The rain had stopped by the time Aria reached the ridge.
Clouds still choked the sky, but the wind had settled, leaving the world quiet in a way that felt unnatural—like everything was holding its breath. The meeting point was just ahead, a collapsed outpost surrounded by frost-bitten trees and shattered ruins.
She approached alone.
No backup. No scouts. No weapons drawn—at least none visible. She wore a dark cloak, the hood pulled up, and each step forward felt like a confrontation not with an enemy, but with fate.
Across the clearing stood three figures, draped in black, their faces hidden by masks that glowed faintly blue. At their center was a man she recognized immediately—General Ryven, the leader of the resistance's opposition, the one who had once commanded the hybrid program.
The one who had tried to kill her when she was just a child.
"Aria Virel," he said, stepping forward. "I was hoping they'd send you."
"I came because you asked," she said, voice even. "But I'm not here for games."
"Good," Ryven said, removing his mask. His face was older, lined with scars and bitterness, but his eyes still gleamed with cold intelligence. "Because I'm not here to play them."
They stood only a few paces apart now, the ruined land between them a battlefield waiting to happen.
"You've made quite a name for yourself," he said. "The frostborn commander. The last hybrid we failed to control."
"You didn't fail to control me," she replied. "You failed to kill me."
He smirked. "Semantics."
"What do you want, Ryven?"
He gestured behind him. One of the masked figures stepped forward and tossed something into the dirt between them.
It was a data drive.
"Information," Ryven said. "All the files we have on the hybrid project—yours included. Details you don't have. The real origins."
Aria stared at it, then back at him. "What's the catch?"
Ryven's face darkened. "There's something coming, Aria. Bigger than me. Bigger than you. And if it gets loose, there won't be a world left to fight over. This… truce, this 'talk'—it's not surrender. It's survival."
Aria's blood went cold. "You created something worse?"
"We created something we couldn't stop," Ryven said. "And now it's awake."
He turned his back to her, walking away. "Take the drive. See the truth. But if you're smart, you'll be ready."
And then he was gone.
Aria picked up the drive, fingers trembling slightly. She didn't trust him—not for a second. But the fear in his voice hadn't been fake.
Back at camp, Xander met her outside the medic tent.
"You got it?" he asked.
She held up the drive. "I think we just stepped into a bigger war."
"Then we'd better prepare."
Inside, the storm was already brewing.