123 A shock

Ronan

“We were able to find this footage from six years ago,” General Yousef began, his voice heavy with the weight of what was to come. “A supermarket owner brought it to us a few weeks ago. He said he was going through his security footage archive, looking for the image of a thief who had robbed his store, when he stumbled upon this. There’s no audio, but the video is clear.”

The General nodded to the Colonel, who moved to play the video on the screen. As the footage began, my breath caught in my throat. The image on the screen hit me like a punch to the gut. My heart pounded so hard I thought it might burst. There, dressed like a Kavistani soldier, holding a gun and forcing a man into a van, was someone I never expected to see.

I couldn’t breathe. My mind refused to accept what my eyes were seeing. His face was unmistakable. It was him—there was no doubt. But how could this be possible? It was like the ground had been ripped out from under me. I looked over at Joseph, and his face