"The Key of Oblivion"

IX

The silence in the deserted complex weighed on their ears, thickening like smoke after a battle. They stood amid the aftermath of a storm they had caused.

"We're out of ammo," Olga stated emotionlessly, pulling the empty clip from her pistol and holstering it. "If it weren't for this..."

She didn't finish, merely brushing a strand of hair, stained with dust and someone else's blood, from her forehead.

"He crawled away. But this isn't our last meeting," Alan lifted his baton, examining its bent end. "We'll get even. For everything. For this night, for the time we wasted... for everything." There was no anger in his voice, only a cold, steely confidence.

Jake, still pale but no longer shaking, touched their elbows.

"That's it. We have nothing to do here. Let's go home."

They didn't creep, didn't hide. They simply walked - tired, smelling of smoke and tension, but unbroken. Through the ruined service entrance, past the boiler room, back into the embrace of the October night. The damp air seemed incredibly clean after the stuffy atmosphere of the corridors.

From the thicket of the old forest, on a hill, they were watched. Alice, still holding the cloudy green crystal, watched the three silhouettes pass. A light, almost invisible smile played on her lips.

"Unexpected allies," she whispered into the cool air. "Noisy, noticeable... and incredibly effective as a distraction. Without you, my shadows, everything would be so much more difficult."

She turned the artifact over, and it momentarily reflected the dim light of the moon before it disappeared into the depths of the trees, as if it had never been there.

And deep within the complex, in a hidden chamber, a cold, synthesized laugh broke the sterile silence. The Puppeteer, chained to his throne-chair, stared at the enormous screen where three figures dissolved into the night. "Perfect," said a mechanical voice. "The pawns have made their move. The queen has captured a piece. And the king... the king is furious and will now take any risk. The game is just beginning."