Chapter 9: The Town of Glenn

It was a good thing they sprinted the rest of the way to town, otherwise they wouldn't have been able to make it in time. It seems that Ella's mental encyclopedia, or forgotten past or whatever it's called, had neglected to mention that there was a sundown curfew.

Collin and Ella arrived at the gate just as the final rays of the sun were forming the first shadows of the night.

As Ella was convincing the guards to allow them entry, Collin had plenty of time to admire the towns defenses and its primitiveness. The wall was about thirty feet tall and wide enough so that three commanders could walk side by side without bumping into the ranged combatants aiming out the row of crenels. The whole thing had been constructed out of wooden beams and rows of staggered stone blocks.

The gate where they had entered was just some crisscrossed metal bars that could be raised and lowered as the situation demanded. The tunnel it protected was large enough for two of the few covered wagons they had seen to enter at the same time. At first, Collin had determined the gate to be ineffective at best. However, that was before he had noticed some finer details hidden on the ceiling.

Directly behind the gate, Collin could see a thick wooden beam suspended, swaying slightly. He assumed it was just the edge of a massive wooden blockade that would be dropped at the first sign of an enemy attack. The rest of the ceiling was strewn with gaps where an invading force could be bombarded with all means of nasty concoctions.

"We're all settled, let's go."

Hearing Ella's call, Collin withdrew his attention from the ceiling and looked around. He saw her at the far end of the tunnel standing next to a guard who appeared rather annoyed. He wore a set of leather armor and had a sword hanging from his waist.

Not wanting to give the guard a good reason to keep them out, Collin quickly hurried over.

"You're very lucky sir," the guard mumbled. He was definitely aggravated about something. "If your wife's papers didn't check out, we wouldn't be reissuing these so easily." He shoved a small scroll into Collin's hands before storming back to his post.

"Let's go, dear." Ella tugged at his sleeve, pulling him into town before he had a chance to call her bluff.

As they emerged from the tunnel, Collin's eyes widened at the town before him. It was nothing like what he had feared. Of what he saw of Borg Village, it was less a village and more a grouping of similar sized wooden shacks, all be it, well maintained shacks.

Collin had feared that Borg village was just a very low rung on the social ladder and that the higher rungs were highly developed and technologically inclined. If the town really was a hotspot for merchants, as Ella's information claimed it was, then what lay before him should be an accurate representation of what a higher rung might be.

The streets were all laid with cobblestone, and the buildings where placed in an orderly fashion. Some of them were multiple stories tall and many were made from stone. Small lights from candles lit up many of the glass windows, while more shined down from lamps that adorned the streets.

The town most certainly did not have any technology that could compare to the stuff on the ESF. That being said, it was quite obvious the town had seen money. Many years of prosperous trade and visits from extravagant nobles made the Town of Glenn into an artistic marvel. Every pebble had been expertly crafted and placed in its proper spot.

Seeing the town spread out before him was almost enough to make Collin forget about Ella's past transgression. Almost.

"What did you pull back there?" It took a moment for his question to register. It seemed that Ella was just as entranced by the town as he was.

Snapping back to reality, Ella held up a scroll, just like the ones the guard had given him.

"The old folks I was staying with while you commandeered my living quarters, had a daughter that was just married. I found her old papers under the bed and figured they might come in handy. Looks like they did," Ella gloated.

"Good thinking." Despite the morally wrong action, Collin deemed her work acceptable considering the circumstances. Maybe it was a good idea to take her along, he thought. Hopefully, this wouldn't become a big deal in the future.

"What if she needs them though?" he asked.

"She can just pull the same trick we did. Look, it's much easier to travel with papers and neither of us had any of our own."

Realizing he had stumbled into the mine field that is Ella's past, Collin quickly changed the topic.

"Alright then," he said. "Let's find a place to stay."