was wet. Tears. He hadn't cried in years. Not since Finland.
He wiped them away quickly, before Astrid could see. But she was already awake, looking at him from her cot.
She didn't say anything.
He sat up, his back to her. His hand was still trembling, just slightly.
[SYSTEM: HUMANITY LEVEL: 78%]
[PSYCHOSOMATIC RESPONSE: TEAR DUCT ACTIVATION]
[EMOTIONAL BUFFER: 39%]
Outside, the sun was rising. Another day.