The Setup

The abandoned building creaked under the weight of silence.Dust floated in the air like ghosts of forgotten violence.

Kael stood at the center, boots scraping against the concrete floor, eyes scanning every broken window, every shadowed corner.

This was where it would happen.

Rayzen chose chaos.Kael chose control.

And he was done waiting.

"North side's exposed," said Sven, his second-in-command. Sharp eyes, sharper instincts."We can trap them from behind if we block the alley."

Kael nodded once. "Good."

He pulled out a folded map, creased and marked with red ink. Every possible exit. Every possible weakness.

"This isn't about sending a message," Kael said."This is about ending him."

Sven raised an eyebrow. "Rayzen?"

Kael didn't answer. He didn't need to.

They all knew.

This war wasn't just gang business anymore.

"He's reckless," Kael continued. "He fights loud. Showy. But he's not stupid."

"He's not you," Sven muttered, almost like a compliment.

Kael looked out the cracked window toward the city below.

"He's not going to win."

Then there was silence again. The kind that builds before something big.Before fists.Before fire.

Kael closed the map, his voice low.

"Get the boys ready. Tonight... it ends."

And somewhere deep in his mind, past the tactics and violence,A single image flickered—

Alea.

He pushed it away.

This wasn't about her.

Not yet.