The Antarctic wind howled as Solomon Kane crouched low against the ice, his breath barely visible in the freezing air. His body was wrapped in a custom thermal suit, designed to keep him alive in the harsh conditions, but the cold still bit at his exposed skin. He had been on this mission for days now, evading elven patrols, using the shadows and blizzards to his advantage. But tonight was different. Tonight, he was going inside.

  McMurdo Station—what was once the rgest human settlement on the continent—had become an elven fortress. Towering ice walls reinforced with magical barriers surrounded the complex, shimmering under the moonlight. The elves had repurposed the human buildings, but massive crystalline spires now jutted from the ice, giving the entire base an otherworldly feel. The banners of Queen Era fluttered in the wind, their silver embroidery glowing faintly under the moon.

  Solomon adjusted his rifle and checked his sidearm. He was a veteran of many bck ops missions, but nothing had prepared him for this. The elves were faster, stronger, and wielded magic that defied expnation. But they bled. And tonight, they would bleed again.

  ---

  As Solomon crouched in the shadows of the Elven fortress, watching the patrols pass, a ghost from his past surfaced in his mind. Her face—soft, yet strong—flooded his thoughts. He had once loved her, long ago, before life had pulled them apart. They had made different choices, walked different paths, but the bond had never truly broken. And now, her daughter was here, trapped in a cold, alien prison. He could still remember the tremor in his old friend's voice when they st spoke, the worry she tried to hide but couldn't. He owed her this. Not as a soldier, not as a mercenary, but as a man who once dreamed of a life beyond war. If he failed tonight, it wouldn’t just be a mission lost—it would be breaking the only promise that still mattered to him.

  Infiltration

  Slipping through the outer perimeter had been easier than expected. The elves relied heavily on magical detection, but Solomon knew their weaknesses. The priestesses who maintained the magical barriers were powerful, but they had to chant continuously, and their focus could be broken. Solomon had used a remote drone to detonate a small charge near one of their watchtowers. The explosion was insignificant, but the disruption in the energy field created a small opening. He slipped through.

  Inside, elven patrols moved with disciplined precision. Their armor was lightweight yet strong, their weapons elegant but deadly. Unlike humans, they did not rely on radios or spoken commands—telepathic links between squads made their coordination near-perfect. Solomon had studied them, learned their movements, and knew when to strike.

  A lone elven warrior passed by, golden hair flowing behind her. Solomon moved like a shadow, his knife fshing as he slit her throat before she could react. He dragged the body into the darkness and moved forward.

  The Prisoner

  His objective was in the lower levels. A captured scientist—one of the st survivors of the McMurdo research team. She had been taken alive when the elves overran the base, and intelligence suggested she was being held for interrogation. Solomon wasn’t here for glory; he was here to bring her back.

  As he descended deeper into the fortress, the temperature dropped. Ice-coated stone corridors twisted ahead of him, lit by eerie blue torches fueled by elven magic. He moved cautiously, his silenced pistol eliminating the occasional guard.

  At st, he found her.

  The cell was carved into the ice itself, thick bars reinforced with a magical barrier. The woman inside was barely conscious, her b coat torn, her face pale. Solomon could see frostbite on her fingers—she had been left in the cold for too long.

  He pulled a small device from his pack, a prototype energy disruptor. Holding it against the magical barrier, he activated it. Sparks flickered, and the energy field shattered. He forced the bars open and stepped inside.

  She stirred, weakly lifting her head. “Who…?”

  “Solomon Kane, a friend of your mother ” he said, kneeling beside her. “No need to worry, I’m getting you out of here.”

  She tried to stand but colpsed. He caught her, lifting her onto his back in a practiced motion. She was light—too light. They had barely kept her alive.

  Escape and Pursuit

  The arm came moments ter.

  A psychic surge swept through the fortress as elven sentries realized something was wrong. Solomon cursed, adjusting his grip on the scientist. He moved fast, his years of training pushing his body to its limits.

  Footsteps echoed down the corridors. He ducked into the shadows as two High Elven warriors rushed past, their golden armor gleaming. They carried long, slender swords that pulsed with light.

  “There!” a voice rang out in Elvish.

  Solomon opened fire. His rifle’s suppressor kept the shots quiet, but the elves reacted instantly, dodging with unnatural speed. He rolled, firing three more rounds—one of them connected, dropping an elf. The other charged.

  A fireball erupted from the warrior’s palm, racing toward Solomon. He dove behind an ice pilr as the explosion sent shards flying. The scientist groaned in pain, but he had no time to check on her. He fired again, striking the elf in the throat.

  They kept moving. Solomon used every trick in the book—stun grenades, fshbangs, even setting off small explosives to colpse tunnels behind him. But the elves were relentless.

  The Final Stretch

  They reached the surface, but Solomon’s heart sank. The fortress courtyard was crawling with warriors. He had hoped to slip out unnoticed, but the entire base was on alert.

  “Hold on,” he muttered.

  He spotted an old maintenance tunnel that led to the coast. It would be a gamble—the elves had likely blocked all main exits—but it was his only chance. He sprinted toward it, bullets and magical projectiles whizzing past him.

  A bst of ice magic struck his shoulder, sending a wave of frost through his body. He gritted his teeth, forcing himself to move. The scientist groaned, barely clinging to consciousness.

  They burst through the tunnel exit, the frozen coastline stretching before them. Solomon’s hidden extraction ship—a small stealth craft he had concealed beneath the ice—was just ahead.

  But the elves were right behind them.

  Elven Fortress

  Inside the fortress command room, Mary watched the escape unfold. Her expression was unreadable, her cold silver eyes tracking Solomon’s every movement.

  A High Elf commander stepped forward. “Shall we pursue, Lady Mary?”

  Mary due to her succes in taking over Antarctica was awarded the position of commander of the Elven Forces on Earth. Making her superior to the High Elves she used to serve before, now she only answers to the Queen Era.

  Mary looking to the now meek High Elf commander shook her head. “No.”

  The elves in the room exchanged gnces.

  “But—”

  Mary turned to them, her gaze sharp. “He has already won this time, sending more forces against a warrior brave and crafty as that one would be fruitless. Magicless he may be but he sure took us with a suprise, But we know he exists now.” She turned back to the screen, watching as Solomon’s ship disappeared into the stormy horizon. “Something tells me he will be back again and we will be ready for him next time.”

  Her fingers tightened around the hilt of her sword. The war was only beginning.

  Respro