The rain finally broke, but the city didn't smell clean. It smelled like smoke trying to hide under wet stone.
Warehouse 31 crouched at the edge of the docks, a box of rotting wood and iron braced against the sea wind. To most eyes, it was another storage shack. But Fang men lingered too long by the doors. Lanterns burned too steady in the upper windows. Shadows crossed the roof when the clouds parted.
They were nervous. Good.
We watched from the alley's mouth, the three of us huddled close enough that the candle back at the shop might have been burning between us. Jonas stood steady, a silent mountain with his hood drawn low. Mara crouched, her blade laid flat across her knees, eyes glinting when lantern light caught. I traced lines on a rough map, finger tapping over the marks I'd memorized.
"Two on the roof," I murmured. "Six inside. One at the rear door, one circling. Supervisor stays near the crates."
Mara smirked. "I like crates. They're like coffins you don't have to dig."
Jonas rumbled. "Loud tonight?"
"Not loud," I said. "Sharp. Fang's been bleeding the market. This cut has to sting."
The Lexicon pulsed in my chest, a quiet thrum like the page of a book waiting to be turned.
---
We moved.
Jonas slipped into the alley to the south, taking position near the only escape route. He crouched, patient as stone. Mara scaled the drainpipe, silent as a shadow in rain. I slid low along the dock's edge, keeping the sea wind at my back until I reached the northern door.
The first move was Mara's. I watched her silhouette ripple across the roof, then flatten. A faint scrape, muffled quick by the band she carried, and the bell on the hatch never sang. One watcher slumped with a cut throat, the other silenced before he could turn.
Her signal was the faint flicker of lantern light, a shadow crossing where it shouldn't.
I pushed open the north door.
Inside, the warehouse smelled of salt, oil, and rot. Crates stacked high blocked much of the view, but voices echoed between the gaps.
"Three sacks for the east blocks."
"Veyra wants coin, not excuses."
"Shut it—"
I tossed the puck onto the floor. It hissed faintly, lights sparking blue before drowning in static. Comms died in their ears. Their curses filled the air.
"What the—?"
"Check the door!"
Three enforcers rounded the crates. I let them see me, hood low, face shadowed. A thief, nothing more. They lunged.
I stepped back into the dark and let Mara slide down the rafters. She hit the first with steel flashing, blood spraying across the crates. The second whirled too late. Jonas entered from the side, fist like a hammer breaking bone.
The third raised his blade but froze when my knife pressed his spine. I whispered in his ear, "Umbra." Then I drove the hilt into his skull. He dropped.
---
The warehouse erupted. Shouts from the far end. Lanterns swung wild, spilling yellow light across crates marked with Fang's crooked sigil. A supervisor in a patched coat barked orders, relic shard glowing faint in his hand.
He swung it like a whip, blue sparks snapping across the floor. A net of light flared out, catching Mara's blade and dragging it sideways. She hissed, rolled, and came up again.
Jonas charged. Sparks lashed his chest, burned his sleeve, but he didn't stop. He barreled through two men and crushed them against a crate.
I circled left. The Lexicon hummed, threads of intent glowing faint around the supervisor. Anger. Fear. Arrogance. He thought the shard made him a god.
He didn't notice the lantern above him, rope frayed where rain had eaten it.
I cut it.
The lantern crashed, fire spilling across crates slick with oil. Flames roared up, swallowing shadows in hungry light. The supervisor screamed, dropping the shard as he slapped at his coat. Mara's blade slid clean under his ribs before he could recover.
The warehouse filled with fire and blood.
---
We didn't linger. Jonas shouldered open the rear door, smoke trailing us as we slipped into the night. Behind us, the warehouse cracked and roared, Fang's coin and weapons turning to ash. The flames lit the docks orange, painting the sea in molten streaks.
"Message sent," Mara muttered, wiping blood from her cheek.
Jonas glanced back once. His voice was steady. "Fire answers fire."
The Lexicon pulsed strong, like a page turning hard enough to tear.
---
Back at the shop, we sat in the backroom, smoke still clinging to our clothes. The candle flickered, guttering against the smell.
"They'll rage," Mara said.
"They'll fear," I answered.
Jonas nodded. "Fear cracks walls."
I looked down at the ledger. The ink gleamed wet as I wrote:
Warehouse 31 burned. Fang bleeds coin and blood. Umbra answers.
The candlelight caught the words, turning them sharp.
Umbra had drawn blood before. Tonight, it had carved a scar.
---
Author's Note (Relic):
Signal Jammer (Uncommon Tech Relic): Disrupts short-range comms for 30–60 seconds. Volatile, unreliable.
Muffle Band (Common Relic): Cloth that silences a single sound for a few seconds when wrapped around the source. Useful for stealth entry.
Fang's Shard (Common Relic): Crude energy shard used as a whip/net weapon. Dangerous, unstable in prolonged use.