The following days were a struggle of trying to stay hidden or at least partially covered from the sky while riding as fast as possible. Unfortunately, we didn’t encounter the two spellcasters who were supposed to be traveling ahead of us, neither did we see any tracks that could belong to anything but wildlife.

Seika continued to cast and maintain the spell covering our tracks all through the next ten days of hard and rather slow advance toward the southern capital of Fjalhun. For the sake of not revealing our position, we lit no fires during the night and when we could not find trees that still had leaves and branches thick enough to cover us, we would sleep in undergrowth or Seika would dig burrows and tunnels. This way, we were protected from the elements as well as predators.

My favorite times of the days traveling through the snow-covered lands were the moments when the sun would normally appear, had it not been hidden by thick clouds. The snow was at its softest at these times and it looked as if it emanated a soft glow.

The wind was all that could be heard, the snow dampening most of the other sounds, creating a peaceful silence. This was a dangerous land, but peaceful all the same.

On the noon of the tenth day, we were walking on a narrow mountain path, a great chasm on one side and the face of the mountain on the other, when after a close turn we finally saw our destination. Snjokomu, or at least its overground entrance, finally stood before us.

The city was really built in the depths of the mountain. Its side was actually cut clean in giant vertical slabs with no windows or holes to indicate any reasoning behind this design. We galloped toward it with renewed excitement.

The entrance was a giant stone door at the top of a score of huge stone steps. At the side of the steps, two life-sized statues were standing on top of thick granite pedestals. The statues themselves were also made out of stone, but had no sign of snow or wetness on them, no doubt by magical means.

Both of the sculptures were warriors in heavy plate armor, and each was resting their hands on the handle of a giant upside-down battle-hammer touching the pedestal. At first, we were a little hesitant to cross the imaginary line between the two statues, but Man assured us it was okay so we approached the giant stone door.

As soon as Man, who was walking ahead of us, stepped on the last step before the door, it began opening with a heavy bass sound as stone dragged across stone. We were welcomed by a score of armored guards headed by a short and burly man sporting a thick red beard.

“State your purpose, travelers,” the man said.

Name : Gurin Volcanoheart

Race : Dwarf

Class : Warhammer of Magma

Level : 46

“My name is Manal Im, Prince and son-heir of the crown of Leka An,” Man said, as he took one step closer to the entrance and the procession of guards. “These are my associates. We are here on official business on the decree of the King to talk about future trade opportunities.”

“My name is Gurin, Prince Manal Im, and I am pretty sure we already have our trade routes established”, the man replied, though he looked a lot more open to conversation.

“We do, indeed,” Man began once more. “However, I am certain your trade council would love to hear my propositions. Seeing the supply of magical items shrinking from Elysia, we would like to double down on our efforts with Snjokomu.”

“In that case, welcome to Snjokomu,” the man said with a broad smile, and stepped aside, signaling us to enter.

We walked between the many guards standing on each side of the corridor’s entrance and it wasn’t long after we all entered that the doors closed behind us, shutting out the freezing winds.

“You will be led to central processing,” Gurin continued, as he nodded to two of his guards to take us there. “You will, unfortunately, have to state the same things there, but afterward you will be free to roam the city. I hope you enjoy your stay here folks.”

“We certainly hope so too,” Man replied in turn. “Have a good day, Sir.”

“May your forge never run cold,” the captain of the guard replied, and gave a slight bow.

As promised, we were led from one corridor to the other and down multiple sets of stairs to an opening in the under-mountain. There were bookcases and heavy stone desks here and there, but the most amazing feature was the large glass surface that was letting in a lot of yellow light.

I couldn’t move closer to the glass in order to see the source of the light but I had a pretty good idea, as I could already feel the heat emanating from the single gate placed in the middle of the giant glass frame, leading further downstairs.

We were each promptly documented as citizen-merchants of Leka An with the reason for our visit being to establish new trade routes and we were allowed to move deeper down into the city of Snjokomu and through the gate beneath the glass structure. In response to a very casual question from Man to the officers, we were informed that no Elysians, or any spellcasters for that matter, had entered the city for more than a month.

This either meant that we had reached the city before the two spellcasters, or they did not go through the city at all. Masquerading as manaless and entering Snjokomu was not possible, since the officers of the city had ways of determining whether individuals had magic powers or not, as proved by noting Seika down as a mana wielder without even asking her. As for Myriam, we could not get a definitive answer about her entering the town, but hoped we would find more information later on.

Moving closer to the clear glass, my suspicions were confirmed. Thick molten rivers of rock slowly flowed under a giant bridge leading us to the next part of the city.