Our conversation faded as the gate came into view, its stocky arms reaching towards the overhead sun. Each stone was framed by a shimmering silvery resin.
Four guards stood posted at the inner gate. Above, a flash of light caught my eye: the helmet of an archer standing guard upon the ledge, no doubt flanked by a dozen more.
"Halt! Who goes there?" A short, muscular goblin stepped forward, his hand on his weapon.
"Members of the Vanguard. Going out on a quest." Qapla answered evenly, slowing his stride but not stopping.
"There's nothing beyond this wall but death swordsman." The goblin said tiredly. "I won't stop you, but there are no active patrols or outposts out there."
"And when Cloudbreaker returns, we'll see how you feel about that. Now open the gates." Veylan growled, pulling out a folded piece of paper and holding it before the guard's face.
The green of the goblin's face turned sour at Velyan's words, but he took the letter. His eyes scanned it and widened slightly.
"The Dragonbreaker...?" He glanced up quickly, his gaze passing over all of us, and he raised his hand with a fist. I heard shouts from above. He eyed us with a new measured gaze. "You all were the ones on the wall yesterday?"
"Yep!" Annalise called out. "That was mainly Velyan and Qapla though."
The goblin's demeanor shifted entirely. He stepped back, standing at rapt attention and pounding a fist to his chest. "Thank you."
His voice subdued now. "I don't know how, but word is spreading on the wall that you turned Cloudbreaker away. I… I have a wife and a child. A reason to fight. But I couldn't do anything against that thing. I'm just a gate guard. But we all appreciate you driving that thing off."
"A gate guard is the wall," Velyan said from beside me. "You are the line between the city and the death you spoke of. That is not a small duty."
The goblin looked taken aback for a second, then nodded sharply, his posture straightening even further.
With that, a deep thundering creak rattled within my bones as the metal gate began to rise. A sharp pain shot through my ears as tons upon tons of metal defied the will of gravity.
Qapla did not respond to the guard. His eyes were glazed as they stared at the rising gate, his lips downturned into a slight frown, as if lost in an old, painful memory.
"Well, uh… Thank you for your hard work and diligence in keeping the city safe," Annalise piped in, nudging Qapla with her elbow to break his stupor.
Qapla blinked, his focus returning. "Yes. Keep the city safe until we return." He motioned toward the group. "Let's get going. We've wasted enough time here."
We began to walk forward down the stone path once more and through the looming archway. Gates have a dual nature. When closed they blocked both sides from influencing the other. But when open they function as the transformation from one world into another.
And now, as we passed through, we were leaving a haven of thousands, built from stone harvested from the earth, and stepping into the terrible and dangerous beauty of the Emerald Expanse.
I looked out, expecting to see the ground churned and littered with the bodies of the countless refugees. Instead, golden sunlight shined down upon a sea of red flowers. Each one almost faintly glowing as the light filtered through its petals.
The path before us was windswept, clean of all debris. A broken cart here, an axel there, decorated the scene, lost islands in a blooming sea.
A slight breeze ruffled through my fur, pulling away some of the day's heat. The snow of my homeland did not touch this part of Duskmere, and oft I found myself wishing for its cool touch.
With the breeze came a sickly sweet smell, like sugared rot.
"What... are those?" Velyan asked, her hand resting on her crossbow. "They were not here yesterday."
Annalise, however, had stopped. She walked forward slowly, as if in a daze, and knelt. "Bloodroot," she whispered, brushing her fingers against a petal.
I knelt beside her, fascinated. "I've read of them, but never have I seen one ."
The stems of the plants were thick, a brownish hue in comparison to the bright petals and burgundy leaves. Beneath the pad of my paws, I felt a faint pulse from the flower. One and two, three and four. Not so different from the slowing heartbeat of a patient too far gone.
"My father showed them to me once, at the Wall." She said, her voice distant. "It was after a harsh attack. They… they only grow where a life has been violently taken. They feed on blood. Within a week, this field will look as if there had never been refugees."
I stood and looked around at the sheer number of them. They were in every direction.
"All these flowers grew overnight?" Nox asked incredulously.
I looked back down at Annalise who was frozen in place.
"Annalise?"
She grabbed my arm, her hand ice cold. "We have to go," she whispered, her eyes darting around the fields as she slowly stood. "They're… they're watching us."
Nox's hand drifted to her sword, "Who is?"
"Something is here."
I raised my head cocking my ears to listen, but only the soft whisper of leaves on leaves could be heard as the wind caused a wave of scarlet to cascade across the fields.
"What do you mean?" I asked, "I don't hear or see anything."
But she was already standing, tugging as my sleeve to follow.
"We should go. Qapla, stop walking off ahead! You'll separate us!" Annalise snapped, her voice filled with an unfamiliar hardness.
"Then stop walking so slow," Qapla called over his shoulder.
"Shouldn't you of all people know not to separate the group." Velyan's eye roll could be heard in her voice.
Yaelin's light, we would need much guidance to get through this together.
Annalise had yet to release my arm as she pulled us forward into the main body of the group. The scent of fear wafted off her, nearly thicker than the death scent of the flowers. And yet, all I could see were the fields of red.
Qapla and Velyan were walking side by side and were almost entering the woods already. We sped up our pace until we drew alongside them.
Annalise kept looking back at the field before looking at me, "Are you sure you didn't hear anything?"
"Other than the wind there was nothing there." I said looking back as well.
Annalise just hummed in response.