Before Dawn

Raina watches the wash of milky foam hit the shoreline. She scans the endless black before her. Dark. Night. A perfect time for raiding. Yet also beckoning her. To be free. To escape the call of the Dawngate.

She watches as a wave larger than the others lands on the shore. Seen briefly, then forgotten. Like this visit to the North really. Cursing, she kicks a pebble into the surf. She watches it drown. Or would drown, if rocks actually drew breath. But drowning…it's how she herself feels right now.

She starts walking down the beach, kicking any more pebbles she encounters into the surf to join their brother. She swings her hammer as she does so, wishing she had something worth hitting. Not someone, she reflects, something, she reflects. She'll be hitting the "someones" back at the Dawngate.

The waves blow. Like blood, she reflects. And there's been enough of that. But for a moment, she glances at the monastery. For a moment, she considers defying fate and returning there. For a moment, she lingers. A moment can last a long time in the North.

But it does not matter. Tomorrow, she will return south.

The Dawngate always beckons.