2025-08-17 18:51:53
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THE TYRANT’S THRONE
The steel doors shuddered open beneath Ares’s push, groaning like dying beasts. Lantern-light spilled through the crack, slicing the dark. Dust swirled. The silence on the other side was not emptiness - it was anticipation.Ares stepped first. His shadow stretched long, cutting across the cracked floor toward the dais that waited at the far end. Hawk and Reyes followed close behind, two predators moving in sync. The scent of rust and blood lingered in the stale air. Every heartbeat was a drum. Every breath was a warning.And there he was.Kane lounged on a crooked chair draped with a red cloth, a mockery of a throne. His posture was casual, his smirk wider than the room deserved. Around him stood his guards, thick-armed men with rifles and blades, nervous hands twitching at the sight of Ares but holding their ground because Kane had not moved.“Well,” Kane drawled, voice sharp, carrying with ease. “The ghost finally comes out of the shadows. The God of War. I half-expected you to hide
THE EDGE OF VENGEANCE
The vow settled like iron in Ares’s chest. Not heavy, not oppressive, but alive, sharp, relentless. He didn’t sit. He paced the dim room, fists flexing, jaw tight, mind turning over every possibility, every danger. Kane had touched Elijah’s future. That alone made mercy impossible. Every instinct, every scar, every sleepless night whispered the same truth: he would not fail.Hawk leaned against the wall, silent, watching. His grin had faded; his eyes were hard, calculating. “You can feel him,” he murmured, voice low, almost reverent. “Kane. He’s near.”Ares stopped, gaze slicing the shadowed corner. “Near enough to taste him. Near enough to end him. Tonight.” His voice was steel wrapped in patience.Reyes, pencil poised over the map, muttered, “Northern sector. Warehouses, abandoned docks, factories - he’s pulling pieces in, fortifying. He’s thinking ahead. We strike blind, we die.”Ares’s jaw clenched. “Blind? No. He underestimates me. That’s all we need.”Hawk smirked faintly. “Pred
A PROMISE OF BLOOD
This time, there would be no grave deep enough to hide him.The words burned in Ares’s chest long after the shredded photograph lay scattered on the floor. Kane had crossed a line. He hadn’t just touched the past - he’d reached for Elijah’s future. That alone sealed his fate.When Ares emerged from the room, Mira looked up from where she sat, Elijah nestled against her. Hawk leaned against the wall, sharpening his knife with restless fury. Reyes hunched over the map, pencil scratching new marks.Ares’s voice was steady, but his eyes carried fire. “It’s time.”Hawk grinned, the kind of grin that promised violence. “Finally. I was starting to think you’d forgotten who you are.”Reyes frowned. “If you’re saying what I think you’re saying, then we’ll need more than knives and grudges. Kane’s already turned half the city against you. If we strike blind, we’ll be walking into a trap.”“We won’t strike blind,” Ares replied. He tapped the map. “We smoke him out. We tear down every den, every
THE ENEMY’S VOICE
And if Kane wanted war, then war was what he would get.The fire at Pier Six had barely died when the whispers began. By dawn, the city was buzzing. Smoke still curled from the blackened ruins, drifting through alleys, taverns, and market stalls. Some called it justice. Others called it madness. But all spoke a single name.Ares Vex.By midday, Reyes returned to the safehouse with a look that silenced even Hawk’s crude jokes. He tossed a folded newspaper onto the table. The headline screamed in bold letters:“THE BUTCHER RETURNS: FALLUJAH’S HERO OR FALLUJAH’S CURSE?”Mira froze, her hands stiff over Elijah’s blanket. Hawk cursed under his breath. Ares stared at the paper without reaching for it. He didn’t need to read it. He already knew.Kane had struck his first blow.Reyes’s voice was grim. “He’s leaking it. Every word, every half-truth twisted into a blade. He’s telling them what happened overseas. Fallujah. Civilians. Fire.”Mira’s lips parted. “Is it true?”The question cut deep
THE BLOOD OATH
But Ares would bury him again - this time so deep that even hell would not give him back.The room was heavy with the weight of his vow. Mira’s hand was still wrapped around his, her warmth grounding him even as the storm inside threatened to break. Hawk leaned back, bruised and bloodied but grinning like a wolf scenting prey. Reyes had already begun pulling a worn map across the table, his soldier’s instincts pushing him forward.It was Reyes who spoke first. “If Kane has the numbers we saw tonight, he’s been moving in the dark for months. That doesn’t happen without supply lines, without safehouses. He’s not alone in this.”“Never was,” Hawk growled. “Back in the desert, he always had a knack for crawling into bed with the worst devils. Mercenaries, warlords, doesn’t matter. If it bled, Kane could bargain with it.”Mira’s face tightened. “Then he won’t stop at guns and men. He’ll strike where it hurts - where you can’t see it coming.” Her voice wavered, but her gaze didn’t. “Ares, h
THE WEIGHT OF ASHES
“It means the war we thought we ended has only just begun.”The words hung in the air like iron chains. Hawk shifted uneasily, blood dripping down his arm, his chest heaving. Reyes lowered his pistol but didn’t holster it, eyes scanning the fog as if Kane’s shadow might still be there, lurking just beyond sight. Mira clutched Elijah close, her knuckles pale, her face caught between fear and fury.The rail yard stank of cordite and blood. Crates were splintered, bodies sprawled where they had fallen, the silence almost louder than the gunfire that had shaken it moments before.Ares finally lowered his blade. His grip was so tight his knuckles gleamed, yet he couldn’t let go - not yet. Kane’s voice still echoed in his ears, that poisonous smirk still burned behind his eyes.Reyes broke the silence first. “We need to move. Cops will come sniffing around once the noise carries.”Hawk spat blood into the dirt and swore. “Let them come. I’ll put another hole in whoever’s dumb enough to try.
