The road was mostly the same, with no changes in the scenery of the similar looking forest. But after close to 3 hours of walking, the trees finally started to disappear, as the path led back into the main road. Right after, the main road was cut by a large river, at the back of which the imposing presence of the towering walls of Feinhdall started to be seen. Over the river, a large stone bridge was linking the two sides.

As they got to the other side, they were immediately welcomed by the smell of roasted fish, coming from the fish stalls placed on each side of the road leading to the entrance in the city. All around, people were buying, selling, walking around through the stalls. It was a very lively atmosphere.

“I suppose you don’t know this yet,” Rained started explaining, “but Feinhdall is one of the biggest merchant cities here in the Iron Gates. There are over 6 markets all around the city, so don’t be surprised if you suddenly run into one.” He smiled, looking around.

The first gates were wide open, letting people get in and out as they pleased. There were two rows of gates at the entrance to the city, the first leading into a part surrounded by walls and houses, before getting to the main gates to the city. This kind of layout was really common, as in case of an attack, they could let the enemy through the first set of gates, then lock them inside in the area between the city walls and outer walls, and fire arrows inside, catching them in a large cage, with no escape.

The main gates weren’t as easy to get through as the first, as they seemed to be heavily guarded by the soldiers.

“It didn’t use to be this way.” One of the white cloaks spoke, reminiscent of the past. “Way back, Feinhdall was a free city, where anyone could get in and out as they wanted. But after we lost the war against Bwovn, they started sending troops in each of our large cities to keep order and take taxes and tributes over tributes to allow us to continue living in our homes... They knew they couldn’t take over the whole kingdom, so instead they sent lords from their empire and brought them here, giving them our lands and our homes, making the richer ones rulers over our cities... But it is what it is...”

Ili looked at him saddened. Something in her wanted to say something, but she couldn’t find any words to do so.

When they finally reached the gates, the white cloaks were allowed to pass right through, but when they got to the gate, a few guards blocked their way.

“Trying to sneak in, are we?” a massive soldier spoke, in heavy armor, looking down upon the two.

“They’re with us. Let them through.” Rainer spoke, looking back at the soldier with a cold gaze.

The soldier returned the cold gaze, but got out of the way, signaling to the other soldiers to do so as well.

Once inside the city, they were met by large crowds of people, cheering for the white cloaks. From the crowds, people of all ages would run towards the girls that were brought back from the mercenary camp, hugging them and crying tears of relief. Families, lovers, brothers and sisters, all reunited.

As they continued walking on the main road, less and less girls remained, being taken by their families in the cheers of the others.

But then, behind the cheering crowds, shouts and curses were heard.

“Oppressors!” “Traitors!” “If they were our kind, you wouldn’t have done anything!”

The shouts started to be heard louder. And then, an object, nothing big, just a small rock, made its way over the heads of the crowd, and into white cloaks, hitting one of the girls in the shoulder.

One after another, more rocks started to be thrown, along with other small objects, like fruits or pieces of wood. Most white cloaks didn’t mind, having small magic shields to block the objects from touching them, but even though it was such a small thing, the guards of the city intervened, breaking the crowd apart. Stones were thrown at the guards as well, everything breaking into chaos.

Ili turned around to see what was happening at the back, but was stopped by Zephyr, who put a hand on her shoulder. “It’s not worth it.” Ili looked at him and glanced back once, but continued walking, as the small rebellion disappeared through the cheering crowd, with pained screams and sounds of struggle being heard from behind.

“What will happen to them?” Ili asked, concerned, pulling the white cloak that spoke to her earlier by the hand.

“They’ll probably be locked up and questioned. A lot of things started happening lately, and the guards are on the edge. Safe to say we won’t be seeing them again... But I can’t blame the poor bastards for what they did. Well, you shouldn’t worry yourself with these things. They don’t concern you.”

“I see. Thanks...” Ili looked back once more, clenching her hand, not being able to shake off feeling bad about the whole situation. Nonetheless, they didn’t stop, continuing to follow the white cloaks.

After a little bit more walking, they finally reached a large building with towers. Only a few girls remained, the rest having been taken already. The white cloak turned back around, as he stopped.

“This is as far as you can come with us. This is our operational headquarters, and you can’t come inside. We’ll take the rest of the girls with us and wait for their families to come take them back home, or let them go off on their own if they wish to do so.”

Ili looked at him, nodding understandingly. “Alright. Thank you for bringing us all the way here! We remain indebted to you for everything that you’ve done!”

“No worries. As Rainer said before, this is our job. You only happened to be in the spot of our mission, that’s all.” The man turned back around, seeing all the other white cloaks entering the building. “Alright. Well, that’s about it. If anything happens, you know where to find us. Also, take a word of advice. Don’t go inside the slums. They’re nearly everywhere, hidden between houses and walls. Just try to stick to the main roads through the city, with lights and guards.”

“Alright, I understand. Thank you for telling us!” Ili nodded gratefully.

“Oi, Eifhal, come on!” another white cloak spoke, holding the door open.

“Well, that’s my call. Stay safe!”

With that, the white cloak turned and left, letting the massive door lock behind him.

The two remained out in the streets filled with market stalls, looking around at the massive buildings around them. After some time, Zephyr turned to Ili.

“So, what do you wanna do?”

Ili thought for a bit. “Well, it would be nice to look around a little... See if I find anything interesting.”

“Alright.” Zephyr nodded, seeming to be thinking about something. “So, here’s the thing. I took some money from the mercenaries that captured us before we left. Not much, but enough to not leave empty handed. So, with this in mind, do you want to stay at an inn in the city tonight?”

Ili looked at him with a scolding expression, but then sighed. “I suppose it would be nice to have a place to sleep at night, considering where we stood yesterday. So... Yeah, sure! Why not?”

“Alright then! I’ll go see if I can find anything, and maybe ask a few locals about it as well. You can stay here and look around at the stalls until I come back, as you wanted. Sounds good?”

Ili thought a little about it, not really liking the idea of the two being separated in this massive city. But she knew that nothing too bad could really happen, so she nodded. “Y... Yeah, all good. So, see you when you get back!”

“Alright. Don’t leave too far, alright?”

Ili nodded. “No, I’ll just be around these stalls, don’t worry.”

“Ok, if you say so. See ya!”

Zephyr looked around, thinking where to start. Finally, he chose to go right, waving at Ili as he left.

Ili waved back, feeling a small sense of uneasiness taking over her. But, at last, she shook the feeling, reminding herself that she was supposed to be alone on this journey from the beginning. She walked down the stairs, moving towards the many market stalls placed all around the city...

Map of Feinhdall - legend:

- top left is where they entered Feinhdall from, after which they followed the main road down towards the colosseum

- bottom left - the Feinhdall Colosseum

- right above the colosseum, across the street, is the building serving as headquarters for the White Cloaks

- middle of the city - the large, imposing building, surrounded by two sets of walls, is the Lord's Keep, also known as the Castle of Feinhdall

- bottom right, at the spot marked in blue - the spot with panoramic view from the next chapter, right after they've climbed the stairs (episode 20)

- top right, at the spot marked in red, is the inn with a mountain goat carved into a wooden plate, next to it's name (episode 21)

Also, a little challenge! :D

After finishing the next 2 chapters, come back to the map and try to recreate the path Ili and Zephyr took during their stay in Feinhdall :)