Wanda forced herself not to look at Master Mordo leading the way ahead, even though the click of his high heels on the bluestone bricks was remarkably rhythmic.
She held her teacher's arm and looked at the gardens they passed.
Kamar-Taj was a typical Eastern architectural complex. Square courtyards were linked one after another by covered bridges and archways. Though it should have been midsummer in the Northern Hemisphere, this place high in the mountains, adorned with pure white snow, offered a blend of all four seasons at once.
The endless snowstorm displayed the grandeur of the northern lands. Yet the white walls and blue-green tiles peeking out from behind green trees and red flowers gave it the elegance of a southern water town.
Snow fell in some places but not in others, while sunlight gilded the inverted scenery with a golden glow. Everything seemed like a dream.
As a girl who had grown up in the United States, Wanda had traveled to many places as a witch, yet she was still at a loss for words here. She could only cover her mouth and marvel endlessly at the ingenuity of these magical buildings.
Snow had accumulated on artificial rockeries, on branches and trunks, and on the short little stone bridges.
Yet beneath the stone bridges were ponds full of pink lotuses. Their emerald leaves, like tiny umbrellas, covered the water's surface, and dragonflies rested upon them.
Along the shore, however, stood maple forests as red as fire, their crimson leaves swaying slowly in the wind.
It was difficult for her to describe the feeling. She only felt that the place was tranquil and profound, as though the worries of everyday life ceased to matter the moment one entered.
A faint fragrance drifted through the air. Following her teacher through