Chapter 29: The First Order
The alcove was a sickbay, the air thick with the smell of blood, sweat, and the faint, cloying sweetness of the Antidote's lingering magic. Eli lay unmoving on his pallet, his breathing a shallow rhythm that seemed too fragile for his large frame. Mara had done all she could, cleaning and re-bandaging the wound that was now a sealed, angry red line across his back. He was stable, but he was gone from them, a void in the center of their world.
The others sat in a stunned semicircle around the dying fire, hollow-eyed and shivering with delayed shock. The failure of the raid was a physical weight on their shoulders. They had risked everything and returned with nothing but a broken leader.
Kael stood before them. He had not shed his gear. The pry bar was still in his hand, the grime of the bank and the streets still on his clothes. He was not one of them in their shared grief. He was a tool, and he had a function to perform.
"The raid failed," he stated, his voice cutting through the silence like a shard of glass. There was no sympathy in it, no shared commiseration. It was a factual report. "Our primary objective was not achieved. We have gained zero material resources. We have lost operational capacity with Eli's incapacitation. We have consumed one irreplaceable Antidote."
He let the brutal assessment hang in the air, watching it land on their faces. He saw Anya flinch, Rik bow his head lower. They needed to hear it. They needed to understand the cost.
"However," he continued, his tone unchanged, "the secondary objective of the exercise was survival. In this, we succeeded. We have returned with all personnel. The intelligence gathered on the Slasher patrol patterns and the structural weaknesses of the bank route is valuable. The experience of coordinated retreat under fire has increased our group's survivability rating."
He was reframing their disaster into a series of data points, stripping the emotion from it, leaving only the stark, usable truth. It was cruel, but it was necessary. Grief was a luxury they could not afford.
"Eli is no longer capable of command," Kael said, his gaze sweeping over them. "Therefore, effective immediately, I am assuming operational control."
There were no objections. There were only tired, resigned looks. They had seen his mind work. They had followed him through the dark. They knew, on some fundamental level, that he was their only chance.
"Your rest period is over," he announced. "We are on a war footing. Our position is compromised. The Slashers know our scent. Lysandra's faction knows we are active. We can no longer afford to be passive."
He began issuing orders, his voice flat and precise.
"Rik. Your primary duty is guard rotation at the alcove entrance. Secondary duty: strength training. You are our frontline. You must become stronger. You will begin a regimen of isometric exercises using the rubble in the east tunnel. Report to me at dawn for your first session."
Rik looked up, startled, then gave a slow, grim nod. "Yes, sir."
"Anya. Your scouting radius is now limited to the immediate perimeter of the subway entrance. I need a detailed log of all patrol movements—monster and human. You will also begin training Leyton in basic stealth and reconnaissance. His performance was unacceptable. You will make him acceptable."
Anya's jaw tightened, but she met his gaze. "Understood."
"Leyton." Kael's voice held no reproach, only expectation. "You will obey Anya without question. You will learn. Your survival, and ours, depends on it."
Leyton, who had been trying to make himself small in the corner, straightened up. "I will. I promise."
"Mara. You are now Head of Logistics and Medicine. You will inventory every scrap of food, every drop of water, every bandage. You will create a rationing plan based on a seven-day siege. You will also begin training Jonas in basic first aid. We need more than one medic."
Mara, who had been stroking Eli's forehead, looked up, her eyes red-rimmed but clear. She nodded silently.
"Jonas," Kael finished, his eyes landing on the boy. "You are no longer a patient. You are an apprentice. You will assist Mara. You will run messages. You will learn to fight. Your debt is paid by your service. Do you understand?"
Jonas stood up. He was still thin, but his back was straight. "I understand."
Kael looked at them, this small, battered group he now commanded. "Our immediate goal is not expansion. It is consolidation. We fortify. We train. We gather intelligence. We become too hard a target to break. The core is our heart. We will protect it."
He paused, letting his final words sink in.
"Dismissed."
For a moment, no one moved. Then, one by one, they did. Rik stood and walked to the entrance, peering out into the tunnel with a new sense of purpose. Anya pulled Leyton aside and began speaking to him in a low, intense voice. Mara started sorting through their supply crates, Jonas at her elbow.
Kael turned and walked to the edge of the firelight, looking out into the dark tunnel that led to the core. The burden was his. The ledger was his to balance. He had taken a group of survivors and turned them into a militia. It was the only path he saw forward.
The first order had been given. The Aegis Protocol was now in full effect.