The Mercenary's Path

First rule of mercenary work: get paid. Second: stay alive. For Elena, Orum, and Al, life is simple. Shoot the target, guard the caravan, slay the fire lizard. No glory, just coin. But when a masked stranger holds a blade to Elena’s throat, everything changes. Now they’re trapped in a mission they didn’t choose one soaked in blood, secrets, and magic older than empires. They’re being hunted. Watched. Used. And the deeper they go, the more they realize: this isn’t just a bad contract.