Alz's surprise began to grow while he carefully scrutinised the seemingly endless wall of vines beside the group as they were moving. He had unwittingly neglected it when they first arrived and only came to realise the wonders behind it.
The thickness of the seamlessly intertwining vines alone was shocking enough, not to mention the sheer length of the wall which was said to enclose the city in all its entirety. This was the part which had first caught his notice, bringing his attention to the wall.
This wall was unlike anything he had seen and read about even in the archives, going against everything he had understood, igniting his flames of curiosity.
Along the way, they also noticed several tall, wooden structures behind the thick wall of thorns. This time, no explanations were needed as the warriors were able to tell what these structures were instantly, guard towers.
These guard towers were meant to provide the elves with a high vantage point so that they could see further, and their arrows would be able to hit targets from a greater distance. There were similar structures back at the tribe, although none were as tall and there weren't nearly as many.
The group soon arrived at a wide entrance marked by two stone pillars which would have allowed six of them to walk in together side-by-side with ease. There were two heave stony gates open inwards at both side of the pillars, looking to be able to block out the entrance if closed.
There were also guard towers near here manned by groups of four who were peering at the group as they approached. There were also two guards standing on eight side of the gate who had already been looking in their direction right as they arrived, notified by the sentries.
"Hello and welcome to the capital. May I inquire on the purpose of your visit?" the expedition was immediately welcomed by one of the two stationed guards as they approached the entrance.
"Wow, some of these tribes sure arrive early." as the first guard was talking, the group also caught wind a comment by the other guard who remained in position, clearly having seen through the reason behind their expedition.
The first guard did not react to this and continued looking towards the group, waiting for a reply. Like his partner, he had also guessed as much but abiding by the protocol was also part of their duties and the confirmation step was still essential.
Right as the guard walked up, one of the elves in the expedition also walked up and greeted the guard with their native salute before taking what appeared to be a scroll out from his bag.
"We have come on behalf of the Calla Tribe in the South to provide our services to the capital in accordance to the covenant." he began to speak in a stiff, formal tone as though reciting words off a script as he held the scroll out to the guard with his palms outstretched.
The guard straightened his back and returned the salute with one of his own, before respectfully receiving the scroll with both of his hands as well. He lightly opened the wooden scroll in his hands and confirmed its contents before returning it.
"This indeed bears the mark of a tribe. Follow me over to the guardhouse, we'll report this to our captain at once." the guard nodded lightly as he turned to sweep his eyes across the expedition. He raised his eyebrows slightly in puzzlement when he caught sight of Alz.
This only lasted an instant before he moved his eyes away and turned around, walking back towards the entrance with the expedition quietly following behind.
As they walked through the entrance, they could finally witness the interior of the city in its full glory, without the obstruction of the wall of vines which stood in their way during their previous walk.
The first thing many of them noticed was a sturdy-looking building which stood right ahead. The base was constructed entirely with evenly sized pieces of wood that was unlike the shoddy construction found back in their tribe.
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The roof on the other hand, was leafy and green at first glance, as though it were a canopy formed by trees. A closer look however, revealed signs of a net weaved out of vines hidden beneath the greenery, forming the support for the leaves.
This roof was designed to block off the chilling wind while still allowing some light to pass through so the residents within would not be as inconvenienced by the lack of light.
The building was not especially tall, standing only slightly taller than the huts found in their tribe. However, what made it stand out was the area it had covered. The building was extremely large, encompassing an area several times that of the field back at the central village.
Even Alz was not spared from the shock with his gaze was stolen by the massive building. The field back at central village was not small by any means, being at least 100m of on each of the four sides.
It was the size of the building before them which could have only been described as absurd, blowing away any standards of building sizes the group was accustomed to.
"This is the southern guardhouse, our guardhouse. I know how it feels, I was also very shocked when we first arrived. This is also just the beginning, there are many more surprising things inside so look forward to it." the guard looked towards the stunned elves with a knowing smile and explained in a voice that contained pride.
The elves soon returned to their senses with their faces slightly reddened due their earlier display.
"Colt, come down for a bit." the guard paid no heed to their reactions and shouted out to one of the elves on a nearby guard tower.
Hearing his name called, the elf slid down from long vine that was fastened to the top of the tower and walked over to the guard. The guard briefly explained the situation and gave him the details that he had learnt before returning to his post with a quick farewell.
"I'm Colt, nice to meet you. I'm from the Hostia tribe, a southern tribe the same as all of you." the newcomer promptly introduced himself and began to lead the way into the guardhouse.
Right as they entered the guardhouse, the scent of grass gently wafted into their noses, bringing a sense of familiarity in this unfamiliar place. The elves were under the illusion that they had returned to the forest, with the canopy above with the wide green field laid before them.
This illusion did not last long before it was interrupted by the sight of wooden targets lined up neatly in a row a section ahead. There were four young elves currently ahead of the target. Three elven boys were laughing maliciously while an elven girl was kneeling on the ground sobbing as she gripped tightly onto two split halves of a bow.
"This is one of our indoor training fields. There are two of them in this guardhouse and are usually used for riding or archery practice. The captain likes to come here and lie on the grass though so watch out if you're training here." Colt looked behind and explained to the group as they entered the field.
However, his movement suddenly stiffened when he turned to look at the scene before him. His expression began to contort in rage as he grit his teeth. His fists were also clenched together tightly, shaking uncontrollably with his rising anger.
The elves in the expedition frowned upon this scene as the last words the chieftain had left them before their departure rang out in their ears.
"Beware of our kind."
This was the reminder the chieftain had left them, a word of advice given by an elf who had lived in the capital for at least 30 years and returned. He had delivered this message with an especially serious tone at the entrance of the village right as they were leaving.
His face then was dyed in an indescribable bitterness then, an expression which concealed many scars due to regrets from a time once upon. Regrets from the many things he had witnessed and the actions he didn't take.
Nobody then understood the depth of the bitterness he felt, but his expression had left a deep impression on everyone then, allowing his heartfelt words to seep deeply into their minds.
This was an elf who had sent them all away with a laugh when they approached him to ask about the dangers of the forests in the capital, telling them there was nothing to worry about and to look forward to it.
He repeatedly reassured everyone that the central forests were safer and mischievously refused to divulge any more details no matter how much they tried to pry, with hopes that they would explore and learn about the area with their own eyes.
He had even told all the other elves who returned to not give out any information to the group with a hearty laugh, causing many of them to inwardly curse towards him then. This was something that happened when the group was decided, something only Alz was ignorant of.
However, this also showed his confidence in their abilities to adapt to the forests, yet this same elf had given such a grave warning as a parting message to the expedition while clearly being worried about them.
Initially, they were simply confused by his words. Their expectations towards their futures had also raised greatly during the fruitful journey here, both literally and figuratively.
Yet, the scene before them painted a different picture from their expectations, allowing them to understand the beginning of the meaning behind the chieftain's last words, and this was only just the beginning.