The wind still carried the smell of mass graves when we reached the walls of the Scarlet Forge City. They rose like two jaws reddened by centuries of fire, tall columns of black stone streaked with red veins, sweating the heat of the forges buried in their guts. The gates stood open, gaping like a maw ready to swallow us.
I walked first, Sae at my side. She moved with her head held high, hood thrown back. Her white hair stood out against the dark stone, her naked silhouette barely concealed by a cloak too short to hide her firm thighs. She wasn't afraid of being seen like that, offered up to the eyes of the women who held these walls, and their gazes clung to her as much as to me. But it wasn't lust. It was an appraisal, cold and merciless.
