Dominic woke to movement at the edge of the courtyard.
Not sudden. Not threatening. Just enough to pull his attention from shallow sleep into alert awareness. He shifted slightly, careful not to draw notice, and listened.
Footsteps. Light. Familiar.
Harn was already awake, moving between people with his ledger tucked under one arm. He paused near the entrance, spoke quietly to someone Dominic could not see, then nodded once.
Visitors came and went here. That alone was not dangerous.
What mattered was who came.
Dominic sat up slowly and tested his breath. Pain answered, sharp but contained. The warmth he had been cultivating pulsed faintly, like a reluctant ember. Still there.
Alive.
Lysa stirred beside him. "Something wrong," she murmured.
"Not yet," Dominic said.
He rose and joined the slow morning routine. People ate sparse meals, checked bandages, argued over tools. No one wasted time on greetings.
Dominic worked again, hauling debris, mending crude barriers. He kept his head down and his ears open.
By midmorning, word spread quietly.
Iron Fang was nearby.
Not inside the city. Not yet. But close enough that everyone felt it. Conversations grew shorter. Eyes tracked the entrances more often.
Dominic noticed the shift immediately.
Fear changed posture. It tightened shoulders. It shortened steps.
Harn approached him while he stacked broken stone near a wall. "You mentioned Iron Fang yesterday."
"Yes."
"You spoke like you knew them."
"I have seen them."
"Seen or survived," Harn asked.
Dominic did not answer immediately. He placed the last stone carefully, then turned.
"I survived their territory," he said. "That is enough."
Harn studied him, then nodded. "They are recruiting. Hard. Borderlands first. Slums next."
"That is predictable," Dominic replied.
"Why."
"Because weak people are cheaper when they panic."
Harn's mouth twitched. "You think like a merchant."
Dominic shrugged. "They think like hunters."
That afternoon, the first Iron Fang scout entered the slums.
He did not wear full armor. He did not carry heavy weapons. He walked openly, with a relaxed gait that drew attention without demanding it.
Confidence.
The courtyard tensed.
The scout stopped near the entrance and looked around slowly, eyes passing over faces like inventory.
Dominic felt the system presence sharpen again.
[Continuum Evaluation System]
Faction proximity detected
Threat classification: Organized
Observation priority elevated
The scout's gaze settled briefly on Dominic. Not long enough to challenge. Long enough to remember.
He moved on.
Minutes passed. Then more scouts appeared at different points along the slums. Not many. Just enough.
Testing.
Harn gathered the courtyard quietly. "No one leaves. No one fights unless forced."
Eyes flicked to Dominic.
He did not object.
The sun dipped lower, painting the city in dull orange and gray. Shadows stretched. Tension thickened.
Then the horns sounded.
Low. Distant. Controlled.
Iron Fang.
The slums erupted into motion. People scattered. Doors slammed. Fires were doused. The courtyard emptied rapidly.
Dominic grabbed Lysa's arm. "Now."
They moved with the flow, slipping through narrow alleys as Iron Fang's presence spread like a stain. Shouts echoed. Orders barked.
Not chaos.
Control.
Dominic pulled Lysa into a half-collapsed building and pressed her against the wall. He peered through a gap in the stone.
Iron Fang mercenaries marched past. Five of them. Well-armed. Disciplined. One wore a collar device at his waist.
Enslavement equipment.
Dominic's jaw tightened.
A scream rang out nearby. Short. Cut off quickly.
Lysa's breath hitched. Dominic pressed his fingers into her wrist again. Still.
The mercenaries moved on.
Minutes later, silence returned in uneven waves.
They waited long after it seemed safe.
When Dominic finally moved, he did so carefully. He scanned the alley, then led Lysa back toward the courtyard by a longer route.
The place was half-empty when they returned.
Harn sat against the wall, blood on his sleeve. He looked up when he saw Dominic.
"They took four," he said. "Two fought. Both died."
Dominic nodded.
Harn studied him. "You knew this would happen."
"Yes."
"Why did you not warn us earlier."
Dominic met his gaze. "Because panic would have doubled the number."
Harn stared at him for a long moment, then looked away.
"You are dangerous," he said quietly.
"Yes," Dominic replied.
Night settled heavily over Virel City.
People did not speak much after that. Those who remained stayed close, guarding one another in silence.
Dominic sat beside Lysa, back against cold stone. Exhaustion pressed down on him like a physical weight.
He was not strong.
He was not healed.
But he was still here.
Behind his eyes, the system presence surfaced one last time that night.
[Continuum Evaluation System]
Survival benchmark reached
Subject status: Alive
Evaluation continues
No praise.
No relief.
Just confirmation.
Dominic closed his eyes and let the ache in his body remind him of what mattered.
He was alive.
For now.
And in this world, that was enough to demand the next day.