Where Winter Meets Summer (Rusame Countryhumans)

The Final Hour

(FVEY POV)

As soon as the winds shifted around us, I knew it was too late but I still grabbed Ukraine by the arm, ushering her back toward the archway.

Curse my recklessness. I should have guessed that this place was hiding more than it seemed.

I had been asked to do the final inspection of this place for months now but the unnamed agent kept requesting to postpone it.

"There's something more. Just give me a little more time. Please, sir," he had said every single time and I chose to trust his judgment. Look where that led him. This was definitely mislabeled as a simple recon mission and now, I had mistakenly dragged someone else in here.

'She isn't like America! She hasn't had training like he has' I mentally facepalmed before making a promise to myself. Ukraine's escape and well-being would be my priority. That was my duty as an agent and as the person who fucked up in the first place.

"There's something off about this place, otherwise, he wouldn't have gone to such lengths to stay. Let's get out of here now... – !"

I never got to finish my sentence and all the torches reignited with a 'whoomph', stopping us dead in our tracks.

We were met with the point of a blade, hovering inches from my throat that slowly bobbed up and down when I swallowed anxiously. The sleek, obsidian black mask of the sword bearer glimmered evilly in the hot red glow.

"Haah, damnit. Damn all of this," I grumbled as I backed up slowly, making sure to hide the country behind my cloak. "I wasn't expecting you to be so gracious and throw an after-hour party for us."

The swordsperson scowled at my snarky remark but held steady. They were clearly well-trained and refused to give me any openings, lest I wanted a blade through my throat.

"Don't move. Don't make me hurt you too."

A shudder ran through Ukraine's body as she halted to a stop and I scowled. Nothing was going past them.

"Come out to where I can see you."

She complied but stepped in to block her, "Don't even think about touching her."

Their hooded eyes narrowed but did nothing else to threaten us.

"You two seem to be in a hurry," the other's ear-assaulting voice growled from somewhere to the side as their partner's stance shifted to the side. They looked amused as they hopped across the platforms and folded their arms. "Let's talk a bit, why don't we? I haven't had an interesting conversation in so long."

They prodded the dead body in the bag, "This one was so boring; he slumped over and died the moment he was cornered. I hope you're different."

The way they disrespected the dead made me tick. I held my comrade away and sneered which drove them back a bit. The bulky one scowled at the slight but the other one seemed pretty relaxed at the moment which made me wonder; were they cocky just because of the hidden soldiers they had lined up in the shadows or was there something I was still missing?

"Why so hostile, agent?" they crooned with their ever-shifting voice. It was starting to piss me off. "Or have you finally realized the gravity of the mess you got yourselves into?"

They pointed toward the shard of the Conduct that I held in my hand and I flinched.

"Why don't you go ahead and listen to that message? Your comrade died to record it after all," they snickered softly, hidden eyes glistening with anticipation. "It might clear some things up for you."