“Haste makes waste, and in dangerous times, haste is fatal.” — English Proverb The morning began like any other.
Riven stood among the other slaves in the courtyard, waiting for the guards to lead them to the mines.
His right hand still throbbed beneath the dirty bandage wrapped around it.
The swelling had gone down a little over the past few days, but he could barely grip anything still.
At least he wasn’t being sent back into the mines.
Since his injury, he had been assigned to lighter work in the storage hall.
It wasn’t pleasant, but it was better than spending the entire day swinging a hammer with his injured hand.
He glanced around the courtyard.
The slaves stood in several uneven rows, most of them looking exhausted before the workday had even begun.
Some leaned against the walls, while others stared at the ground.
A few quietly spoke to one another, but most kept their mouths shut.
Riven had learned that it was better not to draw attention to himself.
He stood near the back of the group, watching the guards as they prepared to lead them out.
There were fewer guards than usual.
He noticed it immediately.
Normally, several guards stood near the main gate, while others watched the courtyard and the smaller entrances.
Today, however, a few of the usual guards were missing.
Perhaps they were busy elsewhere.
Riven didn’t think much of it at first.
Then he heard shouting.
It came from beyond the walls.
At first, it was difficult to make out what was happening.
The voices were distant, and the thick stone walls muffled most of the noise.
But the shouting grew louder, followed by the sound of something heavy striking the ground.
One of the guards near the gate turned his head.
“What was that?” Another guard hurried toward the entrance.
Before anyone could answer, a loud roar echoed from outside the camp.
The sound was deep and unnatural.
It made the ground seem to vibrate beneath Riven’s feet.
Several slaves flinched.
“What the hell was that?” someone whispered.
“Quiet!” a guard shouted.
Another roar followed, this one accompanied by the sound of breaking wood and men shouting orders.
The guards began moving.
“Get your weapons!” one of them yelled.
Several guards rushed toward the main gate.
Others ran to the walls, grabbing their weapons as they went.
Riven watched them carefully.
Something was attacking the camp.
He couldn’t see what it was, but the noise made it clear that the guards were taking the threat seriously.
“Everyone stay where you are!” a guard shouted at the slaves.
“Anyone who moves dies!” The remaining guards spread out around the courtyard, keeping their weapons ready.
A few stood near the smaller gates, while others watched the slaves.
Riven remained still.
He had no intention of making a foolish move without knowing what was happening.
The main gate opened, and several guards rushed outside.
Their shouting quickly faded into the distance, replaced by the sounds of fighting.
Another roar shook the courtyard.
Riven could hear metal clashing against something, followed by a man’s scream.
He swallowed.
Whatever was outside, it was dangerous enough to frighten the guards.
He looked toward the gate, trying to catch a glimpse of the battle.
Unfortunately, the walls blocked most of his view.
Still, he could see movement beyond the entrance.
Shadows passed across the opening as the guards fought whatever had attacked them.
The slaves began whispering among themselves.
“Monsters…” “I heard there were monsters in the forest.” “Do you think they’ll get inside?” “Shut up!” a guard snapped.
The courtyard fell silent again.
Riven’s eyes moved from the main gate to the smaller entrances.
He had spent the past several days studying the camp.
He knew the guards usually kept a close watch on every entrance, especially when the slaves were being moved.
But now, most of them had rushed toward the main gate.
There were still guards watching the courtyard, but fewer than usual.
An opportunity?
The thought came to him before he could stop it.
He looked toward one of the smaller gates.
Only a single guard stood beside it.
Normally, there would have been at least two.
Riven’s heart began to beat faster.
If he could reach that gate, perhaps he could get out.
But he quickly dismissed the thought.
He didn’t know what was happening outside.
There could be more monsters waiting beyond the walls, and even if he managed to get through the gate, he had no idea where to go.
He was still a five-year-old child with little strength and no weapon.
He couldn’t afford to make a mistake.
A sudden commotion caught his attention.
One of the slaves had broken away from the group.
The man sprinted toward the smaller gate.
For a moment, nobody moved.
Then the remaining guards began shouting.
“Stop him!” The slave ignored them.
He ran as fast as he could, pushing past the other slaves and heading straight for the gate.
Riven stared.
The man was desperate.
He probably saw the same opportunity that Riven had noticed.
With so many guards fighting outside, he must have thought he finally had a chance to escape.
But he hadn’t considered the contract.
The mark on his body activated.
The man suddenly collapsed.
A terrible scream escaped his mouth as he fell to the ground, clutching his chest.
His entire body began to convulse.
Riven froze.
The slave tried to crawl forward, but he couldn’t move properly.
His fingers dug into the dirt as he struggled to drag himself toward the gate.
The mark continued to punish him.
His screams grew louder.
“Please!” he cried.
“Make it stop!” The guard beside the gate rushed toward him.
The slave tried to crawl away, but the pain was too much.
He could barely lift his head.
The guard reached him and kicked him onto his back.
“Stupid bastard!” The man raised his weapon.
Riven watched in horror as the guard drove his spear into the slave’s body.
The screaming stopped.
For a moment, the courtyard was completely silent.
The guard pulled his spear free and looked down at the body.
“Let that be a lesson to the rest of you!” he shouted.
Nobody answered.
The other slaves stood frozen in place.
Some looked away, while others stared at the dead man.
Riven felt his stomach tighten.
He had known the contracts were dangerous.
The old man had warned him, and he had already seen how the guards treated anyone who disobeyed.
But seeing someone collapse in agony simply for trying to leave was different.
The man hadn’t even made it through the gate.
Riven looked down at his own chest.
He couldn’t see the mark beneath his clothes.
The contract had been there.
But now it wasn’t.
He had assumed that his new soul had somehow broken it.
But what if he was wrong?
What if the contract only failed to activate under certain circumstances?
He didn’t know.
And he wasn’t willing to find out by running toward a gate.
Riven slowly looked back toward the entrance.
The fighting outside was still going on.
More shouting came from beyond the walls, followed by another roar.
The guards remaining in the courtyard looked increasingly nervous.
One of them hurried toward the main gate, leaving another guard to watch the slaves.
Riven noticed something else.
The smaller gate was still being watched by only one guard.
He studied the man’s position.
The guard stood close to the entrance, his attention divided between the slaves and the sounds coming from outside.
He occasionally glanced toward the main gate, clearly wanting to join the fighting.
Riven memorized the scene.
If he could create a distraction, he might be able to get past a guard like that.
But he would need more than a distraction.
He would need to know exactly where he was going, how to get beyond the camp, and how to avoid being caught.
And he would need to make sure the contract wouldn’t stop him.
The thought of the dead slave made his stomach twist again.
He couldn’t afford to make the same mistake.
Minutes passed.
Eventually, the sounds of fighting began to fade.
The roars became less frequent, and the shouting grew more organized.
The guards had apparently managed to push the monsters away from the camp.
A few men returned through the main gate, their clothes dirty and their weapons stained.
One of them was limping, while another held his arm tightly against his chest with a solemn look on his face.
Riven watched as they spoke with the guards in the courtyard.
He couldn’t hear everything, but he caught a few words.
“Dead…” “Ran off…” “Check the walls…” The guards seemed exhausted, but they were still alert.
After a while, one of them stepped forward and shouted at the slaves.
“Get moving!
Back to work!” Nobody argued.
The slaves began forming into lines again.
Some glanced at the body near the smaller gate, but none dared to approach it.
Riven followed the others toward the entrance.
As he passed the dead slave, he kept his eyes forward.
He didn’t want to look at the body any more.
The guards marched them out of the courtyard and toward their work.
The attack had delayed the workday, but apparently not enough to give the slaves the rest of the day off.
Riven kept his head down as they walked.
He was still thinking about the attack.
The slave who had tried to escape had been desperate, but desperation hadn’t helped him.
The contract had stopped him almost immediately, and the guard had killed him before he could even reach the gate.
Riven had no intention of repeating that mistake.
Still, the attack had revealed something useful.
The guards didn’t remain at their usual posts when the camp was threatened.
They abandoned some of their positions to defend the walls and fight whatever was outside.
That meant there might be moments when the smaller gates were left with only one guard.
Perhaps even fewer, if the situation became serious enough.
It was something worth remembering.
By the time the slaves reached the mines, Riven had already begun thinking about how he could use that information.
His original plan had been to set fire to the storage hall and use the confusion to escape.
He still believed the idea had potential, especially now that he knew how quickly the guards could be distracted.
But he needed to understand the camp better.
He needed to know which gate to use, how many guards would be there, and what waited beyond the walls.
For now, he would continue observing.
He would keep working in the storage hall, learn everything he could, and wait for the right opportunity.
The attack had shown him that the camp wasn’t as secure as it seemed.
But it had also shown him just how dangerous an escape could be.
Riven glanced at the guards marching beside them.
He would have to be careful.
He only had one chance to get this right.