[1739]Forsaken: A Wellspring Tale

Hello All, this is an excerpt from the first chapter of my fantasy novel. My overarching theme is simply the quote “The sins of the fathers are visited upon the children.” I'm 60,000 words in so I figured I ought to know if I should keep going. Mainly I'm searching for criticism on my prose, pacing, and characters. But I'd love questions about world-building or any inconsistencies you noticed with specific terms. I beg you to rip my work to pieces. Brief description of the story: "Impoverished by the fallout of a political assassination, and desperate for something beyond survival Elias and his cousin Vyce make a discovery that unravels into a generational conflict."

PS: My original post was taken down due to leeching, Mods encouraged me to re-post after revising my crits. Instead of rushing I decided to run with the bit of criticism I received and rewrite the first few chapters before posting again.

Submission: Forsaken: A Wellspring Tale

Crits: [2393] Royal Hearts

Thanks to u/sweet_nopales and u/Aetherfox_44 , I hope you both see this and let me know what you think as your advice was invaluable.