Kai reached into his waist bag. He pulled out the blue, frozen eye of the Stalker he had killed earlier.
He tossed it at the captain's feet. It rolled in the dust, still leaking a faint, cold mist.
"That's worth more than twenty gold to the alchemists in the city," Kai said. "Take it as the tax. Or I can go back out there, bring ten more of them, and let them talk to you instead."
The soldiers stepped back. Even the captain looked nervous.
A fresh monster part was rare and dangerous. He kicked the eye toward one of his men,
"Fine. get through. But if the Mark of yours starts acting up inside my walls, I will kill you myself."
"You can try," Kai muttered as he climbed back onto the wagon seat.
The heavy iron and salt gates groaned as they opened. The caravan rolled inside. The air changed instantly.
The violet haze of the sky was gone, replaced by a dull, artificial yellow light from the Spark lamps hanging on the street corners.
The town inside the fortress was cramped. The houses were built on top of each other, all covered in that same white salt-crust.
People huddled in doorways, watching the wagons with hungry eyes. There were no trees, not even grass. Just stone all around.
"We will stay at the Brine Tank," Elara said, her voice low. She was still upset about the gold.
"It's a tavern near the inner gate. They won't ask for names there, and walls should be able to keep your Mark in check."
Kai looked around. He saw a group of men in the shadows. They were not soldiers. They had notched knives and wore tags over their faces.
They were salt snatches; thieves who killed for a handful of salt. They were already eyeing the wagons.
"Miri," Kai whispered toward the floorboards. "Stay down for a few more minutes. It is not safe yet."
The wagon stopped in front of a sagging building with a sign showing a dead fish. The door opened, and a thick, greasy steam poured out.
It smelled like old soup being boiled again.
This was The Brine Tank.
Kai stepped into the tavern. The air was so thick with smoke and the smell of cheap ale that he wanted to cough.
He kept his hood up. In a place like this, a face like his, full of scars and paleness, was an invitation for a fight.
Elara led Miri by the hand. She was wrapped in a large, oversized coat to hide her size.
They found a table in the corner, far from the fireplace.
Kai sat with his back to the wall, his eyes scanning the room. He didn't unstrap The Scourge.
A woman with a missing ear walked over. She was the innkeeper; her face was cold without any expression.
"Ale is two coppers. Stew is five. If you want a bed, it's ten, and there can be rats in the room."
"Three stews," Elara said, putting the coins on the scarred wood.
"And a loaf of fresh bread. A fresh one."
The innkeeper looked at Kai's bandaged shoulder. She saw a faint, orange wisp of smoke rise from his sleeve.
She narrowed her eyes but didn't say anything. In The Brine Tank, asking questions was a good way to get a knife in the throat.
The food arrived. The stew was mostly water and some cabbage, but it was hot.
Miri started eating before the bowl even hit the table. Kai watched her. He realized she hadn't had a warm meal in days. He pushed his bread toward her.
"Eat it," Kai said when she tried to give it back.
"I have my own," he reached into his waist bag and pulled out a small, dried piece of salt pork. He chewed it slowly, his eyes never leaving the front door.
At a table near the center of the room, a group of men was talking loudly. They wore leather armor stained with white dust.
"The mines are closed," one of them growled, slamming his cup down.
"The deep tunnels are crawling with Shadow Creepers. No one is going down there for a week."
Kai listened closely to them. Shadow Creepers were small, but they moved in thousands. If they were in the salt mines, it meant the Void Beasts were trying to choke the fortress from below.
"If the salt stops coming up," Elara whispered to Kai, leaning close, "this fortress will fall in a month. The walls will crumble without fresh crystals to reinforce them."
Kai felt a cold shiver. He looked at the Fire Mark. It was pulsing a deep, angry red. It was reacting to the lack of salt in the surrounding area.
The red in him wanted to be free, and the salt was the only thing keeping it quiet.
A man stood up from the loud table and walked towards them. He was tall, with a metal plate bolted to his jaw. He looked at The Scourge leaning against Kai's chair.
"That's a lot of weight for a man in Salt Town," the man said. "Are you looking for work, or is it just for a show?"
Kai didn't look up from his salt pork.
"I'm just passing through."
"The road to the inner walls is blocked by the church," the man with the metal jaw said. He leaned over the table, his breath smelling like rot.
"They are only letting essential personnel through. But…the Mine Overseer is paying triple for a man who can clear a tunnel."
Kai finally looked up. His eyes were cold and dead.
"I don't dig holes."
The man with the metal jaw didn't move. He spat a glob of brown juice onto the floor near Kai's boot.
"The church has the only gate out of here, bearer. They don't like your kind, I think you know why.
You won't get through without a service pass from the Mine Overseer."