Chapter 407

Norah felt the ground tremble beneath her feet.

She leaned against a tree for support, her eyes drawn to the sky—it was burning red.

Then came the sharp bursts of gunfire.

Instinctively, she turned toward the sound, and what she saw made her blood run cold.

A group of men in camouflage uniforms, rifles in hand, swept through the village like a plague. Wherever they passed, bodies crumpled to the ground, blood pooling beneath them.

Norah held her breath, frozen in place. She watched as the armed men stormed into small houses, emerging moments later with sacks of stolen goods. Then, without hesitation, they set the homes on fire.