Zack_hemsey_dont_get_in_my_way Now

The warning was over. The sky cracked with thunder, and as the rhythm dropped into a primal roar, Elias moved.

A black sedan pulled onto the pier, its headlights cutting through the fog like a predator's eyes. Three men stepped out. They were "snakes in the grass," the kind who thought they could poke a sleeping lion and walk away with its mane. They wanted a cut of the territory he’d bled for. They wanted to dismantle the "decorous design" of his empire. zack_hemsey_dont_get_in_my_way

The rain didn’t wash the city clean; it just turned the grit into a slick, black mirror. Elias stood at the edge of the shipyard, the collar of his coat turned up against the wind. In his ears, the low, pulsing hum of a heavy rhythm began to build—a sound like tectonic plates grinding together. The warning was over

The leader of the trio stepped forward, a smirk dancing on a face that hadn't seen enough real war to be afraid. He started to speak, but Elias cut him off with a single, steady look. It was the gaze of a "hanged man," someone who had already seen the end and found he had nothing left to fear. Three men stepped out

"I’m too many years in the zone," Elias whispered, the beat reaching a fever pitch. "Too many years to have built what I own. You think you can blood a stone? These roots go deep."