Narrator: MOHITO
I walked out of the café with steady steps.
Night was about to fall.
I didn't think…
I didn't allow myself to think.
The phone was still in my hand.
One message only:
"Come to the factory."
When I arrived at the factory, the atmosphere wasn't as usual.
Fewer people were present.
"You've come," said SHOUTNA in his composed voice.
"What's wrong? Where are the others?" I asked as I looked around.
"We have a special mission," SHOUTNA replied briefly.
I moved to stand beside ZARYOUH and MIZIANI, while ADEL was immersed in his laptop.
"We're going to assassinate one of the leaders of the War Front in the south," ADEL announced without lifting his eyes from the screen.
"So it's a mission from the Kingdom," ZARYOUH concluded.
"Exactly. The Front has begun to move against the Kingdom under AMMAR's command," SHOUTNA confirmed.
"This AMMAR… is he really someone who deserves to die?" MIZIANI asked in a quiet voice tinged with hesitation.
SHOUTNA paused, then answered with a tone carrying the weight of the decision:
"Based on his background—no.
But some missions go beyond the question of 'deserving.'
When the fate of one man is tied to the fate of thousands, the equation changes."
Then he turned his face toward all of us:
"This Kingdom suffers from a deep divide.
One class lives in luxury and extravagance, and the other fights for a piece of bread.
And the king is desperately trying to unify what's broken."
He stopped for a moment, staring at MIZIANI:
"The War Front is dreamers walking blind on a highway.
One wrong step is enough to doom them and everyone around them."
"In our world, the one who raises the banner of the end… is the one with a clear plan.
So, my answer to your question is clear:
if the blind man refuses to step away from the road, it becomes my duty to drag him off it."
Then he looked at each of us and asked:
"What is your decision?"
"We've always trusted your judgment, and that won't change today," MIZIANI answered calmly, and everyone nodded.
The word "agreement" settled between us—like a condemnation, or a vow.
I stood there, stealing glances at the faces of my comrades; each carried a long story in his eyes, and each held a difficult decision beneath their skin.
The mission wasn't just a killing; it was a small coup in the paths of entire lives.
A coldness spread through my hand where the phone rested, as if the world had grown smaller and darker than before.
Then I remembered one thing:
None of us had the luxury of making a mistake.
We stood for a moment after the vote.
The shadows coiled around us, as if they were listening.
SHOUTNA raised his hand once.
ADEL opened the map on his small screen, its glow drawing cold lines across our faces.
SHOUTNA leaned over the unfolded map, his fingers moving with the precision of a surgeon dissecting the anatomy of a battlefield.
"The plan is simple and precise," he said with a calm voice that resembled a storm gathering strength.
"This remote village is AMMAR's den. Guarded by heavily armed men and heavy weaponry. But every fortress has a weakness."
He pointed to a two-story building in the heart of the village.
"That's where the target is. We infiltrate and execute before anyone senses our presence."
ZARYOUH let out a muffled chuckle:
"When you tell it like that, it sounds like a picnic!"
"We'll split into three teams," SHOUTNA continued, his fingers gliding across the map like a conductor directing an orchestra:
"Infiltration Team: MOHITO and ZARYOUH.
Cover Team: MIZIANI and ME.
ADEL in the monitoring station."
"How do we break in?" I asked, examining the maps' fine details.
"The Kingdom has an eye inside the flock," SHOUTNA answered without looking up.
"Our spy there will open the locks and secure the path."
"Where does the target hide during the night hours?" ZARYOUH asked, unusually serious.
"He isolates himself in his office on the upper floor at midnight," SHOUTNA replied, placing his finger on the critical point.
"And reaching the south? How do we cross the border?" MIZIANI asked, worry flickering in his eyes.
"The Kingdom prepared everything," SHOUTNA answered, but the words carried a universe of secret arrangements.
"I believe the picture is clear to everyone," SHOUTNA said after scanning our faces one by one.
"We meet here tomorrow at exactly seven in the morning," he added in a tone that allowed no argument.
"What do we tell the others?" MIZIANI asked after a hesitant pause.
A short silence fell before SHOUTNA answered:
"Let me handle that."
He didn't explain the reason, but we all understood without words:
He was trying to protect them in his own way—by not letting them stain their hands with innocent blood.
ZARYOUH smiled with returning enthusiasm:
"Like the old days… It's been a while since our last mission."
We were five people in an abandoned FACTORY; five bound by a long past and a single fate.
Everything began with us, and we are intended to end it together.
Then we dispersed like ghosts, each heading in a different direction, as if the meeting had been nothing but a fleeting dream on a rainy night.
*****************************
"It's been a long day," I whispered to myself as I entered the dark, empty home.
It really had been a while since the last mission.
I opened my closet, where the bag with the electronic lock lay—
Inside, I tried to fold away from the world.
My black mask and my sword were there, silent like witnesses of an old era.
I picked them up slowly, whispering to them in a voice softer than the night's breath:
"Hello, my old friends… It's been a long time."
I stood for a moment, watching my shadow on the wall, feeling the weight of the decision tightening around my neck like a thin rope.
Then I closed the drawer.
"Tomorrow, we will go out again."
*****************************************
Early Morning — Internal Intelligence HQ, BAYADNA
Four masked individuals stood watching the helicopter being prepared for takeoff.
SHOUTNA, observed them coldly—like someone who sees every small detail without being moved by it.
Two people approached them:
"Welcome. I'm MAYNO, and this is GHAZLANE.
We're from the Kingdom's Internal Intelligence Division, and we'll accompany you on this mission," MAYNO said with a reserved smile.
"Greetings. I am SHOUTNA, leader of the Shadows, and these are:
ZERO [MOHITO],
02 [ZARYOUH],
03 [MIZIANI],
04 [ADEL]."
GHAZLANE's eyes widened with amazement.
"That's incredible… they use special codes!"
Everyone stared at her, and she turned red:
"Uh… sorry…"
"It's fine, as long as we don't hinder each other during the mission," SHOUTNA said calmly, his tone enough to dissolve any tension.
GHAZLANE pulled MAYNO aside and whispered:
"Can we actually trust them?"
MAYNO replied in a low voice:
"I heard some rumors from the higher ranks… They're the king's special weapon. They only take orders from him directly."
"That's not what I mean… Look at the weapons they're carrying. Are they going to fight tanks and machine guns with medieval blades?" she whispered, worry in her eyes.
MAYNO gave a light smile.
"Have you heard of the Superhuman Project?"
"Yes… I received some top-secret intel about it," she answered, astonishment taking over her face.
MAYNO stayed silent for a minute, watching her, until she understood:
"You don't mean… they're the ones?"
"Yes… The Kingdom received this information from them in exchange for sheltering them," he whispered.
A soldier approached MAYNO:
"Sir, the helicopter is ready."
"It's time to head to the border," MAYNO said quietly, aware of the next step.
****************************
As the helicopter lifted, I looked out the window.
The city of BAYADNA grew smaller, like a dream we leave behind.
Somewhere in its streets,
perhaps LOUVNA was preparing for her day at the institute,
and maybe she would wonder about my sudden absence.
Two parallel lives that would never intersect.
I closed my eyes for a moment.
I was no longer the student sitting at the back of the class.
I had returned to what I had always been:
A shadow serving the one who threw him into darkness.
I whispered to myself, as the sound of the rotating blades filled the air:
"We return at last… to where we belong.
Into the heart of the storm."
And from here, everything began to change.