Anna looked up at the gate as they approached the city with awe.

“How did they build this?” she asked.

“No one knows for sure, but the story is that the whole city was built by giants eons ago,” Qrixit replied.

“That would explain why everything is so damned big,” she said.

“Just wait until we get inside,” he replied.

She looked at the line of wagons in front of them and then back over.

“How long’s that going to take?” she asked.

“Who knows?” he replied.

She nodded and turned her attention back to the gate, marveling at the sheer scale of it. It was a massive arch that was at least a hundred feet tall and seventy feet wide, decorated with time worn carvings of figures that were barely visible on the dusky red stone.

The surrounding wall was made from the same stone and stood at least three hundred feet high by her best guess. As to the thickness of the wall, based on the tunnel-like appearance that the passage through the wall had, she would assume it was around one hundred and fifty feet thick, give or take.

I wonder where they got all the stones from? I mean, they look like the one in the wasteland, so I guess they could be from there, but that’s months away. Well, Qrixit did say that giants might have been the ones that made this city, so maybe it wouldn’t take them months to bring them here.

Wait, I know, I bet the climate was different when they built it, like what Fizzlebock said in his book. Hold on, even if the climate was different, that wouldn’t make all the rocks disappear, would it? Maybe they just used them all to make the city. No, I don’t think that’s possible. I mean, there were lots of rocks in the wastelands. Oh, fuck it! I’ll never figure it out!

When they reached the gate, a serpentine guard slithered over holding a long wicked looking spear in one of its four arms.

“What business do you have in the city?” it asked in a hissing voice.

“I have a load of goods from the wastelands I’m selling,” Qrixit replied.

“Do you have a manifest?” the guard asked.

“I do,” Qrixit replied.

He passed the guard a rolled-up scroll made from beast hide and looked it over for a moment.

“Blade stone, eh? Well, you should find plenty of buyers for that,” he said.

“I usually do,” Qrixit replied.

The guard handed the scroll back to Qrixit and then looked over at her.

“Does that one speak?” it asked.

“I do,” Anna replied.

“He’s my guard,” Qrixit added quickly.

“He is?” the guard asked.

“I am,” Anna replied.

The guard looked at her for a moment before turning back to Qrixit.

“Two blue gems,” it said.

Qrixit fished the gems out of his gem pouch and handed them over. The guard waved two of his arms, gesturing for them to pass. Qrixit flicked the reins gently, and the wagon started to move.

“That was expensive,” she said.

“It’s worth every stone, trust me,” Qrixit replied.

“Okay,” she said.

The inside of the tunnel had murder holes lining the ceiling along with openings for three portcullises to drop down to block any invaders’ path. The construction wasn’t dissimilar from the fortifications she’d seen on the other side of the world save for the scale.

I bet I could squeeze through one of those holes.

She paused, looked down at her chest, and then back up at the hole.

Then again, maybe not.

They emerged from the tunnel a few moments later and rode into the city.

The road widened until it was more than a hundred feet wide and paved with massive stones worn smooth from millennia of traffic. The buildings that lined the road were massive, each one more than two hundred feet tall, though they were only two or three stories at the most.

It had to be giants! I wonder if any are still around here? Probably not. It looks like all the doorways were walled over with clay bricks and smaller ones were built in all the buildings. The work looks old too. All the repair work on the buildings and road has been done with clay bricks as well, and I doubt whoever built this place would use a completely different method to fix everything. I wonder why they left this city. It doesn’t look like it was destroyed or anything.

As they rode through the city, she continued to examine the buildings, noticing many smaller ones built into the open spaces between the massive structures. The smaller buildings were made exclusively from clay bricks. Most of the smaller buildings had open fronts and seemed to be small shops of all varieties.

As they went deeper into the city, the smaller structures grew more numerous, and when Qrixit turned down one of the side streets, the number of smaller buildings increased drastically. Some of which had been constructed on the roadway itself. As a result of this, the crowd thickened and caused their progress to slow to a crawl.

I guess cities are the same no matter where you go. Qrixit’s definitely calmer than Thokri is, but Trinna’s grumpier than the horses, so I guess it works out.

The crowd that surrounded them was made up of more than a dozen different races, most of which she’d never seen before.

I wonder how many different kinds of people there are in the world? I mean, on the other side of the world, there were only a few kinds cause beastmen really only count as weird humans, but ever since I walked into the wasteland, I’ve seen a new kind of person every time I stop. Is there something special about this side of the world, or is there something wrong with the other side?

Qrixit turned the wagon suddenly, causing her to look around. They were heading into one of the ancient buildings. This building didn’t have its original entrance walled off, allowing the wagon to ride inside.

The interior of the building was sectioned off into large rooms on either side of a long pathway that led from the entrance to the rear wall. A group of people lounged near the back wall, and when one of them spotted them, they slithered over.

“Good to see you again, Qrixit,” the person said.

“Good to see you too, Drapa,” Qrixit replied.

“Who’s this?” Drapa asked.

“His name is Anna. I picked him up in the wastelands,” Qrixit replied.

“Anna? Never heard that name before,” Drapa said.

“I’m from really far away,” she replied.

“Ah, well that’s probably why I’ve never heard it. Anyway, it’s good to meet you,” Drapa said.

“It’s good to meet you, too,” Anna replied.

“So, what are we storing for you this year?” Drapa asked, looking back at Qrixit.

“Mostly blade stone and medicine with a few other things I picked up along the way,” Qrixit replied.

He handed the scroll to Drapa who looked it over.

“Will you be paying now or after you sell your goods?” Drapa asked.

“Now,” Qrixit replied.

Drapa waved over the other serpent people who started to unhook Trinna from the wagon. Qrixit slid off the driver’s bench, and she followed. They were led to the far room on the right near the back wall.

The room was lined with shelves that contained stacks of scrolls with a tall desk sitting in the center of the room. A stack of blank parchment sat on one side of the desk. On the other sat a strange stone with a black stick as well as a jar filled with water and a brush.

When they arrived at the desk, Drapa poured a bit of the water onto the stone and then picked up the black stick and began to rub it into the wet stone. She watched intently as the water turned to a deep black color. Once it had reached that hue, he used the black stick to push the water into a small indentation in the stone before placing the stick to the side. He retrieved a sheet of parchment, the brush which he dipped into the black water, and started to write on the parchment.

Ink? I’ve never seen ink made like that before.

Drapa wrote up a storage contract, and Qrixit looked it over before signing it.

“You raised the price since last year,” Qrixit said.

“I had no choice. Taxes have gone up again,” Drapa replied.

“Didn’t they go up last year as well?” Qrixit asked.

“Yeah, and they’ll keep going up if the Gromboks keep attacking traders,” Drapa replied.

 “They attacked us, but Anna here took care of them,” Qrixit said.

Drapa looked her over for a moment.

“Must have been a hard fight,” he replied.

“You’d think that looking at him, but he killed all three of them before I could blink,” Qrixit said.

“Well, if he’s that good, he should join the patrols,” Drapa replied.

“Patrols?” Anna asked.

“The city sends them out to keep the roads safe. They have had to send more out lately, hence the tax increase,” Drapa replied.

“Oh, okay,” Anna said.

“Well, we’d better get going. I’ll be back when I find buyers,” Qrixit added.

“Good luck,” Drapa replied.

Qrixit handed over a large number of gemstones and received a small rolled-up sheet of parchment in return.

Once their transaction was completed, the three of them left the back room and headed for the entrance. The wagon was missing when they stepped back into the hallway. She looked around for it and noticed it stuffed into one of the rooms with its contents unloaded and neatly stacked next to it.

“Where’s Trinna?” she asked.

“We have a barn we keep the draft animals in during the rainy season,” Drapa replied.

“Why don’t you keep them here?” she asked.

“The smell gets into the goods,” Drapa replied.

“Oh, right,” Anna said.

They reached the entrance, and Drapa said his goodbyes before slithering back into the warehouse. They walked out onto the busy street and started walking to the right, going deeper into the city.

“I know a great place we can rent rooms for the whole season,” Qrixit said.

“Is it expensive?” Anna asked.

“Not really, just a few blue gems,” he replied.

“I can get my own room then!” she said.

“As long as they have two free,” he replied.

“I hope they do,” she said.

“Tired of sharing a bed roll?” he replied.

“Aren’t you?” she asked.

“I am, honestly. I never thought I’d be sleeping so close to another male,” he replied.

“Hey, there’s something I should probably tell you,” she said.

“What is it?” he asked.

“I’m female,” she replied.

He stopped walking and turned to stare at her.

“What, wait?!” he asked.