Pioneering On Jord (Lost On Jord, #3) by Allan Joyal

The trek across the settled lands had ended in a disastrous fight with slavers. Now Ron's best friend Steve is dead, but he still must lead the survivors to find a new home. They look to the east where no human has set foot since a great empire fell more than a thousand years before. But that means a journey into the unknown. Now with only the goods they can purchase at one final outpost of civilization the group will head off into the wilderness and begin Pioneering on Jord.