“I told you to stay away, Raif.”
“I thought you might need some help,” the boy answered, looking around. He grinned at Cade, though his face was pale. “I guess you Hadn’t.”
“This is no place for you.” Raif bit his lip, darting glimpses at the bodies around him. He slowly sheathed his knife.
“You said you would teach me to be a warrior,” he said. He gestured at the dead mercenary. “I’ve seen death before. Cade.”
Cade’s eyes went dark. He grabbed the boy and pushed him to the ground by the corpse of the Beast. Grabbing the old man’s collar, he pulled the corpse up to face the boy.
“This is death,” he said, ignoring the still warm fluids sliding down his wrist. “Look at it, boy, see it for what it is.” Raif tried to pull away but Cade held him firm. The smell of the blood was covered by the horrid stench of the corpse. The bladder and bowels had emptied at death, and their horrid mixture slowly leaked toward Raif’s sandaled feet. The split face smiled at him, its dull eyes seeming to search him out.
“No,” Raif gasped, pulling away. He got two steps before he vomited. Cade held the boy while Raif emptied his stomach.
“The life of a warrior is the path of death,” Cade whispered in Raif’s ear. “This is the truth of it, boy: old men’s brains spilling at your feet.” He turned Raif to face the dead mercenary. Cade pointed. “That’s where it ends, boy. An arrow in the dark in a dirty warehouse, in a town all decent people have long ago forgotten about. What is so noble, boy, what is so grand about being a warrior?”