Meeting with the elders part 1

The gates began to slowly open allowing me and the girl standing next to me to see what was behind them.

The first thing we saw was a man holding a sword and shield. Judging by his clothes, it was clear that they had seen better days; holes were visible in places; he looked from me to Lualia.

After waiting for the gate to open, I looked at the girl who did not take her eyes off the guard.

Slowly lowering her hand and taking the bound bodies of the animals, she began to enter through the gate silently.

Realizing that there would be no conversation, I picked up the remaining bag and followed Lualia, passing through the gate we found ourselves in the city.

Looking with interest at the walls behind the gates, it was clear that whoever created this city understood that if the gates fell, the capital of the Avelians would fall quickly, and therefore at each wall there were metal rods that could buy time for the city residents against enemy rams.

The arch through which we passed was large but would not have allowed a large cart to pass due to the low stone partitions. Once in the city, behind me I heard the work of mechanisms that closed the gates again.

The guard who stood in front of us examined me carefully and then nodded to the girl, asking her to come closer to him.

I didn't know if it was a test or something else, watching as the girl approached the guard and extended her left hand to him.

It was noticeable that the guard was tense, looking from me to Lualia, after extending his hand, he relaxed and extended his hand to the girl and then hugged her.

The girl responded to his hug, moving away from him and beckoning me with her hand towards them. I had no choice but to approach them.

Approaching them, the guard nodded and silently began to walk around me and examine me, having made sure of something, he returned back to Lualia.

- You came back early Lualia and not alone, who is he? - The bass calm voice of the guard was heard and he leaned the shield against one of the walls.

The girl began to explain how we encountered her and that I was a wanderer who wanted to get to the city and how I wanted to get to this city and helped her hunt animals.

Listening to the girl, you could see how the guard's face changed to one of surprise, he looked at me with interest and then laughed.

His laughter was cheerful, I had a hard time understanding his reaction. After waiting until he calmed down, I looked at the girl who just shook her head at my silent question to her.

- Excuse me for my behavior, you are the first wanderer in a long time, my name is Irmail, I will take you to the elders. - The guard introduced himself, turning his back to us and heading towards the exit from the passage.

Looking at the girl who again took the bound bodies of the animals and dragged them after the guard.

I could only follow them; leaving the passage, the same street along which Lualia walked during her hunt appeared to my eyes.

From the sky it seemed to me that the street was not big, but from the ground it was wide and carriages could move along it without fear of colliding or running over those who were walking.

Looking around with interest, I saw various residents of this city who were doing their work, children who were carrying some things, when they saw me they stopped and looked at me with fear and interest, some froze right in our path and only after Irmail's shout came to their senses and got out of the way.

While we were walking, I saw the houses of the Avels, but unlike the deserted city, they lived here and I partially saw what was inside when we passed by the windows.

On the way to the elders, the guard led us to a strange one-story house near which the skins of various animals hung. Having put down the bundle, the girl went inside the house, leaving us alone with the guard.

- She needs to hand over what you brought, we won't go to the elders with these corpses, you know, I hope? - Irmail turned to me, leaning against the wall, waiting for the girl.

Sighing, I thought about what to say to the elders when we meet with them, I needed to look at the barrier that fenced off the part of the city where no one could get after the exodus of the five races.

As I thought, it was there that the sanctuary of the gods was located, which the spirit of the forest told me about.

I felt a wyvern that was watching the city from the air and was ready to come to my aid if something went wrong.

Several steps were heard from the house where the girl entered and the door opened from which Lualia came out followed by an elderly man.

He wore a simple sleeveless leather cape and his long gray hair and black eyes gave him a mysterious air.

There were scars on his hands that were deep, he glanced at me and the guard and turned his gaze to the bundle, grunted and took out a short knife from his belt and cut the ropes, allowing the carcasses to fall to the ground and began to examine them.

Watching him, I saw his lips moving, he was saying something, but I had no opportunity to hear what the old man was saying.

- You hunted well girl, you can leave the other bundles here, I'll drag them inside myself. - The old man's quiet but full of strength voice was heard.

Realizing that we would leave animal carcasses here, I took out other bundles from the storage, the old man was surprised how more bundles appeared out of thin air. With incomprehension, he looked from them to me and to the girl, waiting for details.

- Don't worry, they haven't lost their freshness, I kept them in my storage for convenience. - I turned to the old man who was looking with interest at the corpses of animals in bundles that were in my storage.

The guard who was leaning against the wall also didn't understand where I got more bundles from, realizing that they didn't know about such things as storage facilities, I began to explain to them what it meant.

The more I explained that I myself knew about the vault, the more surprised the faces of the guard and the elder were.

- So you are a young magician? What have you forgotten in this godforsaken city? - The old man asked, looking at me.

I understood that for them my storage was an amazing thing and therefore, trying to explain my purpose for coming to the city, when I explained as much as possible, I saw how the old man just shook his head, saying that it was a waste of time.

Having said goodbye to the old man, we again followed the guard who led us to another part of the city.

Along the way, you could see the same strange pillars with different drawings on them; unlike the empty city, here they were more visible.

It was not clear to me what the Avels were trying to demonstrate with them; when they tried to find out from the girl and the guard, they only shook their heads.

The residents who saw us followed us with a surprised look, as the guard explained, wanderers were rare here, and especially since part of my face was severely burned, I heard a question in his voice, but I had no desire to explain to him where my burn came from.

The girl walked next to me, explaining what this old man would do with the carcasses and as it turned out he was once an elder and one of the long-livers of this city.

Sometimes there were the same carriages that I had seen before, but they had different shapes, some had only two supports and had strange levers at the top.

The girl and the guard did not pay much attention to the abandoned things of the Avels during their lives; for them they were nothing more than a constant that they saw while living here.

To my surprise, we walked for a long time to the elders, and when we arrived, a two-story house appeared in front of us; it did not look rich and there was no inscription.

Near this house there were some people, according to the guard, these were petitioners who met with the elders asking them for something.

The requests could be different: a change of housing, a change of job, or permission for a wedding ritual.

Stopping in front of the petitioners, the guard asked us to wait and went into the buildings. The petitioners glanced at us; none of them tried to speak to us.

After a while, Irmail returned and invited us inside. Having followed the guard, we found ourselves inside a small corridor and stairs near the walls there were small benches. Irmail led us to the stairs, examining the inside of the house; it was covered with some small stones both on the floor and on the ceiling and walls.

The light came from magical lamps that were attached to these strange small stones. I was surprised to see magic lamps here together where no magicians lived. 

I was surprised to see magic lamps here together where magicians did not live, as the girl said earlier, climbing the stone stairs we found ourselves in front of the door.

Stopping in front of the door, the guard entered first, leaving us in the corridor and after a while returned to us back into the corridor.

- I'll leave you here, I warned the elders about you, they are expecting you. - Irmail said goodbye.

Approaching the door and opening it, I heard it creak, and when we went inside, we found the elders of the city in front of us.

They sat in front of us at the tables and looked down at us. It was noticeable how surprised they were to see me, but quickly hid it from their faces.

They were not young, each of them was old by human standards, some had no hair and they were dressed in white robes, which most likely distinguished them as the elders of the city.