Click.
The sound of the door opening woke me.
The guards shouted.
"Come out!"
I rose to my feet and walked out with the others.
'How long has it been? A few hours...or more?'
We lined up in the corridor, but the dragonkin guards didn't lead us back toward the warehouse.
Instead, they led us down the stairs at the end of the corridor.
Clang.
Chains clanged as slaves moved down the stairs.
The stairs ended, and a long corridor stretched ahead.
The corridor wasn't like the last one.
The walls weren't out of stone, but dirt. Sparse lightstones were embedded in the tunnel, casting a weak light.
The air smelled of earth and water.
A tunnel.
We moved forward until the path changed.
The tunnel sloped upward now.
We walked for what felt like hours.
I turned my head.
Behind me, hundreds—maybe thousands—of slaves climbed the slope.
I looked forward again.
Then it appeared.
A massive metal gate.
Thud.
The double doors swung open, and cold air rushed inside.
The fresh air felt good after hours of walking through the tunnel.
Step.
The sun had already set, and night had fallen.
The guards urged us forward.
Snow fell, covering the ground in white.
Cold crept up my feet through the leather of my boots, and a shiver crawled up my spine.
I glanced back toward the tunnel.
Behind it, the city rose.
White walls gleamed faintly even at night. Lights glowed softly in the distance.
A guard shoved me.
"Move!"
I faced forward again.
We reached a road after some time.
I began to circulate mana through my body as we walked.
It dulled the cold enough to keep me moving.
We walked for hours.
Crunch.
Snow turned to ice beneath our feet.
Crunch.
Sharp spikes bit into my soles. My breath turned into white smoke.
Crunch.
We kept walking.
They gave us two breaks a day. Food and water, before we moved again.
North.
With every sunrise, it grew colder.
People fell and did not rise again.
The man beside me lost his nose.
It darkened, then turned blue, before falling off.
The woman in front of me lost her arm.
A man bumped into her, and it snapped away.
Step.
I stepped over it.
A child sat down beside the road.
I never saw him again.
The road was solid ice. Trees on both sides were buried in snow.
It snowed without pause.
We walked deeper into that white world.
I endured during the days.
The sun gave me enough warmth not to freeze to death.
At night, I used mana—cycling it through my limbs, warming one after the other.
Even that wasn't enough.
My body turned colder with each day.
It didn't take long before I couldn't feel my legs anymore.
They no longer felt like a part of me.
Crunch.
I moved anyway.
Crunch.
We reached the top of a hill.
And there it was.
A city.
Stone walls coated in frost, roofs buried beneath snow. Smoke rose straight from chimneys.
Behind the city.
Far in the distance.
Stood a wall.
Made out of black stone.
A stark contrast to the white world around us.
It stretched endlessly left and right, taller than the city itself. Frost clung to its surface. Snow layered its top.
Beyond it, treetops pierced the horizon, frozen and white.
A breath left me without realizing I held it.
Just a bit longer.
Stomp.
Hold on.
Stomp.
For her.
Stomp.
Lisa.
Stomp.
I will survive.
Stomp.
I will find her.
But the guards didn't turn toward the city.
We walked past it.
Instead, we approached a lone mountain several hundred meters away.
The mountain towered over us. Snow covered its peak.
A gate was carved into the mountain. Tall and imposing.
We walked past it.
Then—
Further ahead.
Another, smaller entrance lay hidden behind collapsed stone.
The guards halted as we reached it.
Thud.
Click.
The door opened.
"Enter!"
One by one, we went inside.
A circular hall awaited us.
Dozens of tunnels branched off in every direction. Dull lightstones illuminated everything.
Warmth washed over me as I entered.
My numb legs began to wake.
Women holding lists shouted directions.
"Women there!"
"Males here!"
"Children with me!"
"Beastkin to the right!"
"Elves left!"
"Dwarves this way!"
I joined the teens.
A dragonkin woman waved her hand and sent us down a corridor.
A guard waited at the end, beside a door.
He opened it.
"Ten in."
Ten entered.
Their shouts echoed through the closed door.
Branding.
Again.
The door opened. Then ten teens emerged.
"The next ten!"
I stepped forward.
Heat filled the room.
Furnaces glowed in the back. My frozen skin warmed painfully.
A metal table stood near the entrance.
The guards grabbed one teen after another and brought them forward.
A smith waited with a glowing rod.
I was next.
Two guards grabbed my arms and held me down.
My right arm was lifted onto the table.
The smith stepped forward.
He pressed the brand onto my right arm.
Hiss.
"Argh!"
Pain flared up as it scorched my skin.
He removed it, and a wet cloth followed.
He pressed it against the burn as he examined my other arm.
"Cut it!"
One guard pulled a knife and sliced cleanly through the old brand on my left arm.
It hurt.
They grabbed me again, yanking me up.
"Wait!"
The smith stopped them.
He stepped closer, examining my collar and the shackles, fingers tapping against the metal.
He frowned.
"What...is this?"
He turned away and shouted.
"Rao! Take over!"
His gaze snapped back to me.
"Sit. Don't move."
He gestured toward the table.
I sat.
He returned carrying tools.
Metal clinked as he placed them on the table.
He inspected the shackles and collar again, then took a tool and shifted his focus to the chains.
Click.
The wrist chain fell.
Click.
The ankle chain followed.
Relief spread through my joints.
He muttered as he touched the shackles again.
"These are special. I can't remove them. You'll need a magic engineer for that."
'Magic engineer?'
"Next!"
Guards pulled me away before I could ask.
I was shoved out of the room.
Further ahead, the corridor was lined with crates.
Women stood beside them.
One of them called me.
"Boy. Here."
She looked at me for a moment before reaching for the crates.
She handed me black trousers and a shirt.
"Change."
I obeyed.
I stripped down and dropped my old clothes to the floor.
I stepped into the trousers and pulled the shirt over my head.
A white number was written on my chest.
[29]
The woman picked up the clothes from the floor when I was done.
A guard stood ahead.
"Move!"
I walked toward him.
A group of teens stood around him.
He counted.
"Sixteen. Good. Follow me!"
We followed.
Cells lined the corridor.
He led us toward the first one.
Click.
He opened the door.
"Inside."
We entered.
Thud.
The cell smelled of soap and linen.
Bunk beds lined the walls—eight of them. A round table stood in the center, chairs scattered around it.
I moved.
Toward the last bunk bed.
I touched the upper bed.
The mattress was filled with straw. Not soft, nor hard.
I climbed up and sat.
My gaze drifted through the room.
Grey stone walls surrounded us. Bars of metal lined the wall facing the corridor.
The other teens had split.
Some sat on the beds like me. Others sat on the chairs. A few just stood.
Some time passed.
Click.
The door opened, and guards entered.
They carried a crate and a barrel inside.
The crate was placed on the table. The barrel on the floor next to it.
"Eat. You'll need it soon."
They left.
I climbed down and walked toward the table.
The crate was full.
Bread, meat, and cups.
I took a cup and some food.
I filled the cup and climbed the bed again.
I ate.
The bread was warm and soft.
The meat tasted like meat.
And the water didn't smell like salt.
The warmth.
The food.
The clothes.
I felt alive again.
I let myself fall onto the bed.
It didn't take long for exhaustion to come.
My eyes closed.
***
Clang.
I woke.
Clang.
My head turned.
Clang.
A guard was slamming his sword against the bars until every teen woke up.
Click.
The door opened.
"Come out."
I climbed down and followed the other teens out of the cell.
The sixteen of us filled the corridor.
Thud.
The door closed.
"Follow us."
The guards led us forward down the corridor.
We returned to the entry hall.
They turned right opposite the mountain entrance.
A gate I hadn't noticed before stood there.
The gate was massive. The dull light of the lightstones didn't reach it.
"Wait here."
We were placed in front of the gate.
It was dark.
All sixteen of us waited.
We stood close.
That's when I noticed.
The white letters on the other teens' shirts.
'Numbers?'
Thud.
The gate opened at that moment.
Screech.
Metal scraped against stone.
Light spilled through the gap.
The light was bright.
It blinded me.
I closed my eyes.
The guards shouted.
"Move!"
I stepped forward.
Step.
The floor changed.
Step.
It wasn't stone.
Step.
Something shifted as I walked.
Step.
Sand.
Step.
I opened my eyes.
Step.
I was blind for a moment longer before I could see again.
Step.
A circle of sand stretched before me.
Step.
I looked up.
Step.
And stopped.
Stone walls rose high around us in a circle.
Benches were carved into the stone. They rose in rings atop the walls. People filled these benches.
The sound of their shouts echoed all around us.
My gaze traveled up the benches, then toward the ceiling.
A dome rose above us.
Lightstones were embedded in the stone and shone brightly.
Thud.
My head turned toward the sound.
The gate had closed.
My gaze shifted back toward the teens.
They stood around me. Scattered over the wide patch of sand.
A shout cut through the air.
My head turned back toward the high walls and benches surrounding us.
Another shout followed.
Then another.
And another.
Until it became a chant.
"BLOOD, NO MERCY!"