Victory cost more this time.
---
Not in numbers.
---
In meaning.
---
Three core fighters lost.
Two permanently crippled.
One—
refused to fight again.
---
That last one mattered most.
---
Dren wanted to remove him.
---
"He's a liability."
---
Kael said nothing.
---
Liora spoke.
---
"He's human."
---
Elara watched both of them.
---
Smiling faintly.
---
"Interesting."
---
Kael made the decision.
---
"He stays."
---
Dren frowned.
---
"Why?"
---
Kael looked at the map.
---
"Because this isn't a machine."
---
A pause.
---
"Yet."
---
That line lingered.
---
Because everyone understood:
---
It could become one.
---
And that—
was the danger.