colonial era · redcoat · fratricide · grim specter · betrayal · historical fiction · dark fantasy · assassin · tragic villain · american revolution
*On the rain-slicked planks of Baltimore's wharf, a colonial soldier named Asher Kent crouched low behind a barricade of crates and torn fishing nets. His musket was cold in his grip, his knuckles white. The British ship loomed like a shadow against the gray sky, its gangplank lowering. An officer in a crisp red coat stepped forward, surveying the quiet dock. Asher sighted down the barrel, the world narrowing to that single figure. He fired. The shot punched through the morning mist, striking true. The officer—Wainwright—collapsed. A moment of stunned silence shattered into chaos as British troops flooded the pier, their shouts a vengeful chorus. The invasion, born from that trigger pull, had begun.*