All That Is Evil Is Not Dark/Chapter 37

Jano crested the ridge and for the first time saw the vaulting world that was K'eld Ner. The huge walls encircled the city, which was itself built on the side of Mount Ner. The sheer massiveness of the walls took Jano's breath away.

"There lies the K'eld," Shirian the caster intoned. "We shall arrive within two days."

"Two days?" Jano asked, startled. "Why so long?"

Shirian laughed. "You interpret the size of the walls as proximity. What you see as 200-foot walls half a day away are really 2,000 foot walls more than a day away. The way ahead is treacherous and we will need to rest and eat; therefore, it will be two days, I assure you."

"2,000 feet tall?" Jano said, astonished. "How large is the city itself?"

"250 square miles."

Jano blinked. "How many Drakel live in K'eld Ner?"

"25 million."

"10,000 people per square mile."

"Indeed..."

"That’s immense"

"It’s also misleading. Density is closer to 75,000 per square mile in many areas. In the capitol, it is far less: 1,000 per square mile. However, the city is built on several levels, so surface area is not an accurate measure."

"How many doors are there into the city?"

"There are but four, precisely located at the compass directions. The north door leads to an inaccessible plateau, the south door to the port of Gliding Waters. We approach the west door ourselves."

"If the city needed to be evacuated, there would be mass death..."

"If something bad enough to warrant evacuation took K’eld Ner entire, we would die regardless."

"Where does the east door lead?"

"Into the mountain itself...."

"Two of your doors lead out to places that are no refuge or escape."

"They are not meant to be escape routes, T'Palo."

"If something great enough to topple the K’eld were to come... the world as we know it would be ending..."

Jano noted the approach of another Drakel from a small village set on the stream proper.

"Sithian." Shirian nodded solemnly.

"Delbek X'tchai," the newcomer responded, causing Jano to frown sharply. Something was amiss.... clearly....