"…this is white witchflower. You can tell it apart from white dragonflower by looking at the edges of the leaves, which should be serrate rather than dentate. White witchflower is a powerful poison, while white dragonflower has potent healing properties. Now, if you look at the…"
Arran suppressed a yawn, trying his best to feign interest.
Snowcloud was usually cold and quiet, barely speaking at all for hours on end. Yet whenever they encountered plants and flowers she deemed interesting, she would launch into lengthy monologues on their medicinal properties and how to tell them apart.
To Arran, all the plants still looked the same, and the main thing he had learned so far was that he had no interest in herbalism whatsoever.
Between Snowcloud's silence and her enthusiastic lectures on the local vegetation, he thought he preferred the former. At least when she was silent, he didn't have to pretend to listen.
"When do we arrive in the Valley?" Arran asked, interrupting Snowcloud's herbalism lesson.
"Perhaps another day or two," she answered. "But right now, you should concentrate on the poisonous attributes of the white witchflower. An interesting characteristic of the poison is that it works even on…"
As Arran tried to look interested, his thoughts moved to the destination that was now only a few days ahead of him. Just a few more days, and he would finally see the Shadowflame Society. And, he hoped, he would finally get answers to some of the questions that plagued him.
The journey from Hillfort had been unexpectedly smooth, with the well-maintained road into the mountains quiet, but by no means empty. Several times a day, they would pass trade caravans and traveling merchants making their way to or from the Valley, but none of those gave them any trouble.
As they higher into the mountains, the trees grew sparser, and the landscape gradually changed from its previous lush green into a rocky gray, with patches of grass and moss eventually being the only green left — which, to Arran's joy, meant there were no more opportunities for Snowcloud to teach him about herbalism.
The road kept twisting its way ever higher up the mountains, and eventually, the gray rocks gave way to white snow.
Arran looked around in amazement when he saw this. It should be late spring, but here in the mountains, the snow lay as thick as it would in the middle of winter elsewhere. And not just that — the thin air was so cold he could see his own breath when he exhaled.
Yet although the snow lay thick on the mountains, the road itself remained clear, and the change in environment did not slow them much. Nevertheless, Arran found himself wondering just how much higher they could go. To his eyes, the barren landscape looked hostile to humans — or any other life, for that matter.
His question was answered when they reached a narrow pass half a day later. Barely wide enough to fit two wagons abreast, it seemed to be cut through the mountains, and it continued for the better part of a mile.
At its end, Arran saw a massive wall that was at least a hundred feet high, and at the bottom of the wall stood an opened gate.
This, Arran knew, would be the entrance to the Valley, and the sight caused him to frown in wonder.
From all he knew, the Shadowflame Society existed to protect the Empire from threats beyond the border. Yet it was obvious that the fortifications here were built to protect against attacks from the Empire, as if the Shadowflame Society feared some hostile army would emerge from the Empire itself.
When they reached the gate, they found several dozens of soldiers guarding it. Leading them was a broad-shouldered man in a dark gray robe, who stepped forward as they approached.
"Lady Snowcloud," the man said with a small bow, his tone deferential. With a look at Arran, he asked, "You've brought along a recruit?"
"I have," she said.
Although the man seemed to expect an explanation, she offered none, and after a few moments of silence, he waved them through.
Beyond the gate, the pass widened sharply, expanding into a clearing that seemed large enough to hold an entire army.
With a glance backward, Arran saw that on both sides of the wall there were paths leading up into the mountains overlooking the pass. Now, he understood how much of a death trap the pass would be for any army foolish enough to attack the Shadowflame Society.
Just getting through the pass would be nearly impossible, with rocks and arrows raining down from above. And if any attackers somehow broke through, they would find themselves outnumbered a hundred to one.
The sight left Arran wondering just what the Shadowflame Society was defending against, but when he turned to Snowcloud to ask, her expression quickly made him reconsider.
On her face was a look of intense worry, and Arran felt some concern as he saw it — whatever it was that worried her could only mean bad news for him. Yet when she saw Arran's gaze, her expression turned neutral once more.
"It will be another week before we reach the capital," she said. "Once we're there, I will have you take the oath, but after that, I will need to leave for some days."
"Another week?!" Arran looked at her in astonishment. "Just how large is this Valley?"
"It's about five hundred miles from east to west," she said. "And perhaps three hundred miles from north to south, at its widest."
Arran's eyes went wide when he realized just how large the Valley was. He had known it was large, but this was far beyond his expectations. Just traveling to the western edge of the Valley would take them weeks, if what Snowcloud said was true.
"Is it really that big?" he asked, somewhat doubtful.
"You'll see soon enough," Snowcloud replied plainly.
At the end of the large clearing the road led them past a large camp filled with numerous barracks and other buildings, and between the buildings, Arran could see groups of soldiers, some of them training while others sat around with bored looks on their faces.
Arran realized that the camp held a small army worth of soldiers, ready to defend the Valley from the Empire at a moment's notice. That would have made sense if there was a conflict between the Empire and the Shadowflame Society, but as far as Arran knew, the Shadowflame Society existed to guard the Empire's border from the outside world.
He resolved to question Snowcloud about the matter after he took the oath she had mentioned, knowing that any questions he asked now would go unanswered.
About a mile past the camp they found a town, and if it was small compared to Hillfort, it was still nearly as large as Fulai City.
Snowcloud showed no signs of wanting to make a stop along the way, and Arran had no choice but to satisfy his curiosity with what little he could see as they passed through. He saw that the streets were mostly filled with soldiers and merchants, and he understood that the town was likely built on trade with the Empire.
He didn't have a chance to see much more, because hurried as Snowcloud appeared to be, it wasn't long before they had already left the town behind them.
They continued for a while, following the road downward through the snowy landscape, until suddenly, after a turn in the road, Arran stopped in his tracks.
Before him, perhaps a mile below them, lay a vast green landscape.
Hilly green lands stretched as far as his eyes could see, and although he knew there should be mountains farther in the distance, he could not see them. Instead, what he saw were endless rolling hills with rivers flowing between them, and what looked to be farms and towns far in the distance.
When Snowcloud had told him the size of the Valley, there had been some doubt in his mind, but now, none remained. The Valley was large enough to be a kingdom in its own right.