Descent Into Darkness (Book 2) Read Free Page B

Hills of green grass rolled into the northern horizons, a refreshing change from the brown dirt of his village. To the west he could see the Skyfall Mountains, not that far off in the distance. It was what he saw to the east, though, that made his eyes go wide.
    A huge stone wall trailing north to south towered over the land. It stretched up into the clouds and out of sight and seemed to travel into the horizon without end.
    His mind reeled from the sight of such a massive creation. Who could have built such a wonder? Did it protect them from something worse than the Abyss on the other side? How had no one from his village ever mentioned something so wondrous and intimidating? When Ean was finally able to shake away his shock, he turned to his companions.
    "What in the world is that?"
    Azalea shrugged, as if something as grand as the giant wall was commonplace for her. Zin shrugged as well, but moved closer to Ean's side to speak.
    "The wall was here the last time I lived in your realm, but no one seemed to know who built it or why, and that was a long time ago. At this point, the gods are probably the only ones who know its purpose."
    Ean nodded and returned his gaze to the wall. Maybe he would be able to see it up close. Not today though. He needed to spend what was left of the afternoon traveling towards the capitol of Lurthalan.
    By the low position of the sun over the mountains, Ean knew dusk was on its way. That meant if they wanted to make good time, they would be relying on the three moons to light their path.
    "Well, let's move on," he said. "We have no idea where we came out from or how long it will take to reach the city. My best guess is that if we head northeast, we should eventually reach Lurthalan or at least a road that heads there."
    "Sounds like as good a plan as any," the Yulari replied. The shimmering effect washed over her again and the vision of an ordinary girl returned. "Just in case we meet anyone out here."
    She walked past him, giving his shoulder a playful shove. Or at least Ean thought it had meant to be playful. He stumbled away a few paces and almost ended up on his back. Either Azalea forgot her own strength sometimes or she was messing with him again. Regaining his balance, he marched off after her with Zin following behind.
    It was nice to have open space all around him. Even at home he had been used to having the mountains surrounding his village, so to have nothing but the open plains in front of him was pleasant.
    Ean wasn't sure how long they had walked, but eventually Azalea had put some distance between herself and the two of them. She paused at the top of the hill and shielded her eyes as she looked out over the next horizon. After a few moments, she called back to them.
    "If you two are done crawling along, there are buildings up ahead."
    Sure enough, when Ean and Zin reached the top of the hill, spread out before them was a farm. A large field full of some kind of plant taller than any of them spread out at the bottom of the hill. Ean knew a good deal about plants that were useful for medicine, but he knew little about any kind of edible plant outside of the bean plants that were grown in his village. At the opposite side of the field, a barn and small wooden house sat with a few chickens grazing outside.
    "I think we've been spotted," Azalea said, pointing towards where a figure was exiting the house. The person took a few steps in their direction and then waved.
    "Zin, you better--" Ean began to say, but cut off as he realized the imp had already turned invisible. "Alright, let's go down and say hello."
    As they made their way down the hill, the figure began making his way through the field towards them. By the time Ean and Azalea had reached the field, the figure was coming out of it.
    The man that stood before them was average in every way possible. He stood about as tall as Ean, wearing a simple, brown short-sleeved shirt and matching pants. The wrinkles in his face and his