After eating the fruits and solving the heat problem, before the conversation could continue, Kael looked back from the front of the line.
His red eyes fixed for a moment on their newly brightened skin.
He had probably recognized the effect of the Cinderheart Fruit, but he asked nothing.
Near dusk, the first signs of the city appeared among the trees.
At first, only a few tall towers, then bridges stretched between massive trunks, and finally, all of Vhalaris was revealed from behind the red roots.
The city was not built on flat ground.
It was spread around several giant trees and roots, with buildings at different heights.
Some houses were built on platforms of living roots.
Some were directly inside hollow trunks, their amber windows protruding from the tree’s bark.
Massive wooden and metal bridges connected the city’s different levels.
Some bridges were so wide that several caravans could pass through them at the same time.
Red rivers flowed through transparent channels between the streets, their energy entering the buildings, workshops, and the city’s lamps.
Whenever a wave passed through the channel, hundreds of windows would become brighter for a moment.
The houses were made of black wood, red stones, and amber glass.
Their roofs did not have a usual shape.
Some curved outward like large leaves, and some merged with the natural growth of the roots.
In the center of the entire city, a massive trunk had risen.
Larger than all the surrounding trees, platforms, bridges, and government buildings were built inside and around it.
The upper part of the trunk disappeared among the golden leaves and orange smoke.
The center of Vhalaris’s government.
The city walls were also not built in a normal way.
Massive roots were woven together, and Heartwood Steel plates were placed between them. Defensive towers had emerged from those same roots.
Large Ballistas were installed on high platforms, and Mana waves from the city’s channels entered them directly.
If a war occurred, the entire wall could react like a living creature, and the path reached the first gate.
Two massive roots formed the two sides of the entrance, and metal plates were raised between them.
Several guard lines were stationed around the gate. With One’s approach, the gate’s activity stopped.
A fully armored guard came forward, and his gaze moved over the massive ant.
"The creature cannot enter the city."
"It’s not a creature. Its name is One." Liana immediately answered.
The guard gave her a brief look.
"Whatever it is, without a seal, a registered contract, or a War Beast permit, it is not allowed to enter."
Seraphina frowned. Seris placed her hand on her sword’s hilt again.
"Then issue a permit for it."
"Registering a creature of this size takes several days. Until then, it must be kept in the Beastward." The guard added.
He pointed to a military area outside the wall.
Several large enclosures could be seen there. Stone pack creatures, armored beasts, and a few War Beasts were kept in separate sections.
"We won’t leave it with a few pack animals." Liana said.
"That is the law."
"I don’t care."
A few guards stepped closer and placed their hands on their weapons. Seraphina got down from One’s back.
Seris also calmly did the same, and tension rose again.
Lian was the last to get down. His movement was calm, but when his feet touched the ground, his gaze changed.
His eyes became cold and emotionless.
A very small part of his aura leaked from his body.
Not enough to be considered an attack, but for someone standing directly in front of him, it was enough.
The guard felt something deadly staring at him from the darkness.
Not a young human, not a tired traveler, not a prisoner, but something that, if it decided to attack, would not stop with killing just one person.
The veins on the guard’s face suddenly lit up, an instinctive reaction to danger.
"Who will be responsible for its safety?" Lian asked.
The guard unconsciously stepped back. Enduring the pressure was not easy for him, and before he could answer, Kael stepped forward.
"I will."
Lian moved his gaze to the commander. Kael did not step back.
"He will be kept in the military section of the Beastward."
He pointed at one of the officers by the gate.
"He will receive enough food, and no one will approach him without permission."
"And if something happens to him?" Lian asked.
Kael was silent for a few moments.
"If when I return, I see even a fresh scratch on his body, I won’t look for the person responsible." Lian continued with the same calm tone.
His gaze passed over the guards and fixed on the massive city behind the gate.
"I will hold your entire civilization responsible."
He did not shout the threat. His voice was not even loud, but this calmness made it seem heavier.
A few soldiers lit up the veins on their armor.
Seraphina and Seris said nothing, but neither showed any objection to Lian’s words.
Liana was standing beside One, her hand on its shell.
"I will put my name and rank as guarantee." Kael still looked directly at Lian.
"Your name and rank mean nothing to me."
"Then I will guarantee something that has value to me."
The commander looked at the city behind him.
"If that creature is harmed under my soldiers’ care, the responsibility is mine."
Lian examined his face for a few seconds. The commander was not lying, at least he himself had no intention of harming One.
Lian communicated with the ant through Hive Link.
He transmitted images of waiting, food, and their return.
One immediately showed dissatisfaction. Its antennae moved toward the gate.
"You can’t enter."
One lowered its head.
Liana stroked the front part of its head.
"We’ll be back soon."
The ant fixed its gaze on Lian. A wave of opposition and worry entered his mind, and he placed his hand on its shell.
"Wait for me."
After a few seconds, One accepted the command.
Kael assigned four experienced soldiers to accompany him to the military section of the Beastward.
Lian looked at each of them. None dared to reach their hand toward One.
The four humans moved toward the gate.
One did not take its gaze off Lian until the last moment.
Even after they passed through the gate, its dissatisfied presence was felt through Hive Link.
Inside Vhalaris was even busier than outside. The streets extended on several levels.
Markets were built on root platforms. Sellers sold flame-like fruits, warm stones, bottles full of red liquid, and pieces of Heartwood equipment.
In the workshops beside the streets, craftsmen melted black metal in furnaces without fire. Red mana waves directly entered the furnaces from the underground channels and softened the metal.
Hammers fell on anvils, each strike scattering golden sparks in the air.
Small Emberroot creatures moved among the crowd.
Some resembled lizards with fiery tails, some were small birds with copper feathers that sat on the edges of bridges.
Elevators made of living roots went up and down in different parts of the city. Wooden platforms moved between levels with the contraction of the roots.
But with the arrival of four humans, the activity around them quieted down. A seller stopped in the middle of a sentence.
A few hunters turned their heads. A mother pulled her child closer.
A group of young Cindari, without hiding their curiosity, looked at the veinless skin and normal eyes of the humans.
Some looks were only curious, some cautious, and some openly hostile.
"New Outsiders."
Lian heard the word. Apparently, the Cindari had chosen a specific name for humans.
"They don’t seem very hospitable." Liana said quietly.
Lian looked at the hunters who were examining their weapons.
"If a few dozen people from an unknown race suddenly appeared in the middle of our city, we probably wouldn’t behave much better."
"At least they haven’t attacked us yet. That itself is a positive point." Seraphina said.
"Yet, but they will soon." Seris snorted. She had a bad feeling and remembered the village of the Dreadmaw mutants.
Liana sighed.
"One of you two needs to learn to say hopeful things."
Kael led them from the main street toward the city center.
The closer they got to the center, the more formal the buildings became, and the security increased.
More soldiers were on the bridges. Some of them wore armors with golden veins instead of red.
The entrance to the Rootspire, or the city’s command center, was located in a natural crack in the massive trunk.
Two doors of white wood opened before them. Inside the tower, unlike the busy streets of the city, was very quiet.
The walls were alive. Energy veins passed through the wood tissue like blood, and every few seconds, a calm orange light spread through the hall.
The corridors were covered with black and red carpets. The patterns on the walls showed the city’s history, battles with monsters, and the construction of Vhalaris.
Kael led them through several corridors and a root elevator.
Finally, they reached a large hall. The hall was built inside the hollow part of the trunk... its ceiling was so high that it disappeared into the orange darkness.