“PLEASE GOD...HAUGH...ARE WE THERE...HEEGH...YET?” I wheezed into the gray stone of the mountain, blowing little puffs of dust and dirt that billowed past my face but, in my prone position, only served to coat my face and hair with a white patina of light filth. I groaned, straining under the weight of Kel, her pack, and my own pack all strapped to my back. I lifted myself barely an inch from the ground before collapsing.

“I can’t...dear jesus just let me die here.”

“It would be the greatest tragedy,” Julian’s voice wafted through the thick layers of fabric on top of me to reach my ears, “for you to die on the doorstep of viewing the splendor of the greatest city in all the world.”

At his words I struggled to lift my head. In front of me, visible a few miles in the distance only because we had finally peaked one of the lesser gargantuan hills between the mountains ringing the country of Grimaxe, was easily the largest city I had ever seen. Massive walls painted in glittering whites and blues formed rising concentric rings up to a peak that had to be at least a mile above the largest ring, forming a city that looked like a captain’s spyglass had been placed facedown in the middle of a plain and fully extended. Every inch of the massive metropolis was crammed with buildings ranging from so small I couldn’t tell them apart to the enormous palace that dominated the entire peak of the city. It was such that I couldn’t tell if the city had been built from the ground up, or carved into the body of a solitary mountain. The more I looked the more I saw, even now I noticed hundreds of mountain streams joining into a massive delta, then river before slamming against, and around, the western side of the city.

“Welcome!” Julian paused, his dramatic air only slightly diminished by the broad smile pushing his cheeks up his face. “To the Grand Capital of Grimaxe, Mahishmati!”

“Holy shit, Jules.” As much as I wanted to pretend I wasn’t impressed if only to tease Julian, I had never in my life witnessed splendor such as Mahishmati. The Academy was impressive, but it was made to be functional above all else. Mahishmati was not. Mahishmati threw function out the window and gave face only to being as impressive as possible. Without even entering the city I suddenly understood exactly how Julian turned out the way he had.

The man in question had abandoned all pretense of drama and was beaming at our shocked expressions, content to let us try and take in all of Mahishmata at once. Grey marshaled himself first and began heading down the mountain slope.

“It is beautiful, Julian, but if we want to sleep inside rather than pitch tents on top of boulders again we’re going to have to move.”

>-------<

The sun was setting behind the imposing form of the city before we made it close enough to decide to press on through twilight and enter the city.

“Pallus, Julian, what do you see down there?” Grey pointed toward the Eastern Gate of the city, the same gate we were trying to reach before the night set in completely. At his urging, I strained my eyes and raised a hand to obscure the last few rays of light from the sun. Down by the Eastern Gate was a line of lights, stretching like a streamer or some kind of glittering snake out from the Eastern side of the city and twisting North toward the river.

“Are those...torches?” I muttered.

“I’m not sure, Julian? Do you know what this is?”

Grey and I glanced over at Julian, who was shielding his eyes much in the same way I was with a contemplative frown on his face.

“I’m afraid not. Those are definitely torches, but I don’t know what so many people would be doing outside of the city at night.”

“That settles it.” Grey Pulled dropped his hand and made a sharp turn off the path we had been following. “It’s too risky to approach at night so we’re camping out here tonight.”

A chorus of groans met Grey’s declaration, but Julian and I followed Grey and began pulling bedrolls from our packs. A very professional game of rock-paper-scissors determined watch and we went to sleep.

“So. Does anyone want to explain why I’m tied to my pack while the rest of you are sleeping oh so comfortably on your bedrolls?”