Page 16 of Twins for the Barbarians

“Who’s that?” Kharo mutters, and we all follow his gaze.

There’s nothing but red desert on both sides of this narrow, beaten road, yet a man is walking toward us, pulling a wooden cart behind him. He looks old, a head shorter than us—but age will do that to a Sunnaite man.

“Pull over,” I say.

“Are you sure?” Kharo replies, giving me a brief but wondering look.

“It’s just one man,” I say, glancing around again as the buggy slows down. There’s not another soul in sight for miles. “We might as well find out what he’s up to or if he knows anything that could be useful.”

“He must be a traveling merchant,” Kingo mumbles, staring at the cart as we finally stop the buggy just a few yards ahead of the old man. “Greetings, traveler!” he calls out with a friendly smile.

The old man stops and glares at us for a long minute while I analyze his nimble figure. He is not the muscular type, and he hides his bony frame under layers of brown deer hide tied around his slim waist with several rows of copper beads. He’s a Ruby City merchant. The copper beads are their trademark. His salt-and-pepper hair is braided and wound in a large bun at the back of his head.

One horn is shorter than the other, and judging by the scars, he had it filed down after it was chipped, likely from combat or an attack. He doesn’t strike me as the military type. His shoulders droop as he gazes at us uneasily, looking from Kharo to me over and over.

“We do not wish you harm,” I say, slowly getting out of the buggy. “We’re travelers like yourself. I’m Helios.”

“Pan,” the old man replies bluntly. “Where are you traveling to? It’s a dry as hell out here.”

“I could ask you the same thing,” I say, holding back a chuckle, then nod at his cart. “A merchant, I suppose?”

He shrugs, narrowing his red eyes upon realizing the woman in our company is anything but Sunnaite. “Pots and pans, mostly. Nothing too fancy. I take it you’re from the Fire Tribe.”

“That we are, yes,” I reply. “But like I said, we do not wish you harm. We just want to know more about the realm we’re about to venture into.”

“You four have lost your marbles,” Pan scoffs. Pots and pans rattle against each other in the cart. I wonder if his name is a coincidence or a fake. It’s not very inventive either way. “Ruby City and Red Rock are the lesser of the evils left standing in this world. Don’t even think about venturing farther south.”

“You mean Diamond City?” Kharo asks.

“It’s a wasteland, nothing but death and silence. And there are mindless beasts who were once Sunnaites that roam about. They’ve turned into savages, bloodthirsty marauders who only wish to inflict harm, pillage, and plunder and ruin the lives of people who are trying to survive.”

“Have you come across such beasts yourself?” I ask.

Pan nods slowly. “I barely got away with my life. I got lucky, though. There were woods for me to hide in. My other traveling companions tried to keep to their route, hoping the monsters wouldn’t attack them if they minded their own business.”

“Where are your traveling companions now?” I reply.

He gives me a hard look, and I have my answer. “Why don’t you take a wild guess, brother? It’s the same wherever you go. Diamond City is but a shadow of its former self.”

Diamond City sits on the other side of Red Rock Volcano, and we’re going to see it soon enough. From our position, we can still see some of the bronze glimmers of Ruby City on the northern horizon, but the two cities were never on the friendliest of terms. Then again, historically speaking, Ruby City was never on the friendliest of terms with any of Sunna’s other settlements.

From the moment it was crowned the capital city of Sunna, its inhabitants, and its administration adhered to an elitist attitude that shunned anyone who wasn’t a native. Egotistical capitalists, terms I learned from Alicia, could easily apply to Ruby City’s ruling class.

However, Diamond City used to sparkle. There are buildings there that will forever be remembered as some of the most beautiful ever erected. It pains me to hear that the city has fallen into the hands of criminals and useless generals. Corruption and incompetence seem to have done more damage than the plague itself.

“The generals fight over everything,” Pan adds, shaking his head in dismay. “There’s a warlord rising out of the slums every other week now. Criminals roam the streets at night. People can barely get any sleep…it’s just chaos and blood at every corner. Merchants like me have no reason even to consider going through there. The people are poor, and those who do have a copper or two to spare will try to swindle me. Or worse, they’ll try to bludgeon my head into a pulp so they can steal my cart and sell it to someone else. It’s a godless land.”

“How far out do these marauders go?” Kharo asks. “Have you dealt with them outside the city?”

“Yes. When there’s nothing to steal in the citadel, they start raiding the few villages left along the river.”

That matched the Kreek intel to a tee.

“Sometimes, they head farther east and west into the towns nestled near the blackwood lands.”

“And what can you tell us about today, in particular?” Kharo insists.

Pan frowns, lips twisted with disgust. “Just keep as far away from Diamond City as you can. You never know when the monsters will come out to play. It’s every man for himself.”

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