Thick, freezing mud sucked at the soles of Krai's boots with every step. He dragged his feet forward through the desolate wasteland, his tiny hands clutching the bunched-up fabric of his trousers just to keep them from sliding down his narrow hips.
Above them, the sky hung low and gray like a bruised canvas. A bitter wind howled across the trash-littered plains, biting straight through his expensive but uselessly oversized jacket.
He felt incredibly weak. His shrunken muscles burned from the sheer effort of simply walking in a straight line.
Ahead of him in the muck, the five children marched with a disturbing level of energy. Ruke hoisted the heavy, lifeless carcass of the Wind-step deer over his right shoulder and trudged forward without a single complaint. Blood dripped slowly from the beast's snout, leaving a faint crimson trail over the wet dirt. Anz followed closely behind the redhead, casually hauling the squirming mesh sack filled with dozens of fat, warty frogs.
"Are we eating the deer and the frogs?" Krai asked. His high-pitched voice sounded foreign to his own ears.
Over her shoulder, Lize shot him a blank look. She shook her head. "We're not."
"I wish we could," Ruke grumbled. He shifted the heavy deer carcass higher up his neck to balance the weight. "I'm craving meat so badly."
Down the muddy path, the smell of burning garbage and stagnant water grew noticeably stronger. The slums were getting closer. Krai struggled to step over a deep puddle of brown sludge. He looked back up at the group.
"If those aren't food, why hunt them?" Krai asked.
A sharp, heavy sigh escaped Lushi's lips. She stopped walking entirely and spun around on her heels to glare at him. Her black twintails whipped through the cold air.
"We are selling them, stupid," Lushi said.
"Selling? What?"
She did not bother explaining further. Lushi turned her back and resumed her aggressive march toward the sprawling sea of rusted metal roofs.
Along the outer edge of the residential zone, a chaotic market district carved a jagged line through the slums. Rickety wooden stalls and mismatched tents lined a dirt road completely choked with desperate people.
The stench of unwashed bodies, rotting cabbage, and cheap ale formed a suffocating wall of odor. Krai clamped a hand over his nose. He stayed close to the huge frame of Anz to avoid getting trampled by the rushing crowds.
They finally stopped in front of a particularly nasty-looking booth covered in questionable dark stains. A greasy, balding merchant sat behind a splintered wooden table. He picked his yellowed teeth with a sharp bone fragment.
Ruke and Anz stepped up to the front. They dumped the dead deer and the wet sack of squirming frogs right onto the table.
"It's starting," Siti whispered. She flashed a highly disturbing, ear-to-ear smile.
"Umu," Anz muttered.
"Beginning what?" Krai asked.
BAM.
Lushi slammed both her palms violently onto the merchant's table. The wooden planks groaned loudly under the sudden impact. Dust shot up into the cold air.
"Old man, open your eyes," Lushi barked. Her voice carried a raw, threatening edge that demanded immediate attention. "How much are you paying this time?"
The merchant spat his bone fragment into the dirt. He leaned forward, squinting his eyes to inspect the dead beast. "Five copper coins for the lot. The deer is bruised on the flank. The frogs look sickly and thin."
"Are you completely blind?" Lushi leaned over the table and grabbed the merchant by the collar of his dirty tunic and dragged his face closer to the carcass. "Look at the muscle definition on these legs! This is a Wind-step deer. Mid-level hunters break their ankles trying to catch these things in the deep woods. And you want to offer five measly coppers? I will break this table in half and feed you the splinters."