The smoke rose before dawn.
I smelled it first from the shop window. Bitter, acrid—wood and flesh together. The market was too quiet, the usual morning shouts strangled into whispers. When I stepped outside, I saw why.
The plaza burned.
Three stalls were nothing but ash and bent iron. Families knelt in the soot, clawing for scraps of what had been theirs. A child's shoes lay blackened, melted to the stone. And nailed to a post in the center—Red Fang's banner, red cloth stained darker with blood.
Veyra had spoken without words.
---
We gathered in the backroom that night.
Jonas' fists were raw, knuckles split from punching stone. He hadn't spoken since morning. Mara leaned against the wall, arms crossed, jaw tight, eyes hard.
"They burned families," she said. "Not gangs. Not rivals. Families."
Jonas' voice rumbled low, heavy. "Shields don't stop fire."
I stared at the ledger, the ink blurring under candlelight. "They want us angry. They want us loud. If we strike without thought, we're already dead."
Mara snapped, "And if we do nothing, we're worse."
The Lexicon pulsed hot in my chest, heavier than before. Pages turned sharp, like knives. My ribs ached with it.
"They want fear," I said finally. "Then we'll give them something sharper. Not rage. Not fire. Certainty. They'll know that every time they touch the weak, Umbra will touch them back harder."
Jonas lifted his head. His voice was steady again. "Then we strike."
Mara's blade caught the candlelight. "And this time, we don't leave them breathing."
---
The plan formed quick. Fang enforcers would meet in a warehouse by the docks, splitting their take before handing coin to Veyra herself.
"We hit them there," I said, tapping the map. "Not just for coin. For message. We show the city that fire can burn both ways."
Mara smiled without warmth. Jonas nodded once.
The Lexicon pulsed strong, approval thrumming like a drumbeat.
---
That night, as the candle guttered low, I wrote a single line in the ledger:
Red Fang burns. Umbra answers.
And for the first time, the ink didn't feel heavy. It felt like a blade.