VLADIMIR POV
The night’s chill bit at my skin as I fled through the dense forest, the crunch of dead leaves beneath my boots masking the sound of my labored breaths. The moon, full and luminous, mocked me from above. Her light spilled through the canopy like the sneer of a silent enemy.
They had ruined everything.
I leapt over a fallen log, my muscles burning from the exertion. My body screamed at me to stop, to rest, but I couldn’t afford the luxury of weakness. Not now. Not when my enemies had already proven they were more relentless than I had anticipated.
My hand shot out to grip a low-hanging branch for balance, but I miscalculated. A sharp splinter jabbed into my palm, and I hissed, more out of frustration than pain. Blood welled from the wound, dripping onto the forest floor, b
