Sol’s POV

We had neared the city close enough to make it out from a distance. It was nothing spectacular, but to me, it was the first time I had seen a legitimate human civilization that wasn’t overrun with decrepit people like me. Contrasted to the mines and the woods, it was comparable to a paradise that I had been searching for all of eternity. The city was more of a large town surrounded by tall, wooden fences to probably prevent threats from making it into the city walls. There was one gate where there was a decent line of people wanting to head into the city. I was able to see into the city from the hill we were on and I could see sources of water interwoven throughout each block of the town. Standing and staring at the city made me realize how close and far we were from being able to live without the threat of death every night.

“Before we head in, I’ll explain what we’re going to do”

Nephthys looked more serious than she ever had before and I also took in everything she said - this was our only chance to enter a town where we could survive. The basic outline of her plan was to disguise ourselves as slaves, which we already looked like, and hitch a ride in the wagon after it had come to a stop. The main problem was getting close enough to the wagon in order to get inside of it - I would also have to make sure I didn’t make too much noise when trying to get in. As we saw it, slaves didn’t need to present any information because they were considered property which meant that we could make it in. While we were in that wagon, we would use Nephthys’s daggers to remove the chains on the slaves and allow them to escape first. After they had made a commotion, we would make our way out and escape into town.

Although we would be using the slaves as a distraction, we would also be giving them a chance to escape so we didn’t think too deeply or badly about it - we were giving them hope after all. We waited until the wagon slowed down near the line and we made our move. There were very few people who were looking at the back of the line and there weren’t any others coming from behind us. Hiding inside of the woods, we slowly made our way until we were close to the wagon to run towards it and not be noticed. The wind was blowing and my vision narrowed as I began to get nervous about what would happen when we failed. Nephthys held me tight to prevent me from falling as we made our way to the wagon and at last, we stepped out of the shadows of the forest and into the light that lit the field of grass - but we had no time to appreciate the beauty… we would either make it or we would be seen as suspicious and captured.

Quietly, we shifted our feet and made our way towards the wagon that was only a few steps away from us. My heart was pounding and it was all I could hear at the moment; all I could feel was my naked, numbed feet on the grass and Nephthys’s tight grip around me; my thoughts were dominated by the worries of what would come if I were to fail - I would be separated from Nephthys, never find Nor and Rosa, and become another insignificant being to die at the hands of someone else. I straightened myself out mentally and walked ever so slowly to our destination - at last, we made it. We were right behind the wagon and Nephthys had gotten in first to check everything out and helped me up afterward. After a moment, she poked her head out from behind the wagon and gave me a nod - I nodded and reached out my hand. She dragged me up, but as I was getting inside, I lost my balance. Thankfully, I had tripped into the wagon, but we had made a rather lard commotion and I heard footsteps slowly make their way around the wagon.

It was completely silent within as if there was not a single living soul alive - as if they were exhausted from living. Nephthys and I made our way towards the back of the already cramped wagon to blend in with the surroundings. Looking around, I saw that many of them were in the same conditions as the slaves brought into the mines. Their bones were visible in some places and it was evident that they were on death’s doorstep. The driver or the owner of the slaves opened up the wagon with an expression that screamed anger. He held a short, metal rod that I held a bad feeling about.

“I fucking told you all to shut up earlier! Who made that fuckin noise?! If you don’t fess up, I’mma torch all of yall!”

No one made a sound - I couldn’t tell if they didn’t want to snitch or if they were just lifeless dolls. Without warning, the man who held the stick pulled some girl’s hair - thankfully not Nephthys - and dragged her towards the front. He slit the girl’s arm and poured some of her blood on the stick… it lit up like a torch and he thrust it onto her back. Her eyes lit up at that moment and screamed in terror. That scream of terror resonated in my body as she struggled with her hands and legs chained, but there was nothing I could do. If I were to try to help, I would be killed instead and Nephthys would probably follow afterward - there was no upside to helping her. She continued to scream until the rod of metal turned back into its original metallic color. With a thud, she collapsed on the hard, wooden floor of the wagon and her eyes returned to their original dead look. Everyone else in the wagon did not even react to the scene that had unfolded before them.

“The next time you make a sound… you all fucking die”

I shivered at those words because of how nonchalant he had said it - he would destroy his own property because it annoyed him. Thinking back on the metal road, I remembered that humans were not allowed to use magic unless they were royalty - so that meant that what he used was not his magic. He looked nothing like royalty and he had doused the rod in blood, not his hands, to conjure magic - perhaps the rod was a medium of sorts. I looked back at the girl who collapsed on the ground and wondered if we could relieve her pain in any way - as long as it didn’t interfere with our plan. Although I felt slightly guilty, I thought it was better for Nephthys to live than for me to save a random stranger who had no guarantee of survival.

“You think we could help her a little bit”

“... maybe a little bit… as long as it doesn’t cause us problems”

We moved towards where her body had been slumped on the ground and used what little cloth we had to cover up the wounds. It seemed that she already had numerous scars on her body and this one had not even been the biggest one. While we were taking care of her in whatever way we could, I overheard the man who held the metal rod and what seemed like the gate’s guard talking.

“Hey, Theo! Haven’t seen you in a while. What brings you to this town today?”

“Just selling some obnoxious slaves I picked up along the way. Got any problem with that?”

“Of course not! Just leave me a few to play with”

“You better pay up first, Alard”

“Of course I will. Just save me the best ones”

Hearing such talk just outside the wagon, I figured that we had already arrived near the gate and were about to be let in. After talking for a little more, the guard let us through without even inspecting the contents of the wagon - I guess that was all the better for us. The wagon started to move forward and I sat down before I lost my balance again. We had finally entered the city, but we had no idea where we were headed. Having planned to escape after freeing the slaves, we got to work - Nephthys did most of the work - while I kept my eye peeled for any moment to escape. The wagon turned a corner into an alleyway and I figured that the next big road we met would be when we would release the slaves and escape all at once. The girl was still collapsed before me, but there was no logical way to get her out with us when we didn’t even know what we were going to do after escaping.

Soon enough, we merged onto a larger street where there were plenty of people - more joyous people in one street than I had seen in my entire life… I felt a little jealous and annoyed. Nephthys had finished cutting most of the chains and we finally decided to get the plan into action. We had expected them to simply run away themselves, but even after having the chains removed, they were as dead in the eyes as they were before - not a single one of them moved from their spot and utter silence ruled within the wagon. Realizing that none of them wanted to take this chance to escape, we decided that we would just have to escape on our own before we entered into a less crowded street.

Looking one last time, they just looked like people that had their souls sucked out of them. I grabbed onto Nephthys and jumped out at the same time. There was a small commotion, but not enough for the slave owner to notice - it seemed that we did not need to use those slaves anyways. Nephthys quickly got up first and helped me up afterward - we had been scraped here and there, but it was nothing to worry about. We entered into a different, discreet alleyway and made our escape from the attention of others - a new plan was needed to survive within this town.

Running through the alleyway, I realized that it was getting narrower and gloomier. I stopped Nephthys and we decided to take our time figuring out which way to go before we got completely lost in the middle of nowhere. The street we were on now was dark with trash lying all over the ground. I saw some people who had covered their faces entirely while others were half dead on the ground with no one bothering to even look at them. Facedown, we continued to walk forward so as to not attract any attention to us - but that was an impossible task considering that we were tiny children walking around a place surrounded by adults.

“We’re being followed”

“What?!”

Nephthys informed me of the situation and it was not good in any way. If we were being followed, it could only mean a few things - either we had been found out or some people were trying to catch us and make a profit. We sped up our pace and tried to weave through the many branches that made up the alleyway. Eventually, we were met with a larger street that we did not want to go on so we slid back into the alleyway, ready to confront whoever was chasing us if it came to it. What came from the alleyway was not someone we had been expecting - he was a boy several years older than me who seemed to be a beastman. He sniffed around before his eyes locked in with mine and Nephthys.