"It's true, what he says," boomed Lotus Blossom, as she unstrung her bow and placed the arrow back into its quiver. "We arrived in Exag but a short time ago and almost immediately found ourselves surrounded by old men in white robes and guards who meant us harm, although we did nothing to offend them. This boy appeared out of nowhere and showed us a path of escape, bringing us to this place. You have no cause to fear us, but if our presence offends, my friends and I will leave."
The men seemed to waver. One by one, their weapons were lowered, and then one who seemed in charge drew near, studying them carefully all the while.
"You have arrived only this day?" he queried sharply.
"Aye," said Hornsbuck, "but a short time ago. We entered the gates and had no more than turned to watch the procession when all the trouble began."
Low murmurs broke out among the men as they spoke among themselves.
"Why did you come to Exag?" asked the apparent leader as the boy moved to his side.
"It's a personal matter," said Mika, unwilling to discuss the demon and the king with strangers, despite their timely assistance.
The man, whom Mika took to be the boy's father, stared into Mika's eyes, judging his words. He was small, rising no higher than Mika's shoulder, and was dressed, as were they all, in a ragbag of nondescript clothing obviously culled from the cast-offs of others or the garbage heaps.
He appeared none too healthy, his hair lank and dull and hanging about his shoulders in ragged clumps. His ribs were clearly visible as were the knobs of his shoulders and elbows.
His dark eyes had the hot, burning intensity of a zealot or a man who had not eaten adequately for a long time. His skin was pale and unhealthy looking with a single bright red spot in the center of each cheek. It was obvious to Mika that the man was in very poor health and he thought it unlikely that the fellow would make old bones.
The man looked at them with a puzzled expression. "Only fools and those wishing to die come to Exag," he said slowly, shaking his head and staring at them as though trying to decide which category they fit into.
"Why?" asked Hornsbuck. "Is it not a city like any other?"
The man laughed, a brief choking sound that contained no humor. "Exag is like no other city that I know of, excepting perhaps in Hades. Come, my poor unfortunates. Come sit by the fire and I will tell you what you have gotten yourself into."
"I knew I was right," muttered Mika, more to himself than to anyone else. "I knew I didn't want to come here."
The man led them to the center of the room, where a large fire burned in a wide fire pit. Here was the heart of the place. A number of cooking containers, mostly broken or dented in some manner, sat atop flat rocks at the edge of the fire, their contents simmering and bubbling quietly.
Tattered rugs and forlorn little toys lay scattered around the edges of the pit. As the women and children crept back to claim them, Mika could see that none of them, not even the babes in arms, appeared in much better condition than their poor possessions.
"What is this place, and who are you people?" asked Hornsbuck. "Why do you live underground like starved rats rather than bask in the sun above?"
"Better to live underground like a starved rat than feel the sun on your face and die," said a thin man with a twisted leg. "Soon you will be one of us and you will understand."
"Understand what?" roared Hornsbuck, shaken. "Are you all crazy?"
"Crazy? Perhaps," said the boy's father as he sat down on a broken chair close to the fire and gestured at them to seat themselves. "But mostly desirous of life. We do what we can and perhaps it will not always be like this. We have plans."
Lotus Blossom seated herself on a low stool that creaked beneath her weight as Mika and Hornsbuck hunkered down on their heels, waiting for the man to explain.
"We, all of us whom you see here, except for some of the children, were chosen ones." He looked at them expectantly, waiting for them to understand.
Mika, Lotus Blossom, and Hornsbuck looked at each other blankly to see if the others had understood, then looked back to the man, no sign of understanding on their faces.
"Chosen ones?" said Mika. "I guess we don't understand what you're trying to tell us."
"Here in Exag we worship the sun god," the man said patiently. "Every day, one whose birth was on that day is sacrificed to the sun god so that he will find pleasure in us and shine his beneficence down upon us. However, others who have been unfortunate enough to offend the priests are often chosen, as well."
"How-how, do they know when you were born?" Mika asked with a dry mouth.
"The citizens are forced to wear tunics that designate the month of birth," said the man. "And the very worst time is now, as we approach the time of the dawnstar, when the sun is eaten by the moon at daybreak on the last day of Sunsebb.
"Here in Exag the dawnstar is also known as the deathstar, for all those born under its sign are born for death. It is they whom the priests sacrifice to make certain that the new year turns in its cycle."
"The dawnstar does that? Surely you are mistaken," said Mika. "Everyone knows that it is the Great She-Wolf, mother of us all, who sees to the turning of the new year."
"Here in Exag, the dawnstar is given that honor," the man said with a wry smile.
"I, uh, I was born under the sign of the dawnstar," said Mika in a low voice.
"I know, I heard!" the boy said excitedly. "That is why I brought you here. I, Margraf, heard you tell the guards the date of your borning. Did you not see the look that passed between them?"
Mika was forced to admit that he had not. Nor, in fact, had he seen the boy. He wondered briefly if his powers of observation were slipping as well as other manly abilities.
"Not only was he born under the dawnstar," cried Margraf, "but I heard him boast that he was born during a sun-eating!"
There was a sharp intake of breath and then excited murmurings broke out all around him. Margraf s father raised his hands and shushed the crowd. "Is this true?" he asked, his eyes glittering brightly.
"Yes, it's true," Mika said shakily. "Is there something wrong with that?"
"Not if you are ready to die," said the man. "You must know that there will be another sun-eating this turning. The priests have been unable to find one who was born on such a day. The whole city is in an uproar, for the priests say that unless such a person is found, the cycle will not turn and the world will surely end."
"But, but, that's nonsense," stammered Mika, looking at the circle of pitying eyes. "And besides, if it's true, why did they just let me pass like that? Why didn't they say something or grab me then? Why would they let me wander around loose?"
"And where would you go?" asked the man. "You and your friends stick out among us like dragons among sheep. Do you think that you would be difficult to find? Had Margraf not brought you to us, you would have been theirs for the taking."
"We are not that easy to take, little man," growled Hornsbuck. "We can fight our way out of most anything, and failing that we could always go over the wall."
"There are many more of them than there are of you," observed the man in a soft voice. "And the wall, no, I do not think so, for it is no ordinary structure of stone or clay. It cannot be climbed."
"All walls can be climbed," said Mika.
"This wall cannot be climbed," said a litde weasel- faced fellow with bright, glittering eyes. "It's a trapper wall!"
Mika turned to Hornsbuck for explanation and saw that his friend's normally ruddy face had paled noticeably.
"Hornsbuck?" he said softly. "What's a trapper wall?"
"It be a foul thing," said Hornsbuck, his forehead breaking out in a sweat, "usually found in subterranean places, caves and suchlike. Trappers mimic walls and floors and ordinary things that you would never suspect. Then, when you step on them or pass them by, wham, they grab you and crush you to death.