A Throne in Chains

Chapter Twenty Three - Fragile Truths

Jade's heart clenched. "I already told you. He's coming with us."

Soap shifted in his seat. "You sure that's a good idea? He barely knows which side of himself to trust."

Jade's jaw tightened. "Then we give him a side to trust."

Ghost exhaled sharply. "And if he turns on us again?"

Jade met his stare, her voice steel. "Then I'll handle it."

The room fell into a heavy silence. No one argued, but the doubt hung thick in the air.

Jade's hands curled into fists, her words breaking the silence.. "If they were experimenting on people, we need to assume some of them didn't stay human. If there's even a chance that more like Alex are out there..."

Ghost nodded. "Then we contain the threat before it spreads."

Silence hung for a moment, thick and heavy. No one wanted to say what they were really thinking—

That if they failed, this wasn't just another battle. This was the start of something worse.

"Wheels up in one hour," Price ordered. "Get ready. We don't know what we're walking into."

An hour later, they were airborne, their transport slicing through the night sky toward a location pulled from Alex's fractured memory. A facility, hidden deep within an abandoned stretch of frozen wilderness. It wasn't just another base—it was a prison.

The Void hadn't just taken people.

It had kept them.

Alex sat across from Jade in the cargo hold, his wrists loosely bound with restraints. Not because he was a prisoner, but because none of them—not even him—fully trusted what he was anymore.

"You don't have to do this," Alex muttered, voice barely audible over the hum of the engines.

Jade didn't blink. "Yes, I do."

He scoffed, leaning back against the cold metal wall. "You really think I'm worth it? After everything?"

Jade inhaled deeply, the white fire inside her burning, steady and unrelenting. "I think we don't get to walk away from the people we care about just because it's hard."

Alex stared at her for a long moment, something unspoken flickering across his expression. Then, finally, he nodded.

For now, it was enough.

Into the Maw

The moment they hit the ground, the cold bit into their skin. The facility loomed ahead, half-buried in ice and long abandoned—at least, on the surface.

"Stack up," Price ordered, signaling toward the entrance. "We go in quiet. No unnecessary risks."

They moved with precision, sweeping through the darkened corridors. The deeper they went, the more the air felt wrong. The walls were lined with containment units, most empty, but some... weren't.

Jade stopped in front of one, her pulse spiking as she peered through the reinforced glass.

Inside, a figure twitched unnaturally, its limbs contorted, eyes glowing with the same haunting fire Alex's once had. But there was nothing human left behind those eyes. Only hunger. Only Void.

"Shit..." Soap muttered under his breath. "How many of them are there?"

Alex stepped up beside Jade, his expression unreadable. "Too many."

Then, the lights flickered.

And the screaming began.

The Awakening

The containment units shattered in unison, metal and glass exploding outward as the creatures inside were set free.

Jade barely had time to react before one lunged, its body moving with impossible speed. She twisted, white fire igniting in her palms as she sent a blast straight into its chest, sending it screeching backward.

The room erupted into chaos. Shadows twisted, bodies moved unnaturally, tendrils of Void energy lashing out in every direction. The team fought with ruthless efficiency, but for every creature they put down, two more took its place.

"Fall back!" Price barked, unloading his rifle into the mass of horrors surging toward them. "We need an exit, now!"

Alex was at Jade's side in an instant, his own fire—tainted but controlled—burning through the abominations. "They weren't just keeping them here," he gritted out. "They were feeding them."

Jade's stomach twisted. "Feeding them what?"

Alex hesitated, then looked at her. "Not what—who."

A sickening realization settled over them.

This wasn't a prison.

It was a breeding ground.

And now, it had been unleashed.

No Turning Back

"We need to blow this place to hell," Ghost growled, slamming a fresh magazine into his weapon. "Now."

Jade nodded, determination solidifying in her gut. "Set the charges. We end this here."

As the team moved to rig the facility for destruction, the shadows shifted again—this time, not from the creatures.

But from something bigger.

Something watching.

Jade turned sharply, the hairs on the back of her neck rising. At the far end of the corridor, beyond the chaos, beyond the dying screams of Void-born horrors— A figure stood in the darkness.

Tall. Unmoving. Waiting. And though it had no face, no eyes to meet hers— Jade felt it looking at her.

A cold dread crawled down her spine at the realization.

The Void hadn't just let them in. It had been expecting them.