The dinner was surprisingly quiet. A thick stew of root vegetables and tough meat sat on the table alongside a bottle of local wine. To any outsider, it looked like a normal, rustic meal, but the tension in the room was thick enough to cut with a knife. Torin barely ate, his eyes darting toward the windows every time the wind rattled the frames.

Once the meal was over, Ethan and his men retreated to their rooms. Jason met Ethan in the hallway, speaking in a low voice.

"The ground teams are on schedule. No reports of trouble from the perimeter. Everything is proceeding according to the plan, Boss," said Jason.

"Stay sharp. The air here feels like a trap waiting to spring," said Ethan.

The night deepened, and the blizzard outside began to moan. Ethan stood by his window, his eyes adjusted to the darkness. Through the swirling veil of white, he spotted a movement near the edge of the tree line. It was a young woman. She was wrapped in dark furs, moving with a frantic, jerky desperation, hiding behind crates and snow drifts as if she were being hunted by something invisible.

She looked up at the hotel, her face pale and etched with terror. She stayed there for several minutes, as if she were screaming for help with her eyes, but just as Ethan moved to open the window, she turned and bolted back into the dense forest.

"Crul, can you identify her? Is she from the village?" asked Ethan.

[I am scanning the biometric data captured from your visual feed. She does not match any of the registered inhabitants of Northfall. Her facial structure and gait are not in the local database,] said Crul.

Ethan's grip tightened on the window sill. "Can you track her?" asked Ethan.

[I am already following her heat signature through the trees. She is moving fast, heading deep into the sub-zero terrain,] said Crul.

Ethan didn't hesitate. He grabbed his tactical jacket and slipped out of his room, moving with the silent grace of a predator. He reached the ground floor and headed for the side exit.

[Warning: Two guards are patrolling the eastern perimeter. They are currently looking toward the forest entrance,] said Crul.

Ethan timed his movements perfectly, slipping through the shadows as the guards turned to check their lanterns. He cleared the village fence in a single leap and sprinted into the dark, frozen woods, his feet barely leaving a mark on the hardened snow.

"Keep the signal locked, Crul. I want to know who is hiding in my woods," said Ethan.

[Understood, Master. Increasing thermal sensitivity. She is 400 meters ahead, but her heart rate is skyrocketing. Something is following her,] said Crul.

Suddenly, a piercing siren wailed through the freezing air, shattering the silence of the night. The village erupted into chaos. At least ten armed men, dressed in heavy tactical furs and carrying assault rifles, burst out of the central barracks and began sprinting toward the tree line.

Inside the hotel, Jason and the Royal guards drew their weapons and rushed toward the exit, but they were immediately blocked by Torin and a group of grim-faced locals.

"What the hell is going on? Why the sirens?" asked Jason, his hand hovering over his holster.

"It's a local matter. Personal business. It is of no concern to you or your employer. Go back to your rooms," said Torin, his voice trembling with a mix of authority and fear.

Jason opened his mouth to argue, but Ethan's voice crackled coldly through his earpiece.

"Stand down, Jason. Withdraw immediately. Don't waste your breath on him," said Ethan.

Jason hesitated for a second, then gave a sharp signal to his men. They lowered their weapons and retreated into the building without another word.

Meanwhile, Ethan had already vanished into the darkness of the forest edge. As the armed men approached his position, he dropped to his stomach, sliding through the deep snow before leaping with supernatural agility into the thick branches of a towering pine tree. He perched there, a silent shadow blending into the black needles and the falling snow.

Below him, the search party fanned out. Flashlight beams cut through the blizzard like white swords, illuminating the chaotic flurry of snowflakes.

"She went this way! Don't let her reach the ridge!" shouted one of the men.

Ethan watched them from above, his eyes narrowed. It was clear now—this wasn't a routine patrol. They were hunting that woman with a desperation that bordered on panic.

Ethan leaped from one branch to another, moving silently above the heads of the armed men, tracking the light of their torches as they delved deeper into the frozen heart of the woods.

[Master, the target has collapsed. Her body heat is dropping rapidly; she has fainted from exhaustion and hypothermia 200 meters ahead. The hunters are closing in, they have almost surrounded her,] said Crul.

Ethan looked down at the armed men below. He had a choice to make, and he had to make it now. If they took her, she would disappear into the ice just like the others.

"I can't let them have her. She's the only lead I have that isn't lying to my face," said Ethan.

He didn't wait for a response. Ethan dropped from the tree, hitting the snow with a soft thud, and ignited his speed. To the hunters, he was nothing more than a blur of white and shadow, a gust of wind that didn't belong to the storm.

He reached the clearing just as the first flashlight beam touched the woman's pale, unconscious face. Before the guard could even raise his rifle, Ethan swept in, scooped her small, shivering body into his arms, and vanished back into the darkness.

"Where is she?! I saw her right here!" shouted one of the hunters, spinning around with his weapon raised.

Ethan didn't stop to listen to their confusion. Instead of heading back to the hotel where Torin's men were watching, he made a wide sweep, circling through the deep forest toward the outskirts of the town where the five Royal helicopters were stationed.

The woman's weight feeling like nothing against his chest. He reached the landing zone, staying low to avoid the perimeter lights of the fuel depot. He approached the lead helicopter and tapped a coded sequence into the rear cargo ramp.

The heavy hydraulic door hissed open. The interior of the transport was large, featuring a pressurized storage area and a small medical bay in the back. Ethan stepped inside, laying the woman down on a thermal blanket.

"Crul, lock the bay. Make sure the internal sensors don't trigger any alerts to the cockpit or the town's grid," said Ethan.

[The cargo area is now isolated and secure. I have activated the internal heaters to stabilize her temperature. No one outside this vessel is aware of her presence,] said Crul.

Ethan stood over her, catching his breath. Her face was smudged with dirt and frost, but even in her unconscious state, she looked terrified.

"Let's see what secrets you're carrying that are worth dying for in the snow," said Ethan.

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