Raul’s point of view
Silence settled over everything well before dawn. I led the first wave of the attack, but I quickly realized it was over before it had even begun. The enemy chose to flee rather than fight.
Victory? Certainly. And yet a part of me still craved battle. Craved vengeance for all the fear and uncertainty I had endured while our ships, like sea-monsters, cut through the waves toward these shores.
I had arrived at the last possible moment. Had Aachen’s soldiers entered the city, the bloodshed would have surpassed the very purpose of our attack.
I shook my head as if the physical motion could banish the thought. Not the thought but the fear. A treacherous fear that, for a heartbeat, could freeze my heart, steal my breath, and strip me of reason.
The fear that I had come
