Cassios wandered aimlessly through the maze of narrow alleys at the edge of the refugee camp.
Beneath his feet lay packed earth and rubbish. On either side stood crooked shanty walls pieced together from all manner of scrap.
The din of voices, sobbing, shouted reprimands, animal cries, and monotonous chanting from somewhere unknown mingled into a numbing wash of background noise.
He kept his head lowered. His massive frame looked out of place among the low shacks, his steps sluggish with exhaustion and uncertainty.
He did not know where to go. The peace of Colchis had not settled over him as the rumors had promised. Instead, it only made him more keenly aware of his estrangement from this world, and of the bone-deep weariness for which he could find no refuge.
He stopped and leaned against a relatively sturdy wall nailed together from discarded metal sheets. He closed his eyes briefly, trying to banish the images in his mind and the waves of weakness rising from deep within his body.
When he raised his head again and looked absently toward the sky, he happened to see the second formation of transport ships tearing through the clouds like a flock of enormous metal birds, descending toward the distant landing field with a low roar.
More refugees, more hope, more bewildered faces would be poured into this fragile enclave of hastily established order.
He sighed, the breath heavy and weary. A future? I had no future left.
Now even a question as simple as Where do I go next? had become an insoluble dilemma.
In that bewildered moment, when his mind had all but gone blank—
BOOM!!!
Not one blast, but several thunderous detonations, deep as the roars of great beasts, abruptly tore through the clamor above the camp!
They came from