Heartstone - Chapter 34: Chapter 34

The forest was quiet—too quiet.
Dalen crouched low among the mossy roots, his eyes scanning the shadows. Around him, five other soldiers moved with practiced silence, bows drawn, spears ready. They were hunting game, but now they hunted something else: answers.
Ahead, through the trees, the humming began.
Sky Machines. Sleek, black drones hovered silently, scanning the terrain. One of them paused, turned slowly, and flickered red.
Before Dalen could signal retreat, gunfire erupted from the treeline.
“Ambush!” someone shouted.
Soldiers in black tactical suits—US military elite units—burst from the bushes. The forest exploded into chaos. Arrows flew. Blades clashed. Gunfire echoed like thunder beneath the canopy.
Dalen fought with precision, bringing two attackers down. But they were outnumbered. One by one, his team fell. Blaster cuffs locked around his wrists.
“Stand down,” barked a soldier.
But then, a voice cut through the noise:
> “Hold him.”
A tall man in reinforced armor approached. The other soldiers stiffened and stepped aside.
Ashen Locke.
His eyes, faintly glowing, locked onto Dalen—and for a moment, he hesitated.
“...Dalen?” he said quietly.
Dalen looked up, eyes narrowing. “Ashen?”
Without another word, Ashen grabbed Dalen’s arm and pulled him away from the others. The sudden movement made some of the soldiers tense. One of them, confused and alarmed, stepped forward as if to intervene.
> “Sir—what are you doing?”
Ashen turned, his eyes hard and cold like sharpened steel. His voice was calm, but laced with quiet authority.
> “Stand down.”
The soldiers froze. They had seen that look before—an unspoken warning only a high-ranking operative like Ashen could give. The air tightened with tension. The one who had stepped forward slowly lowered his rifle and stepped back. The others followed, watching in silence.
Ashen didn’t wait. He guided Dalen further into the woods, weaving between thick trunks and low branches until they were well out of sight. Only the distant hum of drone patrols and the whisper of wind through leaves filled the silence now.
He stopped.
> “You need to listen to me, Dalen. We don’t have much time.”
Dalen stared at him, still trying to catch up.
> “What’s going on, Ashen? Why are you really here?”
"I thought you were dead,” Ashen said. “Your jet—X-3 brought it down. They wanted you erased.”
Ashen took a breath, eyes scanning the treetops as if watching for something—or someone.
Dalen's jaw clenched, his chest tight. He nodded slowly. “I remember… pieces. The crash. The voice in my ear going silent. And then… nothing.”
Ashen’s face was grim.
> “Project Revenant. The . Mark Breknac and his daughter. You were closer than they realized.”
“She’s alive,” Dalen said. “Avera. Mark Breknac’s daughter.”
Ashen’s breath caught. The silence cracked between them.
> “What?” Ashen’s voice dropped to a whisper. “That’s not possible. She was declared dead with her father. That file was sealed.”
Dalen shook his head.
> “She was a baby. Someone saved her. Raised her hidden, deep beyond the grid. I found her by accident—crashed into her world. And now... I know why I was sent. They wiped my memory because I knew too much.”
Ashen looked away, his jaw clen
ched in disbelief.
> “If Voss finds out she’s alive…”
> “He won’t,” Dalen said.
Ashen stared at him, then nodded slowly.
> “We don’t have much time.”
He pulled out a small encrypted chip and pressed it into Dalen’s hand.
> “This holds part of the truth. The rest… you’ll have to find. But whatever you do—keep it safe.”
Dalen looked down at the chip, then back up. “And you?”
Ashen gave a faint, grim smile.
> “I’ll be fine. War is coming. Not just a battle—a purge. They’re not just after the . They want to wipe out the bloodlines, the villages, the resistance. Everything.”
“They don’t know I’m alive?” said Dalen.
“No. That’s why you must leave—**now. Warn them. Prepare. Two weeks from now, they’ll come with everything. Machines. Bio-soldiers. Drones. Fire from the sky. If they get the …”
Ashen looked away. “The world changes. And not for the better.”
Just then, one of Ashen’s soldiers called out.
“Sir—do we execute them?”
Ashen shoved Dalen forward like a captured traitor, sending him sprawling to the ground at the feet of stunned comrades with gun on his head.
Dalen obeyed slowly, eyes lowered, jaw clenched tight. His hands rested behind his head.
"Shouldn't we kill them?" Asked another soldier.
Ashen didn’t blink. “Yes.”
As the soldier turned to comply—Ashen drew his sidearm and shot four of them down before they could even react.
The remaining soldier stared in shock.
“You… saved them.”
“I’m done following monsters,” Ashen said. He turned to Dalen “Now go. Tell them. I’ll slow things down on my end.”
He turned, walking back to the drop ship with the other soldier. As he climbed inside, he gave one last look at Dalen.
> “Make them ready.”
And then the jet roared upward and vanished into the sky.