12/09/2025
They Burned His House and Took His Wife, Then He Returned With 500 Apache Warriors
The night they came for Silas Mercer, the moon hung over the Texas desert like a blade.
He’d known the sound of horses all his life, but that night, their rhythm was wrong—too many hooves, too fast, too angry. By the time he stepped onto the porch, the horizon was already bleeding light: torches bobbing against the dark, a swarm of hatred on horseback.
“Harlen Cade,” he whispered, and the name left a bitter taste.
The first bullet tore through the air before the words finished leaving his lips. The porch post shattered beside him. Inside, Eliza screamed.
Then came the fire.