Greyhaven first appeared as a gray line between the hills.
Raven saw it nearly an hour before the caravan reached the walls.
Until then, the road had passed through cultivated fields, small villages, and stretches of land divided by wooden fences. They had left the forest behind that morning, and with it slowly disappeared the feeling that every bush might contain something with enough teeth to turn him into food.
The new threat was more familiar.
People.
Raven walked beside the second wagon, one hand resting near the knife at his belt, his left arm still bandaged. He had replaced some of the medical dressings from Earth with clean cloth Mira carried among the supplies. It wasn’t better material, but his medical kit was limited and he had no intention of wasting it when a strip of linen did the same job.
Stonehide had proven more useful than he’d expected.
Also more expensive in mana.
He had tested the ability several times during the journey, always for only a few seconds. He could mineralize relatively small sections of his body without much difficulty: knuckles, forearm, part of his shoulder. Covering a larger area increased the mana cost quickly and created an unpleasant pressure beneath his skin.
He still didn’t know whether he could use it across his entire body.
He also had no intention of finding out while walking.
Ember Spark. Predator’s Instinct. Stonehide.
Three creatures. Three abilities. Level three.
Raven had spent part of the journey listening to Darius talk while another part of his mind reorganized everything he knew.
Every monster in this world was a variable.
Not necessarily an improvement.
That was important.
A creature could possess a spectacular ability that was useless to him. Another that looked weak might contain exactly what he needed.
And Predation only allowed one choice per target.
He couldn’t devour everything indiscriminately.
At least not yet.
The world was beginning to look less like a place and more like a gigantic collection of potential resources.
Raven looked up at Greyhaven.
The walls stood roughly forty feet high and were built from gray stone blocks that sloped slightly outward at the base. Square towers interrupted the fortifications at regular intervals. Soldiers carrying long spears and wearing partial metal armor patrolled the tops.
Nothing particularly unusual.
Then Raven saw the runes.
Golden lines had been carved directly into the stone. Some ran vertically along the walls; others formed circles around the towers. Even from that distance, he could make out a faint glow whenever sunlight struck them.
"Magical defenses?" he asked.
Darius turned from the driver’s seat.
By now, he seemed to have gotten used to Raven asking questions that sounded obvious.
"Yes. Barriers."
"Always active?"
"No. They’d consume too much crystal. The lesser runes operate constantly. Detection, alarms, some protection against incorporeal creatures. The main barrier is only raised when there’s danger."
Raven studied the towers.
"Range?"
Mira, riding several yards ahead, looked back over her shoulder.
"Why do you need to know that?"
"Because I’m going inside."
"That doesn’t answer the question."
"It’s the only answer you need."
Mira rolled her eyes.
Darius gave a quiet laugh.
The relationship between Raven and the archer hadn’t improved much since the forest.
It hadn’t gotten worse either.
Mira seemed to have accepted that he wasn’t pleasant, and Raven had accepted that she asked too many questions.
A kind of balance.
As they drew closer, Greyhaven began revealing more detail.
A fairly wide river ran south of the city. Mills stood along its banks, and small boats transported goods across the water. Beyond the walls, Raven could see brown-tiled rooftops, temple towers, and a much larger structure at the center that seemed to combine a fortress with a cathedral.
But what caught Raven’s attention most wasn’t the architecture.
It was the people.
There were too many of them.
Wagons waiting to enter. Merchants. Farmers carrying baskets. Mercenaries. Soldiers. Travelers.
People with animal ears.
Raven slowed slightly.
It wasn’t an illusion.
A woman walking beside a wagon had long ears covered in gray fur on top of her head and a tail of the same color extending through an opening in her dress.
Farther ahead stood a massive man with reddish skin and two small black horns.
Another individual had completely yellow eyes and green scales covering part of his neck.
Raven looked at Darius.
"You said Asteria was a human kingdom."
"It is."
"Those aren’t humans."
"I didn’t say only humans lived here."
Raven looked back at them.
"What are they?"
Darius followed his gaze.
"The woman is lupine. Beastkin."
Another.
"The red-skinned man looks half oni. Maybe a quarter."
"And the scales?"
"Saurian. Though I don’t see many around here."
Raven nodded.
More information.
Multiple intelligent species.
The system had identified Raven as human and the creatures in the forest by species.
That opened some interesting questions.
Predation hadn’t displayed any restriction saying:
Monsters only.
Raven pushed the thought aside.
Too soon.
Not because it created any particularly complicated moral dilemma for him.
Because he still didn’t know how this world reacted to people capable of stealing abilities by eating organs.
Judging by Mira’s expression when she’d seen Stonehide, probably badly.
The caravan approached the line waiting to enter.
Then Raven saw the collars.
One at first.
Then seven.
A group was moving along the right side of the road, separated from everyone else by a long rope.
No.
Chain.
Raven looked more closely.
Nine people.
Five human.
Four not.
A beastkin woman with feline ears wore a dark iron collar around her neck. A chain ran from it to the next person.
There was a saurian man. A human around forty. A woman with small horns Raven couldn’t classify.
All of them were barefoot.
Some of their clothes were torn.
Two had fresh whip marks across their backs.
A mounted guard rode beside them.
He wasn’t wearing a military uniform.
Leather armor.
A short baton in one hand.
The feline woman stumbled.
The man behind her had to stop abruptly as the chain snapped tight.