The next morning, the march toward Stoneville was probably the most peaceful that the children had experienced since leaving Ashfang Village, as unlike the relentless pace Garron usually forced upon them, he hardly pushed the group at all and instead allowed everyone to conserve their strength while quietly leading them along a gradually widening trail.
They departed before sunrise as usual, and by midday, after crossing a high stone creek that overlooked the lower valley beyond, the dense forest finally began thinning before them until, for the very first time, Stoneville came into view.
"Woah..."
Riven murmured beneath his breath, as the sight unfolding before him was unlike anything he had ever imagined.
The town looked impossibly large.
It was shaped like a rough diamond, as although the settlement had clearly not been built according to any formal plan, with its outer boundaries twisting wherever the terrain demanded, from the distance it nevertheless resembled a giant diamond, with towering watchtowers guarding its outer extremities while a maze of walls and inner barricades split the sprawling town into several smaller sections that had seemingly been constructed at different points throughout its long history.
’How many people live in a place like that?’
Riven wondered, as his eyes slowly wandered across the distant town.
’Ten thousand? A hundred thousand?’
The thought alone sent a shiver down his spine, because until that moment, Ashfang Village had been the largest place he had ever known, and yet compared to Stoneville, the village where he had spent nearly nine years suddenly felt no larger than a forgotten cluster of huts.
"By Minerva... This town is the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen..."
Stacy muttered beside him, as Mary stood equally speechless with her jaw slightly agape.
"How do you even remember your way around a place like that? I’d get lost immediately."
Dara added, as several others quietly nodded in agreement before Garron suddenly clapped his hands together, drawing everyone’s attention back toward him.
"Keep moving, brats. This ain’t a field trip."
He reminded, as the group reluctantly tore their eyes away from the distant settlement before resuming the march, eventually arriving outside Stoneville’s gates roughly half an hour later.
Long lines of caravans stretched along the road leading into the town, as dozens of wagons, horses, pack animals, and armed travellers patiently waited their turn while guards stationed at the entrance inspected each arriving group before allowing them through.
Watching the endless stream of people coming and going, Riven quietly realized that Stoneville was nothing like Ashfang Village.
There was movement everywhere.
People arrived. People departed. Goods changed hands. Guards shouted orders. Caravans formed and dispersed.
And for the first time in his life, Riven saw how the world beyond Ashfang Village was not merely larger than he had imagined, but so unimaginably vast that a person like him could disappear within it without leaving behind even the faintest trace.
"The stone wall and the entrance gate, they’re so big! It must have taken the people here decades to make it..."
Stacy muttered, as she stood beside him with the same stunned expression on her face.
"Chief Torak would never start a project like this.
We wouldn’t have the stones for it."
Mary added quietly, as she studied the architecture, while Riven noticed the people around them.
Men and women wearing leather armor, chainmail, beast-hide cloaks, and dented steel plates moved throughout the area with weapons strapped openly across their bodies, as some carried swords, others carried spears, and a few carried strange Aether weapons that Riven could not even identify.
’Are they all Ascendants?’
Riven wondered, as his fingers instinctively tightened around the strap of his satchel.
However, since none of them were actively using Aether, Riven could never tell whether they were powerful Ascendants or simply ordinary warriors.
"State your name and the purpose of your visit?"
A guard eventually asked Garron when it was their turn to enter the town, as Garron chatted with him in a low voice, slipped him a single silver coin before receiving a brief nod of approval, which allowed the rest of them to pass without being questioned.
"Alright, on you go—"
He muttered, as though he could not care less, while the entire group finally stepped through Stoneville’s gates.
Thump Thump
Once inside, Riven felt his heart beat just a little faster, as if Stoneville had appeared impressive from a distance, then it completely overwhelmed him the moment he stepped through its gates, as a thousand different sights demanded his attention all at once.
The streets were far wider than anything he had ever imagined, with people flowing in every direction like rivers crossing one another, as merchants loudly advertised their goods, customers argued over prices, wagons creaked beneath towering piles of cargo, and stable hands hurried restless horses and pack beasts through the crowded roads while shouting for pedestrians to move aside.
The smell alone was enough to leave Riven dizzy.
Freshly baked bread drifted through the air from one direction, while the rich aroma of roasted meat and unfamiliar spices came from another, only to be drowned out moments later by the foul stench of animal dung, leather tanneries, and blood flowing from butcher stalls where freshly slaughtered carcasses hung from iron hooks.
Every few steps, something new caught his eye.
Rows of weapon shops displayed polished swords, axes, shields, and spears outside their entrances, while neighboring stores sold brightly colored fabrics, medicines, dried herbs, jewelry, animal pelts, and countless strange objects whose purpose Riven could not even begin to guess.
Street performers swallowed fire for cheering crowds, travelling musicians played lively tunes from unfamiliar instruments, while a scar-faced storyteller stood atop an overturned barrel dramatically reenacting the tale of some legendary Ascendant as children gathered around him in fascination.
Not everything, however, was pleasant.
Two drunken mercenaries suddenly erupted into a fistfight outside a tavern only a short distance ahead, as one smashed a bottle across the other’s head before both men were kicked into the muddy street by the tavern owner, who loudly threatened to charge them for breaking his furniture.
Nobody seemed surprised.
Most pedestrians simply stepped around the fighting men without slowing their pace, as though scenes like these were nothing more than another ordinary part of everyday life.
Further ahead, a group of shackled prisoners shuffled through the street beneath the watch of armed escorts, while nearby, a merchant openly argued with an elderly woman over the price of medicinal herbs until both were shouting loudly enough for half the street to hear.
Riven’s eyes darted from one scene to another so quickly that he eventually stopped trying to follow everything around him.
It was simply impossible.
Ashfang Village had always felt quiet.
Stoneville never seemed to stop moving.
The town almost felt alive.
"Keep your eyes forward and don’t talk to no-one."
Garron reminded without looking back, as despite leading several dozen children through the busiest streets in Stoneville, he never slowed his pace for even a moment.
The group followed closely behind him, instinctively bunching together as they wove through the endless crowds until, after nearly twenty minutes of walking, Garron finally turned into a narrower side street where the noise became noticeably quieter.
At the very end of the lane stood a modest three-story wooden building whose faded signboard read ’The Passersby Inn’, as unlike the larger establishments nearer the main roads, the inn appeared plain, inexpensive, and largely ignored by the constant stream of travellers passing through Stoneville.
"This will do."
Garron muttered, as he pushed open the front door before leading the children inside, finally bringing the long journey to their first proper stop since leaving Ashfang Village.