windows had been added; above its entrance hung a sign bearing the large inscription PORT CAPTAIN’S OFFICE. Soldiers in navy blue uniforms were constantly milling about the door. As Kei casually informed the dragon, they were members of the Atlantis Navy. They all seemed strangely distinguished and somewhat haughty. It was hard to say why Draco perceived them that way.
The whole group headed towards the entrance to the warehouse area. As it turned out, getting past the palisade wasn’t all that easy, and it took James a good ten minutes to explain why they were there, what for, and who they were going to see. As they passed the Watchman, he continued to eye them suspiciously. Only the soldiers from Ed’heer seemed not to care. Here they could walk faster and closer together. James grumbled under his breath the whole time about the new checks.
All the warehouses looked exactly alike, as if they’d been built to a single design. Single-storey, with six-metre-high walls, small windows set almost right up to the roof, and an entrance wide enough for two carts. Each building was surrounded by a road just wide enough for a single horse-drawn cart, whilst every other one was wider so that two wagons could pass each other. The warehouses stretched one after another towards the town. In the orderly rows of buildings, it was difficult to find a specific one if you didn’t know exactly where it was. Luckily, they had James with them; otherwise, they wouldn’t have known where to go.
The elf led them between the warehouses situated quite close to the Captain of the Port’s office and a little further inland. Finally, he stopped in front of one of the buildings and knocked firmly on the door. Someone must have been bustling about inside, as the sounds of crates being moved and heavy labour could be heard from within. Nothing else happened, so James banged on the door again.
Inside, someone shouted, and after a moment the door swung open before them. A weary porter appeared in the doorway, wearing a stained shirt
