Soulbound: Embers of Defiance

Chapter 23: A Grim Harvest

"Do you think it'll work?" Kass' voice, a low murmur, barely rose above the rustle of leaves.

I glanced at her, her face etched with a mixture of fear and grim determination. "It has to," I replied, my voice firmer than I felt. Doubt gnawed at the edges of my resolve, but I refused to let it show.

"What if we missed a calculation?" Isaac chimed in, his voice laced with a tremor of anxiety.

Finn snorted. "Relax, Doc. Kira's got a good head on her shoulders. Besides," he added with a mischievous glint in his eye, "haven't you always wanted to see one of my inventions go boom?"

A low growl rumbled from my stomach. Glancing around, I saw mirrored expressions on the faces of my companions.

"Anyone else hungry?" I asked, the question breaking the tension.

A wry smile flickered across Marcus' lips. "Starving," he admitted, his voice raspy. "But I wouldn't trade this empty stomach for a warm meal back at the base right now."

Elyse, ever the enigma, remained silent, her gaze fixed on a point beyond the trees. But a flicker of something passed in her eyes, perhaps a hint of shared anxiety, or maybe just the faintest flicker of anticipation.

Finally, after what seemed like half an hour, a guttural caw broke through the stillness. "They're coming," Marcus muttered, his voice tense.

Adrenaline surged through me once more. We waited with bated breath, every tick of the second hand an excruciating eternity. According to my calculations, based on the number of carts and men expected, the supply line would be roughly 50 meters long and take approximately four minutes to traverse the entire gorge.

My mind raced, replaying the plan. Counting down the seconds in my head, I felt the weight of responsibility press down on me. Now.

"Now!" I yelled, the word tearing through the tense silence.

Without a moment's hesitation, Finn, stationed a safe distance away, reached for a small pouch slung across his chest. A spark erupted, followed by a hiss as he ignited the fuse – a fiery ribbon of destruction snaking its way towards the gorge.

We watched, hearts hammering against our ribs, as the flame raced down the tether, its progress a burning beacon against the darkness. Time seemed to stretch and distort, each second an agonizing wait.

The first sign of the explosion wasn't the sound, but the feeling. A deep tremor ran through the earth, vibrating up our legs and thrumming through our chests. Then came the noise – a thunderous boom that ripped through the air, so loud it felt like a physical blow. We instinctively clapped our hands over our ears, wincing even as the sound started to fade.

Then came the roar. It wasn't a single, sharp explosion, but a sustained cacophony, a wave of sound that crashed over us. It started with a deep, bass rumble, the sound of massive boulders grinding against each other as they were ripped from the mountainside. This low growl quickly escalated into a chaotic symphony of shattering stone, punctuated by the ear-splitting shrieks of metal twisting under unimaginable stress.

Distant screams, human and equine, cut through the raw power of the collapsing rock. They were high-pitched and frantic, swallowed whole almost as soon as they erupted. The cries of the horses, in particular, sent chills down my spine. It wasn't the whinny of a startled animal, but a blood-curdling shriek of pure terror, a sound that spoke of sudden, crushing pain and utter hopelessness.

The ground continued to tremble beneath my feet, the earth itself seemingly participating in the act of destruction. With each passing moment, the sounds shifted and morphed, the initial roar giving way to a series of smaller booms as the avalanche of boulders disintegrated into a cascade of smaller debris. Dust, kicked up by the collapse, formed a thick brown cloud that hung heavy in the air, further obscuring the scene from view.