e trying to do the job. Even with the slope of the road helping them, the speed of the wagon was agonizingly slow. The tyrant, in comparison, was moving much faster

he dark, seemingly bottomless pit beneath. The creature turned, staring expressionlessly at the three slaves with its five milky, dead eyes. The wagon careened, throwing Shifty and Scholar off their feet, and then froze, balanced precariously on its middle axis. Sunny was the only one left standing. He cast a last glance at the towering monster, and then slammed his shoulder into the front of the wagon, putting all of his weight behind it. The wagon finally lost its balance and rolled over

cene of utter carnage. Except for the three slaves and Hero, every member of the caravan was dead. Their bodies were littering the ground, horribly maimed or torn into pieces. Here and there, a repulsive carcass of a larva could be seen. Shadows cast by the bonfire were dancing happily across the stone platform, seemingly unperturbed by this morbid view. Sunny was also too tired to care. Shifty and Scholar were already up, looking at Hero with weary apprehension. With or without shackles, they were still slaves, and he was still a slave driver. Noticing their tense gazes, the soldier sighed. "Come closer to the fire, all of you. We need to warm ourselves and discuss what to do next." Without waiting for their response, Hero turned around and walked away. After hesitating for a few moments, the slaves followed. A bit of time later, the four of them were seated around the bonfire, soaking up pleasant heat. Shifty and Scholar were close to each other, maintaining a safe distance from Hero. Sunny sat apart from everyone not because he had a specific reason to distrust one more than the others, but simply because he didn't like people in general. Growing up, Sunny was always a misfit. It's not that he had never tried to become close with so

say something, but then thought better of it and remained silent. Shifty cursed, seemingly convinced by Hero's rational words. "We can't go down." All three of them turned to Sunny, surprised to hear his voice. Shifty barked a laugh and glanced at the soldier. "Don't listen to him, your lordship. This boy is, uh, touched by the gods. He's crazy, is what I'm trying to say." Hero frowned, lo