The journey to Caelis stretched on, a relentless procession of sun-drenched days and star-dusted nights. The landscape began to shift, the wild, untamed forests of Rysnalia giving way to rolling hills and manicured fields. The roads grew wider, smoother, paved with gray stone instead of packed earth. The small, rustic villages were replaced by larger, more prosperous towns, their houses built of brick and stone instead of wood and plaster. The air itself seemed to change, growing thicker, heavier, with a faint, metallic tang that clung to the back of the throat.
They were getting closer. Closer to the heart of Caelis, the "nation of knowledge.". To the secret lands with the secret books.
Were being the operative word.
