They'd pressed on, walking nonstop for days, weeks, months, it was always so hard to tell. Even counting the twilight interludes didn't help because they didn't seem to appear on any regular basis. They just happened when they happened. But through it all, neither he nor Xara ever felt tired. They were never fatigued, never felt anything but vigor and energy and the desire to keep moving on.
They came to one valley — Number 399—where it was absolutely quiet. No breeze. No babbling of the streams. Stillness beyond explanation. Off to the right were mountains that seemed different, too.
They were colored in the deep hue of sapphire and were uniformly round, with no peaks. On the near side of their slopes were thousands of lights, almost like there were thousands of tiny structures up there, and they had all become illuminated. And on the highest point was another city.
This one looked like something from a fairy tale. Towers connected to towers, connected to even more towers. It was covered with climbing foliage, and trees full of red and yellow blossoms, each one visible, even though Hunter and Xara were at least five miles away.
The city looked just as large as the one they'd discovered near the lake, yet it seemed to be teetering on the edge of this bright blue mountain. Rays of golden light were streaming up from someplace behind it. They rivaled in brightness and intensity those coming from the big friendly sun, hanging close overhead. That's why this city seemed to be made entirely of light.
Once again, they'd been tempted to draw closer and explore the place; Hunter was very curious about what lay within. But they decided not to, because once again, they felt they couldn't risk the temptation of entering the city and then not wanting to leave.
After another long trek, lasting maybe a month or so in their minds, in and out of another 134 more valleys, they came over a mountain to find yet another city. It was in the middle of a lush field about ten miles off in the distance.
Like the others, it was a collection of tremendously intricate structures, domes, towers: soaring, all of them. But they seemed to be made of crystal, a crystal that glowed with an extremely bright light from within. Over the long journey, they'd come to regret not visiting the first city — the City of Songs — and then the second place, The City of Light. Hunter couldn't resist it anymore. Neither could Xara. They decided to investigate this place up close.
They would come to call it the City of Smiles.
A long, winding road led to the front gates of the city. The closer Hunter and Xara got, the larger these gates seemed to become. Finally, they reached the outskirts, and they were standing before these gates. By this time they seemed to stretch so far up into the deep blue sky, they went out of sight. They were made of pearl — literally, pearly gates. Beyond were more structures and streets made of gold. The buildings sparkled with very intense light.
Hunter took one step forward and pushed on the gates with his finger. They opened, as if on some invisible command. Inside, very bright light was emanating from just about everywhere. He hesitated a moment. His chest was filled with electricity, an energy that was close to sexual, it was that intense. If this feeling could grow any further inside him, he knew it really would be hard to leave this place. He turned to look at Xara. He knew she felt exactly the same way.
They stepped inside. The city appeared to be made not just of crystal but also marble and gemstones.
The buildings were just incredible in their sweeping designs, size, and majesty. They walked hand in hand down the main street. There were other individuals everywhere. They looked no different than those they'd encountered in the countryside, except they all seemed to have the most amazing, gleaming smiles.
They were all friendly and gracious and peaceful. Hunter and Xara bowed and waved and smiled, but they didn't speak to anyone. Hunter still believed it was important not be loose-lipped about how they happened to wind up here, strangers in Paradise.
Most important, the city had a feeling of great sprit, and it had nothing to do with religion. The buildings were simply mind-blowing in their unearthly design and lavish, bright colors, but they saw nothing that even vaguely resembled a church. Nor had they run into any holy men here — or anywhere.
No priests in Heaven? Hunter only knew one, his friend Pater Tomm, who was with the UPF contingent back in Happy Valley. And sometimes he wasn't too sure about him.
They reached a main square. It was gigantic, seemingly too big for the periphery of the city, but that's how things were here, too; the perspective always seemed to be a little deceiving. There was a crowd gathered at the far side of the square. They were listening to one person, clad in all white, who seemed to be elevated slightly above everyone else. Intrigued, Hunter and Xara moved toward the gathering, just to see what all the hubbub was about. But the crowd broke up before they got halfway across the square.
Small groups of people leaving the gathering walked past them, exchanging greetings and strobe-flash smiles, but the travelers were more interested in the being who had been doing the talking. They saw him, way up ahead, walking away from the square and down an avenue of particularly bright crystal, a group of followers in tow. Though his face was hidden from them, there was a glow around this individual that was unlike anything Hunter and Xara had seen since coming here. It certainly wasn't surrounding anyone else. As they drew closer, the glow around him became so intense, they could barely look at it. Now the excitement was beginning to surge inside them again. They both felt the overwhelming need to talk to this person. But the closer they got, the farther he moved away. After a while, they lost sight of him.
Finally reaching the end of the avenue of crystal, they found themselves in an enormous garden. It was filled with the bright emerald grass, and there were many trees, all of them full of flowers and apples.
Xara reached up, pulled an apple off of one tree, and gave it to Hunter. He took a huge bite. Another apple immediately grew back.
There were many people in this garden. Some were sitting at easels, painting. Others were playing flutes that emitted only the sweetest of sounds. Dancers moving with incredible lightness and grace were all around them. The music grew, and more people were seen with instruments, and the voices rose, and suddenly a heavenly choir was on hand once again, making music that at once sounded different yet was playing in perfect harmony. Hunter looked down at his boots and saw they were beginning to move to the rhythm again.
He didn't want to embarrass himself a second time, so they left the garden and turned back toward the avenue. They looked in every direction, but by this time, the glowing being had disappeared for good.
Leaving the City of Smiles wasn't so hard after that.
They continued west, through more valleys, across more shallow rivers, over more low mountains.