The mission had been perfect.

  At least, that’s what Sergeant Daniel Hayes thought in the final moments of his life.

  The operation had taken months to prepare. Intelligence briefings, satellite scans, infiltration routes, contingency plans—everything had been calculated down to the smallest detail.

  A remote mountain compound somewhere in Eastern Europe. Officially, it didn’t exist. Unofficially, it was a black-site weapons lab run by a paramilitary group that had been making the wrong kind of deals with the wrong kind of people.

  Hayes and his team were sent to erase it.

  Six men.

  All ghosts.

  They moved through the darkness like shadows, suppressed rifles whispering death. The guards never saw them coming. The perimeter collapsed silently. Cameras were disabled. Communications were jammed.

  Inside the compound, the firefight lasted less than three minutes.

  Efficient. Surgical.

  Exactly the way it was supposed to be.

  Hayes planted the final explosive charge near the central server room. Data wiped. Infrastructure destroyed. Mission complete.

  “Package delivered,” he whispered into the radio.

  “Copy that,” command replied.

  Extraction helicopter inbound.

  Everything was perfect.

  Until it wasn’t.

  The first explosion didn’t come from their charges.

  It came from beneath them.

  The ground shook violently. Hayes barely had time to turn before the corridor behind them erupted in fire and metal.

  “AMBUSH!” someone shouted.

  Too late.

  The enemy had known.

  Automatic gunfire tore through the hallway. Bullets slammed into the concrete walls. One of Hayes’ men dropped instantly.

  Another grenade bounced across the floor.

  Hayes reacted on instinct.

  “MOVE!”

  He grabbed one of his teammates and shoved him behind cover just as the grenade detonated.

  The blast hit like a truck.

  His ears rang.

  Smoke filled the corridor.

  Shapes moved through the haze.

  Enemies.

  More than expected.

  A lot more.

  The firefight turned chaotic.

  Hayes fired controlled bursts, dropping two targets. Rolled behind a metal cabinet. Reloaded.

  But they were surrounded.

  The extraction bird was still ten minutes out.

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  Ten minutes they didn’t have.

  Another explosion.

  Another man down.

  Hayes glanced across the corridor.

  His team—some of the best soldiers in the world—were being overwhelmed.

  The realization came quietly.

  This was the end.

  He exhaled slowly.

  No panic.

  No fear.

  Just cold acceptance.

  Soldiers like him always knew how their story might end.

  He checked the magazine.

  Five rounds left.

  Enough.

  The last thing Hayes saw was a flash of light.

  Then—

  Darkness.

  The first thing he noticed was the smell.

  Earth.

  Wet soil. Moss. Leaves.

  Not smoke.

  Not burning metal.

  Hayes’ eyes snapped open.

  He inhaled sharply and sat up.

  For a moment, his mind refused to process what he was seeing.

  Trees.

  Tall ones.

  Their branches formed a thick green canopy above him.

  Sunlight filtered through the leaves, dancing across the forest floor.

  Birds chirped somewhere in the distance.

  Hayes blinked.

  Once.

  Twice.

  “…What?”

  His voice sounded hoarse.

  He looked down.

  His body was completely naked.

  No uniform.

  No gear.

  No rifle.

  No wounds.

  Hayes immediately scanned his surroundings.

  Instinct.

  Training.

  The forest stretched in every direction. Dense. Untouched. Wild.

  No buildings.

  No roads.

  No signs of civilization.

  His heart rate began to increase.

  He stood slowly.

  His muscles felt… fine.

  No injuries.

  No burns.

  No bullet wounds.

  But that was impossible.

  The last thing he remembered was dying in a collapsing corridor.

  Hayes rubbed his face.

  “Okay… either I’m hallucinating,” he muttered, “or I’m dead.”

  Neither explanation made sense.

  He crouched and picked up a stick.

  Weight. Texture.

  Real.

  Not a dream.

  His brain tried to assemble the pieces.

  Explosion.

  Gunfire.

  Death.

  Forest.

  None of it fit.

  A sound interrupted his thoughts.

  Metal.

  Clashing metal.

  Hayes froze instantly.

  Voices followed.

  Shouting.

  Multiple people.

  Somewhere ahead.

  His body moved before his mind finished processing.

  He lowered his stance and began moving silently through the trees.

  Every step was careful.

  Measured.

  Silent.

  Within a minute, the forest began to thin.

  Hayes crouched behind a large rock and slowly peeked forward.

  What he saw made his brain stop.

  About fifty meters away, a group of men were fighting something.

  They wore armor.

  Real armor.

  Steel helmets. Shields. Swords.

  Like medieval soldiers.

  Hayes frowned.

  “What the hell…”

  Then he saw the creature.

  It was enormous.

  Easily the size of a truck.

  Four thick legs supported a massive body covered in dark, stone-like skin.

  Its head resembled something between a rhino and a lizard.

  And it was angry.

  Very angry.

  The creature charged.

  One of the armored men raised his shield.

  The impact shattered it instantly.

  The man flew through the air like a rag doll.

  He didn’t get back up.

  Hayes stared.

  His soldier instincts immediately kicked in.

  Observe.

  Analyze.

  Adapt.

  There were about twelve men.

  Now maybe eight.

  They moved like trained fighters, surrounding the beast and striking whenever they could.

  Swords bounced off its hide.

  Sparks flew.

  One spear managed to pierce a softer joint near the leg.

  The creature roared.

  The sound shook the trees.

  Hayes’ brain raced.

  Size.

  Speed.

  Behavior.

  The thing moved like a tank.

  Heavy.

  But not slow.

  Another man died.

  Crushed beneath a massive claw.

  The survivors fought desperately.

  But Hayes could already see the outcome.

  They were losing.

  Badly.

  The beast slammed its tail into two soldiers, sending them crashing into the ground.

  One didn’t move again.

  The other screamed.

  Then the creature bit down.

  Silence followed.

  Only three men remained.

  One tried to run.

  The beast caught him in seconds.

  The final two fought until the very end.

  It didn’t matter.

  Within minutes, they were all dead.

  The forest grew quiet again.

  The creature stood among the bodies.

  Breathing heavily.

  Blood—both human and its own—covered the ground.

  Then it began to eat.

  Hayes felt his stomach tighten.

  He didn’t move.

  Didn’t breathe.

  Minutes passed.

  Finally, the beast finished and slowly wandered back into the forest.

  Branches snapped in the distance as it disappeared.

  Only then did Hayes allow himself to move.

  He remained crouched for another thirty seconds.

  Listening.

  Scanning.

  Nothing.

  Slowly, carefully, he approached the battlefield.

  The bodies lay scattered across the clearing.

  Up close, the armor looked real.

  Heavy steel.

  Hand-forged.

  The weapons were crude but functional.

  Swords.

  Spears.

  Axes.

  Hayes knelt beside one of the fallen soldiers.

  The man’s face was young.

  Too young.

  Hayes removed the sword from the corpse’s grip.

  He weighed it in his hand.

  Balance.

  Edge.

  Functional.

  Not decorative.

  His eyes scanned the forest.

  Somewhere out there…

  That thing was still alive.

  Hayes tightened his grip on the sword.

  His voice came out quietly.

  “…Okay.”

  He looked at the dead soldiers around him.

  Then at the dark forest beyond.

  “Guess this is real.”

  The wind rustled the leaves above him.

  And Sergeant Daniel Hayes—who should have died in a collapsing corridor thousands of miles away—stood alone in a world that made absolutely no sense.