As the three of them got closer to the stone wall, Relyn noticed they were covered in scratches, long and deep. They didn’t seem new, but they were still there.

  “Hand over your weapon,” The soldier closest to Relyn said.

  “No,” Relyn replied flatly.

  Both armored men immediately rested their hands on their swords and changed their stances.

  “You’re not going into the city armed. Even if it’s that thing.” The man promptly said.

  ‘Have I dug my own grave in this place?’

  Relyn looked around and cursed under his breath.

  “This is your last warning,” The soldier spoke again, his voice sharper this time.

  “Hand over your weapon, or we’ll treat you as a threat to the people of Salath,” The soldier continued, drawing his sword.

  Relyn looked at that sword curiously. He knew he was probably behind with the tools he made, but this was something else entirely.

  The sword, though worn and stained with dirt, still had Its blade straight and the edge looked sharp too.

  Reluctantly, he extended his arm and handed over his machete, and only then they began walking again.

  When they passed through the gates, Relyn was surprised.

  ‘So many of them here’

  A number of people were on the streets, talking, walking, trading goods. Some laughed, others bartered, and children ran in between them.

  What puzzled him most was the calm atmosphere. No one seemed worried about what was happening beyond the walls.

  And how did they have food for so many people?

  Suddenly, he heard heavy footsteps coming from somewhere behind. He looked back, and with the corner of his eyes he saw heads moving left and right on top of the wall.

  “So, that’s your defense…” He said, still looking at the top of the wall.

  “What are you staring at? Keep your head down,” One of the soldiers muttered. His grip tightened on Relyn’s shoulder as the soldier pushed him forward.

  Relyn’s instincts kicked in and he almost reacted, but he stopped himself and kept moving.

  Soon, they stopped in front of a wooden house with a sloping roof and thick beams. One of the soldiers motioned him inside, which Relyn followed.

  Inside, he found himself in a big room. In the distance, a narrow staircase led both up and down, but he quickly looked at the only person inside, an older, chubby man seated behind a wooden desk.

  “By the love of the Gods, what is that smell?” behind his desk, the man said, waving his hand.

  “Name?” He proceeded to ask.

  Relyn looked behind, unsure if that was directed to him, but soon he felt something against his back motioning him to answer.

  “Relyn”

  “From?” The man immediately asked another question.

  That was a good question.

  He, himself, didn’t quite know the answer.

  “From?” The man asked again after a few seconds of silence.

  “The outside”.

  The chubby man murmured something to himself before continuing.

  “He’s cleared.”

  “Relyn. Relyn from… uh, what city has people like that?” Behind the desk, the man spoke to himself and raised his finger, thinking.

  “St. Lius. Yes, Relyn from St. Lius…” He laughed out loud.

  The soldier behind Relyn nodded, and walked him to a table at the back.

  “Sit,” The first man Relyn had met said, gesturing to the table.

  Both soldiers sat down across from him, and the one who had just spoken leaned forward and narrowed his eyes.

  “I’m soldier Bolton, and this here is soldier Merley.” He quickly introduced.

  "Now, to the important stuff. What were you doing back there?” He asked.

  Relyn had rehearsed something on the way to the city.

  “I had an accident.. working in the forest, my head is still confused. I only need food and somewhere to stay for the day.” He said.

  “Are you one of those cultists?” Bolton asked, and he slightly raised his lips as if to show disdain to the idea.

  And Relyn, paying close attention to everything around him, wouldn’t miss that.

  “No.” He quickly answered.

  “Now, enough with the nonsense about the outside. You speak strange, are you from the north?”

  The wrong answer could complicate things, but he wasn’t sure what the right answer was, nor did he know a good lie to say right now.

  The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.

  “I live by myself, on the outside,” Relyn said.

  “You’re telling me you don’t live in a city?” The soldier had a weird look in his eyes.

  ‘Yes! Damnit, yes!’

  The soldiers looked at each other, and the second men murmured something close to the ears of the soldier interrogating Relyn.

  ‘Are they suspicious of me?’

  He turned vigilant and slowly lowered his right hand, where a small dagger he had made was hidden.

  “What I’m about to say now is procedure. You need to listen to it very carefully, do you understand that?” Bolton, the soldier carrying the questions continued, pulling a small scroll from somewhere in his armor.

  “Yes.”

  “As per the Act of Celsus, all cities, with the exception of the six great capitals, may, after carefully considering their own provisions and inventory, refuse to provide assistance to those born outside their territories unless in situations of public calamity. Individuals in unfortunate circumstances must request provisions from the city halls of their homeland or from one of the six great capitals.” The soldier slowly read the scroll in his hand.

  “That means we don’t have to give you shit, got it?”

  “But… you’re in luck. We had a rift showing up yesterday not too far from our walls, and the city is still looking to hire some crawlers.”

  “The payment is 18 coins of silver and you’re free to eat and drink from our provisions until the exploration is completed, we’ll also give you shelter for a while, if you’re interested” Bolton offered.

  The word “rift” meant nothing to Relyn, but “food” and “shelter” were enough for him today.

  “Yes, I’m interested.” He responded.

  “Good.” The soldier put away the scroll he was carrying and pulled out a different, bigger scroll and put it on the table right in front of Relyn.

  “Sign it and I’ll show you what to do” Bolton continued.

  Relyn leaned in and read what he could. There were some strange words in there but he was able to understand the idea behind this paper.

  It exempted the city of any responsibility, complying to a bunch of different rules and giving up on his right to seek justice if anything were to happen during his duty.

  Some of these concepts felt strangely familiar to him, though he couldn’t recall why.

  “You need to spill a drop of your blood in there.” The soldier spoke, and drew a small knife.

  Relyn stretched forward his hands to grab the knife, but the man’s hand backed down.

  “I’ll do it for you.” Bolton firmly said.

  And so, he lightly punctured Relyn’s thumb and small drops of blood fell into the paper. As soon as the first drops touched the scroll, it emitted a faint yellow glow before rolling itself back into its original, closed state

  ‘They have all sorts of things here’

  Looking at that, Relyn grew even more vigilant.

  With everything done, the soldier got up from his seat.

  “You can grab food and water in that room, but you need to eat on a table here” He pointed towards one of the doors there.

  “The expedition is in two days, now take the night to eat and wash yourself. Ah… you’re also going-”

  In the middle of his sentence, someone bursted in through the door.

  “Finally found the two of you!”

  The man stood in place while gasping for air.

  “What happened?”

  “Ah… yes, the captain is requesting for everyone on the north-east wall. An Uncommon was seen…”

  Both Merley and Bolton’s eyes widened and they ran out the door at the same time.

  ‘Uncommon?’

  ‘Screw it. They’ll take care of it’

  Relyn immediately walked to the room Bolton told him. The room was as sparse as he expected, just a table with a tray of bread, a small block of cheese, and some water.

  He settled at a table near the corner and didn’t waste time before tearing through the food. Unsure if he could get another serving, he looked around, but no one seemed to watch him or care.

  He went back two more times to get more food.

  In between his coming and going, he noticed there were about fifteen people scattered across the hall, most hunched over their meals in silence, and only a few of them looked healthy, four, maybe five at most. The others were pale, too skinny, or just too old.

  Finishing his meal, he lay on the cot provided. He glanced at the others not too far from him and adjusted his dagger to behind his palms.

  His plan was clear. He would wait until sunrise and escape, this was not his place. Although life outside was difficult, he was used to being alone and fighting his way through another day.

  This place had too many people, too many variables.

  Time passed and Relyn kept his ears and eyes on alert. At some point at night, he heard screams and a loud thud, but they were quickly subdued.

  Steps, something being dragged on the street…