⭐️ Eternal Shadow 🌙 Damian wayne ~~~~complete

Chapter 30: The Raid Plan

Jaime grinned. "I give it five minutes."

Mars gave a small huff of a laugh.

"Let's move out," Dick ordered.

The hatch opened, night air rushing in, carrying the distant chant of Ra's followers - low, ominous, ancient words scraping against the edges of Mars' mind.

A flicker of unease shivered down her spine.

She swallowed it.

One last look at the people she fought beside - her broken, reckless, stubborn, beautiful mess of a family - and then she was moving.

Into the dark.

The team split at the base of the mountain. Raven's shadowy veil slipped over Gar and Jaime, muting their figures like ghosts as they darted toward the western perimeter. Kory and Dick vanished into the underbrush, leaving only Mars and Damian behind in the thick, damp air.

The east flank was worse than Mars expected. Dense roots tangled through ancient stone, thorned vines weaving themselves like the mountain had tried to reclaim the place.

"There," Damian said, pointing to a narrow, weather-worn crack in the stone wall partially hidden by overgrown ivy.

Mars crouched beside him, her fingertips brushing the stones. Cold. Ancient. And humming faintly beneath the surface - a magic far older than her shadows. She felt it in her teeth, that low vibration of old power.

"Is this it?" she asked quietly.

Damian pulled a small device from his belt, scanning the entrance. The display flickered, symbols spiking in strange, sharp patterns.

"It's a back channel. One of the old escape tunnels Ra's used during sieges," he confirmed, his voice barely above a whisper. "It'll be heavily trapped. Stay sharp."

"When am I not?" Mars muttered, though her heart rate ticked up.

Damian smirked. "Fair point."

They pressed forward.

The tunnel was tight, cut from rough stone, the scent of old earth thick and clinging. Mars' shadows curled at the edges of the passage, tasting the air ahead. She let them slither over the ceiling, searching for wires, pressure plates, or worse.

A faint glyph flickered to life under her boot. Mars barely had time to react before Damian yanked her back against his chest as a spear jutted from the wall inches from her face.

Her breath caught.

"Told you," he whispered, lips close to her ear.

Mars scowled, shoving him lightly as the spear retracted.

"Next time, I'm letting you take point," she muttered, heat blooming in her cheeks.

"I look forward to it."

They crept deeper. The path sloped down, leading into a chamber that opened wide - a hidden courtyard long-forgotten, where broken statues lined the walls and vines wrapped around stone columns.

And there, across the space, a pair of figures patrolled lazily - Ra's men.

Mars tugged Damian down behind a half-collapsed arch.

"We taking them out quiet?" she whispered.

Damian gave a sharp nod. "I'll take left. You get the right."

Mars let her shadows slip forward, the familiar coolness rushing through her veins as the darkness obeyed. She waited for Damian's signal - a small flick of his wrist - and then they moved.