The woman approached the gate where two guards looked at her skeptically. "Anya, dviste?" "Eli edgan lemt." They squinted before parting the gate.
The fortress was heavily populated. Intricate gears and mechanisms were in the gate, and the houses were built sturdily. As they walked, a group of children ran through the dirt road, laughing deeply at their game of tag.
"I'm surprised this was made in a year," he replied quietly as they entered a larger hut. "We'll see." Anya entered the hut first, and she would hear a familiar voice speaking gently and affectionately. "Medressil, est dvek portrula." "What took you so long, sweetheart?" Mo translated quietly.
Eli's gaze landed on her and his eyes widened and he stood up from the chair suddenly. "Yuldette prentido?"
He eyed her suspiciously before speaking to Anya. "Et vedo lingeet pedir slyl." Anya nodded, heading to the drawer and pulling out a small but familiar cube and offering it to her.
"Its been a year. Mo convinced me to come again," she said, glancing at the mechanical mouse on her shoulder. "He said I might be of some use now that I've learned a few more things, but it appears things have grown on their own."
He looked around with a frown. "Yes, well... after you left, August became obsessed with an idea of building a town. A neighborhood, he called it."
He frowned, looking down at the table for a moment. "He's gone, Aspen. He was the first capture of the Mad King about six months ago. He's gone."
"You've missed a lot, Aspen," he said quietly. "People don't come back from that place, especially not when they're blind."
Eli pursed his lips for a moment. "Right. You weren't there for that. There was a fire towards the end of the building of the town. In his workshop, you know? He had all these drawings, all these blueprints, and one night he saw that it was burning and... I guess he couldn't handle it. He ran it, tried to save all his plans, but..." Eli shrugged slightly.
