Peering over the stone safety wall, Zarant could see a radically different world than his underground home. Plains flowed in gently rolling hills away from the mountain cliffs, an encompassing bright blue sky, a forest that seeming to reach for the heavens. All of this could be seen from the entrance and Asralda let Zarant stare in wonder for awhile.
She could remember the first time she went aboveground and it was nowhere near a site as stunning as this. She could let him stare for awhile.
After some time, Zarant and Asralda turned away from the view as their attention was pulled by clops of hoof on stone. Coming from the end of the path, they could see a cart pulled by something coming towards them.
With the attention span of a child, Zarant promptly forgot about the view and stared at the approaching beast. Standing higher than a fully grown dwarf the beast of burden was latched onto a small carriage that rode on a pair of tracks. A short but full coat covering its body and small horns curving backwards, the beast would seem similar to wild mountain goats if not for its body being bulkier.
Still drawing its load towards the gates the goat needed no coachman to guide it, evidenced by a burly dwarf snoring in his seat behind the goat. As with most children, Zarant immediately tried to approach before being caught by the collar of his tunic. Pointing to their right Asralda drew Zarants attention to their transport down to the Elven city. With no animal to pull and with another of the burly dwarves in the coachman seat, other travelers were seating themselves on the small vehicle. Different that the arriving carrriage, this one sat on their right side of the road and was configured for passengers. Sitting not high above the ground it was open on both sides and the pair hurried to have a seat facing the edge. If they were going down the mountain, better to enjoy the view.
After confirming his tram was full, the burly dwarf on the coachman seat pulled a lever before getting off and pushing it from behind. In a few moments the tram started rolling and he jumped onto the back platform before making his way back to his seat.
Zarant and his mother watched as the world passed by, pillars of stone supporting the roof above occasionally blocking their view. Seated to the left of his mother and behind the driver of the vehicle, Zarant scrutinized the dwarf as much as he could from where he was sitting. Clearly differently dressed and similar to the dwarf from the first cart with the goat, Zarant made a mental note to investigate this different group of dwarves when he could. With his curiosity peaked and driven by fluffy creatures, nothing would stop the young dwarf.
Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.
Going fast as a sprinting dwarf the tram reached the bottom of the incline not too long after departure. Again the two were greeted with a gate near the small area where the tram stopped.
Although this one stunned Zarant as he felt he was about to enter a different world. Almost like a living creature that decided to conform to a person's whims, the gate was made out of pale green wood in flowing patterns that formed the gatehouse. Flanked by two tall people in gleaming armor, even the gate was flowing from the ground up into a peak. Almost as if it was a result of nature than people.
Rolling her eyes at Zarants none too subtle awe Asralda pulled him along again by his collar.
'If this keeps up he might just fall over when we get inside the place' Were her honest thoughts.
After a short chat with the gate guards who were familiar with Asralda, the two continued down the path. After passing through the gate, the road turned into a wooden suspension bridge spanning from the cliff road to the trees. Asralda was used to them and Zarant was too busy looking up to notice.
All around the two a city was arrayed among the trees, in all different heights from the lowest level they were at to the very tops of the trees. Vines hung from the gigantic trees, some in erratic patterns as nature demands and some arrayed as a floating or flowing garden coming down from the heavens. High above the two, nimble elves were busily seen flinging themselves between platforms using the vines to travel around at great speeds. In other areas the elves could be seen clinging to vines with only their legs as they collected food from them, chatting away with others near them.
As if he had a epiphany Zarant ran to the edge of the swaying bridge, focusing his eyes down into the dark depths of the jungle below. At only a few meters above the ground he spotted them. Sitting still against the chaotic backround of the jungle floor, hunters could be seen holding on to the vines by their legs or sitting on small chairs constructed of the vine wrapped around them. Statues on moving backrounds only occasionally did Zarant see one strike at the jungle below. Letting loose arrows into the dark Undergrowth, Zarants eyes couldn't see the rope attached to the arrows but soon some hunters pulled up quarry from below.
Zarant backed away from the edge and ran back to his mother who had a patient feeling around her. Although she had expected Zarant to be curious about the city, she was pleasantly surprised that he had managed to connect together some facts to learn more about the elves. Many dwarves didn't realize the situation for a few days when first visiting.
The two meandered through the congested swaying streets full of elves and dwarves, up a few levels and finally arriving in the center of town. In front on them stood a larger structure than the homes and businesses handing onto or carved into the trees. This building was built and spanned between a triangle of the giant trees and had a constant flow of elves entering with happy expressions. Few dwarves were in this area, maybe one or two could be glimpsed in the traffic.
Zarant not knowing how to read dwarvish yet, let alone elvish, couldn't see any signs of what the building might be.
Smiling at her child's curiosity Asralda told him, "We're going to the theater."