The world went from dim to bright in seconds as they stepped out of the gloom beneath the trees. Paul's eyes leaked water as he squinted ahead. White light from sun on the snowy fields knifed into his head. Eventually his eyes adjusted and he could look properly. Rym was beyond anything Paul had imagined. It was a huge anthill of activity. He could see people lined up at the gates. Even from this far away he could smell the city.
Paul and Daniel joined a thickening crowd of people walking or riding toward the city. He watched a rider kick someone with a sack out of the way of his horse. Paul made sure to give the people with horses plenty of space. The man with sack didn't complain, he just picked himself and his sack up and joined the flow again.
"Foresters?" one of the guards said wh
