After the three of them reached the sixth hour mark. Elyon started complaining that his feet hurt.
"Ughh, how much do we have until we reach Ravencross?"
Vigil was the first to respond. "Thirty minutes"
Elyon sighed dramatically, and he began to stomp like a little kid.
"Are we there yet?"
Vigil looked over his shoulder and back at him. "Did thirty minutes pass?"
"No?"
"Then why are you asking?"
Elyon didn't know what to respond with. He wanted to whine, but his "misery" was quickly shut down. One of Vigil's crows came back from scouting, and it landed on his shoulder.
"Kraa-ugh"
Vigil nodded. "Guess we are in luck, the pilgrimage didn't start yet."
Eve asked: "When does it normally start?"
"It should be tomorrow, but we will probably not even catch it since we will only (Vigil lied) make a quick stop."
The town slowly started to take form in the distance. Three things were starting to become visible. A pristine white forty-meter-high church faced them. Black silk hung from the church tower that poured onto the main roof, then it abruptly fell until it hit the grass. It almost looks like a covered hunchback person from the front. On either side of the church, two golden trees that spire inwards until they reach the church tower. All of these three combined form a perfect cross.
Vigil pointed toward the church. "That is the Covered Cross, and those two trees are supposed to be an offering for The Church of Heaven and a safe pilgrimage."
As they kept walking, the houses started to pass by them. Black stone walls and roofs made of different types of vines and flowers. The greenery connected every house. Instead of windows, paintings faced the outside, and their canvases were pierced with many holes to let light inside.
As the three of them walked, dogs, trees, humans, mountains, rivers, apples and portraits passed by them.
Ravencross was a city dominated by blackness and greens of many colours. Ivies stretch from the ground, and they are connected to the walls and the vine-covered roofs.
One would normally think that if it rained or snowed, the people inside would get their belongings wet. Yet the density of the vines was so packed that it naturally made a solid surface for which the rain and snow would fall off. The only problem is with the new houses; the people need to fix a temporary roof to let the vines grow first, which could take many seasons. The new houses are the most susceptible to rain.
Eve looked curiously at the sight of this city. "This city is quite beautiful, but I find the paintings weird. Are these people much greedier than Elyon's need for cheap windows?"
Elyon wanted to defend his windows and his greed, but Vigil was the first to speak. "Actually, in a way, yeah. It takes quite a lot of money to transport or make the windows here, so these people just used what they could. And a funny thing, in the winter they freeze in their houses because they are too greedy"
Elyon nodded silently in the back like he wasn't on the same calibre as the residents of Ravencross.
But the oddest thing this town holds is not the church or the architecture. It was the statues, at every corner lay one. And they weren't normal statues.
Despite the great size of the city, there was not a single tree in the whole city. Instead, intricate ten-meter-tall statues that looked exactly like trees were spread across the city. But instead of their normal brown and green colour, all of them were grey. And their branches held lamp light like fruits which were imported from Scholar Keep.
And the last thing this city made weird was its pathways. Instead of stone or gravel. The people cut every tree to form streets made of bark.
Eve scanned the city. It felt weird to walk on straight bark. She looked at all the hooded people, but they were not silent and mysterious. They were all talking and enjoying their time with each other. Vendors were selling many different things, and kids in normal clothes played throughout the bark-made streets. And old people were arguing and drinking beer.
Eve thought to herself that she would have wished to be born here rather than Eclora, where your nearest neighbour was an hour away in the dark forest. She could only sigh when she turned her head. Vigil was staring right at her.
"What?" Eve asked
Vigil responded, "Elyon and I are going to go buy a map. You can wander the village for a while."
Elyon stared back at him. "Why can't the three of us go together?"
Vigil looked back at him. "Guy's secret"
Eve could only let out a loud..."Huh?"
"If you think I am going to suddenly leave because you tol-"
Eve's words were cut out when Vigil pulled out twenty golden coins from his pocket. Eve pocketed the coins, and she turned around.
"See you guys in a few hours"
She walked to the nearest vendor, and she started haggling over the price of a snack.
Elyon turned back to face Vigil. "Why?"
Vigil looked back at him. "Let's go to a bar first, I want to drink something."
Elyon shrugged, and he started following him. Once the two of them entered a bar, Vigil whispered to Elyon. "Give me four golden coins."
"No? You gave them all to Eve. I ain't paying for someone again."
Vigil poked him with his elbow. "Come on, I will give them back to you."
Elyon sighed, and he pulled out four golden coins and gave them to Vigil. Vigil walked up to the bartender, and he placed the coins on the counter. "I want two golden shots of nature, make it icy"
The bartender nodded after he pocketed the money. The bartender walked over to a door, and he opened it. He held it open for the two gentlemen. Vigil walked inside, and Elyon stared at him, dumbfounded.
"What is this idiot doing?" He whispered to himself.
Elyon entered after Vigil, and they began to descend.
"Vigil? Where are we even going? Aren't we supposed to drink something and grab a map after?"
Vigil answered with a strong. "No"
Elyon remained silent for a bit before he wanted to ask Vigil what the hell they were doing. But Vigil was faster than him.
"We are going to make a ton of money"
Elyon responded with: "Huh? What are you even talking about? I know Eve, and I can be quite dumb sometimes, but I didn't know our dumbness affected you so much"
"Oh shut up"
Once both of them finished their descent, a door awaited in front of them. Vigil opened them, and what greeted them hurt Elyon's eyes. Lights of many colours, green tables, people dressed in suits, and people playing with cards and dice?
"We are going to go gambling."
Vigil spread his arms high in the air like he came back home.