Vale did as he was told. The building was much bigger than he expected, with a thick wooden door he didn't even get the chance to knock on before it was yanked open.
The tallest woman Vale had ever seen stood before him. Her mouth was pressed into a sneer, her hair pulled back so tightly it looked painful. Lean muscles stretched beneath red-black leather armor, one hand resting casually on the hilt of her sword. Surprise flickered across her face when she saw him, but it vanished just as quickly.
"Yes?" she barked.
Vale gestured to himself, but the boy stepped forward before he could speak. "Yes! We're here to join the fight in the Borderland!"
The woman's severe, dark eyes snapped to him, and he shrank back immediately. Disappointment tightened her face as she took them all in. "I asked for more muscles, and they send me what? A half-starved man, a kid, and a madwoman."
"I'm not a kid! I'm....."
He didn't finish. Her hand blurred forward, striking him hard enough to spin him to the ground. "You are nothing but flesh to do as I tell you," she said coldly. "And there's a standing instruction to keep your mouth shut."
The boy scrambled up, touching his swollen, bruised cheek. The woman rubbed her temple, then pointed at him again. "You, kid, you're useless. You'll stay here and make yourself useful. You, madwoman, I don't know what to do with you, maybe the fortress will find some use for you."
Then she turned to Vale.
Her gaze would have made stronger men flinch, but Vale didn't. There was nothing left in him to react to. His eyes stared back at her, hollow and empty.
She was the first to look away, frowning slightly before the sneer returned.
"You," she finally said. "You look like a stray wind could carry you off. Like your bones will snap under effort. Too bad. You'll be doing a lot of effort."
She paused. Vale stayed silent.
"You'll join the labor camp under my wing. Go inside and we'll leave tomorrow."
Vale nodded and walked past her toward the building. As he passed, he heard her mutter, "Why can't they at least send me someone with some life? This one will die in no time. At least a Squire would've helped my quota."
The building was just as large inside, filled with straw mats and a small sealed-off section in one corner.
She returned later and gestured vaguely. "Find somewhere to sleep. We're heading to the Barrens later. And you, boy, someone will come for you soon."
Then she disappeared into the sealed room.
Some time later, she emerged and nodded at Vale where he sat near the door. "Let's go."
She led him back the way they'd come, curving around the fortress and across dry, cracked ground. The sun dipped lower as they walked.
She didn't talk much. Neither did Vale. It gave him time to think.
He was here now. This was where he'd die after failing at everything else. What choice did he have? Run away? Then what? Try to become a Knight? Advance on his own? The monsters out there would kill him long before that.
Vale stopped walking, a frown forming on his face, the first real expression he'd made since leaving the prison.
Either here, back at the prison, or in the Barrens… death was still death. Why hadn't he tried to die?
The thought disturbed him more than it should have. It touched something he didn't want to examine. Bitterness swelled inside him, and he shuddered.
No. Impossible. He wasn't afraid of death. He wanted to die. Yes, he wanted to die—eager for it even. Vale clenched his teeth. What was there to live for anyway?
He forced himself forward again, and then he saw it.
A ruin rose ahead of them, rusted glass and metal, massive, almost as large as Steelclaw's fortress. It had already been sacked, stripped bare and abandoned, but its sheer scale stunned him.
"You know," the woman said, stopping when she noticed Vale had paused, "most people are shocked when they see a ruin. You're staring at it the same way you stare at everything else."
Vale gave it one last look and kept walking. She raised a brow, muttering under her breath before finally speaking. "I'm Taiwo."
Vale nodded.
Silence stretched until he realized she was waiting. "Vale."
"Well, Vale...."
Something suddenly exploded into motion.
A monster rose beside her and slammed a clawed hand into her so fast Vale only saw a blur. She was hurled sideways, bone snapping loudly as she crashed into the ground.
Vale didn't worry about her.
The monster was looking at him.
He'd seen monsters in books and stuffed trophies too, but never a living one. Shaggy brown fur matted with red. A twisted humanoid frame, hunched back and clawed hands. A dog mouth split wide, revealing rows of gleaming fangs.
It didn't matter what it was. All that mattered was that it was dangerous.
It growled.
Finally, death, Vale thought. He forced himself to step forward. This was it. He wanted death, didn't he? It was right there. Embrace it. Welcome it.
But his feet wouldn't move.
His eyes locked with the monster's, and something surged inside him, something he hadn't felt in a long time. His heart thundered. Cold sweat soaked his skin.
The monster roared, warm rotted breath washing over him, and Vale stepped back.
The realization hit him like a blade.
He was afraid of death. He didn't want to die.
He was afraid of death… even when there was nothing left to live for.
The monster coiled and pounced, crossing the distance in a single leap.