wall of cliff jutting from the nearest mountain. Behind we see what many call The Vale of Life, or simply the Living Vale. This is because the head of the Fravora River lies in the mountains just to the north of the Vale, and the Fravora provides the main water supply for most of the inhabitants of Greendale. It’s also the only source of water in the Ha’avjah Desert.
The Vale cuts into the mountains by a league, but the falls at the back are still visible.
They’re magnificent. Having never been this far south, this was my first time seeing them. They live up to their reputation.
The falls commence from a cavern in the mountain as high as the sky. They fall several hundred, if not thousand, feet down, curling into mist. The water that doesn’t spray roils violently in a small lake with a crash that can be heard even from our position. The Fravora River flows from the lake.
Boulders stick out from the cliffs like spikes. Moss and grass line them, as well as almost anything else in the Vale. Pine trees grow everywhere, though the middle of the Vale is almost completely clear. Everything is vibrant green and full of life.
A dirt path branches from the main road and winds into the Vale, eventually making its way up the cliffs and all the way up into the cavern from which the water falls. Our company, however, continues on the main road on our course to Kera.
My father’s condition the next day makes me even more hopeful. We’re going to make it, I convince myself. We are.
The falls stay in sight for the entire day. I go to bed optimistic.
I wake mortified. My father overnight has become tremendously ill, despite all of our efforts to save him. He has difficulty walking and he leans on me heavily as we make our way to Kera.
We cross the Fravora River at Dragongate Bridge, a bridge just as ancient, if not more so, than the one at Virfith. The construction is similar, with stone supports sticking up out of the deep rushing water. The bridge is wider and longer, however, as it must be to span the forty-foot river.
Large pillars stand on both sides of the bridge in the exact middle, each with stone supports sloping down to the wall of the bridge. Between them is an enormous arch. Each end of the bridge possesses a square archway with a small crenellated walkway on top. There are holes in the stone where there must have once been great nails to hold the hinges that have now rusted away. Impenetrable gates stood here in a long forgotten age, making this bridge a formidable and essential outpost in some war long past.
The bridge is massive. I do not realize the scale of the structure until I am inside it. The gates on each end are easily twenty feet high, and the bridge must be wide enough to pass three carriages side by side.
Dragongate Bridge is a good sign, because it means tomorrow we will reach Kera.
That night, Gregory does his best once again.
Kera comes into view the next day. The road makes its way directly to the front gate, but the road branches both to the left and right of the city. To the right it makes its way along the rocky foothills at the base of the mountains, and further south to the city of Thrak.
A large mountain protrudes from the plain at the rear of the city. The walls of Kera surround the city, eventually becoming one with the unclimbable cliffs of the mountain. A fortress is built on the peak of the mountain, with one tall tower reaching to the sky. Stone steps climb the mountain all the way up to the gate of the fortress, houses and buildings lining the streets and foothills the city is built upon. Every few hundred yards along the wall, towers jut out from the main structure, further fortifying the city. The mountain acts as the wall for the rear of the city.
The front gates are open, but they seem surprised to see us; the guards on top of the wall point and exchange words. A few of them go off running into the city.
My father leans heavily on me for support. His fever has gotten worse and his strength has all but left him. “We’re here,” I say to him as we pass through the gate. “We’re safe. You’re going to be okay!”