“I am telling you, my whole body is feeling funny.” Ashton exclaimed to Drake, “I used to be all cold and wet, but now I feel warm and tingly. It’s not normal!”

“There is nothing normal about this situation.” Drake said, “We’ve been standing out here for hours and it was only thanks to the closeness of the other bodies we managed to not die of the cold. You are probably just losing your sense of feeling now.”

“No I am not! I can feel just fine. I feel the people next to me, I feel the mist in the air, and I feel the wind freezing my face off. But I also feel some kind of heat radiating inside my body. It’s real!”

“Alright, calm down, I believe you. Your body is feeling all tingly. I get it.”

Ashton growled, “Argh, I hate this. There is nothing worse than the feeling of having your body outside of your control. I preferred the cage to this! I can’t move a finger and now they are putting some other form of misery on us I bet. Why don’t they just kill us and get it over with!”

“You said you feel warm now.” Drake said, “Isn’t that a good thing? Stop complaining.”

If Ashton could have, he would have whipped his head around and glared at Drake who was behind him. As it was he could only shout ahead, “How about you stop telling me what to do and go and get yourself almost caught by the soldiers again. I think that’s a great idea.”

“Oh, please Ashton.” Drake replied, “I didn’t actually get caught by them. It was just a close call. Besides, I got valuable information from it. How could I pass up the opportunity to listen in on the group of officers? You need to calm down, everything is going to be all right. Remember? They said that they would be bringing back the prisoners to the caravan soon.”

“Congratulations,” Ashton replied sarcastically, “we get to be trapped in the wagon again. Hurray.”

“At least it’s better than out here. We are in danger of dying out here. And you can’t even move. At least in the cage you had freedom of movement. Just stay calm and we will get back safely.”

“I’ve got an idea, how about you be constrained with these spells and forced to endure their sorcery,” Ashton snapped, “while I sneak around and act happy? Huh? That sounds like a good exchange to me.”

“Oh, come on, what happened to the calm and collected Ashton who endured hardship with grace?”

“Hmph, you don’t understand. You don’t know what it is like, feeling your body move on its own. It’s violation, a rape. I can’t stand it.”

“Alright, Alright. Listen, I’ll see what I can do. I’ll give you a back rub or something. Where does this new sorcery hurt?”

Ashton thought for a moment and then said, “Actually it feels kind of good. My whole body feels light and warm, like all my pain is going away.”

“Then why are you complaining?!” Drake burst.

“It’s a matter of principle Drake! There is no way will I ever condone the use of sorcery against me, even if it is for my own good.”

“Fine, then. Just stand there and be angry about your good feelings. I am still cold you know. I do not feel this warmth you speak of. I doubt it is actually real anyway.” He folded his arms and hugged his body to stay warm. He leaned against Ashton.

They were silent for a bit. Luck had put Ashton near an edge of the prisoners and had brought them near a lantern that had been placed there when the Calvary showed up. It was an interesting sight for Drake. It looked like the Cavalry had been looking for them, as if they did not know that the prisoners had been brought out here. What kind of disunity was in the caravan to have let all the prisoners out unnoticed? Even more interesting, it appeared the soldiers were just as helpless against the magic as they were. They were not the masters of it; it must have come from a different source. Somehow, Drake found that encouraging. When a group of officers parked nearby and proceeded to experiment with ways of transporting the prisoners, Drake couldn’t pass up the opportunity to get closer to them.

“No, you shouldn’t go,” Ashton had said, “You’ll get caught, and who knows what they would do to you! Likely kill you on the spot.”

“We agreed to stay in this for the long haul, didn’t we?” Drake responded, “If we are giving up on escaping and accepting what comes together, it is best that we learn something from our capturers.”

“Drake, I am serious; you shouldn’t go. It is too risky.”

“I am serious too, Ashton. There has to be some rationale behind this. They simply can’t keep us locked up forever. If they wanted to kill us, they could have easily already. We need answers if we are going to prepare ourselves. Maybe I will learn something useful. It’s not that risky, anyway. It is dark, as always, and they will not be expecting any movement within the prisoners.”

Drake proceeded to sneak away, but not before Ashton could add in, worriedly, “Be careful!” Crouching, Drake responded with a thumbs up. Then he doubted Ashton understood what that meant. Whatever.

Drake decided the best way to be stealthy was to crawl on the ground towards the officers until he was close enough to understand him. He got on fours and proceeded, but immediately he regretted that decision. The ground was muddy and cold, and although most of the weeds were trampled, they still scratched and irritated his skin. But even worse, most of the prisoners were not clothed properly. Crawling through their legs proved difficult and gross, and halfway to his destination, he gave up and stealthily walked instead. It may have been riskier, but to him, it was worth it.

He reached the position he was aiming for without too much of an issue. Once there he was within excellent range to hear the soldiers. They were loud and uninhibited. From them he learned many things, most of which was not useful. The soldiers bickered like kids.

They all appeared to be low ranking officers and were under orders to somehow figure out a way to move the prisoners. Unfortunately for them, they were already tired, miserable, and frustrated, and then they were also given an impossible task. They squabbled and snapped at each other, all the while producing zero results. Still, Drake was able to learn a few important things from their wild and angry talk.

The first thing he learned was that they were part of an organized and powerful army that was from a place they referred to as The Endless City. Drake had suspected that these people were from another territory, but now those suspicions were confirmed. And from their professional complaining, Drake also learning that this group of people had been out in the wilderness for six months, when they were only supposed to have been out here for four. They also hated the wilderness, but only because they feared it in a naïve way.

From all of their cursing, he also learned the name of their land god, something Drake found surprising. He would have thought it was a bigger secret, but the use of their god’s name was a normal and a regular part of their vocabulary. The god’s name was Kami, and they held him in great reverence even if they used his name a lot. It looked like they believed in the absolute power and authority of their god.

This lead to the third important piece of information for Drake. This army and The Endless City itself was at war with some “Barbarians.” They believed in their army’s absolute victory though, compounded by their recent victory over the enemy forces spotted earlier that day. “That was where the soldiers from the caravan went,” thought Drake. “There was an enemy force. Although, apparently not a strong one.”

After many attempts at the removal of the prisoners, all failing, some spectacularly so, the officers gave up and regrouped nearby to discuss other options. They had moved out of Drake’s hearing though. After a quick debate with himself and imaginary Ashton, Drake went even closer in order to hear them. Fortunately, these people were blabber mouths; they openly discussed the problems in the caravan and their own worries. Drake felt he could learn much more from them.

However, another officer soon appeared before the group, and it looked like he was their superior. From this short conversation, Drake learned what he believed most important. The spell casters who did this to the prisoners were found, and the whole group would be returning to the caravan soon. Also, the caravan would be returning to their territory within the week. Whatever doom came for Drake and Ashton in The Endless City, at least the wait would be over soon. The officers then scattered and Drake shivered from the cold. He moved closer to the other bodies for warmth. An officer spotted him and Drake froze.

“Something on your mind?” the senior officer asked.

The young officer shook his head, “I do not know. I thought I saw movement in there. But I do not see it now…”

The senior studied the prisoners as well. Drake felt his eyes on him, but then pass over him. “I do not think the priests have started their work yet. They shouldn’t be moving.” He said.

“I know, but I am sure I saw movement in there. Somebody was moving around.”

He studied the men again. “It is dark, and you are tired. You might have just been seeing things. But if you believe it, I will let you gather some men and investigate.” Drake felt a terrible dread wash over him. He could keep still, but if the men knew what they were looking for, they would find him quickly.

The officer thought for a moment, and Drake felt his heart would stop. But he concluded, “No, you are probably right. I am pretty tired. I will report to the captain.”

“Take it easy.” The Senior said as the officer left. He saluted back and then was gone. Drake felt his insides turn to jelly. It was a close call, too close for his comfort. He watched the remaining officer look at the prisoners again and then turn away. He waited until he was out of sight before he headed back. All in all, he thought, the trip was a success. He learned more than he could have expected. Wouldn’t Ashton be happy!

Ashton was not happy. “Do know how long you were gone?” he had hissed at him.

Drake was in a good mood though, “What? I needed to stay to hear the important stuff. And guess what? I hit the gold mine!”

“Congratulations! You found a mine of gold!” Ashton said sarcastically, “I found out just how terrible life was in the meantime.”

“What are you so angry about? You knew I would be gone for a while.”

“Something is happening, I can feel it. Those magicians are using their sorcery!”

“I know. I heard that the magicians were found and that they would be sending the prisoners back to the wagons soon. Isn’t that great?”

Ashton merely swore loudly. Drake shook his head, “You go ahead and be grumpy. But be a listening grump, I need to tell you what I heard.” Drake then explained what he had learned and even included his close call. He told that part dramatically hoping to instill some good feelings in Ashton about the adventure. Ashton merely yelled at him for his stupidity.

“You could have been killed right there if the wind turned against you,” he had said. “You could have been disemboweled, stabbed or any other unsightly kind of death. If I could move, I would strangle the stupidity out of you myself.”

“You’re a scary guy,” Drake had responded, “I never knew this side of you.”

Ashton felt the spell’s effects become stronger and stronger, and he became more upset in proportion to the feeling. Drake thought he was just being paranoid, or worse, losing his mind. But he was soon convinced otherwise.

“Hey, Ashton”, he said touching Ashton, “Your body is becoming hot. Are you feeling okay? Do you have a fever?”

“Have you been listening at all to what I have been saying the last ten minutes?” Ashton snapped back, “I told you. It’s the sorcery. I bet the other prisoners are the same.”

Drake touched the one closest to him, “You are right! They all are hot.” He proceeded to touch all the other ones near him. “Ugh, and sweaty too.”

“Are you convinced now that I am not just being paranoid?” Ashton asked voice heavy with sarcasm.

Drake ignored him, “I wonder what the meaning of this is. This didn’t happen to you earlier, did it?”

Ashton calmed down and became serious. “No, you are right. It didn’t.”

“Hmm” Drake said. It wasn’t like they could actually do anything about it. “You are sure you are not in pain?” he asked.

“Yeah.” Ashton replied. They were silent. It was getting hot inside the mass of prisoners; even Drake was no longer feeling cold. They watched the steam float up from the group, reflecting in the distant lantern light.

“What kind of place do you think this “endless city” is that we are heading to?” Ashton asked, “You said we were arriving within the week.”

“Yeah, I don’t know. It’s another god’s territory, so it could be anything he wanted. A land of water or mountains. It’s probably a lot different from this place, though, judging from the soldier’s displeasure at this wilderness. And judging from the name, there is probably a lot of city in it. A lot of people.”

“You seem to understand what that means. What is a city? Could you describe it too me.”

“I don’t know what they mean by a city, but it probably follows the basic definition of the city from my place.” Drake explained, “A city is a location where a lot of people gather in mass to live. Imagine your little village, and then imagine how many buildings it would take to house a hundred thousand people. A million people even.”

Ashton thought about it but responded, “I don’t think I can.”

Drake thought for a moment, “Then think of this,” Drake replied. “Imagine a building, a house, made out of stone. See how strong and stable that stone would be.”

“It would take a lot of work to make a stone house, but I think I can see what you mean.”

“Now imagine this, a house that is a hundred feet tall and a hundred feet wide, with multiple stories and rooms inside of it. Because the stone is strong it can hold the weight of multiple levels.”

Ashton said carelessly, “Such a thing isn’t probable, carving with stone is difficult and slow work, there is no way one could make a house out of it, or even lift up a stone on top of another house and build with that.”

“But think if you could! Where I come from we can do that. We create tall buildings, taller than the tallest trees here, with as many rooms as people in your village. But that is not all. The streets are made from stone too and there are hundreds of these tall buildings with people living and working in them. To me that is what a city is like, hundreds of buildings with thousands of people all close together.”

Ashton was passive, though. “You will have to see it to believe it, I guess,” Drake said. “If I can, I will bring you with me to see a city, and then you will understand.”

“I appreciate the offer, Drake, but I think we will see another city before then, the “endless city.” Perhaps it will be similar. What do you think they will do with us when we get there?”

“I don’t know, maybe sell us as slaves. That’s all I can think of.”

“But if that is the case, why the crazy spell work?” Ashton asked, “Why would they take out the spirit of these people if they wanted us to work? They literally can’t do anything other than follow their basic instincts without spells to guide them.”

“Maybe they will keep them under the spells when we get there.”

“I don’t think so; those spells work easily enough on me. If they wanted dead eyed servants so badly, they could just work their spell work on dead people and get them to serve them.”

“I said I don’t know Ashton,” Drake replied angrily, “It was just an idea.”

Ashton sighed. He said sadly, “Yeah, I guess. In the end we don’t know. Such is the nature of this whole thing. Too many unknowns. How are we supposed to guess the whims of a god?”

There was more movement along the side of the group. Soldiers on horses were riding around, and officers were yelling things. It looked like the Battalion was ready for departure. Then Drake noticed a curious group of people. They were short and hooded and they blended well in the shadows.

“Hey, Ashton.” Drake said, poking him in the back.

“What is it?”

“Do you see those people over there, next to the group of horses? Are those the Spell casters?”

Ashton’s body was not pointed that direction, so he had to strain to see. But he said, “Yeah I think so. Small and hooded. They have difficulty riding horses, I believe. Be careful of them; their words become reality.”

“What do you think they are dancing for?” Drake asked.

“How should I know!? Maybe it is some part of their ritual. You are the one with all the secret knowledge. You tell me.”

“Actually, I think that is it. If all the soldiers are ready, it means they are only waiting on the prisoners. We should be leaving in moment.”

Ashton snorted, “You prepare yourself. It’s not like I would be left behind.”

“How do you feel; do you think you could make it back? It is a long march.”

Ashton considered it, “Actually, I feel really good. I feel like I could march all the way home now. Maybe the spell is giving me energy. How about you?”

“Don’t worry about me,” Drake joked, “if I get tired I’ll just hop on your back and you can carry me.”

“Don’t you dare!” Ashton snarled, but Drake just laughed.

“Oops,” Ashton said suddenly. “Here we go.” And with that the whole group of prisoners started moving again unexpectedly. Drake found himself squashed between the gross and sweaty prisoners, but he extricated himself and made it to Ashton again.

“Phew, I thought I was going to get crushed.”

“I told you to prepare yourself,” Ashton snarled. He was upset again at the spell work on him.

Drake ignored him. The ground was muddy and full of weeds, but strangely, Drake was happy to be moving again. “Ah, back to the cage again.” He said, “Never thought I would be happy to return.”

“Oh, yeah, our small broken down cage filled with stench and horror and topped with dead eyed prisoners. Not to mention, our roof and walls collapsed. I wonder what the guards will do about that. I doubt they will give us another wagon.”

“Ha, I forgot about that. That’s funny. Maybe they will let us sit with them up front instead.”

“More likely they will just make us walk.”

“Oh come on,” Drake pleaded, half joking. “Have a little more optimism. We are travelling to our doom anyway. We can’t have so many bad things happen in a row. Something will happen soon.”

“I don’t know,” Ashton responded, “In my experience, one ill turn deserves another. Things will only get worse from now on, I fear. There is still a chance to escape for you; you should go while you can.”

Drake put his hand on Ashton’s shoulder, “I’ve already told you, I’m not leaving you to face this alone. I wouldn’t survive a week alone out there any way. Whatever this doom will be, we will challenge it together. I swear.”

Ashton shook his head but then said, “I’m glad you are here with me Drake. I wouldn’t be able to stay strong without you. Life is good, when you are with your friend.” Drake nodded. The prisoners marched on, towards the light of the lanterns that grew brighter with each mile.