Kai and Elara stepped out of the wagon. The fog in the canyon had pulled back, revealing the night sky.
But the stars weren't white.
They were a flickering, sickly purple. The Empty Dawn was getting closer. The sky was beginning to rot.
"The pass is open," Joram said, pointing down the narrow road. "But the ground…..look at the ground."
The road ahead was covered in black feathers,
Thousands of them.
They look like crow feathers, but not at the same time. They were too large, and they were made of the same oil substance as the Ghouls.
Kai walked to the front of the caravan. He picked up one of the feathers. It dissolved in his hand, leaving a cold sting.
"The Shepherd," he muttered.
"The who?" Joram asked, gripping his spear so hard his knuckles turned white.
"The Shepherd of Crows," Kai said. "The one who leads the Stalkers. It doesn't eat like other creatures. It just watches and collects.
If the feathers are here, it means we've already been counted."
Elara looked at the purple stars and then at Kai.
"Can we outrun it?"
Kai sheathed his blade. He felt the cold air of the pass rushing towards them.
"No one outruns the Shepherd. We just have to reach the Fortress of Salt before it decides to stop watching and start collecting."
Kai looked back at Miri, who was standing in the wagon. He knew now that his journey wasn't just about a girl or a caravan.
The morning was not white; it was sickly, pale violet. The purple night before had faded, but they left a haze in the sky that made the air feel heavy and thick.
The caravan had finally reached the end of the pass.
Ahead of them stood the Fortress of Salt. It was a massive, squat building made of white stone that sat directly across the mouth of the canyon.
Every inch of the wall was encrusted with thick, jagged crystals of salt.
In Oros, salt was the only thing the Void could not easily touch. It was the Line in the Sand.
The smell hit Kai before they reached the gates. It was the smell of brine, sweet.
Thousands of refugees were camped outside the walls in tents made of raga. They weren't allowed inside. The salt tax was too high for a commoner to pay.
Kai looked at the people. They were ghosts in the making; their skin was pale, their eyes sunken.
They clutched small bags of salt to their chests as if the white crystals were more precious than gold.
To them, they were.
"Hide the girl," Kai said to Elara. He pulled his hood low over his face,
"The guards here don't like marked men, and they love unclaimed children. They will sell her to the church mines before the sun goes down."
Elara didn't argue. She ushered Miri into a hidden compartment beneath the wagon seats.
"Stay quiet, little girl," Elara whispered. "No matter what you hear, do not make a sound."
The caravan reached the main gate, and a line of soldiers in polished silver breastplates stood there.
These weren't tired guards from the road; these are Soldiers of the Spark. They carried long spears with tips that glowed with a soft, artificial yellow light.
A captain stepped forward. He had a scarred face and a cape as white as the salt on the walls.
He looked at the wagons, then his eyes settled on Kai. He didn't see a man; he saw a threat.
"Merchant Elara," the captain said, his voice smooth and cold. "The entry fee has doubled since your last trip. The Void Beasts are pushing hard, and the salt mines are running dry.
Fifty gold pieces, or turn around."
Elara turned pale. "Fifty? That's my entire profit for the month! My men are wounded, Captain. We need to treat them inside."
The captain looked at Kai's massive sword.
"You have a Scourge bearer in your employ. That counts as hazardous cargo. That will be another twenty gold pieces. Or,"
He paused, and a cruel smile appeared on his face.
"You leave the man outside. He can stay with the rest of the trash in the camps."
Kai felt the Fire Mark on his shoulder throb. It wasn't the red hunger this time; it was his pure anger, and red was reacting to it.
He looked at the captain's polished armor. This man had never fought a ghoul in his life. He only sat behind the massive salt walls and robbed the poor.
Kai stepped forward. The soldiers raised their spears, the yellow light on the tips humming with energy.
"I am not a good, nor am I a cargo," Kai said, his voice cold.
"Careful, bearer," the captain warned, his hand moving to his sword.
"The Spark protects this fortress. Your dirty fire has no power here."
The tension was a physical string ready to snap. In the camps behind them, the refugees stopped talking to each other. They wanted to see if the bearer would fight the captain.
The captain didn't move his hand from his sword. He looked up and down at Kai, his nose wrinkling like he smelled something rotten.
"Last warning, bearer. Step back from the gate, or I will have the boys put a hole in you."
Kai looked at the glowing spear tips. They were close to his chest now.
"The girl in the wagon is sick," Kai lied. He didn't look at Elara.
"If she dies out here because you want some extra gold, her ghost is on your head, not mine."
The captain laughed at Kai.
"Ghosts don't pay the bills, gold does. Now, Elara, pay up or clear the way. There are other wagons behind you with deeper pockets."
Elara reached into her coat and pulled out a heavy silk purse. She counted out the coins one by one, her fingers shaking slightly. It was a lot of money.
When she handed it over, the captain snatched it and weighed it in his hand.
"And the extra twenty for the marked man?" the captain asked, tilting his head.