20
The road sliced cleanly through the green field, following a course parallel to the river. Sunlight sparkled on the dark waters of the Vinrella. In the distance, the buildings of Ofalla stood tall. Some were five-stories high! A year ago, Tommy would have never thought that such a thing could be possible.
Despite their impressive size, most of those buildings were gray with black roofs. Dreary, boring and uniform, but at least the city was clean. Tommy still remembered his visit to Hedrovan, and he had no intention of ever going back there.
The nearest of the four bridges stretched over the river to an identical city on the other side. Each was built low to the ground so that tall ships could not pass underneath. Ofalla was a trading port, a hub where ships coming downriver from High
