The boys reach a small village where they see homes, but the doors are locked from the outside. Vonruil takes a deep breath as he knows this is going to be the perfect place to begin their journey.
The landscape of the village was vast, yet untamed. It symbolized the challenges the village faced.
There were scriptures on the wall depicting the war that raged in the village. The scriptures also told there were some challenges the village would face in the coming future.
On entering the village, they walk through the lanes; suddenly, Vontuil stops Alastair, "This is where we'll begin."
Alastair looks at Vonruil dumbstruck as he looks at the locked homes surrounding them. "Here? Are you sure they are empty?" He says in a frank tone.
"They're not." Vonruil replies back in an equally frank tone.
"Are you saying someone locked them in…?"
Vonruil cuts Alastair's sentence midway, "They locked themselves in and have a secret door to come out."
"So, do they know we're here?"