BLOOD AND STEEL: RISE OF THE UNDERDOG

THE HUNTER'S TRAIL

The truck hit a pothole, and Jayden's ribs screamed.

He pressed a hand to his side. The wound from Sera's knife had mostly healed—the Crimson Trial saw to that—but the fight in Anya's office had opened it again. Blood soaked through his shirt.

The driver glanced over. "You look like hell."

"I've been told."

"You run from the council?"

Jayden didn't answer.

The driver nodded like he understood. "Everyone runs from the council eventually. Most don't make it this far."

"How much farther to the airport?"

"Hour. Maybe less if we don't hit more of these damn holes."

Jayden looked out the window. Mountains gave way to rolling hills, then flat farmland. The sky was gray, heavy with clouds that hadn't decided whether to rain.

The Crimson Trial pulsed.

**[STATUS: WOUNDED – REGENERATION ACTIVE]**

**[ESTIMATED FULL RECOVERY: 6 HOURS]**

**[WARNING: HOSTILE SYSTEMS APPROACHING – 2, DISTANCE 3 MILES]**

Jayden sat up straight. "We have company."

The driver frowned. "What?"

"Pull over. Now."

The driver swerved to the side of the road, tires kicking up gravel. Jayden jumped out, pistol drawn—empty, he remembered. He'd used his last bullets in the forest.

He scanned the road behind them.

Dust. And behind the dust, two black SUVs, moving fast.

The driver saw them too. "Council hunters. They must have tracked you."

"You need to go. Leave me here."

"Can't do that. They'll kill me just for giving you a ride."

Jayden grabbed the driver's arm. "Then drive. Don't stop until you reach the airport. I'll hold them off."

The driver's eyes went wide. "You're insane."

"Probably."

Jayden turned and ran toward the oncoming vehicles.

---

The first SUV crested a hill, and Jayden threw himself into a ditch.

Bullets cracked overhead. The windshield of the second SUV spiderwebbed as the shooters fired wildly. They weren't aiming—they were suppressing.

Jayden crawled through the ditch, keeping low, counting.

Two SUVs. At least four men in each. He had no gun, no knife, no grenades. Just his hands and the Crimson Trial.

The system pulsed.

**[COMBAT MODE ENGAGED]**

**[ENEMY COUNT: 8]**

**[SYSTEM HOSTS: 1 (DRIVER OF LEAD VEHICLE)]**

**[RECOMMENDED: DISABLE LEAD VEHICLE FIRST]**

Jayden reached the end of the ditch, popped up, and ran straight at the first SUV.

The driver saw him, swerved. The passenger leaned out the window, rifle raised.

Jayden dove under the bumper.

He slid across the pavement, grabbed the undercarriage, and held on. The SUV bounced over him, missing his skull by inches.

The vehicle screeched to a halt. Men shouted. Doors opened.

Jayden rolled out from underneath, came up behind the driver, and wrapped an arm around his throat.

The driver was a system host—Jayden could feel the cold pressure of his system, something brittle and sharp. But the man wasn't ready. Jayden squeezed until the host went limp, then dragged him out of the driver's seat and threw him into the ditch.

The other men opened fire.

Jayden used the SUV as cover, crouching behind the engine block. Bullets pinged off the metal. The windshield shattered. Tires hissed as they deflated.

He needed a weapon.

The passenger door was open. A rifle lay on the seat. Jayden reached for it—

A bullet tore through his forearm.

He grunted, pulled back, blood streaming down his hand. The Crimson Trial activated pain suppression, but the damage was done.

**[DAMAGE: LEFT FOREARM – THROUGH AND THROUGH]**

**[PAIN SUPPRESSION: 30 SECONDS]**

He couldn't use that arm now.

The shooters were advancing, spreading out to flank the SUV. Jayden had seconds.

He grabbed the door handle, pulled himself into the driver's seat, and slammed the accelerator.

The SUV lurched forward, tires flat, metal grinding on asphalt. It wasn't fast, but it was heavy. Jayden aimed it at the second SUV and held on.

The impact threw him against the steering wheel.

Airbags deployed. Glass exploded. Metal screamed.

When the world stopped spinning, Jayden crawled out of the wreckage. His ears rang. His vision blurred. But he was alive.

The second SUV was overturned, its occupants groaning in the wreckage. The shooters from the first vehicle were scattered, some running, some crawling.

Jayden found a dropped pistol, checked the magazine. Half full.

He walked toward the overturned SUV. The system host driver was trapped behind the wheel, blood running down his face.

"You should have stayed home," Jayden said.

The host laughed—a wet, desperate sound. "The council doesn't forgive. They'll send more. Better ones. You're dead no matter what you do."

"Maybe. But you're dead now."

Jayden raised the pistol.

The host's eyes went wide. "Wait—I can help you. I know things. About Sterling. About the Crown—"

The shot echoed across the empty road.

Jayden lowered the pistol. The Crimson Trial pulsed.

**[HOST NEUTRALIZED: UNKNOWN SYSTEM – ESSENCE ABSORBED]**

**[ESSENCE GAINED: 250 UNITS]**

**[TOTAL ESSENCE: 1590 UNITS]**

**[NEXT EVOLUTION: 410 UNITS REMAINING]**

He walked back to the road. The driver of the vegetable truck was gone—fled while Jayden fought.

That was fine. He'd find another way to the airport.

---

He walked for two hours.

The road was empty. The farms gave way to scrubland, then the outskirts of a small town. Jayden's arm had stopped bleeding, but it hung useless at his side. The Crimson Trial was rebuilding the muscle and bone, but it would take time.

He found a bus station, bought a ticket with cash from the dead host's wallet, and rode thirty minutes to a regional airport.

From there, he booked a flight to the capital. Then a connecting flight to Veridian City.

He slept on both planes. Dreamed of the Crown. Woke in cold sweats.

---

The Iron Pit looked different when he returned.

The front windows were boarded. The door was reinforced with steel. Armed men patrolled the roof. The war had changed things.

Lucas met him at the door. "You look worse than when you left."

"Feel worse. Where's Andrew?"

"Inside. He's not going to be happy."

"Why?"

Lucas's face tightened. "While you were gone, Sterling came back."

Jayden stopped. "What?"

"He didn't come himself. He sent people. A team of five. Hit us two days ago. We lost two men. Andrew took a bullet in the shoulder."

"Is he okay?"

"He's alive. Leah patched him up."

Jayden walked inside.

---

The gym was a mess.

New bullet holes in the walls. Fresh bloodstains on the floor. The boxing ring had been reinforced with more sandbags. Andrew sat on a bench by the weapons table, his left arm in a sling.

He looked up when Jayden walked in. "You're alive."

"Barely."

"Join the club." Andrew gestured to his shoulder. "Sterling's people. Professional. They knew exactly where to hit us."

"How?"

"Same as before. Someone talked."

Jayden's jaw tightened. "Carter is still in the basement?"

"Tied up. Hasn't left. We checked his phone—no outgoing calls. It's not him."

"Then who?"

Andrew shook his head. "I don't know. But someone is feeding Sterling information. They knew we were low on ammo. Knew our patrol schedules. Knew the weak points in our defenses."

Leah walked over, tablet in hand. "I've been running logs. Cross-referencing everyone who had access to our plans. There's one person I can't account for."

"Who?"

"Zoe."

Jayden stared at her. "Zoe is in Sterling's penthouse. She's been feeding us information for weeks."

"She's also the only one who knew about the supply shipment we lost last week. The only one who knew about Andrew's patrol schedule. The only one who knew when we moved Viktor to the basement."

"Zoe wouldn't betray us."

Leah's expression didn't change. "You said yourself you didn't trust her."

"That was before. She's proven herself."

"Has she?" Andrew stood up, wincing. "Think about it, Jayden. Every time we've been hit, Zoe had advanced warning. Every time Sterling has escaped, Zoe was the one who told us where he'd be. What if she's been leading us into traps?"

Jayden's mind raced. The coffee shop meeting. The information about the culling. The warnings that came just late enough.

It fit.

But so did a dozen other explanations.

"We need proof," Jayden said. "Before we accuse her."

Leah nodded. "I've already started. I planted a program on her phone. It's recording everything. If she's talking to Sterling, we'll know."

"When?"

"Give it twenty-four hours."

---

Jayden went to the basement.

Viktor sat in his corner, chains clinking when he moved. Sera was in the adjacent storage room, door locked, guard posted.

Viktor looked up. "You survived Krovograd."

"Barely."

"The council won't stop. They'll keep sending hunters until you're dead or you kill them all."

"Then I'll kill them all."

Viktor smiled. "You sound like me."

"I'm nothing like you."

"No. You're worse. Because you think you're doing the right thing." Viktor leaned back. "I killed for money. For power. For survival. You kill because you can't stop. The Trial won't let you."

Jayden didn't answer.

He walked to the storage room, unlocked the door, and stepped inside.

Sera sat on the floor, wrists bound, ankles chained. She looked up when he entered.

"The council put a bounty on you," she said. "Everyone in Krovograd is hunting."

"I know."

"You should have stayed in Veridian City."

"I should have done a lot of things." He crouched in front of her. "You said you wanted the council dead. Help me."

"How?"

"Tell me their weaknesses. Their systems. Their routines."

Sera studied him. "And if I do, you'll let me go?"

"When the council is dead, yes."

She was silent for a long moment. Then she nodded.

"The council has five members. Gregor Volkov—Iron Fist. He's the strongest. His system gives him superhuman strength and durability. But he's slow. Predictable. You can outmaneuver him."

"The others?"

"Magda. She hosts the Shadow Weave. Can create darkness, move through it, blind her enemies. She's vulnerable to light. Bright flashes disorient her."

"Ivan. The Stone Skin. Bulletproof, knife-proof, immune to most physical attacks. But he's allergic to a rare compound. Silver nitrate. If you can get it into his bloodstream, his system shuts down."

"Yelena. The Mind Breaker. She can read surface thoughts, project fear, cause hallucinations. She's the most dangerous. But she can't read minds through lead. If you line a room with lead sheeting, she's blind."

"And the fifth?"

Sera's voice dropped. "The fifth is the worst. No one knows his real name. They call him the Revenant. He hosts the Soul Eater system. He can drain Essence from other hosts without killing them. He's been alive for over a hundred years, feeding on others."

"How do you kill someone who can drain your power?"

"You don't. You run."

---

Jayden left the storage room, closing the door behind him.

Viktor watched him. "She told you about the Revenant."

"Yes."

"She's right. You can't kill him. No one can."

"Everyone can be killed."

"Not him. He's survived wars, plagues, the collapse of empires. He's not human anymore. He's something else."

Jayden walked to the stairs. "Then I'll find a way to make him human again."

---

Upstairs, Leah called him over.

"I found something," she said. "On Zoe's phone. A call to a number I didn't recognize. It lasted three minutes. Two hours before the attack."

"What did she say?"

"I don't know. The call was encrypted. But I traced the number. It belongs to a burner phone registered to a shell company. A company that's owned by Sterling Industries."

Jayden's chest tightened.

"Play the call," he said.

"I can't. It's encrypted."

"Then decrypt it."

"That could take days. Maybe weeks."

"We don't have weeks."

Leah looked at him. "Then what do you want to do?"

Jayden stared at the screen. Zoe's face stared back at him from a photo on her file.

"Confront her," he said. "Tonight."

---

The Sterling Tower loomed against the night sky.

Jayden stood across the street, watching the entrance. Security was tight—more guards than usual, more cameras. Sterling had learned from the warehouse attack.

But Jayden wasn't here to fight.

He pulled out his phone and called Zoe.

She answered on the second ring. "Jayden? Where are you?"

"Outside your building. I need to see you."

"Now? It's midnight. Sterling isn't here—he's still in Europe—but his people are everywhere."

"I don't care. Come down."

A pause. "Is something wrong?"

"I need to ask you something. Face to face."

Another pause. Longer this time.

"Give me ten minutes."

She hung up.

Jayden waited.

The minutes crawled by. He watched the guards, the cameras, the taxis that passed without stopping.

At 12:17, Zoe walked out of the building.

She wore a black coat over pajamas—she'd come straight from bed. Her hair was loose. Her face was pale.

She crossed the street, stopped in front of him. "What's this about?"

Jayden held up Leah's tablet. On the screen: the call log. The encrypted number. The Sterling Industries connection.

Zoe's face went white.

"Explain," Jayden said.

"It's not what you think."

"Then tell me what it is."

She looked around, saw the guards watching from the building entrance. "Not here. Somewhere private."

"There's nowhere private in this city. Talk now."

Zoe's jaw tightened. "I'm not betraying you. I'm protecting you."

"By calling Sterling's people?"

"By calling people who work for Sterling but answer to me." She grabbed his arm. "I have assets inside his organization. People I've turned. People who feed me information about his movements. The call you saw—that was me checking in with one of them."

"Why didn't you tell me?"

"Because you wouldn't have believed me. You barely trust me as it is."

Jayden studied her face. The fear in her eyes was real. But so was the calculation.

"Prove it," he said.

"How?"

"Give me the name of one of your assets. I'll verify it myself."

Zoe shook her head. "If I give you a name, and that person is discovered, they're dead. Their family is dead. I can't risk that."

"Then give me something else."

She thought for a moment. Then she pulled out her phone, scrolled through messages, and showed him a text.

*"Sterling returns tomorrow night. Private jet. Landing at Northair Terminal. Security: six men. No system hosts."*

"This came in an hour ago," Zoe said. "Sterling is coming back. Alone, except for his guards. If you want to finish this, tomorrow night is your chance."

Jayden read the message three times.

"Tomorrow night," he repeated.

"Tomorrow night. I'll send you the exact time when I have it."

He handed back her phone. "If this is a trap—"

"It's not. I want him dead as much as you do."

She turned and walked back toward the tower.

Jayden watched her go.

The Crimson Trial pulsed.

**[NEW INFORMATION: STERLING RETURNING TO VERIDIAN CITY]**

**[SOURCE: ZOE – VERIFICATION REQUIRED]**

**[RECOMMENDED: INDEPENDENT CONFIRMATION]**

He pulled out his own phone and texted Leah: *"Check Northair Terminal flight logs. See if Sterling has a private jet arriving tomorrow night."*

Leah's response came in seconds: *"Already on it."*

Jayden walked away from the tower.

Tomorrow night.

One way or another, this ended tomorrow night.