“Dammit!” Elnos swore, throwing out his hands. He spoke a series of Words so fast they came out almost as gibberish, and a green energy shield flared to life in front of us. More gunfire sounded from ahead, but, this time, the bullets bounced harmlessly off the shield.

“Bastards,” I hissed as the trees began to thin out and the back of the bunker came into view. There were six guards lined up outside the rear entrance of the bunker, all firing rifles in our direction. Their eyes widened as we closed the distance despite the hail of bullets. Before they could run, I withdrew a chakram from my left pouch and flung it. The circular blade sliced cleanly through the neck of the first soldier, then hit the second one in his right arm at an angle. The injured man let out a bone-chilling shriek as his comrade toppled to the ground, and the other three men turned tail and ran. Elnos flung some kind of black energy bolt at the one furthest away, and it hit him square in the back. The soldier writhed and screamed in pain, and to my amazement, crumbled into a pile of ash.

“Alchemical magic,” Elnos said, answering the momentary look of shock on my face.

“Yeah, well, maybe you can use that to get the door open.” I yanked my chakram from the body of the injured man, who had sunk to his knees, whimpering in pain. “I’ll take care of the rest of these guys.” I couldn’t allow any of them to live, not if it meant they might smuggle dangerous biochemical weapons out of this forsaken place.

“No, please—” the guard babbled as I drew one of my crescent knives from the holster on my right leg. I grabbed him by the hair and yanked his head back, then sliced his neck cleanly. His death gurgle echoed in my ears as I dashed up the hill and after the other soldiers, but I refused to let it bother me.

After all, these men had no mercy for me, or for my country. I would have no mercy for them.

* * *

When I came back down the hill, Elnos was standing in front of the rear entrance. The heavy door had been melted down into a hunk of glowing metal, leaving the dark tunnel entrance exposed.

“You all right?” Elnos asked, eyeing the blood staining my hair and pants.

“I’m fine.” I wiped my crescent knife on my pant leg one last time, then gestured to the entrance with it. “Let’s get going.”