The city of Amestris stretched before them — a sprawling labyrinth of stone and smoke, its walls gleaming faintly beneath the pale morning sun. For most, it was a place of opportunity, a city said to be built on the bones of dreams.
But for Liyi Yi, it felt more like a test of endurance.
She stood in the shadow of a tall clocktower, her eyes tracing the narrow streets winding into the heart of the city. Behind her trailed more than five hundred people — families, children, the old and infirm — all of them looking to her for direction.
They had followed her across ruined lands and monster-haunted valleys, believing that Amestris would offer them a new beginning.
Now, after days of searching, she was beginning to wonder if she'd led them only to another form of suffering.
"Young host," murmured Carson, the tall man beside her, his voice low so the others wouldn't hear, "we've been searching for days. There's nowhere left to stay within the city walls."
