Magic and Monsters

Trial of Fire

The guards yelled for the party to halt from on top of the tall stone walls as they reached the gates. One of then held a torch and looked down with suspicion.

"What is your purpose of coming here?" yelled the guard.

Beatrice rode ahead of the group and spoke up loud and clear.

"I, Lady Beatrice am requesting entry to the Capital. I have returned from my visit at Abbotsford."

The guard looked down in scrutiny. He wasn't convinced.

"Where is the rest of your entourage? A person of your standing should have at least thirty guards for such a journey. I'm afraid we'll have to come down to confirm your identity." he replied before disappearing.

"Uh oh?" asked Charles.

"Don't worry Sir Charles. It's good that the guards are doing their job properly here." said Sir Wilson.

The giant wooden gates suddenly creaked, and opened sideways. Four guards with spears marched out from within the city.

"Identification!" one of them demanded. Sir Wilson pulled out a wad of tattered papers from his rucksack and placed them in the outstretched hands. After a quick inspection, the guard looked up at them with approval.

"Welcome back to the Capital, Lady Beatrice and Sir Wilson. Apologies for the confusion. I'm presuming you were attacked by bandits, considering the low number of contenders?" he asked.

Sir Wilson shook his head no. "Werewolves actually. We'll have to prepare several burials for the fallen."

"I'm sorry, they must have been noble warriors. Please come through!"

The buildings in the outskirts of the city near the walls were less impressive than Charles expected and looked poorer than Abbotsford. The lower class citizens probably lived here.

"We'll be making straight for Castle Eversteel!" exclaimed Sir Wilson proudly as he motioned to a monolithic shadow of a castle towards the heart of the Capital. It looked as if the castle was carved out of a mountain and slapped right in the middle of the city.

As the party approached the center, the infrastructure grew more and more grand.

A massive ivory and golden castle loomed on top of a cloud in the sky. It was illuminated with various lights and looked as if it was plucked straight from a fairy tail.

"What's that?" asked Charles in awe. He pointed at the floating castle in the sky.

"That would be the Arcane Sanctum. Some of the most powerful magicians reside there. The guardians of the country are trained within the Sanctum." replied Beatrice.

The streets were still quite full of life despite the late hour. Expensive inns and stores lined the streets, selling various foods, weapons and decorations. A church with golden arches and cross had priests carrying scrolls from a horse drawn cart to and fro.

Charles noticed them passing a tall ivory tower with a floating symbol every few minutes. The holographic symbols shimmered in and out of existence over the towers, which Beatrice explained were protection spells from chaos and evil.

Soldiers with full silver plated armour stood guard at every corner, giving an intimidating feel. They all knelt when they noticed Beatrice among them. It appeared that she was quite popular here.

Suddenly a scream came from around the corner. A moment a Déjà vu struck Charles from when he first met Beatrice by saving her from a walker. He immediately spurred his stallion around the corner.