Wandering had its merits.

The lands of Serentestra were beautiful and wild, familiar yet alien to his homeland. Perhaps different in some areas, with inventions Kain found intriguing and strange, but not at all mind-boggling enough to confuse with magic.

And then he saw Sonora at night.

The city was far off on the horizon, a good three days more based on the road he followed. Dusk had begun to descend in earnest, the (singular!) moon softly illuminating the mountain passes and river valleys that made a straightforwards route impossible. 

And when Sonora came alight, Kain stared.

The glow of light, so reminiscent of the sun and more piercing and stable than firelight, illuminated the city from the peak Kain had just climbed. It glowed like an earthly star, the great walls that surrounded it casting shadow as the last light of the sun was swallowed by darkness. He stood for minutes, simply taking in the spectacle, how spotlights burned so bright they under-lit the clouds. How the stars paled to it, the celestial river fading as it dipped towards the city.

Kain was intrigued. He had to arrive as soon as he could, satisfy the curiosity that gnawed at his brain. If the city shone as the sun in night, what manner of technology, magical and mechanical, did they possess? He once viewed airships as feats of technological wonder, something he'd never dream in a million years. And somehow, in this land, those hypothetical million years had passed.

3 days by foot. Less than one if he went as the Dragoon jumps.

The wind was the only issue, alongside the terrible visibility under the moon. A stiff breeze might be the difference between landing a jump or plunging to a terrible death. Nothing he hadn't done before- his early training had Dragoon trainees and commanders go three days out to the mountains, jumping from crag to crag, testing themselves upon a knife's edge. You fly or fall. Kain flew.

And flew he did, the wind-muffled calls of animals below him. Once, his foot handed an inch too far, loosened a rock and twisted grotesquely as he went down. Nails dug into gravel, his other leg digging for purchase as he slid, heart paralyzed with terror. Below it was 500 feet, enough to shatter him like porcelain, yet death would not take him yet in this frigid night. Inch by inch, Kain pulled himself further from the edge, his ankle starting to throb. Dammit. He still had a while until his straightforwards route intersected the lazing one, but Kain had strained himself further than this before. He would make do.


His ankle was molten fire from the 7-odd jumps to get back onto the raised road. And it was relief to be on even ground, shift his weight to his uninjured leg, rest and look at the hills around him. One pack of imps already had sized him up, but decided he was not worth the chase after he lept forwards faster than they could fly. No danger as morning began to dawn, the mountains backlit by the sun. Kain was exhausted, mind foggy, the crags no place to sleep. Briars and other small plants clung to his feet and the fabric between his plate, dirt scuffed his deep purple armor.

But the walls loomed terribly high, close enough for Kain to hobble to by noon. But he was still a ways off, barely noticing what was around him as his mind slowly buzzed into half-rest. A few moments, all he needed...