The last two days of the Caravan passed by in a blur. Thankfully they encountered no more attacks during that time. As they approached the capital, they encountered more patrols, and the roads were much safer.
The refugees were beginning to run low on food. Penny pinching clerks had provisioned them for a five-day journey that had ended up taking seven days. Thankfully, the group had foraged along the way and although they were hungry and weak, no one was starving.
They approached the outer perimeter walls of Ark late in the evening. There was a collective sigh that reverberated through the group as they passed the safety of the stockades. Many staggered, robbed of their strength in quiet relief as they crossed the boundary. The refugees had numbered forty before embarking on this journey. Less than thirty had made it.
From a distance, it was obvious the city of Ark had two tiers. There was a sprawling outskirt of slums where the buildings grew more refined as they pressed against the stone battlements of the Inner City. Even from here, Exill could see the Labyrinth Tower Verill had described, lit up gently like a beacon in the darkening sky.
For many of those in the caravan, this was their first sight of Ark, the mega capital of the Kingdom of Fayth. They stared up in awe at the scale of this bastion of humanity. While others were admiring the view, Exill’s attention was drawn to the beastmen and elves among the outer city population.
‘This was a true fantasy world!’ he realised belatedly.
“First time seeing other races?” Verill noticed his awe and grinned.
Exill nodded, still awestruck by this discovery. Then a thought crossed his mind. He carefully prodded, “Are the other races… you know… looked down upon?”
Verill looked taken aback and mildly offended by the question, “We are all children of the Spirit, Exill, the races are an expression of the World’s Will. What is there to hate and discriminate against?” Verill continued in a lecturing tone, “You may not understand coming from a farming background but there are great benefits to partying with other races. For one, you share racial bonuses. Just having a dwarf in you party increases the strength of all members, increasing their physical damage output. You can’t get the same effect from an all-Human party.”
Exill nodded while absorbing this new information and was glad he hadn’t brought up that he received racial bonuses from his companion while they were partied.
“You should join the Mercenary guild if you have the inclination, I know I will. Once you start working with many types of people it will broaden your horizons. You will learn far more than I could teach you.” Verill squeezed his shoulder.
Once they entered the city proper, he caught glimpses of a dense warren of slums just behind the main road. Beggars and diseased orphans lined the side streets, holding out bowls while pleading for spare Denars. The fact that they would seek alms from refugees such as himself spoke of the level of poverty in the utmost outskirts. Exill had to look away several times as he spotted pitiful bodies encased in flies.
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Verill caught his horrified glance and merely pursed his lips. “It is what it is.” He whispered to his charge.
The muted conversation around them wrapped up as they reached the imposing crenelated gates of the inner city. The injured soldiers on the carts had been waved through with only a cursory inspection. The rest of the refugees were held up as the guard began to shout, while pointing at a wooden notice on the wall.
“Entry for non-residents costs 60 Denars! Refugees must report to the refugee camp in the southern quarter. You will be denied entry into the Inner City!”
The bedraggled group of refugees grumbled as they were turned away from the gates and made their way to the southern city outskirts. The camp was of old construction, evident from the aged, in some places decaying logs of the stockade wall. It wasn’t readily apparent what its former purpose was, but it had become a sprawling complex of temporary shelters and tents. This would be the place of their confinement, for the foreseeable future…
“Where do you hail from?” The clerk processing their internment asked the representative of their group. Meanwhile a fight had broken out in the middle of the line as a group of men and women demanded to be let free, “I have a family in Ark, I refuse to stay in this camp!” they shouted angrily.
The clerk quickly motioned some guards to settle the refugees before shouting in a clear voice, “Welcome to Ark, I understand you are all refugees from the eastern front. The city is currently filled to capacity. We ask that you remain calm and stay in your camp. If you have family in Ark who can vouch for you and provide accommodations, you will be provided the opportunity to do so. Please form an orderly queue for processing.”
Upon hearing this, the angry people settled down and an orderly queue began to form. Processing was quick as the clerk glanced at the Cards to confirm people’s details. He wrote their name, job, and hometown on a long scroll of parchment. Before Exill approached the front of the queue he quickly reassigned his first job as Warrior and left the second blank.
“Camp A, militia recruit” The Clerk announced after glancing at his Card. This was repeated for Verill who was processed after him.
The two were directed to the barracks and was assigned a shared room for four people. They were given fresh straw bedding and a new change of clothes. Exill and Verill excitedly washed their bodies and changed into clean clothes before following a throng of people to the mess hall for dinner.
Queueing in line, they were delighted to receive a wooden bowl filled generously with steaming oatmeal. There were no seats in the large hall, only wooden logs laid lengthwise, and all of them were occupied. Verill gestured to a nearby wall, and they squatted against it, blowing air to cool their meal down.
“Living the dream, aren’t we?” Verill joked, looking down at the bowl with a strange expression.
Who were they kidding… All around them were tearful refugees, glad that they made it to Ark, glad they were safe and clean, and more importantly, glad that their nightmarish ordeal was over. Verill let out a soft sigh, a rare smile on his normally stern face. He knew he was bad at making jokes and from the look on Exill’s face, he hadn’t understood it either.
“Whenever life gets you down, remember this moment… no matter how bad things get, things can only go up from here.” Verill whispered, his glistening eyes betraying emotion.
Exill felt hot tears drip into his bowl, suddenly reminded of his death, what he had left behind, and the cruel fatalities he had witnessed. He couldn’t help but feel resentment at the fact he had been reborn into a world of indescribable horrors and mindless beasts.
He sincerely hoped things would improve from here.