Like a magical journey

Liandra joined Kendra in her carriage and they began their journey towards the lands of Nocternia. The carriage was unlike one she had seen before. It was longer, completely black and was adorned with many wooden carvings. It was also pulled by four peculiar horses. They had red glowing eyes and fiery manes. Kendra explained that these horses were called “nightmares” and were a very popular method of transportation in Nocternia.
The inside of the carriage was so huge that then people could easily fit in it. It was also decorated on all sides with red velvet pillows.

At first it appeared like any other journey the princess had been on. She had thought crossing the border would make the view a lot different, however it was the same. She felt disappointed, but Kendra told her crossing a climate was different then crossing a political border.

As the hours passed by Liandra noticed it was becoming darker. She was confused as to how this could be, for it was only noon. Kendra explained that the heart of Nocternia was covered in perpetual night. It was a place where the sun had never shone. Because of this plants found it very difficult to grow and there was few vegetation. As a result of that, nearly all of the wild animals were preditorian carnivores and no to few plant eating animals.
Hearing this, Liandra believed Nocternia was a nation that must truly have been abandoned by the gods.
But she reconsidered when they traveled past a plantation. Huge fields of large fresh crops grew all around from them. When Liandra asked how these plants could grow without sunlight, Kendra pointed up. Large red crystal balls were hung above the fields which gave a soft red glow, making it seem like this place was locked in a perpetual dawn. An everlasting twilight between day and night.
When Liandra asked how this was possible, Kendra explained that these crystal balls were in fact mana crystal. Nocternia had large factory’s where fire mages could condense fire energy into a crystal form. These fire crystals could then serve as miniature suns to replace the real sun in the sky. She also explained that Emperor Kendal had recently placed a modern factory which could convert any form of energy in whatever magical energy they desired, making it possible for them not only to create fire crystals from electricity, but also air crystals, water crystals and earth crystals.
Liandra was amazed. She now believed this land was not abandoned by the gods at all. It was merely a different but still wonderful creation.

When finally she reached the Nocternian capitol, Liandra believed she had finally seen the most beautiful place on earth.
The entire city was constructed of black stones and it’s many towers rose high into the sky. With it’s gothic architecture, it seemed like the imperial palace rose to the heavens itself. It was decorated with statues all the way to the top. Kendra told her that humans could live their entire life in this city and still not see all it’s wonders.

When Liandra traveled through the city, she saw mana crystals adorning the streets and houses. They shone in all the colors of the rainbow. Fire crystals colored from red to pink, while water crystals shifted from light blue to azure. Earth crystals possessed all the different greens, while the air crystals shone from yellow to golden. Upon closer inspection Liandra also saw the towers had many walkways connecting them, making it easy to travel between them.

The most remarkable thing of the city was much closer however. It were the people on the streets. Creature which she was told would always attack a person on sigh, were living here in peaceful coexistence.

Liandra couldn’t figure out if she had fallen into a fairytale, or been transported to a completely different world.
When Kendra finally brought Liandra to her room, she was exhausted about all the wonders she had seen. The princess dropped on her bed and quickly fell asleep. When she finally woke up again, she noticed Kendra had left.