### **Scene One – The Night of Reckoning**
The sky hung heavy with thick clouds, as if the night itself had conspired with the wind to draw a dense curtain over the land. In the remote farmhouse—its walls stained with damp and rust—the men gathered in a tight circle, strung as taut as a drawn bow. Dim lanterns swayed with the restless breeze, casting long, jagged shadows across the mud-stained floor like watchful specters guarding every unspoken word.
**Abu Tarek** stood at the center, his tall frame radiating an authority that required no introduction. His black eyes gleamed with a hard resolve, though a buried unease flickered deep within. A string of prayer beads dangled from his right hand, each bead sliding slowly beneath his fingers as if counting the very seconds of their fate. He
