At the break of dawn, the team and the dragons were on the move! They all wanted to reach the ruins of Aqumus as fast as possible, but this task that Tim’s dreams had brought upon them, was difficult to ignore.
The dragonflies knew how to find that cross with bent arms, and that was all that mattered right now, they had to figure out what that cross was about. They were on the air, the group was on Georgie’s back, and the dragonflies led the way as they seemed to be the ones who were the most well-traveled in comparison.
The location of the cross wasn’t too far away from them, apparently, it was just a two hour flight. The dragons kept picturing a house of worship, and that house was located within a city, and this was one of the biggest cities within the micro-universe of Valporovus! The city was located a hundred kilometers away from the forest that they had left behind, so if a god really has tried to reach the team, such a cross being a hundred kilometers away from the group, made their theories sound all the more plausible! They connected the dots.
“What do you make of that cross, Arvena?” Skendus asked her, he was persistent. “I'm asking you again, because we're going to a church of sorts, that's what the dragons are picturing. It's not a hidden church either, and it's large, and widely accessible by anyone from the city of Glorious Letazix. Why are people praying around a symbol that signifies the Mana Gods, the same gods who want to kill them so badly?”
“I'm telling you, I have no idea. Letazix is filled with Gong Goblins, how would I know what those bastards are doing? We do not have diplomatic relations with them.” She answered, and she seemed honest.
Skendus did not trust her, however, and he asked her the most questions, because he still didn't have access to her thoughts! He was very suspicious of everything.
“I guess we'll figure it out in the city, then.” He muttered.
It was great that they were traveling on the back of a dragon right now, because if visiting the church turned out to be a waste of time, then they could return to their main objective efficiently. They'd be up in the air again, with the aim of reaching the ruins of Aqumus!
Anyway, they made it to the vicinity of the city within a couple of hours, and Georgie had to drop the group about five kilometers away from the city, because dragons were not so welcome by civilization in most cases. He didn’t want to get hunted down, and turned into a trophy, so he and the rest of the dragons hid in the middle of a field that was coated with tall grass, and were told to wait there. If one was to hide in plain sight, then a field like this was their best shot, because the average goblin was pretty short, after all.
Skendus had a very good visual of how the church looked, so he didn’t need the help of the dragonflies to find the church. He was sure that he, and the group would find it eventually.
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The group may not be welcome in the city, however, because they were Degranus Goblins, and they may be even chased away for that reason, which could turn out to be a big problem. However, if the group bargained that they came here for religious reasons, then they might be allowed to enter the city freely!
They might as well be allowed, because everyone was starving right now. They had a bit of gold with them, and hoped to spend it on some hot meals, as a hot meal did sound fantastic after what they went through yesterday!
They battled against the tall grass, and made it to the city gate. A ten-meter tall wall surrounded the city, which itself signified its importance, because ten meters was pretty tall for most goblins!
Anyway, they met a bundle of five-foot tall guards on the gate, who immediately blocked the group from passing through. They looked dangerous, alert, and most importantly, they were armed to the teeth!
“What is your business here?” One of them asked.
Just then, Skendus answered the guard, because he knew exactly what to say. “We're here to visit the Church of the Arius, sir, for research purposes. Our lord sent us here to study, and indulge within the importance of Ariuism, so if you will have us, we'd love to have a look for ourselves.”
“Okay, I'm assuming that you had a long journey, considering that all of you are armored up, so don't let me waste more of your time. Ariuism enthusiasts are always welcome in our hold.” The guard said.
Afterwards, the guard reached his arm out, and waved his hand on top of Skendus’ forehead. That symbolic cross appeared on his forehead afterwards, and it also appeared on the forehead of everyone else's, which in hindsight was really interesting.
“This is so the church doesn't fry your brains,” The guard said, and then the rest of the guards opened the gate.
This interaction went better than anyone expected, their lies worked. They did not expect this huge, boar looking goblin to be so cooperative, no one could've imagined it, because these people actually did look like literal wild boars! They had hair everywhere and had tusks on their jaw, so they didn't strike anyone as welcoming, but yet they were.
Nevertheless, looks can be deceiving, because the guards even wished them luck while the group went through the gate! With that considered, Arvena's racism towards other goblin races had perhaps been exaggerated, it must have been.
No one bothered them within the city either. A food stand served them, and the servants didn't even have a dot of disgust in their eyes as they served the group food, they were nonchalant. This felt good, Timothy was especially happy because such civilized manners were unheard of amongst the fishkind back home, he couldn’t have ever stayed idle if he was between thousands of other fish, never.
However, the peace that they felt here, somehow managed to raise Skendus’ suspicions. He was a very alert man, due to the branch of magic that he practiced, so he picked up on these tiny details that everyone else would miss.
Without lifting his head away from the direction of his rabbit stew, Skendus looked Timothy right in the eye, as in to catch his attention. When the other looked back at him, the ladies also understood that something was wrong.
“Don't look now, but we're being followed.” He announced, calmly. “There are five guards on our tail, and they're labeling us as Issue-6. Arvena, you were right not to trust these pot-bellied boars, they're… smart.”