"Where are we?" Reece asked, jumping onto dry land beside him, looking around in wonder.
“Is this where the river ends?” O’Connor asked.
"I have no idea," Thor said.
The three brothers jumped off the boat, too, Drake holding out the map and looking around.
"Is this where your golden map has lead us?" Indra asked sarcastically.
"We are exactly where we are supposed to be," Drake answered defensively.
“And where is that, exactly?” she said. “In the middle of nowhere?”
"Actually, our destination is close,” Dross said, leaning in. “According to this map, it's not much farther now.”
“Follow us," Drake said, setting off with his two brothers.
"I don't like this place," Conval said to Conven, standing close.
Thor was just thinking the same thing. It was hard to see far ahead, with the thick fog rolling in and out. He could only catch glimpses of the trees, of a barren wasteland.
After trekking for some time, finally, the fog cleared, and Thor spotted a huge, circular clearing open up before them. The landscape changed abruptly from dirt to a purple grass, as if one land was being demarcated by the other. It was as if they stood at an intersection: in one direction was a land of green, in another a yellow desert.
“What is this place?” Elden asked.
"It looks like a crossroads of sorts,” Reece said.
"The crossroads of the dead,” Indra said. “From here the land leads to three terrains. It is the edge of the underworld.”
"Now what?" Thor asked, turning to Drake.
But something strange happened: as Thor turned to look at Drake, he saw the three brothers suddenly retreating, taking several steps backwards, away from the others.
Before Thor could process what was happening, the fog lifted again, and he suddenly saw, bearing down on them, a hundred Empire soldiers.
Before Thor could reach to draw his sword, he felt himself pounced upon from behind, grabbed by several soldiers and slammed down to the floor. All around him, his Legion brothers were ambushed, too.
In the blink of an eye, they were captured and bound, rendered helpless. They had been setup.
Everyone, except for Drake and Dross and Durs. The Empire did not touch them.
The three brothers came forward and stood over Thor. All with malicious smiles across their faces.
Thor could not believe it. He had been betrayed. By his own brothers.
"I trusted you," Thor said to Drake.
Drake smiled and shook his head.
"You never had good judgment," he responded.
"But why?" Reece asked. "Why would you betray us? Your own Legion brothers?”
"You are not our brothers,” Dross answered, then turned to Thor. “And especially you. We have waited half our lives to see you dead. And now your day has come.”
"Say goodbye, little brother," Durs said.
He drew his sword with a distinctive ring, as the Empire soldiers held Thor down tight.
Thor tried to struggle, but it was useless. There was something about these ropes that nullified his power. He could not even muster the strength to squirm.
He had nothing left to do but watch helplessly as Durs stepped forward and raised his sword high, aiming for Thor's exposed neck. Thor knew that his time had come.
And he had but one wish left in the world: if only he could see Gwendolyn again.