Ginger looked at Thatch, whose eyes had returned to their previous light, and then looked more closely at these slums - no this wasn't a slum, it couldn't be described like that.

An old man missing a leg was sitting on a rock close by, and had pulled some sort of meat lump from the burning sand and began to bite into it.

A woman held a bundle of cloth and was swinging it in her arms absent-mindedly, humming a tune, but the bundle had already attracted a swarm of flies.

A scream could be heard not too far away until it abruptly became silent.

A large skinny dog limped by, holding a bone in its jaws with some flesh still reluctantly attached to it. Many other bones, half sunk in the sands, lay scattered across the area.

The smell of faeces and rot and a burnt, sickly sweet stench mixed in the air. The only audible sound, the buzzing of fly swarms dancing between any half-living thing in this place.

For the first time in his life, Azroth's son truly realised the absolute disparity between people. He had been taught some things, but he'd never really stepped out of the castle, other than to high-class gatherings and similar social events. Even the markets were a novelty to him. He would never have imagined a place like this could exist.

Despite this realisation, Ginger was still reluctant to leave, even as his senses were assaulted by the surrounding air. He felt that perhaps he could become stronger through this experience, and he truly felt he could become good friends with Thatch, even with all the darkness and hidden motives he held.

"I'm sorry, this is all quite new to me, I'll be fine if you give me some time. Let's continue" Ginger spoke between breaths and chokes.

Thatch studied the boy for a minute before turning around. Just as he did so, a storm of hooves approached the area, Thatch grabbed Ginger and made their way to a more obscure location behind a nearby tent. The residents of this area also heard the same, but none seemed to react.

Several armored men rode upon large war horses. The armor the men wore covered their entire bodies, spiked and heavy. Even the men's eyes were not visible through their helmets. One man, much larger and much more obese than the rest, rode his horse to the center of this desolate area. The horse seemed to be struggling under his weight.

"Has anyone here seen a boy? Hmm...?" he spoke with a moderate volume, but his voice spanned the entire area. Some use of Conjury no doubt.

There was no reaction.

All except Thatch who subconsciously rubbed his neck, still hiding with Ginger. Thatch cursed to himself. It's only been a week! He should have had more time.

"He's about, Hmmm...this high and has brown hair" He held out a rough sketch of a boy with scruffy long brown hair covering his eyes. It was naturally impossible to identify someone with such a thing.

Ginger took a quick glance at Thatch and then looked at the men on horses. That armor...

There was still no reaction. The old man continued to eat, the woman continued to cradle her bundle, the tents were still silent. The body hung from the nearby tree still swayed slightly.

The leader looked around and then talked to one of his subordinates. The subordinate rode his horse to the woman cradling her bundle.

"Did you not hear what His Lordship said? Answer!" The man held out the sketch in front of her. She paused for a moment and looked up with hollow eyes, and then... turned back to look at her bundle, and continued swaying it gently.

In a split moment, her head flew off and her body slumped, then the armored man returned his halberd to his back. The bundle unfurled itself over the woman's body, and revealed a swarm of maggots feasting on rotted flesh.

Ginger took this sight in and gasped. His stomach began to react and he was about to throw up again. Before he could however, a hand trapped his mouth and nose, and a commanding whisper sounded by his ear.

"Swallow it"

Even amid the commanding tone, Ginger still felt the shivering of the boy beside him, and the nervous sweat dripping from his hand. He figured then that Thatch wasn't all that different to himself. They were both terrified.

The leader once again spoke

"Anyone else want to end up like this? Answer me!" The last words were roared out.

Still no reaction.

The subordinate with the halberd approached the leader and discussed something

"...no choice....isn't here...visit the city.... Azroth..." Thatch and Ginger could only make out a few words in their conversation.

After a while, the sounds of horses trotting and armor clattering passed through this area. As they passed, the old man who had just finished eating was cleaved in half through the chest by the leader's axe. Ginger almost jumped at the sight but was quickly restrained by Thatch.

"Hmm?" One of the subordinates trailing behind the others looked behind him

"What's wrong" Another one asked

"Oh nothing, I was just thinking if the boy's even still alive. Feels like we've come so far for nothing"

The subordinate with the halberd, most likely the second-in-command of this group heard the discussion behind him and spoke "He might have died"

The others became quiet as they continued towards the city

"But this time we should even kill his corpse to make sure"

Thatch and Ginger were still until not even the slightest sight or sound of the men remained. Thatch removed his hand from Ginger's face and he fell into a squat, letting out a long breath, arms covering his face. Ginger too slumped to the ground breathing heavily and looked at Thatch.

Thatch spoke with an unexpected levity, head still down

"...Do you still want to come over?"

Ginger opened his mouth to say something but could only let out a chuckle despite himself

"You almost died you know"

"Fuck. I almost did, didn't I?" Thatch looked up to the twin stars and let out another breath. He continued to speak

"Hey, you're rich, right? Could you get me some clothes?"

Ginger was taken aback. Leaving aside the fact that Thatch could tell he was rich... Clothes? That's all he wanted from him? He naturally figured that Thatch had a hidden motive in approaching him, but clothes? Once again, Ginger was thoroughly floored. Even something as simple as getting clothes can be a matter of life or death for some people. What he was wearing was just something casually chosen to blend in the marketplace. Looking around himself, Ginger learned that people would kill for a lot less.

"Yeah, does that mean we're friends?"

"Friends?" Thatch had some ideas about who Ginger could be, though not for certain. Some day in the future, they might find themselves on opposing sides. But Thatch couldn't be bothered to calculate that far ahead. Having just narrowly escaped death, he was too lazy to calculate anything. Would he even survive for long?

And in a rare moment of sincerity, this time, he truly felt...

"Yeah, let's be friends" The twin stars shone on Thatch's smile, and Ginger smiled back. He felt that narrowly escaping death this time might not have been such a bad thing after all.

The two mud-covered boys simply laughed amidst the desolate death-filled scenery.