I glanced at the object she'd placed in my hand. It was a white sphere. "It's a pearl that I found in the river the other day." She said with a soft voice. "I wanted you to have it, as thanks."
I felt blood rush to my face. "I did what anyone would do, Alina. You really don't need to thank me." I tried to give the pearl back, but she didn't take it. "It's a gift," She said with a smile before turning away and going to where Samantha sat.
"Man, you're popular." Joshua's bored, emotionless voice startled me. I hadn't noticed him approaching me. I laughed nervously as I shook my head and placed the pearl in my inventory. "Anyways, when are we heading off?" Joshua asked after a shot moment of silence.
I hesitated. "Well, I just assumed we'd get going after breakfast."
"Ok," He mumbled and walked away. Confused, I stared after him for a short time. What was that all about? Why was he asking me that? I glanced at Erik. He was sitting by the campfire, eating a piece of dried meat, and inspecting his shield. He seemed somewhat lost, though as soon as Joshua approached him, he quickly regained his composure.
After breakfast we set off. While the air was tense as the day before, I did feel a little better. I still missed Alex and Rina of course, but it didn't hurt as much as before. I did hope they and their sisters were ok, though I didn't really have any way of checking on them.
"So, what do we know about this city?" I asked Erik. He hesitated before sighing. "Nothing much. We know that it's where the majority of Ereth live. It's rich, it's elite and it's beautiful, according to Astrid." He shook his head. "Honestly, all I can really say for sure is that there's a Divine Pillar there."
I nodded. As far as I knew, divine pillars were the source of the Ereth's power. Without them, they were surprising weak, which was why people like us were needed to protect villages like Stonepatch Village. The farther away Ereth strayed from divine pillars, the weaker they'd become.
"Let's make sure we find the person trying to spy on us." I said. Erik nodded. "Let's."
The rest of our journey passed in silence, save for the few times we had to stop to kill a few monsters dumb or hungry enough to attack us. We took care of them almost effortlessly as the creatures seemed to become weaker, the closer we got to the city.
The thick foliage prevented us from seeing too far, so when we finally stepped out of the woods, our breath was taken away.
We were standing uphill. Before us lay a city, white-golden. Long spires reached for the sky, narrow bridges extending between them. At the very centre of it stood a giant pillar, shaped much like an obelisk. It looked as if it was made of solid gold.
It was eye-catching and painful to look at as it reflected the sunlight too much. Though, that could be said for the entire city. The buildings were white, with golden murals and lines embedded within the walls. The streets were white, laid with golden bricks. Even the city walls were white, with golden lines sectioning them off.
"Well," Samantha mumbled. "This is… overwhelming."
"You could say that." Erik replied. "It's not what I expected at all." He continued.
"I expected a more medieval design." Joshua said with a sour expression. "This just hurts my eyes."
We waited for a bit. Not for something, just because we didn't know what to do.
The city wasn't what any of us expected.
"I guess the 'Divine Pillar' is really divine." I said with a shrug. "Let's go, we shouldn't waste any more time."
The others chuckled and nodded. As we approached the city, our smiles shattered. The entrance was guarded by a group of Ereth soldiers. I flinched as our eyes met. Those were hostile gazes that met my eyes.
They wore chain armour, though it was clearly made from a different metal than steel or iron as it was white. It created a weird contrast with their pale blue-green skin. They each had a two-meter-long spear as a weapon. They were taller than me and their massive leathery wings were at least as wide as mine, if not more.
As we finally arrived at the gates, one of them stepped up and blocked our path.
"Identify yourselves." There wasn't a hint of emotion in his voice. Erik stepped up and opened his status panel. The guard inspected it for a solid ten seconds before letting Erik pass. Then, it was Vincent's turn. He also stepped forward and opened his status panel.
One by one, the guard inspected each of our status panels. When it was Alina's turn, he hesitated. Somewhat worried, I glanced at Erik. He shrugged, clearly also somewhat confused. A few more seconds passed then the guard let her pass as well. We all breathed out in relief.
It was my turn to step up and show them my status panel. The guard flinched as he read the pale blue text. His glance shifted between me and my status panel a few times before he nodded.
"You may pass." He said with a cold, formal voice. "Welcome to Baile Chailce."
With that, we were allowed entry into the biggest city on Erdrin. We stepped through the massive golden gates, onto the golden streets with our mouths agape.
"Well," I finally said quietly. "We're here but… what now?"
I glanced at the others. They hesitated, then shrugged. "How about we find a place to stay?" Alina finally asked. "The sun is setting, and I do miss sleeping on an actual bed."
Samantha clapped. "Yes! Proper sheets and a roof!" Her eyes showed her excitement. I couldn't help but smile as everyone else also slowly got hyped up. Soon, with hope and excitement in our eyes, we set off in search of an inn.