The Nexus

Prologue

Six years ago.....

They had to time this perfectly. One mistake, one wrong move, or it would be over.

The reminder made Arayna's hand threaten to tremble, causing her to clench them into fists, her breath turning to fog the moment it left her nose. She crouched there behind the snow bank, attempting to fortify herself. Wetting her lips that immediately grew cold, she glanced to her side as Arrow knelt beside her, peering through a pair of binoculars at their target in front of them.

Approximately two hundred yards away was a set of lights reflecting the thick, falling snow that added to the accumulation around them. In this wasteland known as the Antarctic that they had found themselves in, there was not many places to take cover as to not be discovered. The increasing uncertainty of their mission being successful weighed heavily on Arayna's shoulders and mind.

"What are the odds that this will work?" Arrow asked in a low, rumbling voice that seemed loud in the deafening silence that surrounded them. She glanced to her older brother as he looked at her, the wind blowing his shoulder length wavy hair from his face, beard caked with frost.

"Do you really want me to answer that honestly?" Arayna retorted, taking the binoculars from him and bringing them up to her eyes. The lenses immediately threatened to fog as the heat from her skin made contact with the cold lenses.

She watched the approaching army convoy coming through the darkness, their headlights cutting through the snow that flew up from the tires, approaching the heavily fortified bunker set within the cliff.

"I'm not sure." Arrow reluctantly admitted with a heavy sigh. "I really wish you would consider staying out here. Let Asher and I handle this."

"Forget it." She snapped her head around to glare at him. "We do this together, Arrow. I'm going with you. He's my father too."

"A-"

"No." She cut him off. "Don't. We've discussed this. We go together, or not at all."

He sighed heavily, attempting to suppress a shiver. "I guess anything would be better than staying out here. Do you think Asher can pull it off?"

"It's Asher." Arayna lowered the binoculars again. "He's good at this. He can do it. As long as he can get through the gates, we're golden."

"Except for the thousands of soldiers inside." He guffawed. "Dad's location better be in this place."

"Everything has lead us to here. If they know where he is, it's in there." She reassured him, clenching her fingers in attempt to warm them as the cold air seeped in to her gloves. Arrow took the binoculars from her and brought them up to his face. She shifted her gaze back to the bunker at the guards standing at the entrance gates, the elevator door, and the soldiers walking the fence perimeter.

"Makes you wonder, though." Arrow murmured with a shrug. "What is in there that they need more soldiers inside, than out? Whatever their worried about, it's not someone from the outside getting in, but something getting out. He's on." The sudden change in topic jerked her gaze back towards the convoy, heartbeat increasing as she watched as the line of trucks approached the gates entrance. "He did it."

"Good." Arayna blew out a tense breath, closing her eyes briefly. She watched as the convoy came to a stop at the gate and held her breath as the guards walked around the trucks, looking into the backs.

She froze as they went down and peered underneath the trucks, trading a glance with Arrow whose jaw muscle was twitching miles a minute. "He's got this." She tried to reassure him.

"Yeah." He muttered, unconvinced as he pressed his fist to his mouth, both of them holding their breath, the seconds drawing out into what felt like eternity. When the guards rose up to their feet and gave the 'all clear' signal, was when both of them let out a pent up sigh of relief.