Broken Glass - Taekook

34

Bolstered by the fact that we're getting closer to the faerie city, Jimin closes his eyes, and the reigns in his hands take on an odd, translucent quality. They seem to almost glow, even in the bright light of mid-afternoon. The horse jumps forward, beginning to move at a much faster pace, seeming to suddenly gain a burst of energy out of nowhere. 

But I'm no fool. I can see the strain that crosses over the pixie's face, the way his back tenses for a moment, as if he's stopping his own wings from appearing. After all, we're still out in the open, even though the king's control is far behind us now. There are other dangers at play, ancient creatures that could appear from anywhere, looking for a fresh meal. There's nothing as evil as the Karulian Knights, or the king himself, but that doesn't mean that predators don't need to eat either.

We're obvious enough already, and we don't need massive blue wings to signal our exact location. The cart is brown, so it blends more into this part of the Yarolian Plains, and we're dressed pretty simply too, so our clothing doesn't give us away as much either. The horse is noticeable, but it's a prey animal, and it's used to keeping quiet even on open ground. 

When we get closer, our surroundings seem to hum with energy, perhaps a result of the strength of the golden river here, in the territory of the faerie queen. The walls stretch upward maybe three hundred feet or more, made of a light grey stone that shimmers slightly when the sunlight passes over it in a specific way. There's no discernible breaks in the structure, no bricks or building blocks that I can make out, and the material is roughly hewn, as if left in the most natural state it can become. 

The city is probably a mile or so across in total, massive in scale and slightly circular, though it's harder to see that from this close up. There's no clear gate or entrance point, just smooth wall, and no indications of how to pass through. I assume faeries and some other creatures can just fly, or meld into the stone, but my friends and I have no such powers. 

For a few seconds, we just stop the cart and sit there, lost, then Namjoon jumps down from the cart, without so much as a wince from his old injury. Taehyung cringes slightly as he does so, but then shudders slightly and focuses back on the task. His brothdr begins to run a hand over the stone wall, searching for any inconsistencies. The marks on his hands flare up, glowing bright green, and he looks across the length of the wall closest to us, before frowning to himself and stepping back. 

"What did you find?" Taehyung asks him curiously, as Namjoon returns to the cart. 
"I'm not sure. There's something powerful here, protective, but I can't quite detect the source just yet. It may be just out of my range. I don't know." He looks over to Jimin. "Would it be possible for us to just move along the wall for a few minutes, whilst my awareness is out in the world, and see whether I find anything?" 

The pixie raises an eyebrow, and then nods, picking up the reigns. "I can do that. Which direction?" Namjoon pauses, and then points to the left. "Let me know if you spot anything, then," Jimin says simply, shifting a little and then calling the horse to start moving. As we pull forward, Namjoon leans forward, keeping a close eye on the wall as much as he can. 

A little over five minutes later, he calls for a stop, and then jumps back out of the cart again, hurrying over to the stone wall once more and beginning to inspect it. "What is it?" Yoongi calls out, pulling his dagger from his belt and flipping it in his hand, cautious. 
"I'm not entirely sure, but this is the source of the protective energy around here. It's strongest here, much stronger than over here." 

He traces something with his finger, a line that I didn't spot before, carved into the wall itself. "There's a number of these, which appear to distribute the energy to the rest of the material. A sort of circulatory system, I suppose. It's a very clever arrangement, which doesn't surprise me. It's probably been built and reinforced over generations, until it maintains a permanent enchantment."