Chapter One It was a dry, dusty day. The road was dirty, the grass that lined it was yellowed and brown in places, the air wasn't clean. And worst of all, he was dirty. He could feel the grit, rubbing between his collar and the skin of his neck, inside his shoes, in his hair. It made him grumpy and tired and unhappy. It wouldn't do any good to stop and wash, either. There would just be more dirt and he would have to stop again and really, he wanted to find a place to camp before he stopped and so far this road had proved to be unfriendly. Aside from the dirt, he had a spider-bite, a bruise on his shin from an unfortunate trip over a camouflaged stick, a scratch from the thorns of a berry bush across his right hand and his water pouch had fallen and been torn. All Quan wanted out of this path now, was to survive it. Civilization would be nice, too. At least the current cover of trees offered shade from the sun and cut the wind, which kept the dust to a minimum. Of course it also brought with it all manner of creatures and he was pretty sure he'd heard the snorfling chortle of a wild hog. He hadn't stuck around to be sure, choosing instead to move on quickly. Another noise came from the trees around him, this time the sound more like a growl. Maybe a big cat or something like a bear. Another noise came from the same direction, this time more of a rumbling roar and Quan froze, eyes riveted to where it had come from. When the bear broke through the cover of the trees and continued to press forward, running straight at him, Quan ran. As fast as he could. The damn beast still managed to swipe him before he could make it to a tree, cutting a rather painful gouge out of his leg. The wound was soon forgotten in the panic that fo...