They made him miss his old company.

His eyes travelled to the Guardian. He was still not sure about the man, perhaps a legacy of the time the changeling had impersonated Kormak. The Aquilean had the look of a survivor and yet he showed an astounding lack of concern for his own safety. Such people had a way of getting others killed.

Then there was the merwoman. What was her place in all this? She and the Guardian obviously knew each other and fought beside each other. There was something else there. A tension that spoke of their being lovers and not entirely happy with the fact. Anders shrugged. It was not his problem. That was going to be staying alive.

Why had he agreed to come? He could have said it was for a share of the treasure or to strike a blow against the Shadow-worshipping bastards who had murdered Gregor, but looking around now he knew it was something else.

He was lonely, and he wanted to be part of something again. He had spent his entire adult life a soldier, as part of a unit. His friends had also been his comrades. His life had been regulated by discipline and marches and the sprees that happened between them when he had cash. Without all that he did not know himself, felt only partially alive. This was his chance to march again, to be a soldier, to serve a cause.

As the company marched from the gates of the city, he felt almost as if he was heading home. The cultivated fields sprawled way around them. Soon he knew they would enter the jungle and that would be a different and far more dangerous world.

Chapter Two

“I am surprised you are not on horseback,” Admiral Zamara said, riding up alongside the wagon. He smiled cheerfully but the lines on his forehead and the way his eyes were narrowed told Kormak that he was worried.

They clopped along at the head of the column. Behind them marched the vanguard and then the supply wagons with the bulk of the infantry bringing up the rear. Ahead of them great folds in the earth rose to meet the horizon, forming the razor-edged hills so common in this part of Terra Nova.

“I like to get my rest when I can,” said Kormak. He indicated the driver, who was doing his best to ignore the conversation. “I’ll let somebody else do the driving. And I’ll leave the riding to you.”

“These boots weren’t meant for marching,” Zamara said. He raised a leg in the stirrups so Kormak could inspect his fine boots. They were polished to a high sheen. “They were meant for striding a deck.”

The road twisted up the hillside, giving them a clear view of the open fields around Maial, the huge stone pyramid and the great bay of Montanea, the old harbour. The sea looked a distant, refreshing blue and, possibly for the first time in his life, Kormak found himself wishing he was on it.

“I am surprised that’s not where they are,” Kormak said. “You are the Captain General of next year’s treasure fleet. I thought you’d remain in port preparing for that.”

Zamara fanned himself with his tricorne hat as he gazed off into the sweltering mass of bushes flanking the road. Since about noon, they had left the cleared lands behind and begun the long climb into the hills.