rth and jagged stone spread out before Marcus like

oiled Serpent Road, a hazardous road

the iron brand scorched onto his shoulder but more than that, it was the chilling echo of Kael's

chains that chained him to dozens of other damaged souls. The relentless sun, a ruthless forge master, pounded down from a sk

out under the constant strain, collapsing like felled trees. The legionaries, dispassionate and efficient, would sever them from the live chain with a harsh s

ainst the blazing blue, begin their slow, deliber

a quiet witness to the Empire's brutal st

zed into a hard, frigid core of grim resolve, a freezing fire within his gut. He was The Dog now, true, a

ntinual, agonizing hurt, yet also a burning ember of hope, a flickering light in the oncoming darkness. He had to survive

arkling armament, the scary efficiency of their short swords, and the deadly accuracy of their javelins. He watch

rsh commands given to his fellow hostages. His keen intellect, honed by years of silent tracking, painstaking hunting, and fast tribal fighting

e, for stop, for waterwords th

anse of the plains gave way to rolling hills, then to thicker, darker trees t

thing big and mysterious. The air grew thicker, humid. Then came the structuresnot the flimsy shelters of his nomadic peop

ncredible labor. The noises of distant traffic, a relentless, rising boom of countless carts and

lization of horrifying scope and power. A massive, complicated,

from Marcus's lungs. Even the guards, for a brief, almost imperceptible instant, pause

, their largest towns were simply clusters of homes. This was a spreading giant, a huge metropolitan environ

ant clang of hammers, the yells of vendors, the ceaseless

ing, vivid sea of unknown faces, decorated in unusua

gilded roofs, their facade decked with statues of unknown gods. He observed bustling forums packed with robed people, merchants

. Marcus had only heard tales of the Great Water, a limitless expanse that s

se of azure, meeting the horizon in an uninterrupted

e sea that captured his

ing any Ashani vessel to little toys. These were not the simple canoes of the river tribes; these were huge vessels, some bristling with o

vast riches, and unimaginable resources, and, Marcus realized with a

unity; it was a constant, industrial-scale operation, an insat

to the acute misery of his body, yet conversely, it

ing resolve, engraved into the very center of his existence. He was no longer just a warrior

t within its coils. But a serpent, however fierce, however ancient, however dange

e didn't know when, b

sea gleamed with a fake, indifferent beauty. And Marcus, The Dog, marched towards an un

but his mission was longer still, goin