Time Of Traitors

15

He did not believe what he saw in front of him when the snow-white contours of the fortress wall appeared between the trees. At first, Sareth thought that he was mistaken - hunger and nightmares still finished him off, and he was about to fall straight into the well of madness. Riding half-starving through an enchanted forest, drinking tasteless water and listening to a cat raging in a bag - and not such a dream.

But the closer Blaska came to the strange mirage, the brighter the structure loomed - smooth and dazzling white, like ivory. The smooth surface stretched high towards the graying skies, as if serving as a support for them. Rows of strict, narrow loopholes ran in straight lines, dark holes looked unfriendly and menacing: just another moment and a whirlwind of arrows and stones would break out from there.

The forest seemed afraid to come any closer to the foot of the wall, where not a sprout grew, as if every blade of grass had been plucked out by an overzealous gardener. The w