According to Caius, all of the Sanctuary Cities greatly differed from one another. And with just one look at the Sanctuary City of Yulia, Kara knew that as well.

While the Sanctuary City of Alyona had been a city built on the side of a mountain— probably taking advantage of a natural cave formation, before digging even further to expand— the Sanctuary City of Yulia… looked like an ordinary medieval city.

It was situated in the middle of a clearing between tall mountains. The landscape was relatively flat for dozens of miles, and Yulia was situated right at the center, surrounded by a city wall. So it didn’t look like anything special at first glance.

But when Kara drew closer, she realized it was much more massive than most medieval cities had been, with walls standing at over five hundred feet tall, and with various towers that seemed to rise up to the clouds. From what Kara could see, the architecture here was redolent to gothic-styled buildings back on Earth, whereas Alyona had more of a utilitarian and brutalistic layout with their buildings.

There were still similarities between the two Sanctuary Cities, of course. When Kara had been flying in the air, she saw that just like Alyona, Yulia had various different sections of its city. Although the former only had two main sections, the latter had been split into four sections. Each section was separated by a circular wall, compartmentalizing Yulia even more than Alyona ever had been. Furthermore, each section of the city was elevated above the one before it, making the fourth and final section rise above even the city’s walls, revealing the tip of a palace at the very top.

Unlike Alyona, where Dark Lord Koros had only a relatively plain tower for himself, Yulia had a proper palace with stained-glass windows, tall spires, and even a domed roof. There seemed to be a vast circular windowpane at the very center of the palatial structure that was speckled with jewels of all kinds and colors. It depicted the image of a dark elven woman sitting atop a throne, with flowing white hair that was longer than her body, and even though it was already night, the mural was glowing.

“Is that supposed to be the Dark Lady of Yulia?” Kara asked with a raised brow. She walked alongside Caius at the front, leading the survivors of Alyona.

He nodded in response. “As you can see, the Dark Lady of Yulia is quite… ostentatious.”

Kara frowned at that. “Are you saying this palace is a recent-construction?”

As far as she was aware, the Sanctuary Cities had been around for at least a thousand years. It might have been around for even longer. She didn’t know for certain. Sadly, there were no history books for her to read and learn from.

“I wouldn’t call it a ‘recent’ construction,” Caius corrected her. “Also, there was always a palace, it was just much smaller and less flashy. But the current Dark Lady of Yulia had her greatest architects renovate and expand the palace as soon as she took over her mother fifty years ago.”

“Fifty years ago?” Kara whistled. “That’s a long time as a Dark Lady, huh? Shouldn’t she be retiring soon?”

The elf pursed his lips. “I’m going to be honest, I don’t know if she even plans on giving up her position. She is…”

Kara blinked. “What’s wrong?”

“A tiny bit insane,” Caius finally said. “The current Dark Lady of Yulia has a reputation for being one of the craziest of all the Dark Lords and Dark Ladies in history.”

“I see.”

Kara narrowed her eyes as the survivors of Alyona continued to approach the outermost and tallest wall of the Sanctuary City. There seemed to be a gate pointing at each cardinal direction. But every single one of the gates were sealed shut, with no way in.

And that fact was accentuated by the various small camps surrounding the walls of the city. Most of the camps had maybe a few hundred folks to a few thousand folks at most. Although, there were two larger camps, and their numbers seemed to range in the tens of thousands. However, none were nearly as numerous as the survivors of Alyona.

“Will they even let us into the city?” Kara asked with pursed lips.

She remembered what happened once Alyona went under lockdown. They refused entry to everybody. Even those who had been just outside of the gates a moment before the magical dome fell over the city. They didn’t discriminate at all.

If Yulia was treating the threat of the Dreamers in any way like Alyona had, then it was likely that no one was going to be allowed into the Sanctuary City.

But Caius was confident that that wasn’t the case.

“If Yulia was truly in lockdown, most of these other refugees would have probably already left for Tatania. But as you can see…” The elf gestured around the flatlands.

Kara nodded knowingly. “They’re still here.”

“There’s probably some system in place which only allows a certain number of refugees into Yulia a day. They’ll let us in. Especially once I speak with their Dark Lady. So we don’t need to fret.”

Caius gave the human a reassuring look. He turned back to the group of captains who were trailing after him.

“We’ll have to set up camp for the night. Tomorrow, we’ll speak to the gate guards, and request an audience with the Dark Lady of Yulia— to tell her what happened in Alyona, and to request for a place for our people in her city.”

The elf strode back and started speaking with the captains. Kara wondered exactly how the survivors of Alyona were going to integrate into Yulia. There were at least a hundred thousand of them, and they were going to be brought in as refugees.

That was in addition to the deluge of other refugees the Sanctuary City had to have already accepted at this point. That was not to mention those who were still waiting out here.

“Hopefully we’ll be let into the city without a problem…” Kara muttered under her breath as she saw the guards on Yulia’s battlements moving around in a hurry.

 

—--

 

The survivors of Alyona began to set up their camp mechanically, going through the same motions they had been over the last two weeks. As they did, Kara found Angel and gave him a treat.

“Here,” she said, handing him a cooked bird. “I caught it earlier— it flew right into me, so I thought you may as well have it.”

The utlas bear’s eyes went wide as he stared at the gift. He accepted it and greedily began to eat into it. But he paused as one of his eyes caught a glimpse of Kara standing to the side. Looking back down at the cooked bird, he broke off a wing and handed it to her.

Kara chuckled as she took the wing, before he downed the rest of the bird in under a minute. While she hadn’t expected him to share his food with her, she was glad to see that he was maturing a little bit. Which was expected. As he got older, he was going to get wiser.

Right now, even if he looked like he was bigger than any bear Kara had seen on Earth, Angel was still a teenager at most.

The two of them made their way through the camp back to find a place to pitch their tent to retire for the night. Kara wanted to rest. She was glad they had finally reached Yulia, because she was getting tired of flying around all day.

But before they could find a vacant spot for them to set up for the night, they ran into a familiar face.

It was someone Kara hadn’t spoken to in a long while. An old friend, of sorts. Or at the very least, one of the first few people who treated her with kindness in this world.

“Issa?” Kara blinked as she stared at the troll.

There she was— the food vendor who’d often give free treats to Angel. Her name was Issa, and she had been the one to introduce Kara to Zlo’tan. After hearing about his death, neither woman had spoken to each other for a variety of reasons.

First, there was the fact that Issa had been devastated to learn of Zlo’tan’s death. The two of them had been in a relationship at one point, but even though they had broken up, they remained great friends. So Kara had been trying to give the troll some time to recover from the news.

But the second and more important reason was that Kara had been so busy ever since the destruction of Alyona. Especially since she learned her Draconic Wings, which allowed her to fly. That was when Caius had made her patrol the skies, taking up a lot of her time in the day, whilst simultaneously making her too tired to do much before she went to bed at night.

So Kara couldn’t find the time to check up on Issa. But now, the two of them had the perfect opportunity to speak.

“How are you, Issa?” Kara asked as Angel nuzzled his head against the troll. “We haven’t spoken since…”

And the human trailed off. Issa smiled and scratched at Angel’s neck.

“It has indeed been a while, Kara. I have been doing… as well as anyone else.” The troll hesitated, before she glanced towards the Sanctuary City of Yulia in the distance. “But hopefully, I will be doing better once I settle down behind those walls. Rat’s tails, it might be foolish of me, however I would feel more secure than being left out here.”

Kara chuckled. “True. I’d feel the same way, when I know those walls probably don’t make much of a difference.”

There hadn’t been a joke to laugh at, but she still found herself grinning anyways. Perhaps it was because she almost found it stupid how she felt like she’d be safe once she entered Yulia, when the Dreamers had been able to tear through a magical dome with ease, and could probably circumvent an ordinary wall altogether.

After all, nightmares could fly, so they wouldn’t even be slowed by the monolithic walls of Yulia.

“I have spent a lot of time thinking since we last spoke,” Issa said as she looked back down at the human. “Grieving, too. But that was what led me to think.”

“And what have you, uh, discovered?” Kara asked curiously.

She wasn’t really sure where this conversation was going, so she exchanged a glance with Angel for help, but he didn’t pay any attention to what was being discussed. He continued to cling onto Issa, glad to see her again after so long.

The troll closed her eyes. “I realized that even though I had ended things with Zlo, I had still loved him. And I wish I could have told him that one last time. Unfortunately, we cannot turn back time. We cannot undo our mistakes.”

She wore a somber face as she spoke. Her face was shadowed over as a bonfire was ignited a few dozen feet behind her. But even though Issa seemed to be overcome with grief, it didn’t look like she had come to Kara for advice.

Rather, it was the opposite— to give advice.

“We will always have regrets, Kara,” Issa continued as she reached for something in her pockets. “But there is nothing we can do to make things right. All we can do is live for a better tomorrow.”

“Issa…” Kara started.

But the troll produced a small trinket in her hand. She handed it over to the human who blinked quizzically.

“What is this, Issa?”

“It is a Pendant of Protection,” the troll explained simply. She placed a hand on the black crystal that was held up by chains. “It is an incredibly powerful magical artifact. It is said to be a relic from the Era of True Magic. It is able to detect when you are about to die, and it will save your life just once.”

Kara’s eyes went round when she heard that. “How did you get this thing?”

And Issa gritted her teeth. “Zlo gave it to me when we had still been together. He said that it is proof that he would be with me always to keep me safe. But when we broke up, I forgot about it. I don’t know how… even though it was the only gift he had ever given me… I forgot about it. If I hadn’t forgotten about it…”

Her voice began to shake. Kara watched as the troll lowered her head.

“If I had given it back to him—” Issa choked.

And Kara placed a hand on her friend’s shoulder. “It’s not your fault, Issa.”

Nodding, the troll steeled herself and exhaled deeply. “I am aware it is not my fault. Logically, I could not have foreseen this coming. And it was not that I had intentionally hid the Pendant of Protection from Zlo, I made a lapse in judgment and forgot it existed. But still, emotionally…”

“You can’t help but hurt, right,” Kara said as she nodded.

“As I said, all I can do is live for a better tomorrow.” Issa proffered the artifact with a trembling smile. “All I can do is not make the same mistake twice. That is why I am giving the Pendant of Protection to you.”

Kara was taken aback. “What?”

“Take it, Kara,” Issa insisted.

“Zlo’tan gave it to you, Issa. I can’t—” Kara tried to protest.

But Issa emphatically handed the Pendant of Protection over to the human. “I do not wish to make another mistake like this ever again. You are my friend, and I truly cherish you. But I know you will continue to place yourself in great danger, because that is who you are.”

Kara hesitated. “I…”

And Issa finished as she drew back, letting go of the artifact. “So it is better kept in your hands.”

Pursing her lips, Kara stared at the Pendant of Protection in the palm of her hand. She saw the faint glimmer on its black crystal, showing a reflection of her face. She balled her hand hand into a fist around the artifact as she faced the troll once again.

“Thank you, Issa. Let’s hope I never have to use it.”

“Hmph, that would be ideal.” Issa mustered up a smile in return.

The two of them continued to chat for the better part of an hour. But they didn’t speak about heavy topics any longer. They kept their talk lighthearted, talking about their plans once they were let into Yulia. Issa, as expected, wanted to open up a new shop. This time, she hoped she would find a lot more success in her business. Meanwhile, Kara just wanted to sleep in a normal bed again.

Angel, even though he couldn’t speak, clearly was enthusiastic about being able to eat plenty of food once he entered the Sanctuary City.

But as the night drew on, Kara and Angel had to excuse themselves to find a place to pitch their tent, and they parted ways with the troll. When the human and the utlas bear finally found the perfect spot, they hurriedly set up their tent and went to sleep.

 

—--

 

The next day, Kara was woken up by heavy footsteps outside of her tent. She rubbed her eyes as she sat up, and she saw the shadow of a monster right outside. Angel groused from the sound too and gave her a confused look. Frowning, she poked her head out of the tent, before coming face-to-face with a draken.

“What are you doing here?” she asked the monster as it licked its lips.

But it didn’t attack her. Instead, it just stood there like a statue as she looked up. She saw Hayder there, riding the draken.

“Kara, Dark Lord Caius wants to see you,” the Captain of the First Company said without elaborating.

“Right now?” Kara blinked.

Angel poked his head out of the tent next to her, hearing the discussion. Hayder nodded as he drew back with his draken.

“Yes. Follow me.”

Both Kara and Angel were perplexed by this, but they didn’t argue. Instead, they trailed after Hayder as he led them through rows of tents until they found themselves at the front of the camp.

It wasn’t morning yet. The sun hadn’t risen over the horizon, but there was a small gathering illuminated by a few lanterns. Kara squinted as she saw a few dozen guards dressed in unfamiliar armor surround the other captains and Caius who had the Helmet of Alyona held to his side.

At first, Kara thought that there was trouble. But when Caius spotted Kara, he broke away from talking to the guards and approached her.

“What’s going on?” Kara asked, making her confusion evident.

“Hayder didn’t tell you? Of course not…” the elf sighed, giving a half-glare at the Captain of the First Company.

“I did as I was told, Dark Lord,” Hayder stated simply.

Caius rolled his eyes and turned back to the human. “Well, we’ve been granted an audience with the Dark Lady of Yulia. And I am gathering everyone who needs to be there to join me.”

Kara raised a brow. “Wait, why am I coming too?”

“Because you’re my best friend, and I’d like to have you by my side to help my confidence.” The elf smirked back at her. She gave him a flat stare. And he chuckled. “Because you’ve done a lot for Alyona, so it wouldn’t be right if we met the Dark Lady of Yulia without giving credit to you for what you’ve done.”

“Is that really it?” She eyed him dubiously.

“Well, we also want to give a show of force. Bring our greatest members to meet her, so she thinks she’ll be able to take advantage of us and let us into her city.” Caius shrugged.

Kara snorted. “So you’re just using me.”

“Not just you. But the orc clans too.” The elf glanced over his shoulder as Kurg and a handful of other burly orcs appeared. But it wasn’t just them. A group of trolls joined the group as Caius turned back to Kara. “And the troll tribes and their chieftains are coming as well. We’ll all be meeting the Dark Lady of Yulia together.”

“Oh, I see.” Kara watched as the captains prepared to depart.

Uzbug arrived next, and finally, they were ready to leave. The group of soldiers from Yulia began to lead the way to the city gate.

Kara looked towards Caius and sighed. “Well, I just hope I don’t have to speak much. I’m not good with large gatherings.”

“Good gods, it’ll be fine. Let’s go.” The elf ushered her and Angel forward.

And together, all the most important people of the survivors of Alyona entered Yulia to meet with the Sanctuary City’s Dark Lady. They made their way through the various sections of the city until they arrived at the palace.

It was a long walk, nearly two hours in total. But most of the city had been shrouded in darkness, since the sun hadn’t risen just yet. So Kara hadn’t been able to get a good look of the city.

The sun only began to rise as she entered the palace, and by that point, it was too late for her to take in the view of Yulia. The group strode through a luxurious gold hallway lined with vast tapestries, each one depicting a different scene of the same dark elf woman that was displayed on the vast stained-glass mural at the front of the palace.

There were rows and rows of guards all dressed in an ornate armor similar to what Hayder wore. They stood in attention, their spears held to their sides, not moving in the slightest as the group passed them.

Finally, Kara found herself standing before a vast double door. The group of guards that had been leading the way pushed the doorway open and stepped to the side. They announced loudly for all to hear.

“From the Sanctuary City of Alyona, Dark Lord Caius has arrived!”

Caius took in a deep breath, waiting a beat, before he strode into the room. Kara, Angel, Hayder, Tashia, Bushra, Kurg, Uzbug, and the rest of the group entered the throne room right behind the elf. Inside, there were even more guards standing by the walls, but they were in an even more ostentatious-looking armor than the ones outside.

A throne sat atop an elevated platform, covered by a velvet curtain. A dark elf stood next to the throne, before stepping forward. He was a herald of sorts, dressed in flashy clothing. He cleared his throat and spoke loudly as the double doors swung shut.

“And now, the Greatest Ruler In The History Of Yulia; the Esteemed And Glorious Archmage; the Queen Of The Four Elements; the Genius Inventor Of The Xor-In Mountains: the Architect Mistress Of—”

“...that’s a lot of titles,” Kara whispered under her breath.

Caius elbowed her, shooting her a glare. She gave him an apologetic look.

And the herald finished.

“Aiza the Dark Lady of Yulia will see you now!”

The curtains drew back, revealing a dark elf woman sitting on the throne. She rested her head on her fist with one leg crossed over the other. Even though she supposedly had been the Dark Lady of Yulia for fifty years now, she looked no different than any of the paintings Kara had seen of her.

She had high cheekbones, and a slender nose that complimented her face. Her skin was ashen-gray, just like most dark elves. But there was almost a sheen on her body. Like she was quite literally glowing ever-so-faintly. And her white hair was as long as the paintings, reaching past her legs and covering her throne.

As expected, she was dressed in the most decorated outfit Kara had ever seen. A white dress that had diamonds sewn into its seams, and gold plates layered onto its frills.

Caius placed a hand on his chest and bowed at her. “Dark Lady Aiza, it has been a while since we last saw each other. You haven’t changed one bit.”

“And neither have you, Caius,” Aiza replied with a small smile. But she quickly corrected herself, “Or should I call you Dark Lord Caius now?”

“For the sake of formalities, I believe that would be best.” Caius straightened as he drew back.

Aiza tapped a finger on her chin. “It is a shame to hear that Dark Lord Koros is dead. He was truly quite the prodigy, I never expected it. But I must say, it is a far stranger thing to think you would return to my Sanctuary City as a Dark Lord of your own…”

Kara watched as the Dark Lady of Yulia’s eyes flickered. It almost looked like Aiza had taken a brief glance at the human, before continuing.

“But that is no matter for now. I understand that you have come to my Sanctuary City to seek shelter for the people of Alyona, is that correct?”

Caius nodded. “That is right. With the Sanctuary City of Alyona destroyed by the Dreamers, there is no place for us to—” he started.

However, Aiza raised a finger. “I am already aware of that. I have been informed of the situation by that captain of yours who had arrived a week ago.”

Hayder frowned at that. “Captain Karwan…”

“So you are aware of what happened,” Caius said, relaxing. “That makes things a lot easier.”

Kara found herself being relieved too. There was no need to explain everything that happened back in Alyona right now. Except, Aiza didn’t seem to share their sentiments. In fact, her gaze hardened as she spoke in an icy voice.

“Indeed, Dark Lord Caius, I understand your predicament. But when I was told that your people need shelter, I did not think you would bring a human before me.”

The Dark Lady of Yulia’s eyes darted towards Kara. Caius blinked.

“What—” he opened his mouth.

And Kara leapt back as there was a flash. A giant sword made of ice shot down at her, crashing into the ground where she had been standing just a moment ago. She steadied herself, panting as she looked up.

“What the fuck is your problem?!” she exclaimed.

In response, Aiza rose to her feet as she conjured a dozen more swords made of ice as the guards in the room raised their weapons, surrounding the human.

“Kill the human,” the Dark Lady of Yulia gave the order in a calm voice.

And Kara’s eyes went wide.