5
Dust lifted into the air from the churning wagon wheels, marking the departure of the Kirkos caravan as it traveled along the dry dirt roads that led to the outskirts of Critias. The Capital was far behind them. The Grand Kirkos events had come to a close in the Emperor’s greatest coliseum only a couple of months before and the Kirkos had now shifted into its second manifestation, that of a traveling caravan which moved throughout the Empire of Critias and sometimes into the fringes of adjacent territories. Its entourage was much smaller than before the Grand Kirkos events had begun. The left over tatters of men and beasts that survived the brutal entertainment had limped away from the last coliseum walls, leaving the echoing arenas to the ghosts of those who had perished there.
This w
