The moon illuminated the western horizon above the abandoned farm, where civilization met the wild. Tiflos and Noor stood at its edge. The farm stretched before them like a sleeping creature in the dark—its wooden buildings decayed, their roofs sagging as if bowing beneath the weight of time.
The surrounding trees were twisted, their trunks bent as though trying to flee the earth itself, their leaves whispering with voices that did not belong to the wind. The ground was soaked with an eerie moisture, as if it was breathing beneath their feet. Moonlight fractured across shattered windows, creating reflections that looked like eyes watching them from every angle.
At the heart of the farm stood an abandoned barn, and beside it a tilted small house with a rusted antenna on its roof—glinting occasionally as though sending signals to the sky. Every step inside that place felt like entering a scene from an old horror film… except this film had no written ending.
The massive barn beside the house looked like a giant skeleton of withered memories, while the tilted house held secrets that were not ready to be revealed. Inside one of its rooms stood two men, and on the desk before one of them were old photographs—his late wife, his daughter whom he hadn't seen in years… each memory was a fresh wound in his heart.
Timon gathered the files with trembling hands. Beads of sweat dripped from his forehead like dew of fear onto the scattered papers. He was a thin man with sharp features, his silver eyes glowing with panic, and his loose clothes gave him an even more fragile appearance.
"Damn it! Damn it! Damn it!" he repeated while stuffing the papers into his bag chaotically. "If they had warned me earlier, I would've taken the files with me this morning!"
His voice was laced with broken breaths, and his eyes never stopped darting toward the window, as if waiting for his inevitable fate.
"Why am I always the traitor?" he whispered to himself as he sealed the last file.
These documents were not just papers—they were potential death certificates. Each one carried secrets capable of destroying many players in the hidden war between the organization and the Dragon.
Ten years ago, Timon had been a loyal soldier of the state. But when he discovered that the state's leaders were the ones who killed his wife after she uncovered a dangerous secret—killed "for the greater good"—he turned into an agent for the organization. He even rose in rank within the state, unaware that he was running in circles.
"Cain promised me revenge," he said to the man beside him—Nathan—while casting one last look at the photos. "But every betrayal pulls me further from the man I used to be."
Nathan stood like a statue of steel, his silver eyes tracking every movement.
"Emotions are weakness. Cain taught me that," Timon muttered.
Just minutes earlier, a short communication from the organization had turned his world upside down.
"Dragon's followers, Drakon, are sending an elite team from a global group called the Hunters to infiltrate and investigate this location," Timon whispered to Nathan, who stood firm by the door. "I must clear the place. Leave nothing behind. And if we encounter any of the Hunters… we kill them. Understood?"
Nathan, a man of imposing build, stood like a towering mountain. His stern silver eyes examined the room carefully.
"How many do you expect?" he asked.
"I don't know," Timon replied, wiping sweat with his sleeve. "My telepathic visual link can't reach outside the house. Someone is jamming the signals."
"Then," Nathan said with his deep voice, "the organization's intel is wrong. This must be an assassination squad."
"An assassination squad?" Timon's voice trembled. "Then the Dragon found out about us! Damn it… Nathan, I'll run… I'll pay you your money, just buy me time to escape!"
Nathan didn't hesitate. "Fine. But I want double."
"No problem!" Timon bent to pull a bag from under the table.
But while his back was turned, he didn't see the metallic glimmer in Nathan's eyes.
The bag overflowed with money—but Timon would never get to enjoy it.
Suddenly—his entire body jerked.
A look of shock froze on his face as he lowered his gaze.
From his abdomen protruded a black metallic arm, dripping with his warm blood.
Slowly, he turned to look at Nathan for the last time.
What he saw extinguished all hope—a wide demonic smile on the face of the man he trusted.
"Betrayal… always betrayal…" Timon whispered with his final breath as he collapsed onto the floor.
---
As Timon's blood spread beneath him, his last thought drifted to one memory—his wedding day, his wife laughing as she danced under the rain.
"Lisa… I'll see you soon," he breathed.
Nathan stared at the corpse coldly.
"Cain told you emotions are weakness. And in the end, your emotions truly made you weak. And that is why you die."
---
Across the farm, Tiflos and Noor approached cautiously. The darkness cloaked them perfectly.
Noor tried to act tough—but Tiflos noticed the slight tremble, the closeness she allowed between them. He himself felt the urge to stay near her; the atmosphere made it natural.
"We've infiltrated the farm," Noor whispered, her voice barely audible. "Scan the area with your waves—like we planned."
Tiflos closed his eyes, reading the flow of energy.
"There's a signal jammer here… a strong one."
"Inside the house?" Noor asked anxiously.
"I can't be sure," Tiflos answered. "We'll check the barn first—though I hate that idea—and then approach the house. We need to confirm how many people are here."
The two circled the barn until they found a high balcony.
Noor decided they needed to climb it.
Tiflos interlocked his hands to boost her. Noor took a few steps back, ran forward, placed one foot on his hands and the other on his shoulder, then vaulted upwards onto the balcony.
Tiflos followed, scaling the wall by driving his sword into the barn's wooden planks.
But as they climbed onto the balcony behind the barn, neither of them knew that what they were about to see… would change their lives forever.