Chapter 13
The forest fell still again.
Not the hush of sleep or wind—but a deeper stillness. One born of presence. Something vast had stepped into the world and the world, in return, held its breath.
Kiro stood in the clearing surrounded by corpses. His veins hummed with energy, Blood Venom pulsing at his side like a living thing, whispering for more.
Then came the sound.
Not the crack of thunder.
Not the whine of engines.
No—this was the sound of metal claws scraping stone. Of war-bred muscles dragging bone and fury across ruined soil.
Kiro turned slowly.
The dropship didn't blaze in like the last. It descended like a sovereign—deliberate, controlled. A massive silhouette of midnight alloy and sigil-etched plating. Its hatch hissed, pressure releasing, and the ramp unfurled like a tongue from a leviathan's maw.
And then he saw him.
Rhel Varas.