Atral was a refreshing sight to Logan as he, Elaine and Joshua finally reached its gates. There were no farmers out working their fields. No merchants walked the roads ahead of them, and a strange silence soaked the air.

  It nagged at him, a tug at his heart that whispered that the quiet wasn’t right. Logan gripped the hilt of his sword. This close to noon, there should have been at least a few people beyond the stone walls.

  A pit opened up in Logan’s stomach before they were even close to the walls. He knew it before they got there, but he couldn’t let himself believe it. All the signs were there, staring him in the face.

  “This isn’t right,” Elaine said as they came up to the gates.

  “Sarpans,” Logan whispered as he inspected the thick wooden gates.

  Claw marks, each in sets of threes cut deep into the wood. They weren’t enough to bring down the gate. Likely, a raiding party charged at anyone outside the gates before they closed. But, there was something wrong with that.

  “Even if there was an attack, the guards should have noticed us,” Elaine said.

  “There’s no blood around either,” Logan said, looking down the walls.

  “Maybe they just need to know we’re here.” Joshua sighed, stepping forward and banging on the gate.

  “Stop.” Logan grabbed his hand before he could make more noise.

  Joshua threw off Logan’s grip with a quick jerk. Logan could almost see a flare flash across the mage’s eyes for a moment, but it was gone in a blink. Logan grimaced. Angering a man that could shoot fire was a dangerous game.

  “Let’s go check for more gates.” Logan narrowed his eyes at Joshua. “If one of them fell, they will never come.”

  They walked the square walls of Atral. The grey stone was mostly unharmed, only patches of darker repair work still speckled the wall. It was only when they rounded the north side that Logan saw the worst damage.

  Stone crumbled down to the ground as they approached the breach in the wall. Black marks charred the dirt and stone, and Logan knew immediately what it was. Even the air was still acrid with the stink of the weapons.

  “Black powder.” Elaine knelt first, running her fingers along the wall. “The sarpans broke through here then.”

  “This isn’t good,” Logan said, stepping through the hole.

  “Should we just move on then?” Joshua asked.

  “No,” Logan said. “We need supplies, no matter what. There might be survivors as well.”

  “You want us to steal from the dead?” Elaine spat.

  Logan couldn’t believe he had heard those words. For a moment, he forgot who he was dealing with. These weren’t mercenaries hardened by years of battle and living in the wilderness. He took a breath.

  “This is what life is like beyond your walls,” Logan said. “If there are survivors, we’ll trade for them, but the dead have no need for food, drink or steel. If you can’t do this much, you might as well walk back to Nethas.”

  “We should split up then, to hasten the search,” Joshua said.

  “If you find anything useful,” Logan said.

  “Or any survivors,” Elaine interrupted.

  “Or any survivors,” Logan continued. “Bring them to the center of town by dusk. Don’t forget to watch your backs.”

  They split up, each taking a different dirt path. Logan was thankful for it. He hadn’t felt quite comfortable since the journey had begun. Elaine and Joshua weren’t like the Crows. They didn’t act the same.

  ‘Your friends are inspiring,’ Talan said.

  “We need help,” he said as he entered a main road. “They’re just green now. Once they…”

  He stopped in his thought as the wind shifted. Bile rose up his throat, but he was able to control it. It wasn’t as strong as near a battlefield, but the smell of death still dominated the air. He breathed through his mouth as he scouted the street.

  In the road, at least ten people lay in the sun. Their insides lay open to the heat of the day. Logan averted his eyes from their open stomachs and the flies that ate at their exposed flesh. He couldn’t hide from the taste in the air.

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  They weren’t guards, or at least none wore armor. The sarpans had probably caught them unaware after breaching the wall. The entire town likely looked the same, though there would be more guard deaths near the gates.

  Logan kneeled down next to one, a woman clutching at a bundle of red blankets. He knew before he peeled back the cloth what it was, but his heart called on him to confirm it. The purple face of the child stared at him with dead eyes from the folds of the cloth.

  “Valni,” Logan said, making a ward across his chest as he stood and walked away.

  ‘Valni?’ Talan asked.

  “My town’s goddess,” Logan said, distracting himself from the child’s eyes. “Don’t sylvestrians have gods?”

  ‘We had only one,” Talan said. ‘Rinah, the Dreamer.’

  “So are you like the Order then?” Logan asked as the crossed through more of the dead.

  ‘I can’t answer that. I don’t know anything about them,’ Talan said.

  “I don’t know much about them either.” Logan snorted. “All I know is that they worship Astor.”

  ‘You humans have many gods then,’ Talan said.

  “Only Valni is important to me, but most people have their own gods,” Logan said. “Valni is the Protector. She guards any who travel the land. What does your dreamer do, sleep?”

  ‘Rinah was said to reside beyond the Veil,’ Talan’s voice grew distant. ‘Her dreams were our waking world. Her nightmares were every monster, every disease, and every calamity we found in the world.’

  “You don’t believe in her anymore then?” Logan asked.

  ‘The savod changed many things in us,’ Talan said. ‘They came from the Veil itself, and through them we were able to see many things beyond just Nelim. Our world stretched so far, yet nothing prepared us for that.’

  “You couldn’t handle leaving your home for the first time,” Logan said.

  ‘We didn’t leave our home,’ Talan said. ‘We saw all the wonder and horror beyond the Veil and we couldn’t go there. The horrors came to Nelim to stay.’

  “I’m sorry.” Logan stopped in the road. “I didn’t mean…”

  ‘It’s fine,” Talan said. ‘Just focus on the task at hand.’

  Logan continued his search. He found more and more dead the closer he got to the center of the town. He found a few useful things in different homes, a pack and some dried meat as well as three blankets.

  As he put them away in the pack, a sharp cry that chilled his bones rang out. It was like a falcon crying in victory as it took its prize. Logan moved quickly, ducking inside a home and backing against the wall. He peered out at the road and in moments, he knew the truth.

  Two scaly-skinned sarpans jumped down from the roof of another building. They hit the ground on all fours before rising up on their two hind legs. They were an impossible mix of human and lizard. Each one easily towered over him.

  Their green serpentine necks swiveled about as they searched the street. Their tails swayed back and forth as they walked. Rows of sharp yellow teeth gleamed as their sharp cries rang out.

  Logan didn’t dare move as they walked past him. Their long black claws clicked against the rocks in the road as they walked by. Logan’s heart raced in his chest. His breath came in short, shallow gasps.

  They stopped. One of them sniffed at the air, stepping closer and closer to where Logan hid. He could almost feel their hot breath as one of them pressed against the wall. Logan drew his knife from his belt.

  It wouldn’t be a fight he could win. If he attacked one, the other would overpower him easily. He didn’t dare move. Even the slightest misstep would give him away. He held his breath as he heard the claws scrape across the wall.

  The sarpan’s tongue clicked as its shadow grew longer in the doorframe. It would be able to see inside now. All it had to do was turn its head. He tensed, his knuckles turning white. It was now or never, he had to act.

  Sarpans didn’t kill people in a quick way. If they weren’t in battle and just caught a straggler, they would cut open their victim’s stomach and watch as their victim’s life drained away. It was a horrible way to die.

  He lunged out, knife ready to strike at the sarpan’s throat. It would only take two steps to make the strike, one to steady himself on the ground, then another straight up at its neck. It was the only way.

  A rock crumbled to the ground outside and his heart leapt. Logan froze in the middle of his attack. He nearly fell over himself, but he was still not completely out of the wall’s cover. The sarpans had still not seen him.

  Claws scraped against the dirt, and the sarpans bounded away. Logan stood unmoving, trying to gather himself back together. It took some time before he was able to sheathe his knife. He had to pry his white knuckles from the hilt.

  “I still can’t stand those things,” Logan said as he stepped out from the door.

  ‘Wretches,’ Talan said.

  “That’s unexpected,” Logan said.

  ‘You don’t know those dogs like we do,’ Talan said.

  “I know them well enough,” Logan whispered.

  The sarpans were long gone from the road. Logan could see their dust trail leading deeper into the city. At least he wouldn’t have to worry about them for a while then. Logan smiled in relief as he picked up the pack and threw it over his shoulder.

  “Except they might find the others,” Logan realized.

  He took off down the road after them. Sarpans were not something that you fought alone, even with magic as your aid. Neither Joshua nor Elaine would be able to stand up against them without help.

  The sarpans were easy enough to follow, and Logan did his best to stay out of their sight. They were definitely looking for survivors. Logan hoped that there were just two searching through Atral. If it were an entire raiding band, he wouldn’t stand a chance.

  He cursed himself as he ran after them. He shouldn’t have let them split up when they arrived. He should have kept everyone together just in case the sarpans were still there. Whatever happened was his fault now.

  He never thought things through. It was something that he knew very well, but he never thought of it when he should. It always cost something. Logan wanted to scream, but he didn’t dare yell out.

  Wasn’t that why he always didn’t want to be in charge? Wasn’t that why he ran away from it in the first place? Logan fought the urge that nibbled at his heart. He could run away now. He could escape.

  Talan would try to stop him. He still wasn’t sure how much the pact controlled his body. It might be enough for her to stop him from moving, but he didn’t think she could maintain it for long. Everything had a cost after all.

  Talan had said the pact was hard to break. What would be the cost for that? It would not be a price measured in gold or silver, magic didn’t deal in it. He hadn’t thought about it before, but now her words echoed in his mind.

  He could already hear it, his father’s voice echoing in his ears. This wasn’t what a man should do. A man stood up and did what was right no matter the cost. A man would save his friends.

  Logan took those words into his heart and ran on.