The road sloped gently downhill, and with each step, the view unfolded like a merchant's unfurled tapestry.
From a distance, Jemil had thought the city's name was just poetic flair. But standing here now, staring down into the sunlit valley, he realized it was literal.
The city gleamed.
Not in a subtle, "nice polish on the windows" kind of way—no. The streets shimmered like they'd been forged from actual gold bricks, the buildings dripped with ornate chains linking balcony to balcony, and even the streetlamps were wrapped in golden coils that glimmered like sleeping serpents.
If a dragon had coughed up its hoard, hired an architect, and then said "Make it sexy," this is what you'd get.
"Pfft," Nyssa muttered beside him, adjusting the strap of her armor so that it hugged her curves just a little more snugly. "This place is compensating for something."
Kaelina gave her a flat look. "It's more than vanity. Everything here is enchanted."
