Msaka resumed his trek westward that evening, a short time after the sun went down. A strong breeze was blowing over the savanna, causing the grasses to ripple like waves. The last light of day slowly faded, leaving Msaka to navigate in the dark, until the moon rose, providing a faint, but helpful illumination.

His leopard form had many advantages over his human one, one of those being much better vision in dim light, so the night was not nearly so much of a hindrance to him as it would have been to other travellers. All the better to avoid anyone that might be out, though some of the monstrous creatures would not be so hindered.

With this in mind, he remained careful as he travelled, making full use of his stealth, something that came naturally to a people who lived by hunting in an often dangerous place. Either by luck or by skill, no dangers presented themselves, and sometime after midnight he found himself on the banks of the Mto Kubwa, the great river than ran through the region. The water was fresh and clear, and he stopped to drink before continuing up its bank to the northwest. "The city can't be much farther away." he thought quietly.

The sky had begun to brighten when he finally saw it up ahead - the lights of the liontaur city of Tarna. Even from where he was, he could see that it was an enormous place compared to his own village, built of stone rather than wood, a commanding presence over the savanna around it.

Msaka halted once again to consider what he should do. These people were active during the day, which would probably make that the best time to approach it. But at the same time, he was quite tired, and it would not be wise to arrive there exhausted. Then there was the matter of how they would react to him. How long would they hold their grudge? Perhaps it would be better to dispel his leopard form, he would be hard to tell apart from any other tribesman of the region that way. The only problem with that being that it might be difficult for him to find the privacy he would need to change back to his preferred shape.

"I will try as I am," he finally decided, "If that does not work, I will try again without it. But first, to rest."

Msaka searched the area around him for somewhere he could lie down comfortably and also be concealed from view. He quickly found a depression that was large enough to suit him, removed his pack, and stretched out in it. He rested there for only a few hours, dozing lightly in case something approached. When the sun had risen high into the sky, he got up again, shouldered his pack, and resumed walking. He was taking a risk by doing things this way, but it might be worse if he hid his heritage, and it was discovered once he had already been in the city for a time. They might think him a spy in that case, which would certainly not be healthy for him.

As he drew near the city, he could see several farms and orchards spreading out from it, though none were located near the river, probably in case it flooded. He passed by them all, not meeting anyone as he did, though he did catch glimpses of people working in the fields.

The gates were a different matter. While they were open, a liontaur stood guard on either side of the gateway, armed and dangerous looking. He had never actually seen a liontaur before this, though they didn't look much different than he had expected. They watched him closely as he approached, drawing themselves up to their full height. "Not the best sign..." Msaka thought, but did not slow his pace.

As he climbed the steps that led to the gate, one of the liontaurs lowered his spear across the gateway, blocking Msaka's path. "What are you doing here?" the liontaur demanded in a deep, gruff voice, not sounding particularly happy to see him.

Msaka faced the liontaur, not intimidated by his demeanour. "There is a spellcaster that lives here. I am here to see them."

The liontaur stared at him for several moments, as if trying to decide whether that was a good enough reason to let him pass. Eventually, the liontaur raised his spear again. "Very well." he said, "But you had best obey the laws of this city, leopardman, for we will be watching you." The last few words were unmistakably meant as a threat.

Msaka didn't answer, as the things he thought of replying with would only cause trouble, and he didn't need that. Instead, he stalked past the guards, and into the city. He stopped a moment later to consider. "What laws of the city?" he thought, "And how am I expected to know what they are?" No immediate answer came to him, so he continued forward, up a set of stairs to a plateau partway up the central pyramid.

He stopped again, looking to each side. There seemed to be more activity to the left, people moving about. To the right, things were quieter, though there was another pair of guards in that direction. Further ahead were more stairs leading higher still. Msaka chose to go left, not wanting to deal with any more guards, nor wanting to climb any more stairs than he had to.

He followed the plateau around the side of the pyramid, and rounded the corner. A few people passed by him on the way, and while some of them gave him odd looks, none tried to speak with him, or hinder his movement. "At least the humans here are not hostile." he thought, feeling somewhat relieved.

The plateau opened up in front of him, stretching ahead and left of him, with several openings on the right, into the side of the pyramid. Another large structure was across the plateau, and a grove of trees had been cultivated immediately to his left. It occurred to him then that not only did he not know what the laws here were, he didn't know where to find the spellcaster who lived here either. He sighed. This did not look like it was going to be easy.