The banners above the southern gate hung motionless in the morning air.
Not limp, not frayed—just still. As if even the wind was holding its breath. They were normally something that I overlooked every time I went in and out of the capital city, but today, there was something ominous about them that make me take a second look.
I stood on the inner parapet, looking down over the lower market and the outer checkpoint. From here, you could see where the floodplains ended and the flat country stretched out toward all four directions. If nothing else, this war has made me a lot more conscious of the world around me. Like the fact that this city was in the exact center of Daiyu that was the exact center of the continent.
The ground around us was pale, dry, and brittle. The riverbed had narrowed again, curling like a spine between the cracked ridges of old farmland. Even with the coming winter, there wasn't much hope for precipitation.
