Page 1 of Shadow of Misty Mountain

PROLOGUE

TRAVIS

Somewhere in the Hindu Kush Mountains

Five Years Ago

The snow is falling sideways. Wind screaming like it’s got a vendetta. But I hear the footfalls. Crunch, crunch, stop. Then again. Crunch, crunch, stop. He’s circling.

“Three clicks west, high ridge,” I murmur into the comm, my voice low, calm. “Target’s hunting. He’s smart. He knows we’re here.”

“No eyes yet,” comes Hammer’s voice. Steady, but clipped. “Visibility’s shit.”

I scan through the scope. Snow blinds everything except the red blinking on my HUD—heat signal, far edge of the cliff. There. He’s prone. Sniper.

I don’t hesitate.

Bang.

“Shadow, what the?—?”

“Sniper’s down.” I lower my rifle, shift my weight behind the rock. “They’re boxing us in. Move. Now.”

“I thought command said they wouldn't be in position for another hour—” Viper starts, but I cut him off.

“Command was wrong. Or lying.”

That earns silence. It’s not the first time in the last month that what we've been told doesn't match boots-on-the-ground reality.

“Shadow, extraction?” Reese asks.

“Still ten out. Hold your ground. Push east, then drop. We’ll cut down to the ravine, regroup at marker Bravo-Four.”

“We going silent?”

“We go dark,” I confirm. “Now.”

I’m up and moving before they answer. My boots grip the icy rock like they were born for it. My mind shifts into that space where there’s no past, no future. Just the now. Just the mission.

A flash of movement.

Gunfire rips through the whiteout—sharp, controlled bursts. I duck and roll behind a tree trunk thick with frost, draw my sidearm. I don’t need eyes on them to know who’s been hit. The comm crackles, then dies.

“Reese?” I say, but I already know.

Gone.

Fury hits me like a blow to the gut. I push it down. Later. I’ll grieve when this is done.

I circle wide, cutting through the storm like a blade. When I reach Hammer’s position, I drop to my belly and slide beside him.

“We’ve got three incoming. One heavy, two light. Eastern arc.”

“Copy. I’ve got the flank.”

“No, I’ve got it,” I say.

He looks at me. “You’re team lead. If you go?—”

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