The city was bright in the distance, buildings stretching far above the skyline. Not the medieval-looking buildings that Taka had seen in Kronkswell, these looked more like skyscrapers. And the lights coming from them looked like electricity, but Taka had not seen evidence that the technology for harnessing electrical energy had even been conceptualized beyond devices that actively used lightning magic.

  Zirko stood beside Taka's golem, joining him in admiration of the looming city.

  I thought that V-- that His Majesty's forces had burned the city down, Taka sent to the lizard man.

  "We did," Zirko confirmed. "But they rebuilt. The Spirit Kingdom now functions as an autonomous kingdom within the Demon Empire."

  Taka blinked at Zirko. He felt stupid for not questioning the Spirit Kingdom's status before now, or looking into the political climate of the world at large... something he could do while he was here, I wonder if Modonia has public libraries, Taka thought to himself.

  "The dwarven population that makes up a notable portion of the Modonian work force was excited for the opportunity to rebuild the city from the ground up," Zirko explained. "Be careful around dwarves. They're not as prejudiced as the fae, but that bar is not much of an accomplishment."

  Zirko seemed particularly talkative, the lizard man was buzzing with energy, Taka took in his surroundings: the safe house they were teleported to sat directly behind him, a cozy, unsuspecting two-story house that blended in well to the woody terrain. The house was situated in a small clearing, and there didn't seem to be any other structures in their immediate vicinity, but judging from the cityscape, they couldn't have been more than a few kilometers away from the edge of the city.

  The sun was almost completely set. Taka, Zirko, and Syla had spent the day securing the safe house while Maeve scouted the route to the city proper. Zirko had delayed their travels by a day in order to test Syla's illusion magic, and do some last minute training on using the light-based magic to hide Taka's mana. Taka did the best he could to suppress his Magia, but he was still far away from being able to hide enough of his aura to fly under the radar under the watchful eye of the Spirit Kingdom guards.

  Syla had finally received Zirko's approval and was preparing a deer-like animal Maeve had caught while out scouting. Zirko had wandered off outside and Taka decided to follow him, then saw the beauty of the city as day turned to night. It reminded Taka of home.

  Without another word, Zirko turned around and left Taka alone to take in the sight. Time seemed to melt away as he thought about what his mom could be doing right then, if the sun also set over the city for her, if she was thinking about him... did she think he was dead? *Am I dead, is my body, my human body--

  "Sir Filo!" Syla called out from inside the house, breaking Taka's chain of thought. He looked up at the sky one last time before turning the golem around and heading inside.

  The path to Modonia was well-maintained. It was paved and they clearly cared about the upkeep, as Taka could feel how smooth the ground was beneath the golem's feet. Along the way, Syla kept running ahead, then Zirko would scold the elf to come back, repeating like clockwork. Taka was still getting used to Syla's new form, or rather, new appearance. Syla had used illusion magic to make themself appear like a very short half-orc, and looked to be 30 something years old. Taka found the elf's appearance slightly disconcerting, as Syla almost looked like they could be a distant relative of Marg's, mixed with... something else. Regardless of how Taka felt, Taka would have had no idea it was an illusion if he hadn't seen Syla transform right before his eyes, and that was what mattered to him.

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  Modonia was a little further than Taka had realized -- his party took a brisk but relaxed pace toward the city, and it still took almost an hour and a half to reach the outskirts, probably around 10km away, Taka thought to himself. Gradually, more structures began to pop up along their path, and then as if they had crossed a barrier, the path faded into a cobble street, surrounded by semi-dilapidated buildings.

  The outskirts of the city weren't exactly a slum, but they were far from luxury, and lacked the pleasant quaintness that Kronkswell's castle town held. The populace was a smattering of beastkin of all shapes and sizes, though most retained at least a vaguely humanoid shape and size. The only exception was the birds, which were just... birds. A horseman sold jewelry at a small stall, an old rat woman had a food stall full of skewers of meat, and a gaggle of rabbi children ran around the legs of Taka's golem, chasing each other. Zirko shooed them off as he continued to lead the way toward what looked to be the center of town, though Taka caught Maeve licking her lips as she stared at the rat woman's skewers before she forced herself to move on.

  The street began to widen as a gate grew larger in Taka's vision. As they approached, Taka saw that walls extended from the gates on either side; we're still in the outskirts, he thought to himself.

  "Remember who you are," Zirko said to their group as they approached the gate.

  Syla and Taka's golem fell in line behind Maeve, who kept a healthy few steps behind Zirko. Two guards were stationed at the gate, and one of them spotted Zirko approaching. The guards were fairly short, burly, and had long beards -- dwarves.

  The dwarf on the right, the one who noticed Zirko, nudged his partner. The two dwarves stood at the ready, waiting for Zirko to approach them. The guards didn't look outwardly suspicious or alarmed by their eclectic group, but maybe their party just seemed eclectic from Taka's point of view. For all he knew about the culture in the Spirit Kingdom, their party seemed no different than any other.

  "Greetings," Zirko said as he bowed his head towards the guards.

  The one on the right nodded at him, "what brings you to Modonia?" He asked with a thick accent that sounded Dutch to Taka's ears.

  "Business," Zirko said as he gestured to Maeve.

  Maeve handed the guard on the left a small folder containing a few documents. The dwarf flipped through the papers, skimming the information, then pulled out a letter from the pile. His pupils grew wide as he read it silently, then handed it to his partner. The dwarf on the right read the letter, then bit his lip, his expression souring.

  "We have been expecting you. Your patron gave us an earful yesterday, accused us of kidnapping you for ransom."

  Maeve gave the dwarves an apologetic shrug with a sheepish smile, "Sorry!"

  The dwarf on the right shook his head then whispered something to his partner, who nodded in response.

  "Follow me," the dwarf on the right said as the gate opened up.

  The dwarf led Taka's party through the gate, and as if they had stepped through a portal, they were suddenly in an entirely different city. Taka's senses felt overwhelmed, even at the edge of the city. Looking in on Modonia now, he realized why his gaze had been stuck on the cityscape: it was how green the buildings seemed against the orange-tinted sky at sunset. Taka now saw that the buildings were, in fact, green, or at least, covered in green, moss and vines stretching over every surface of the buildings that reminded him of the metropolises from his past. Before he could examine his surroundings more closely, a wagon, or carriage, whatever they called it here, rushed up to them. The dwarf stopped, unalarmed, and looked toward the vehicle. No horses or other animals were drawing the carriage, but a serpent-like creature sat at the front where a coachman would.

  "I said I would bring them to you when they arrived," the dwarf said, agitation bubbling in his voice.

  The serpent hissed in response, "too slow, Bibi," the creature spat.

  The dwarf grunted and moved to open the door, "I've told you, I can't even count how many times, my name is Byai. Not Bibi."

  The door opened from the inside as the dwarf, Byai, reached out his hand.

  "Come in," a feminine voice called from within.

  Zirko stepped into the carriage without giving Taka the chance to ask what the hell was going on. Maeve and Syla looked at each other, then Maeve nodded and followed Zirko. Syla turned to Taka and smiled weakly, then followed after. Alright, then. Taka took a deep breath and followed just behind.

  The interior of the carriage was tasteful, not too extravagant, but felt refined. There was barely enough room for them all to fit alongside the one who invited them in, a humanoid-looking woman who appeared to be in the latter years of middle age with horns similar to Vanz'goran's.

  "You're late," the woman scolded.

  "My sincerest apologies," Zirko said, then bowed his head, "Ambassador Reika."