Chapter 13: Under the Forest Floor
295 Words
The night air was dense with fog and the hum of crickets. Daine and Mira crouched low behind a mossy ridge, eyes scanning the perimeter.
Three guards patrolled ahead casual in posture, but alert beneath the surface.
“No one near the burial site,” Mira murmured. “But too close for what we’re about to do.”
Daine’s voice was calm. “Quick, quiet. No mess.”
They split. Mira swept wide to the left; Daine flanked the right. In moments, the stillness shattered a sharp grunt, a struggle muffled in the dark.
It wasn’t without effort. Mira’s sleeve tore from a grazing blade, Daine’s cheek bore a red mark from a fist. But within minutes, the guards were on the ground, restrained and groaning softly, bound with cord near a tree trunk.
“These aren’t local patrol,” Mira noted, checking one’s gear. “They’re trained.”
Daine nodded once. “Let’s get to it.”
They moved to a nearby cluster of fern and rock. Mira paused, squinting. The ground was slightly disturbed.
“Here.”
They dug fast but cautiously. The earth gave way to compact layers. Eventually, Daine’s gloved hand hit something dense. Together, they cleared the soil—and froze.
A decomposed body. Old, but still bearing the fragments of identity.
“Uniform grade trousers,” Daine muttered. “Official boots. And… a plain civilian tee.”
Mira crouched closer. “This was one of ours.”
They worked quickly taking photographs, recording a voice log, collecting any visible tags or fragments. The belt loop had a faded insignia, nearly erased by time.
Once the documentation was complete, they carefully reburied the body, smoothing the ground to its former state.
“We take the guards,” Mira said quietly
- Writer
