Doctor Hale didn't slow down.
The moment she reached the command tent, she pushed past the entrance flap and stepped inside. Several officers immediately looked up from the table. Maps and reports covered nearly every available surface, and Kael stood at the center of it all discussing supply routes with two captains.
The conversation stopped when Hale entered.
Kael frowned. "Doctor?"
Hale looked around the tent. "All of you, out. Now."
Several officers exchanged confused looks.
One of the captains frowned. "Excuse me?"
"I said out."
The room fell silent.
Kael studied her face for a moment before nodding. "Leave us."
The officers obeyed, though none looked happy about it. Within seconds only Kael and Hale remained, and Kael folded his arms. "What happened?"
Hale took a steadying breath, then another, because even now the words sounded ridiculous.
"I think Taren lied."
Kael's expression didn't change. "About what?"
"Everything."
That got his attention.
Hale crossed the room and dropped several reports onto the table.
"The wounds don't match."
Kael picked up one of the pages.
"The timeline doesn't match."
Another page.
"The blood doesn't match."
A third.
"The recovery doesn't match."
Kael's eyes moved across the reports slowly and carefully, and the more he read, the less he liked.
"You think he's a spy."
"No."
Hale's answer came immediately. Kael looked up, and Hale met his eyes.
"I think he's something worse."
For the first time, neither spoke, the silence stretching between them as the weight of the reports settled in.
Then Kael set the reports down.
"Get every available soldier."
Hale nodded, and neither wanted to say the possibility out loud. Not yet.
Outside the tent, Taren watched soldiers begin moving through the camp. Not many, but enough. His eyes followed one group crossing between the tents, then another, then a third. The concern on his face slowly disappeared, replaced by something colder and far more patient. He stood completely still for several seconds before a real smile appeared—not the weak, frightened expression he had worn for days, but the other one. It vanished just as footsteps approached. Several soldiers stopped in front of him with weapons drawn, and one swallowed nervously.
"Taren."
Taren looked at him. "Yes?"
"Lieutenant Kael wants to speak with you."
Taren slowly stood. "Of course."
The rescue force was still moving, but Rain could feel exhaustion spreading through the entire column. The prisoners were slowing. The soldiers were slowing. Even the demons seemed to be changing. They no longer hid as carefully. Now they watched openly.
Silver eyes appeared between trees, across ridges, and behind stone.
Always present.
Always watching.
Rain spotted one standing atop a distant ledge. The creature didn't move, didn't attack, didn't run. It simply watched the rescue force pass below.
A cold feeling settled in his stomach.
Whatever was happening, it was getting closer.
Back at camp, Kael stood waiting near the center of the operation, where twenty soldiers surrounded the area with weapons drawn and shields ready. Nobody understood exactly what was happening, but they understood enough. Taren walked toward them calmly, showing no fear, confusion, or hesitation. He stopped several feet away, his eyes drifting across the gathered soldiers before settling on Kael and then Hale. The smile returned—small, almost amused.
Kael's hand rested on his sword. "Who are you?"
Several soldiers shifted nervously.
Taren tilted his head. "That's your first question?"
Kael took one step forward. "I'll ask you one more time, who are you?"
The smile widened as Taren simply stared at him for several seconds before letting out a sigh that sounded almost disappointed.
"I was hoping for a little more time."
The soldiers tightened their grip on their weapons as something about his voice changed. It no longer sounded weak, or tired, or human. Hale felt her stomach drop.
Kael's eyes narrowed.
"Taren."
The smile vanished. "So many questions."
A strange pressure filled the air, and several soldiers immediately felt it, like something heavy had settled over the camp.
Then Taren looked around at the tents, the soldiers, at everything and laughed.
"Honestly..." His gaze drifted back to Kael.
"This went better than I expected."
The ground erupted beneath Taren with a deafening roar.
A violent shockwave tore through the center of the camp, hurling soldiers off their feet like rag dolls. Men crashed into supply crates, tents collapsed, and weapons flew from stunned hands.
The command tent behind Taren vanished in an instant as the ground exploded beneath it.
Wood splintered into deadly shards, canvas ripped apart and disappeared into the swirling storm of debris, and dust and smoke erupted outward, swallowing everything in sight.
For a heartbeat, nobody understood what had happened.
Then the screaming began.
Cries of pain.
Shouts for help.
Orders drowned beneath the chaos.
Rain wasn't there to witness it, and the rescue force wasn't there to see the disaster unfold, but in a single moment the operation camp was transformed into a battlefield.
Kael reacted before the dust had even settled.
His sword flashed from its sheath as he launched himself into the smoke without hesitation.
Several soldiers followed close behind, driven by training, loyalty, and fear of whatever had just revealed itself at the center of the destruction.
The figure standing inside the dust didn't move, didn't dodge, and didn't retreat. The blade struck—and stopped. A claw caught it. Silence spread through the nearest soldiers as the smoke slowly drifted away, revealing that what stood there was no longer Taren. The human disguise had vanished. Dark skin, silver eyes, long claws, and horns curling backward from its head stood exposed. The smile remained, only now there was nothing human left to hide it. A Greater Demon.
Nobody moved.
Nobody breathed.
The demon looked around the camp at the bodies, wounded and dying soldiers, broken tents, and the fear hanging over everything.
The smile widened, then it closed its eyes almost peacefully, as if listening to something only it could hear. When it opened them again, satisfaction filled its expression.
"This should be enough."
Kael's grip tightened. "What did you do?"
The Greater Demon ignored him, instead looking toward the distant ridge, toward the forest, toward the hundreds of demons waiting there. Then it spoke a single word—a single command.
"Attack."