Heartstone - Chapter 65: Chapter 65
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With the mountain ridge still trembling from Ashen’s crash, Dalen moved swiftly through the undergrowth, his eyes locked on the black steel structure ahead—the second power relay tower hidden deep in the forest’s shadow. This one was larger than the first. More heavily guarded. It pulsed with energy drawn directly from the sky machines circling overhead.
He crouched behind a thick tree trunk. With him were four elite warriors from Drakon’s village, skilled in silence and shadows. Their faces were grim—painted in ash, focused.
Dalen whispered, “We take the relay. No alerts. No errors. If they trigger the failsafe, Ryker reroutes the power.”
They nodded.
Two scouts went ahead, silently neutralizing the outer guards with precision strikes. Dalen and the rest slipped into the facility’s outer perimeter. Unlike the first, this one had a coded core—a system likely built using advanced X-3 tech.
Inside, flickering lights and glowing screens pulsed with red. Dalen recognized it immediately.
“This is Ryker’s personal signature. He built this one himself.”
He opened his satchel, revealing a black cube—an override scrambler Ashen had once designed and Dalen had salvaged from the wreckage. He connected it to the terminal.
“Give me 90 seconds,” he muttered.
Alarms suddenly blared.
A patrol must’ve spotted the dead guards.
“Protect the door!” Dalen shouted, fingers flying across the interface.
Outside, the warriors formed a wall. Swords clanged. Spears were thrown. Blades met blood. But they held the line.
The system fought him. Firewalls. Corruption layers. But he pushed harder, eyes narrowing. Images flashed on screen—schematics, Ryker’s face, coordinates to a massive underground facility... and one message:
> “If they reach this node, initiate sterilization protocol.”
Dalen’s pulse jumped. “They’re going to wipe the mountain.”
He pulled the trigger.
Override. Surge. System crash.
The tower sparked, then exploded upward in a pillar of fire. Soldiers were thrown back. Dalen ducked under cover, dragging one of his injured teammates out of the blast radius.
Power from the sky machines flickered.
In the distance, Avera saw two of Ryker’s jets stall and drop from the air. Ryker himself staggered in the cockpit.
Dalen limped from the smoke, armor scorched but alive. “One more relay,” he whispered. “Then we take the fight to him.”
He crouched behind a thick tree trunk. With him were four elite warriors from Drakon’s village, skilled in silence and shadows. Their faces were grim—painted in ash, focused.
Dalen whispered, “We take the relay. No alerts. No errors. If they trigger the failsafe, Ryker reroutes the power.”
They nodded.
Two scouts went ahead, silently neutralizing the outer guards with precision strikes. Dalen and the rest slipped into the facility’s outer perimeter. Unlike the first, this one had a coded core—a system likely built using advanced X-3 tech.
Inside, flickering lights and glowing screens pulsed with red. Dalen recognized it immediately.
“This is Ryker’s personal signature. He built this one himself.”
He opened his satchel, revealing a black cube—an override scrambler Ashen had once designed and Dalen had salvaged from the wreckage. He connected it to the terminal.
“Give me 90 seconds,” he muttered.
Alarms suddenly blared.
A patrol must’ve spotted the dead guards.
“Protect the door!” Dalen shouted, fingers flying across the interface.
Outside, the warriors formed a wall. Swords clanged. Spears were thrown. Blades met blood. But they held the line.
The system fought him. Firewalls. Corruption layers. But he pushed harder, eyes narrowing. Images flashed on screen—schematics, Ryker’s face, coordinates to a massive underground facility... and one message:
> “If they reach this node, initiate sterilization protocol.”
Dalen’s pulse jumped. “They’re going to wipe the mountain.”
He pulled the trigger.
Override. Surge. System crash.
The tower sparked, then exploded upward in a pillar of fire. Soldiers were thrown back. Dalen ducked under cover, dragging one of his injured teammates out of the blast radius.
Power from the sky machines flickered.
In the distance, Avera saw two of Ryker’s jets stall and drop from the air. Ryker himself staggered in the cockpit.
Dalen limped from the smoke, armor scorched but alive. “One more relay,” he whispered. “Then we take the fight to him.”
End of Heartstone Chapter 65. Continue reading Chapter 66 or return to Heartstone book page.