The gray sky hung heavily above the border intelligence headquarters, as if sharing the silence of the massive stone building that watched the capital from afar.
Dozens of security vehicles lined the perimeter, while military ambulances stood ready at the gate.
The car door flew open violently.
SOLIMON stepped out, carrying MESNAS in his arms. Sweat covered his forehead despite the freezing air.
"A DOCTOR! WE NEED A DOCTOR NOW!" SOLIMON shouted hoarsely.
Intelligence officers rushed toward them with a stretcher.
SOLIMON laid MESNAS down, yet his hand remained gripping his arm for several seconds— as if sheer will could keep his friend awake.
"Hold on, MESNAS… we're here… don't close your eyes."
ODEL, repeating in panic:
"He's lost too much blood… far too much…"
LOUVNA stepped out of the car unsteadily.
Her hands trembled, her royal garments torn and covered in dust.
She stood staring at the headquarters as if facing an impenetrable wall.
MONA rushed to help her, but LOUVNA pulled her hand away— without a word.
LOUVNA's face was pale, her eyes swollen.
Everything about her screamed finished.
SHOUTNA appeared at the entrance of the headquarters, his face rigid, hands clasped behind his back like a commander ready to receive a report.
That was when SOLIMON exploded.
He didn't wait. He didn't breathe. He shouted with a fury he had never directed at his commander before:
"How could you allow us to retreat?!"
Every movement stopped.
Even the doctors.
Even the intelligence officers.
LOUVNA slowly lifted her head.
SHOUTNA remained still, his silence sharp as a blade.
SOLIMON continued advancing, his steps burning with anger:
"MESNAS almost died! MONA was seconds from death! ZARIOUH is unconscious! And MOHITO—!"
His voice broke at MOHITO's name, as if something crushed his throat.
"MOHITO is fighting alone… because of your decision."
SHOUTNA inhaled slowly and replied with lethal military coldness:
"That was the correct choice."
SOLIMON slammed his fist into the wall. The window glass shook.
"Correct for you! But for us— we left MOHITO in hell!"
ODEL shouted as well:
"MOHITO saved all of us! How can you ask us to abandon him?!"
MONA stepped forward, her voice low but filled with raw anger:
"You're intelligence officers… but you understand nothing about bonds."
SHOUTNA's expression didn't change. He merely said:
"The retreat decision saved the princess's life. And that outweighs everything."
For the first time—
LOUVNA exploded.
She stepped forward slowly, each step heavy, as if she were walking over the wreckage of her own heart.
She stopped directly in front of SHOUTNA. Her eyes were completely red, tears threatening to fall.
"Don't you dare…" she said, her voice breaking,
"Don't you dare…use me as an excuse."
"Don't say my life is more important than theirs… or than his."
SHOUTNA tried to respond, but LOUVNA raised her hand to stop him.
"I was ready to die there. I didn't run."
A tear fell. Then another.
"But you… fled on my behalf."
SOLIMON tried to step closer to calm her, but she continued, no longer hearing anyone:
"All my life… I was a princess… in title only."
She looked down. A heavy sigh— then:
"But today… I realized I am nothing but a burden."
"I don't want to be a princess anymore."
Silence fell.
A silence that felt like death.
LOUVNA lifted her head, a final decision burning in her eyes:
"I… renounce my title as Princess of SPIYA."
Then she continued, her voice low— but fired like a bullet:
"The princess died on that mountain."
She turned and walked away slowly.
Every person in the corridor looked away, as if witnessing the fall of a crown.
MONA followed her.
ODEL and SOLIMON stared at SHOUTNA in silence.
And SHOUTNA stood alone in the corridor, shadows covering half his face.
*******************************
Night had tightened its grip around the mountains.
The cold gnawed at the air like a beast breathing between the rocks.
Above the military base, security helicopters circled like black birds guarding a secret greater than the war itself.
Inside the headquarters, the members of the SHADOW gathered in the main hall.
MESNAS was in intensive care, fighting blood loss.
ZARIOUH sat nearby, anger charging his eyes as he blamed himself.
MIZYANI approached him.
"You shouldn't blame yourself like this."
ZARIOUH clasped his hands, staring at the floor:
"Because of my recklessness, MESNAS is suffering this injury…
And we don't even know what happened to MOHITO."
ADEL rushed in, his face pale, a laptop clutched in his hands.
"These are the images captured by SIGMA and BETA."
The screen lit up— showing the place where they had left MOHITO.
The scene was unbelievable:
Blood was scattered across the rocks.
Signs of a battle no single human could have caused.
Cracks in the ground.
Shattered stones.
And most importantly—
A large pool of dark, blackened crimson blood at the center.
ADEL said, his voice trembling:
"According to the analysis… part of the blood belongs to MOHITO."
SOLIMON's eyes widened.
"That's impossible…" he whispered.
Suddenly, TAHARA and AYOUB entered with the twins, MASIN and YASIN.
TAHARA spoke in despair:
"There's no trace of MOHITO anywhere."
MASIN added:
"We scanned the entire perimeter. Nothing."
Everyone stared at the screen.
Everyone thought the same thing:
"MOHITO… was captured."
Before anyone could say it aloud, SHOUTNA's calm— deadly— voice cut through the room:
"There is no evidence of his capture."
All heads turned toward him.
SOLIMON snapped:
"What are you saying?! The entire place is destroyed! The blood—"
SHOUTNA cut him off, icy calm:
"MOHITO… does not get captured."
The sentence struck like lightning.
AYOUB shouted:
"Then where is he?!"
TAHARA:
"How can you say that when we don't even know if he's alive?!"
ZARIOUH, crushed by guilt:
"Say something! Say… that he's alive!"
But SHOUTNA didn't answer.
No panic.
No concern.
As if he knew something…
But refused to say it.
Not yet.
SHOUTNA stepped forward and tapped the table.
"The conclusion is the same."
Silence.
"MOHITO has disappeared."
The blow fell like a hammer onto their hearts.
SOLIMON slammed the table:
"Then we search for him! We launch a rescue operation!"
ZARIOUH:
"I'm ready to go now! I don't need anyone!"
But—
SHOUTNA raised his hand.
The words froze in the air.
"There will be no rescue operation."
The world seemed to stop.
SOLIMON screamed:
"Have you lost your mind?!"
MIZYANI, silent until now:
"This is madness!"
SHOUTNA walked to the center of the hall, hands behind his back.
His voice was low— but carried an authority that could not be challenged:
"The original mission has not changed."
He looked at them all.
A heavy gaze.
"Secure the princess… and complete the peace conference."
SOLIMON shouted:
"MOHITO is facing death!"
SHOUTNA answered with a sentence that crushed every objection:
"MOHITO… chose that."
Silence fell.
Because it was the truth.
No matter how cruel.
No matter how unfair.
No matter how painful.
SHOUTNA continued:
"He told you to leave. He sacrificed himself to keep the path open.
He wanted to see LOUVNA in her rightful place… in her true position."
ODEL and MONA's eyes widened as they watched from the back.
SHOUTNA stepped back, then suddenly raised his voice with force— strong enough that even the guards outside turned:
"He made that decision fully confident… absolutely confident that we would continue the mission."
His words struck the table like burning steel.
Then, in a firm military tone:
"We will not allow his sacrifice to be in vain."
Faces darkened.
But no one found the strength to argue.
They knew this world well—
A world that does not reward the kind.
Does not wait for the hesitant.
A world where good does not guarantee survival—
Only endurance does.
SHOUTNA lowered his voice, but it became even stronger:
"Tomorrow we move. We will escort the princess to the conference… no matter the cost."
Though everyone stood on the edge of protest—
Not a single word was spoken.
Not because they agreed.
But because they knew the only alternative…Was betraying MOHITO's blood.
A heavy silence followed, broken by MONA's worried voice:
"But… LOUVNA…"
She took a short breath, gathering her courage:
"She locked herself in her room… and it doesn't seem like she'll reconsider."
This time, all eyes turned toward SHOUTNA.
For the first time since entering, something resembling fatigue appeared in his eyes— a mix of responsibility and burden.
He stepped toward the table, placed his hands on it slowly, and said in a low, deep, unwavering voice:
"I will handle it."