Herald of death

Darkness engulfs the plane as Ethan throws electricity into the lights' circuit. Screams erupt from the awake passengers. 'Strengthening, silent steps,' Ethan thinks, instantly reaching the bald man.

With his left hand, Ethan grabs the man's handgun through his hoodie and racks the slide, ejecting the chambered round. Ethan hurls his right fist at the man's head; the impact feels like hitting concrete.

Scale-like Ether shapes formed at the surface of the man's skin, absorbing the impact. He pulls the trigger by reflex, unaware of his weapon's condition. The man pulls out a knife from his haversack and slashes at Ethan's side. Ethan lets go of the handgun, releasing the slide that racks a new round and deflects the knife.

The man pulls out his Glock, loosely aiming at Ethan's chest. 'Inventory,' Ethan thinks, summoning Dark fate into his right hand. He stabs through the man's wrist, stopping him from pressing the trigger.

The man opens his mouth to scream; Ethan uncurls his fingers and stabs them in his throat. Ethan's blow, inflicted with maximum strength, crushes his vocal cords despite his protection. Ethan pushes him into an empty row, moments before the screams die down.

The Glock falls to the ground as the man tries to place his unresponsive hand on his throat. Ethan ensnares the man's neck in his arm, pressing until he falls unconscious.

'He'll bleed out before we land,' Ethan thinks. He unbuckles the man's belt and ties it around his forearm, using his knife to twist it and form an improvised tourniquet. Ethan grabs a blanket from the pouch in the seat before him and covers the man with it. 'Sleep tight,' he mocks in his mind.

The lights turn back on. The two remaining enemies stare into the aisle; their phones vibrate as Ethan sends a message from his second victim's phone. 'You lost half of your manpower. Stay put; you'll need to be two to escort your friends out of the airport; they are in bad shape.'

Their hearts pound in their chests as sweat pearls from their foreheads. They look at each other and push their haversacks below the seats before them. Ethan taps a last message: 'Wise decision.'

He grabs the Glock of the man he just neutralized. 'How did you get your hands on a Glock 46? That's a German police exclusive,' Ethan asks himself before storing it in his inventory.

Ethan waits for the two remaining men to stop looking down the aisle and rejoins his original seat. His neighbor stopped working on his code; instead, he grips his armrest tightly. "Scarred of a faulty breaker?" Ethan asks as he sits down.

"I thought we were getting attacked by a beast," the man answers. "I'm always nervous when I fly, but my company keeps sending me all over the world."

"What are they sending you to do in Dubai?" Ethan asks.

The man looks to the side, clearly thinking of a lie. His shoulders tense up, and his hand moves from the armrest to rub the back of his neck. His eyes dart back and forth, avoiding Ethan's gaze. "Just, uh, some technical support work," he says, his voice strained and unconvincing.

"Flying across the world for tech support, you must be more than skilled at your job," Ethan says. He looks down at the man's code, but the preview displayed on the right side of his screen is that of a personal website.

'Trevor Hastings,' Ethan reads on the login details of the IDE. 'I'll ask Tombstone for intel, just in case. I already need more information on the attackers and their target anyway.'

"Language (Arabic) leveled up," the voice announces as Ethan turns the podcast back on.

After landing in Dubai, Ethan discreetly follows the four men. They leave the airport, moving with suspicious caution, constantly checking their surroundings. Outside, the two able men hail a cab, and Ethan does the same.

Using predator's sight, Ethan eavesdrops on them, transmitting the address they gave their driver to his. The city of Dubai sprawls around them, lights and towering buildings illuminating the night. Their cab weaves through the traffic, distancing Ethan's.

Ethan's driver stops in an isolated industrial area. Ethan pays and slips out of the cab with Russ. He approaches the closest warehouse, sensing them inside through predator's sight. They are speaking in hushed tones, bandaging the wounds of Ethan's victims.

'Hide,' Ethan orders. He steps inside, his presence unnoticed, until he is almost upon them. The men whirl around, their eyes widening in shock.

Before they can react, Ethan extends his hand, dark tendrils swirling in the air. They fall to their knees, their bodies paralyzed by Ethan's hex.

"Who are you working for?" Ethan asks.

Their eyes widen in fear and confusion as they struggle to resist the paralysis. One of them manages to rasp out, "We… we don't know. We're just hired guns."

"That's not good enough," Ethan says. "Who hired you? What were your orders?"

"Please…we don't know the real name," another wheezes. "We get our orders through a proxy. Calls, encrypted messages. We were told to capture Ayden Verity, crash the plane to make it seem like he died, and deliver him in Iraq."

"33.595, 44.885," the bald man adds. "They were going to pay us five million each for the boy. You can have it all if you help us fix the situation."

Ethan's eyes narrow, the tendrils of his hex wrapping tighter around their bodies. "Who is Viper?" he asks.

"Alright, alright!" the bald man yells, tears filling his eyes. "Viper is our handler. We don't know his real name. He gives us jobs, weapons, and instructions. He is the one who gave us the bags and the Anonymity books."

Ethan considers their words, looking for any signs of deceit. They seem to be genuinely terrified and clueless. 'Tombstone might be able to track their handler down with one of their phones,' he thinks.

"But he failed to tell us someone was looking after the boy," their leader adds.

"I'm not," Ethan says. "You just took the wrong plane, and I can't have loose ends."

Ethan releases his hex to cast Flame. Fire erupts from his hand, roaring to life and engulfing the men. Their screams are brief, the flames consuming them in mere seconds.

"You leveled up. You leveled up. You leveled up," the voice announces.

The fire illuminates the warehouse, casting flickering shadows as it burns. Ethan watches until the flames die down, leaving nothing but charred remains. He exits the warehouse, the cool night air a stark contrast to the heat inside.