The man nodded.
"As close as you can come. It is a magical place. There are many magical places in the Empire. It has all been ruined by Andronicus, by his army, which is everywhere. His patrols are ever-present, which is why I had to come out here, deep in the jungle. Anyone caught by them is captured and taken either as a soldier or as a slave. His army of slaves is in fact bigger than his army of soldiers. He has to dominate everything, every last soul.”
The old man sighed.
“I have gotten quite good at hiding from his men. They have never caught me—and they never will. Or my grandson. I want it that way. That's why I'm wary of new visitors, like yourself. I don't want anyone to give me away.”
Thor and the others looked at each other, taken aback by the man’s story.
"Can you tell us what you know of the Sword?" Thor asked.
The man looked long at Thor, then finally looked away.
"I saw a dozen men the other day. Also from the Ring. They moved awkwardly through the jungle. They were accompanied by several warriors, a formidable force. They left a broad trail. Easy to follow. Although of course the jungle consumes itself every day, so unless a trail is fresh it will disappear. But I watched them. I know where they went.”
"And where was that?" Reece asked.
Thor thought he saw something like fear in the man’s eyes.
"They took the road to Slave City.”
"Slave City?" Elden echoed.
The old man nodded.
"About ten miles west of here. We’re at the edge of the jungle here. There's only one road there. But I warn you: Slave City is aptly named. There are hundreds of thousands of them. All indentured servants, all serving Andronicus. And just as many guards. Venture there, and you won’t get out.”
"But why would they take the Sword there?" Conval asked.
"I didn’t say they were taking it there,” he said. “I said they were heading down that road. They could be going anywhere.”
"Then we shall follow them at first light," Thor said.
The old man shook his head.
"To enter Slave City is to give yourself up for capture. Especially with such a small fighting force as your own. It’s suicide.”
"We have no choice," Thor insisted. "We have come to find the Sword. And we must follow wherever it went.”
The old man lowered his head and shook it sadly.
"Will you show us the way?” Thor asked. “In the morning?"
"It's your death," the old man said. "I can show you how to get anywhere.”
Satisfied, Thor leaned back onto the furs—but as he stretched his arm, he suddenly felt it singed, and he yanked it back quickly, crying out in pain.
He turned and looked, expecting to see a fire, but he saw none. He wondered what happened, how he had gotten hurt.
"I told you to close those shutters boy!" the old man yelled.
The boy ran over to Thor and quickly closed the wooden shutters beside him. As Thor watched, he realized he had been sitting beside an open window. Thor was puzzled as he looked down at his arm, which had a slight burn mark on it.
"What singed my arm?” he asked.
"The moonlight," the boy answered.
“Moonlight?” Thor asked, shocked.
“It’s strong in these parts. Never put yourself directly in its light. It burns you.”
"It's only the first moon that burns you,” the old man added. “It wanes in a couple of hours, after the spiders leave. The second one is fine to walk under.”
Thor rubbed his arm, leaning back, and he wondered at this place. He felt a million miles away from home. A part of him felt as if he would never return.
"Fetch the meat," the old man commanded, and the boy crossed the cottage and appeared with a heaping platter, overflowing with meats.
Thor and the others—especially Krohn—all perked up, opening their sleepy eyes and leaning forward. Thor dared not ask what sort of meat this was, hardly knowing the names of any of the animals out here anyway. But it smelled delicious, and as the boy brought it closer, Krohn smacked his lips and whined. The boy laughed and served Krohn first, ripping off a hunk and throwing it through the air; he laughed harder as Krohn snatched it. Krohn wagged his tail as he carried it off to a corner of the room and chewed.
Thor smiled as he and the others used the sticks to lift a piece from the platter. The boy and the old man did the same, and all of them settled back, eating contentedly by the fire. Thor took a bite and was surprised by how flavorful it was—and by how tough the meat was. He felt his energy returning as he chewed.
The boy then carried over a sack of wine and goblets, handing one out to each, and filling them. Thor drank, and the strong liquid went right to his head.
With his full belly, the strong wine and the warm fire relaxing him, Thor felt himself getting sleepy. But he shook it off. He was leader of this group, and he could not let himself go to sleep just yet. He wanted to make sure the others were asleep first.
As they all sat around, the room fell into a comfortable silence. Soon, the room was punctuated by the sounds of the old man snoring; the boy giggled. Krohn came back over to Thor, rested his head in his lap, and closed his eyes and slept, too.
Thor and his brothers remained awake, wide-eyed, each staring into the fire. They had each seen too much today, and all of them, despite their exhaustion, were on-edge. There was a somber, unspoken silence amongst them, as if they all knew they were on a journey that must lead to their deaths.
"You ever think about how different life was before we joined the Legion?" O’Connor asked.
"What’s the point of thinking that now?" Elden asked.
O'Connor shrugged.
"Sometimes I think about what I left behind,” O’Connor said. “Not that I regret it. I just wonder about it. How life would have turned out differently. Sometimes I miss my hometown. My family, you know? I guess I miss my sister most of all. She's two years younger. Now, with the shield down and the Empire invading, I think of her, alone back there. I don't know if I will see her again.”
"If we make it back in time," Thor said, “we will rescue her.”
O'Connor brooded, looking unconvinced.
"I wanted to be a blacksmith," Elden said. "My father, he drove me to the Legion. He had tried himself, as a boy, and he couldn't get in. He wanted me to achieve what he could not. I'm glad that I did. My life would have been much smaller had I not. I wouldn’t have seen half the things I have.”