Chapter 19: Chapter 19: Human Hospitality

As it turned out, Regina had been right in her assumption. There was a settlement close to the river, not too far from the forest’s edge. The thaumaturge with his wyvern led them in its direction, staying silent most of the way. She quickly realized that the military outpost was more important, though. It was more of a castle and stood some distance from the village, in the middle of an island in the river.

Because of the limited space, it seemed to have been built mostly upwards. High walls encircled it, studded with battlements made of the same gray stone blocks. A keep rose in the middle, and through the currently open gate, she caught glimpses of other buildings inside the walls. A drawbridge led up to the gate from the nearest shore. A few people were out, apparently preparing to pull it up, but they stopped to let her group inside.

Derrek rode his wyvern into the castle without a word. Regina hesitantly walked across the bridge, nodding at the humans. They stared.

Once they stepped past the gate and it started to rumble as they closed it, a System notification popped up. She blinked.

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