During the time I’d been with the party everyone had seemed to get along, despite being a group of volatile and stubborn people. Caveria’s claim that it would be ‘easy’ to kill a dragon very nearly started a fight among us, though. Tiriel stopped it, by simply ordering us to shut up, in a razor-sharp voice that was completely unlike her. She told us we were still way too tired and keyed up to make any decisions, and we should all rest before discussing further. She looked tired too, I thought.

Nobody argued with her and so we decided to rest. Caveria went back to her room to rest, Thord and Tiriel went to see the Cave Master, and Arndrir decided to go track down the rangers and see what was going on. That left Serah and me.

“What are you going to do now?” she asked me with a tired smile.

Good question, I thought. What am I going to do? It seemed we would have some time off. Perhaps even some time - alone? It suddenly occurred to me that I hadn’t really had any real rest since I came here. We'd always been on the move.

“Do you think the city is safe?” I asked her. “I would like to go out and see some of it - alone, I think. If that’s okay with you,” I added hastily.

“Certainly! You can do what you want. Tiriel said we’ll spend at least today resting. I would expect a few days, actually. We need it.” She pursed her lips. “As for safety, I’m not sure. The King has mobilized both the City Guards and the army, and they will be chasing down any of the Duke’s men who haven’t left. Nobody will want to draw their attention. On the other hand a lot of people have left the city which means thieves and others will be looking for opportunities. It’s probably a bit chaotic but should be safe enough. Keep your eyes open, though, and take the letter Tiriel gave you, in case the guards stop you.”

I went back to the room and fetched the recommendation letter. It was stamped with Tiriel’s sigil as a princess of the elves and made me an official member of an official search party, sponsored by the king of the mountain elves. I put it in a pocket in my tunic, checked that I had some of the gold Tiriel had given me and then headed out into the city.

It felt strange to walk around on my own, with no particular purpose. Things had been hectic since I arrived here, and there’d always been something going on. Back home, I was a pretty quiet person who liked some calm and quiet.

I walked along the edge of the square, where the last traces of yesterday’s fighting were being cleaned up. There were a lot of soldiers about, but also a fair number of others. Some seemed to be leaving the city and were either carrying large burdens or pulling small, rickety wagons.

About halfway down the square a broad street went off to the left. It was lined with those tall stone houses and there were stores and shops in most of them. Some distance away I saw the city wall and a gate in it. I decided to go down and see where it lead. If I remembered it correctly we’d come in through another gate.

I walked down the street, scanning the people and the shops. There was a tension in the air - most of the people I met walked quickly and looked at me suspiciously. Many of the shops were closed, but some were open. There were bread shop and tool shops but also what looked like furniture and clothes shops. And a book shop. I walked up to it, but it was closed, unfortunately. It was crammed full of books, on shelves along the wall and in long rows across the floor. I hadn’t seen a book since I came here and stared hungrily through the windows.

There was a scribbled sign saying ‘closed’ hanging at an angle on the door, so it seemed the shop was closed due to the disturbances. Maybe it would open later. I resolved to return.

I continued down the street and reached the gate. It was manned by six Dimran soldiers and a man in red-and-purple robes. I recognized the style of his robes: Caveria’s and the mage Lecander’s robes were similar. So, the man was a battle mage too, I guessed.

The soldiers weren’t stopping anyone, but were watching closely. The battle mage hung back with a slightly unfocused expression, as if he was trying to sense rather than see something.

I decided to ask the soldiers if it was okay to leave.

“Excuse me,” I said to one who looked like some kind of commander. He looked back at me with a surprised expression, as if I’d said something very strange. “I, I was just wondering if it is permitted to leave and come back?”

“Yes, of course,” he said, frowning at me. “If you don’t cause trouble.”

He looked as if he was about to decide I might be a troublemaker, so I thanked him quickly and joined in with a group of people passing through the gate. When I glanced back a little further down, the man was watching me.

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I felt uneasy about it all, but decided there was nothing I could that didn’t risk making things worse, so I simply followed the street. It was now descending a hill, and the houses were becoming a lot more utilitarian and less city-like. I seemed to be heading into some kind of warehouse and workshop district.

At the foot of the hill ran a river, with a wide stone bridge carrying the street across into a jumble of smaller houses on the other side. I didn’t want to leave the city, so I decided to turn right and follow the street along the river.

The morning had been gray and cloudy, but now the clouds were breaking up and the sun was peeking out in between. This was a working part of the city, with warehouses and docks and a grimy, worn atmosphere. It was strangely quiet, I thought, but that was probably because of the unrest. There were a few barges moored along the docks, but many spaces were empty.

I continued walking, and as I approached a tavern facing the river I realized I was hungry. It must be past noon, and my stomach informed me it seemed to be past lunch time as well. I went into the tavern and found a table out front, with a view of the water.

The food was surprisingly good. An omelet with strong cheese and sausage, and herbs I didn’t recognize but which added some sting, and a tankard of something they called kvas. I’d heard about it back home, but had never tried it. It was some kind of fermented drink, sour and sparkly. I liked it.

I liked the tavern as well. It had looked dinghy, but it was nice. It reminded me of a pub back in Herkenburg, where we sometimes went with the Tolkien Society.

Homesickness stabbed into my heart, without warning. This wasnt’t Herkenburg. This wasn’t home. I was sitting in a tavern in Ambor, in the world of Lumaria, and I had no idea where my home was. How long had I even been here? A week? Two? Or more? It felt like forever. I couldn’t even say if I was far from home - how far do you go on a moon path? How long is a moonbeam?

I had to suppress a nervous laugh as the sheer bizarreness of the whole situation dawned on me. Returned to me, rather. I’d gotten used to this faster than I’d thought possible. Used to this extremely detailed and vast LARP, and to the people I’d met. I tried to remember when I’d last thought it this as a dream, but couldn’t. The idea had faded away.

This was real. This was real, and I was here, and - perhaps I would never come back home. The thought made me recoil. There was no reason to assume that. I’d come here, so I could come back, surely. There was no reason I’d need to stay here for the rest of my life. I knew people who worked with the moon goddess. They could help me.

Of course, I didn’t believe in any moon goddess at all. Maybe that would be a problem.

What were they saying, back home? If I had actually traveled here on moonlight, they’d never found my body in the lake. I would just have disappeared. What did my parents think? They must be devastated. I hadn’t really thought about it before. There hadn’t been any reason, if it was a dream, and then I’d been all caught up in what was happening.

For a moment, I felt on the verge of tears, but they wouldn't come. I was homesick, yes, but I didn't feel far from home. I felt home, in a weird way. As if it wasn't an accident that I was here. It was a strange feeling. Although I missed my mother, I conceded. Annoying as she could be, sometimes.

I thought about my situation as I finished my lunch and ordered a beer. At least they had good beer, here in Lumaria. I needed a beer now, or maybe several. I felt lonely now, as I sat in the tavern’s garden and looked out at the sunlight glittering on the river, with the city of Ambor surrounding me.

This was a big city, and a big world. There were lots of - people, and not only humans. Elves and dwarves, at least, maybe others. They had their lives and their own problems and issues and dreams and goals, that I knew nothing about and - I felt - couldn’t know anything about.

I hadn’t really understood the stuff about the dragonblade. A magical sword sounded absurd - on the other hand, I’d seen Caveria and others do things that were at least as absurd. Magic wasn’t real - back home.

Where I wasn’t any more. Here it was real, and here a lot of other things were real too.

I downed the rest of the beer in long, slow gulps, savoring the taste and the feeling as it poured down my throat. It was real, it felt real. My body was real. I was real. I was here.

And so, what would I do - here?

“Hello mister, are you an adventurer?” A young woman popped up outside the fence and looked curiously at me. “You look like an adventurer, with your boots and sword and all! Come to Miss Morcala’s Adventurous Shoppe, she has all you need for your next adventure!”

She leaned over the fence and handed me a piece of paper. I took it, but leaned away involuntarily. The girl was young, hardly more than a child, and she smelled awful. Granted, she looked like she’d had a rough life - her clothes were patched in more places than not, her hair looked like it hadn’t been washed for years, and her teeth were uneven, with several missing. She had a friendly smile, though, and I forced myself to meet her gaze. She looked back intently, with curious, intelligent eyes.

I looked at the note. It was a hand-drawn flyer with a very well-made and detailed picture of a storefront, and quirky, spindly letters inviting me to the “adventurous shoppe.”

The girl hovered behind the fence, looking at me hopefully. It dawned on me that maybe she was hoping for a small tip. Well, I was an adventurer, so she had done a good job so far. I dug in my pocket for a suitable coin and tossed it to her.

She snatched it out of the air, laughing, and thanked me.

“Tell Miss Morcala Devih sent you! She will give you ten percent off!” Then she ran off and disappeared around the corner.

I looked at the flyer more carefully. Adventurous shoppe, eh. What did they even have in a shop for adventurers? I didn’t really need anything, but I could go look, couldn’t I. Why not, I thought, why not go... shopping?