The fifth day broke cold and crisp, unveiling a changed landscape. The road beneath them was smoother, better maintained, and the scenery shifted from the sprawling imperial heartlands to a wilder, more untamed territory.
The hills stretched out, forests grew older and denser. Stone fences, some ancient and weathered by time, traced the path, their edges softened by centuries of wind and rain. The morning sun's rays slanted across the fields, transforming frost into shimmering gold.
They had arrived in Arkania. Dominic felt it deep within, not through any physical border marker, but through something more subtle, a presence in the air, a land that seemed to recognize him.
Or perhaps it was just his imagination.
