After landing on a tall grassy mound, some distance from the shore, Aaron and his friends dismounted from their pterosaurs. Passing through a human settlement, accompanied by primitive flying predators, was sure to paint them as hostiles, so they left the pterosaurs behind and approached the village on foot.
A muddied path, trampled with footsteps, led to the village. It was a medieval human settlement, with timber-framed huts crowned with sloping thatched roofs. There was a broken palisade wall around its periphery, but no guards or even dogs nearby.
As they neared the village, they noticed that most of the houses lay in ruins. Many of them had collapsed roofs, while others had broken windows or unhinged wooden doors hanging loosely in the wind. There was not a soul in sight, but Aaron
