A couple days later the group of four neared a wall, separating the Endless Plains from the land beyond. To Jyl's amazement it was at least twice Arick's height, and he wasn't exactly short, and made from smooth, dark stone.

She only wondered for a brief moment how it was even possible to create something like this, when she remembered demons could use magic. Still, this was completely different from the gusts of wind Arick would sometimes create, or the small flame Cecile had shown her during their travels.

"We ended up a bit further south than expected", Mirus commented, "It shouldn't be much further to the gate though. An hour on foot?"

"Why don't we just go over?" questioned Jyl. Even she by herself would be able to do it, not to mention there were two people capable of flight among them.

Arick shook his head. "Air mages have set up a perimeter, they would immediately detect us if we did that."

"Trust me", Cecile motioned towards the wall, "It's not worth the trouble it'd cause. Much easier to just use the gate. And with Arick's military rank they won't even bother inspecting our stuff."

"Why would they do that?" asked Jyl.

Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

"Smugglers", Mirus answered, "There are always those who care nothing about wars, and are far more interested in how much profit they can make. Luckily, they're less of a problem here than up north."

Despite not completely understanding, Jyl nodded. Things out here were very much different than the village, but she would adapt soon enough.

The four of them once again took to the sky, arriving at the gate not even a quarter hour later. As they descended, Jyl immediately noticed many gazes locked onto her, but her own attention was directed somewhere else.

Two towers rose high above the wall on both sides of the gate, both made of the same smooth stone as the wall. The roof was made of thin stone plates positioned akin to lizard scales, completely different from the straw roofs she had seen in human villages, and the wood used at home. When she asked Mirus, he said it was slate, or at least magically reshaped stone that was made to look like slate.

"Actually, the latter is more likely. They can make it stronger that way than it would be naturally."

Meanwhile they had arrived in front of two guards, who immediately requested identification. The two seemed apprehensive of the group at first, but they relaxed a lot once Arick showed them his military badge.

Though they still refused to let Jyl in until she showed the mark on her hand. And even then they treated her as if she was a risk.

Jyl continued to ignore their stares, instead questioning Mirus and Cecile about anything that drew her interest. Like the meaning of the mountain drawing on Arick's badge, or the different coloured shoulder pats some of the soldiers possessed, the ways of using certain weapons she had never seen before, or why someone had a smoking stick in his mouth.

After a bit of negotiating on Arick's part, the four were provided with horses and went on their way.