The carriage ride across the border was nothing like the nightmare the boys had envisioned.
Instead of a desolate wasteland of ash and bone, the transition into the Dragon Empire felt like passing through a veil between a dying world and a blossoming one.
The moment they crossed the rift, the oppressive, biting chill of Benz Town was replaced by a gentle, magically regulated breeze that smelled of blooming jasmine and rain.
By the time the skyline of the Imperial City of Dragonia appeared on the horizon, Kael, Jace, and Milo were pressed against the windows, their mouths agape.
"That... that can't be stone. Those buildings are hundreds of feet tall. They look like they were grown from white obsidian and glass. How are they not collapsing under their own weight?" Jace stammered, his scholarly mind fracturing as he looked at the massive towers.
"Look at the roads!" Milo pointed toward the ground. "There's no mud. It's smooth and dark, like polished stone."
