The wind tore through the trees like knives. Cold. White. Silent.
Kaiden hated snow. It sank into the joints of his prosthetics, made every movement stiff, loud, exposed. He trudged through it regardless, his squad following several paces behind. None of them spoke. Not out of discipline. Out of distrust.
The mission was simple on paper: locate and eliminate a rebel cell hiding near the ruins of an old summoning field. The same location, Kaiden noted bitterly, that had once glowed with wild leyline energy. Now, it was a half-frozen scar on the edge of demon-controlled territory.
His command sigil had pulsed once before departure: "Cleanse all life. No exceptions."
They didn't even bother pretending anymore.
He glanced back at his squad. Five of them. All new. All watching his back like it was more of a target than a shield. The tracker, Sylen, kept his eyes on the trees. The others, Kaiden barely remembered their names. They didn't care to know his.
By midday, they reached the edge of the ruins.
Twisted arches stood like bones, buried in snow. Something shimmered faintly beneath the frost—half-buried runes, still whispering magic.
Kaiden stepped closer.
And the world blinked.
Suddenly, he was back on Earth.
Fluorescent lights. Cold tile. A train rushing past. His manager's face twisted in fear. And then—
He stumbled, catching himself on a ruined pillar.
"Commander?" Sylen asked quietly.
Kaiden shook his head. "Just the cold."
But it wasn't. The magic here… it remembered. Or maybe he remembered through it.
They found the rebels in a collapsed temple, huddled near a half-dead fire. Only a few were armed. Most looked half-starved. Two had children. One limped forward with a cane and tried to raise a rusted blade.
Kaiden didn't move. His mechanical eye zoomed in. None of them were threats.
And yet, the sigil in his coat pulsed again: "Cleanse. No exceptions."
The tracker looked at him. "Orders?"
Kaiden stared at the rebels.
One of them—an older woman—met his gaze. No fear. Just resignation.
"Do it," one of the squad whispered. Not to Kaiden. To himself.
Kaiden stepped forward.
"I'll handle it alone," he said.
Sylen frowned. "Protocol says—"
"Protocol doesn't matter," Kaiden said flatly. "This is a leadership test, right? Then let me lead."
The squad fell silent. Watching. Judging. Maybe hoping he'd fail.
Kaiden walked into the temple. The rebels backed away, clutching whatever scraps they could find. One of the children started crying.
Kaiden's eyes scanned each one. He looked down at the sigil on his arm. It burned now.
He turned it off. Just for a second. Just long enough to think.
"If I kill them, I'm a monster. If I don't, I'm disobedient."
"If I hesitate, I'm weak. If I obey, I'm theirs."
He raised his voice.
"Anyone who can't walk, stay down. Anyone who can… leave. Now."
They stared.
"I said MOVE."
The woman grabbed the child and ran. Others followed. A few didn't. A few couldn't. Kaiden didn't look at them.
Outside, the snow soaked up their hurried footprints as they disappeared into the trees, never once looking back. Kaiden watched until the last shape vanished into the forest fog. He didn't follow. He didn't signal the squad. If they survived the cold, they'd live as ghosts—silent proof of his defiance. If they died, no one would know but the snow. He made no record of them. No names. No faces. Only absence.
He walked to those who remained.
Two lay still, too weak to run. Another, an old man, tried to crawl toward a doorway.
Kaiden knelt beside him. "You can't stay here," he muttered, almost gently.
Then he took out his blade and made it quick.
No screams. No witnesses. No cruelty.
Just silence.
Behind him, the snow turned darker.
When he emerged from the temple, his coat was blood-spattered at the hem.
"They're gone," he said. "Mission complete."
Sylen looked past him. "But the bodies—"
Kaiden's voice cut through the cold: "Enough."
The sigil glowed again. This time, it didn't burn. It pulsed in approval.
So they were watching.
Kaiden didn't speak the rest of the way back. Neither did the squad.
But that night, while the others slept, Sylen sat awake, staring at Kaiden's tent.
Not in fear.
In calculation.