Chapter 15: Capital City
Inigo and Garrick walked toward the entrance to the capital city of the Kingdom of Eldrath.
As they got near the growing line of people and caravans waiting to pass through the towering main gates, the scope of the city truly came into view. Elandra was massive—larger than anything Inigo had ever seen. The outer wall loomed over them, reinforced with both stone and iron, and guarded by dozens of sentries in burnished armor. Watchtowers flanked the gates, their archers standing over and kept watch.
But it wasn't the city's size that caught Inigo's eye.
It was the people.
He watched as a pair of tall figures in cloaks passed ahead of them. As the wind tugged their hoods down, he saw furred ears twitch from beneath the fabric—beastmen. One had a short feline tail, the other long, lupine ears. They weren't alone either. A burly merchant in line ahead of them had scales along his neck and a forked tongue that flicked out while he counted his coins. Further down the line, a young girl with pale blue hair and eyes like glass crystals giggled as she juggled pebbles in the air with magic.
Inigo blinked.
Beastmen. Demi-humans. Magic users. Colored hair. Anthropomorphic features. All of it was straight out of the fantasy games and anime he used to binge.
He really was in another world.
He let his gaze drift, taking it all in—the colors, the variety, the strange energy in the air. The people here weren't bound by the sameness of his old world. Pink hair, silver hair, azure skin, even floating familiars—everything was possible. Everything was real.
This was the beauty of another world.
But beauty didn't mean safety.