Eris POV

The aftermath of the raid felt surreal. The enemy ship was now ours, the spoils of our victory strewn across the deck. The crew worked quickly, sorting through the goods with a mixture of greed and excitement, but I couldn’t focus on that. My mind was elsewhere, still reeling from the battle, from the thrill of it.

It was strange. The blood that had been spilled, the violence—it should have unsettled me more, but instead, I felt something else: a strange sense of belonging.

I had done it. I had fought. I had survived.

And somehow, I was starting to feel like I could belong here, with these...