They gathered in a tight circle, crouching low among the trees.

Sira pulled out the mission paper, flipping it over to use the blank side. With a stick, she sketched a rough map in the dirt.

"They went northeast," she said. "That slope leads toward the river. If they're smart, they'll follow it downstream, it's easier terrain."

Kyle leaned in, eyes scanning the marks. "What we do then?"

"We move with them." She continued. "Parallel, keeping pace without closing the distance."

"How?" Tobias frowned. "We don't know where they're going."

"Doesn't matter." Sira tapped the dirt with her stick. "The extraction point is southwest of here. They have to loop back eventually. If we move fast and parallel to them, we can intercept before they reach it."

Emma watched quietly, eyes flicking between the lines.

"What if we miss them?" she asked, voice soft. "If they change direction again?"

Sira looked at her for a moment, then nodded once. "Then we track them."

Zael shifted, gripping his sword. "And when we catch them? What then?"

Kyle answered before Sira could. "We don't repeat the last time."

Sira shot him a look. "We don't fight them head-on."

She corrected. "We hit once, grab the crate, and disappear."

Tobias swallowed. "So... a distraction?"

Sira glanced at him, "Can you manage one?"

Tobias hesitated, then nodded. "I can do that."

Sira looked at Kyle. "You're with me. We go straight to the crate."

"Done."

Then she turned to Zale and Emma. "You two stay back. Cover us. Keep pressure on them."

Zael nodded hard. "I can do that."

Emma hesitated, then nodded as well.

"But if it goes wrong?"

"Then we adapt." Sira straightened, brushing dust off from her hands. "That's enough, let's move before they get too far ahead."

They gathered their weapons and started moving, quicker now, their earlier exhaustion pushed aside by adrenaline and purpose.

Emma followed close behind Kyle, her heart pounding.

They moved through the forest quickly but carefully, eyes scanning for signs of Team Four's passage.

It didn't take long to find them.

Broken branches. Disturbed undergrowth. Boot prints pressed deep into the soft earth.

"There," Sira whispered, pointing ahead.

Through the trees, maybe forty meters away, they could see movement. Team Four, still moving northeast, the crate visible between two of them as they carried it.

They covered themselves, watching the movements of opponent, while slowly closing the distance.

Kyle crouched behind a tree, watching Team Four move through the forest ahead.

His hands were shaking.

Not from fear. From frustration.

Jin should be here.

He'd know what to do.

He clenched his fists, trying to steady his breathing.

Sira slid in beside him, low and silent. Her eyes flicked over Team Four, taking in their spacing, the way the crate was carried, the terrain ahead.

"They're heading northeast," she murmured.

"Towards the river."

Kyle nodded. "So we move."

Sira Sir him a sideways look. "We wait."

Kyle swallowed. "They're getting away."

"They won't." Sira said calmly.

She turned slightly. "Tobias, you know what to do right?"

Tobias nodded, slowly.

Kyle glanced at Emma. "Stay behind me."

She opened her mouth then stopped. "...Okay."

Sira rolled her shoulders oncd. "Ready?"

Kyle gritted his teeth. Tobias prepared the spell.

Zael tightened the grip on his sword.

Emma's heart hammered in her chest, her palms sweaty.

This is it.

Sira took a breath.

Okay. We can do this.

She raised her hand.

Three fingers.

Two.

One.

Then—

Whooosh!

Boom!

They explosion of fire tie through the underbrush ahead.

Team Four shouted, scrambling.

"Now." Sira snapped.

Kyle moved and hit the first opponent head-on.

The impact jarred his arms.

Another attacker lunged.

But Sira intercepted, axes flashing, forcing then back.

Though, the reader recovered fast.

And turned to Kyle.

"You again?" The leader sneered, blade snapping up.

Kyle barely blocked the first strike. The second drove him backward. The third nearly took his feet out from under him.

He's stronger.

But Kyle gritted his teeth and held.

The leader pressed harder, forcing Kyle to retreat step by step.

"Move!" Kyle shouted, without looking back.

Sira reached the crate first, her axes flashing as she cut down one of the carriers. He stumbled back, clutching his arm, and the crate hit the ground.

"Get it!" Kyle yelled.

Zael grabbed one end of the crate, struggling with the weight.

Then three of Team Four converged on him.

"Zael!" Emma shouted from the trees.

A light bolt streaked through the air, striking one of the attackers in the chest. He staggered back, giving Zael a second to breathe.

But the other two closed in.

Zael swung his sword desperately, blocking one strike but missing the second. A blade cut across his shoulder, and he cried out, dropping to one knee.

"Shit—!" Kyle turned, trying to help, but the leader of Team Four was already in his face, shortsword swinging.

Kyle barely got his sword up in time. The impact jarred his arm, and he stumbled back.

"You really thought you could just take it back?" the leader sneered, pressing the attack.

Kyle blocked again, his arms screaming in protest.

But Emma's speel disturbed the leaders stance. Giving Kyle and out. Only to be engaged with someone else.

Sira was holding off two attackers at once, her axes moving in tight, brutal arcs. Blood ran down from a cut on her forehead, stinging her eye, but she didn't slow.

A fire bolt tore through the underbrush. One of Team Four screamed as it caught his leg, collapsing with a curse.

Tobias staggered, breathing hard, already pulling his focus back together.

From the trees, flashes of light cut through the chaos, Emma's bolts snapping into place with sharp precision, not powerful enough to end the fight, but enough to keep it broken. Enough to keep them guessing.

Zael was down.

He was on one knee, clutching his shoulder, blood soaking through his sleeve.

And the crate was still on the ground.

"Kyle!" Sira shouted. "The crate!"

Kyle kicked his opponent down, and ran.

He grabbed one end, and nearly lost his footing.

It was heavy. Heavier than it looked.

Someone lunged at him.

Kyle dropped the crate and brought his sword up just in time. The impact rattled through his arms, teeth clacking as he stumbled back a step.

No.

Not again.

He shoved forward with everything he had, slamming into the attacker and forcing him off balance.

A heartbeat later, Sira was there.

Her axe came down once.

And the threat disappeared.

"Lift!" she barked.

Kyle grabbed the crate again. His arms screamed as they hauled it up together, the weight dragging at his shoulders.

"Tobias! Emma!" Sira shouted. "Cover us!"

Fire flared again, cutting off pursuit.

Light bolts followed, snapping into the dirt and trees, forcing Team Four to hesitate, just long enough.

"Go!" Tobias yelled. "Go!"

And they moved.

Kyle's legs burned. His grip slipped, fingers numb, blood dripping from a dozen shallow cuts he didn't remember earning.

Beside him, Sira was breathing hard, jaw clenched, refusing to slow.

Behind them, the sounds of pursuit faded, shouts growing distant, then swallowed by the forest.

They crashed through the undergrowth, the crate banging painfully between them, until—

Open ground.

Flags marked the clearing.

An instructor stood waiting, clipboard in hand.

They staggered forward and let the crate fall at his feet with a dull thud.

"Team Seven," the instructor said, making a mark.

"Cache retrieved. Time: two hours, forty-three minutes. Objective complete."

Kyle dropped to his knees, gasping, the world spinning.

Sira sat down beside him, blood still dripping from her forehead, chest heaving.

Tobias stumbled into the clearing moments later, soot-streaked and exhausted.

Emma followed, pale and shaking, but upright.

Zael limped out last, clutching his shoulder, hurt, but standing.

The instructor looked them over.

"You look like hell."

Kyle laughed, sharp, breathless, almost disbelieving.

"Yeah."

But they'd done it.

Together.

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