The land of Aria

Past

Both of them were panting heavily when they finally reached the high dull wall. It was probably as high as a five story building. It looked like it was leaning towards them because of the height. There were guards stationed at the gates which were as high as an average tree and were made out of steel bars which were pulled up, so now they were barely visible. The arc of the entryway had engravings of two faces and many other ornaments on it.

Only a glimpse of the settlement was visible from where they were standing.

They were stopped by the guards as they tried to pass. The men all looked the same. They carried spears and shields and were completely dressed in armor with a winged red crest on the chest area.

"State your business!" one of the guards yelled. His authoritative voice was strong and unwavering.

"We were wondering if you could tell us where we are." Kate said. Her voice stable, casual. But the men didn't seem to like the lack of respect in it.

"You are at the gates of the largest city on the continent!"Another yelled. All of them had their guards up since they saw the girls were carrying weapons. They were trained not to take a single enemy lightly, no matter what.

"Hey Kate, they don't seem like they'll let us pass" Alice said anxiously. she only pointed out the obvious, but it needed to be said. Alice just kept staring at the guards who begun approaching them when she got no reply. It looked like they were going to attack so Kate put one foot behind the other and grabbed the handle, prepared to defend if the guards should attack.

Alice scolded her friend, saying they had no chance of betting them, but were both surprised by what happened next. All of the men gasped and froze.

"What just happened?" Kate whispered to her friend.

"I don't know" she said.

The tension in the air became so heavy that the girls begun to sweat a little. The few seconds seemed a lot longer for them.

"They're Gems..."one said. We barely heard him since we were further away but everyone's eyes were now on him.

"Our apologies "he bowed his head "You may pass" he said motioning so the others would make way for us.

The both of them were frozen trying to figure out what just happened. But Alice quickly pulled Kate by the arm and thanked the guard that let us through. When they went inside their jaws dropped open.

The city was overwhelmingly beautiful. Rows of houses made of gray bricks and red roofs as well as a crazy amount of trees that were all in full bloom. The lamp posts were done in black.

I wonder what they use as a power source. Though Alice.

"I guess its spring or whatever they call it here" Alice said.

They just continued to look at the overcrowded streets. The people who passed by were dressed in middle age like clothes.

"Look at that girl's leg! Isn't that the mark that Gems bare" two women who passed by Alice gossiped. Kate however was too busy admiring her surroundings.

Out of curiosity Alice checked out Kate's leg. On it was an outlined wolf mark. She unintentionally kept staring at it so Kate noticed.

"So...where's your mark?" she asked. Alice flinched when she heard her say it.

"Um...on my shoulder" she said. Kate expected her to show it but it didn't happen so she asked again.

"Can I see it?" she asked.

Alice hesitated. She felt ashamed of her mark especially now that she saw that the creature that best represented Kate was a wolf.

"It's OK" Kate encouraged her friend.