here you are. Not a day older. And me…well just look at me.”
Tears welled in Ethan’s eyes. “I’m so sorry. I swear I came to find you as fast as I could. It was the portal…it’s…well…I’m not sure how it works.”
“It’s corrupted,” Markus said. “I know all about it now. It was forbidden magic, even in the time of the mages. But the old man here used it anyway. Didn’t you?”
“That’s not how it happened,” Jonas protested. “I only used it to save Ethan’s life. And I never intended for you to come here at all.”
Markus sniffed with contempt. “No one ever intends anything. But here we all are anyway. You two – lost and helpless. And me – body scarred and life wasted.”
Ethan took a cautious step forward. “What happened to you?”
Markus stared at him for a long time, but made no attempt to answer the question. “There’s more food in the wagon,” he finally said. “Get it out while I dispose of Thaddeus.”
Before Ethan could protest, he grabbed the corpse by the arms and dragged it into the night.
Jonas retrieved a sack of food from the wagon and began sorting it. “Not much here,” he muttered.
After a few minutes Markus returned and took a seat by the fire. Ethan sat opposite, staring at his old friend. His heart ached when he thought of the many hardships Markus would have been forced to face. The scars alone bore testament to how difficult life must have been.
“What happened to you?” he eventually asked.
For a moment Markus said nothing. He gazed into the crackling flames, his eyes distant and unreadable. Then he began.
“When I got here I was quite badly injured. That damned German potato masher that blew me through the portal had filled me with a thousand bits of rock and metal. I was bleeding pretty badly and didn’t know where I was. The bloody portal dumped me in a field somewhere up north…Ralmaria I think. Anyway, I crawled for as long as I could before passing out. I don’t know how long I stayed unconscious, but when I woke up I was in a cage with about twenty other guys. Someone had treated my wounds, but all of my gear had been stolen.”
He shook his head. “I was naked as the day I was born and scared out of my wits.”
“Why were you in a cage?” asked Ethan, shock showing clearly on his face.
“For the same reason you were,” he replied. “Bounty. When the Emperor detected the portal opening, he sent his men to check it out. I couldn’t have moved very far away from where I first arrived. They must have found me lying there and put two and two together. I was taken to a garrison and interrogated for weeks.” He breathed a sardonic laugh. “The thing is, I would have told them anything they wanted to know. I just didn’t speak their bloody language.”
“So they did that to your face?”
Markus shot him a furious glance. “No. And stop asking about it.”
“I’m sorry,” said Ethan.
Markus sighed. “It’s not something I like to talk about. People who know me quickly learn it’s better to keep their curiosity to themselves.”
He leaned back on his elbows and drew in a couple of deep breaths. “So anyway, I don’t know for sure how long I was held there, but eventually they gave up and sent me to work in the mines. That was a hellish tough time, but I survived. I learned to speak the language, and picked up a whole lot of other useful knowledge. Eventually, I saw my chance to escape and grabbed it with both hands. After that I made my way south and joined the Hareesh.”
Ethan expected him to continue further with the story, but after a few seconds of silence it was clear he was done.
“That’s it?” he asked.
Markus shrugged. “What more do you expect? I was alone and having to fend for myself. I ended up in Miltino and did what I had to do to survive.”
“So how did you know I was here?” Ethan asked.
“I was at the garrison collecting a bounty when word came in. At first I didn’t think too much about it. But when I heard the word portal mentioned and that orders to apprehend any new comers to the area had come directly from Shinzan himself, I felt pretty sure it had to be you. Of course, I had a big advantage over the others searching because I was the