A blanket of snow covered the roofs and collected in the shadowy alleys of Norcastle as Elijah was escorted through the town. From most of the eaves hung garlands and flickering lights, and evergreen wreaths festooned most of the doors. Red and green ribbons and streamers abounded, lending the city a festive spirit that felt infectious, even after the encounter with the thugs at the gate.

“I didn’t realize it was Christmas,” Elijah said softly as he took in the festive decorations. Indeed, his sense of time still hadn’t recovered after his trips into towers and his long isolation. At one point, he’d tried to keep up with the passing months, but it had quickly grown impossible. Now, he usually only paid attention to the seasons, and that only for practical reasons. The idea of celebrating holidays – especially ones with religious connotations – hadn’t even crossed his mind since the world had been transformed.

Still, he wasn’t immune to the Christmas spirit. Growing up, the holidays had always been a source of warm and comforting memories, and even the end of the world as he’d always known it hadn’t changed that fact.

“The mayor thinks it’s important to celebrate the holidays. He thinks we’d lose sight of our past if we forget the things that used to be important,” Essex said.

Jess pointed out, “Plus, everyone likes Christmas.”

“That as well,” Essex stated.

“Neat,” was Elijah’s response. He immediately regretted the word choice, but it was too late to change it, so he just let himself fall silent. Soon enough, they reached a large square, at the center of which was an enormous spruce tree that was at least forty feet tall and decorated with twinkling lights as well as red and green ornaments. “Went all out, huh?”

“I love it,” Jess said, her bright smile showing off a pair of dimples Elijah hadn’t noticed before. “My favorite time of year.”

After that, they left the square behind and headed in the direction of the guards’ headquarters. Now that they’d left the main thoroughfare behind, the decorations became less prominent, but they were still there, just more subdued. Even the building that was their destination bore a festive wreath on the door.

They passed inside, then headed to the captain’s office. Once the door was shut, Elijah leaned his massive ogre staff against the wall and let out a sigh. “That thing is just too big,” he said. “So, what’s up? Who were those guys out front? And am I going to have to kill them?”

“Please don’t,” Essex said.

“I mean, I don’t want to, but…”

“They’re the mayor’s men,” Jess said, flopping down in one of the chairs. “Do you really think you could? Kill them, I mean.”

Elijah shrugged. “Probably. If they come at me all at once, I might have to reveal some of my secrets, but…yeah,” he said. “I think I could do it. Why? You need some bullies killed?”

“What? No!” she said. “Of course not!”

“It probably wouldn’t be much trouble. I could just nip on over, and –”

Essex interrupted, “Please do not kill anyone in my city. It’s going to be difficult enough explaining what you just did as it is.”

“I was just kidding.”

“About murder,” Essex pointed out.

“Yeah. Probably bad taste,” Elijah admitted. “Won’t happen again, cap’n.”

“Please don’t call me ‘cap’n’.”

“Aye, aye,” Elijah said, giving the man a poorly received salute. However, before Essex could say anything else, Elijah went on, “So, I guess you want to hear about the tower, huh? Turns out, it was a pain…”

He went on to describe – in detail – everything he’d seen inside. If Essex was going to send more people in, he needed to know everything. Perhaps that would give his subordinates – or possibly even himself – the opportunity to survive. For their part, both Jess and Essex listened intently, with the latter even going so far as to take copious notes and asking plenty of questions. Due to his advanced Mind cultivation, Elijah had no problems remembering everything, so he gave Essex all the information he could want and more. By the end, more than three hours had passed, and Elijah was even more exhausted than after his bout in the tower’s arena.

The problem was that he’d barely had any social interaction over the past couple of years, so when he did talk to other people, it was an exciting and sometimes frustrating experience where he often went overboard one way or the other. Sometimes, that manifested in poorly conceived jokes, but his issues with talking to Jess were another symptom of his psychological trauma. Elijah knew that, and yet, there wasn’t much he could do about it except to try to work through those issues as best he could.

And that was exhausting, if ultimately necessary.

When he’d finally finished, he said, “And that’s about it. Went in, killed some ogres and elves, fought a gladiator-style gauntlet, and killed this creepy Slenderman-slash-vampire knockoff. But it wasn’t about the enemies I killed. The real reward was the loot I got along the way.”

A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

“I don’t think that’s how the saying goes,” Jess interjected.

Elijah shrugged. “Well, that’s how it should go. Anyway, do you need to know anything else about the tower? Because I’ve been roughing it for a while now, and I’d love to get a nice meal and a real shower. Oh, and is there anyone around here who can identify items? Because I got some stuff in there that I’m not sure exactly what it does.”

“I think that’s all I need for now,” Essex said. “But can I give you some advice?”

“Sure.”

“However it is that you’re concealing your identity, you should probably choose a different name. If I made the connection between your assumed identity and the power rankings, then someone else will, too.”

“Oh,” Elijah said. He’d accidentally left his real name on his assumed identity when he’d first arrived in Norcastle, but he’d changed it before he had gotten too far into the city. He hadn’t even considered changing his first name, though. “I guess I’m just not really cut out for that kind of thing.”

“You should probably learn to be,” Essex said.

Elijah sighed. “Probably right,” he said, running a hand through his hair. It was greasy and more than a little unkempt, reminding him of just how little good his impromptu shower back in the tower had been. He pulled his hand away, looking at a bit of gore that had stuck to his finger. He shook it, sending the chunk of grey skin to plop against a wall. “Gross.”

“Is there anything else we should know?”

“Nope,” Elijah said brightly. “Oh, there’s also a little, abandoned town a few miles away. Your people should probably avoid it unless you want to die. There’s a big, grumpy bear there. He’s kind of a friend, actually. Or at least he tolerates me. I think that was probably the fish, though. But I like to think my winning personality had something to do with it. In any case, he’s probably way more than any of you can handle, and I’d be very upset if someone took that as a challenge, if you know what I mean.”

“I don’t –”

“Don’t mess with my bear buddy is what I’m saying. I can’t stress this enough.”

“We won’t. But I can’t control everyone,” Essex stated.

Elijah nodded. “Alright. So, if there’s nothing else?” There wasn’t, so he grabbed both of his staves and said, “I’m going to get a shower and some rest. When can I visit the Branch of the World Tree?”

“I’ll set it up. Just come back here when you’re ready,” Essex said.

With that, Elijah said goodbye to Jess, then headed back outside. By that point, the sun had begun to set, which made the holiday decorations that much more expressive. The sight brought with it a wave of nostalgia. In Hawaii, he hadn’t been especially interested in Christmas. Certainly, he’d celebrated – everyone did – but it didn’t carry the same cachet that it had back home.

But the holidays he’d shared with his family before his parents had died were some of his best memories. Those memories came with a certain sadness, though. Not only were they a grim reminder of his parents’ untimely deaths, but it also brought his separation from his sister and her family into focus. Before the world had transformed, he’d always assumed he’d have plenty of time to reconnect, and there was always technology to fill the gap left by physical distance. After nearly dying to cancer, though, he’d been forced to confront the realities of his choice to move so far away from home.

The isolation was especially difficult when his illness had forced him to abandon work. His coworkers had tried to keep in touch, but they were always just that – coworkers. Without the connective tissue of a shared career, they inevitably drifted away. He’d even lost his girlfriend’s support, though that was more his fault than hers.

In any case, seeing the Christmas decorations of Norcastle brought with it a mixture of pain, nostalgia, and a little comfort. So, when he arrived at the hotel – or inn, really – Elijah wore a subdued smile. The innkeeper was just as brusque as before, but she remembered him, which made his renting a room a little easier. Soon enough, he found his way upstairs where he took a long shower before going to bed.

He slept like a log, and when he awoke, he set about the task of emptying his pack and cataloguing his loot. The two most important pieces were the staff and the Claws of Gluttony, though the sword he’d taken from the Warden was probably quite valuable as well. Beyond that, he’d taken a few smaller weapons from the elves he’d set against one another. Finally, he had a large pile of loose copper coins as well as a few silver Ethereum.

He still wasn’t certain what the sword or staff did, and he felt sure that he was missing something with the Claws of Gluttony as well. However, as he’d told Essex, he had no way of figuring any of that out. So, that was at the top of his list regarding what to do for the rest of the day. After that, he needed to access the Branch and deposit his Ethereum as well as try to find out if there were any other towns nearby.

Because his resolution to find his sister hadn’t faded. Sure, he’d been derailed a bit by his recent tower excursion, but now that Norcastle was safe, he was even more dedicated to hunting her down than ever.

So, after dressing in his cleanest clothes, he headed downstairs and settled in at the bar. The same cook greeted him, and he ordered a breakfast of sausage and oatmeal. While he waited for his food, Elijah glanced around the room and, to his frustration, found that quite a few of the patrons were watching him.

Sure, they tried to look like they weren’t, but with his multi-faceted Mind as well as One with Nature, Elijah could see through their thin subterfuge.

So, as he ate, he kept an eye on everyone. Most of the inn’s diners were just normal people, but six people stood out. Elijah couldn’t quite put his finger on what made them different, but he suspected that each one had a few levels under their belt. And it didn’t take a genius to figure out why they were there, especially after his actions the day before.

It seemed that, despite his efforts to help the city’s people, his peaceful stay in Norcastle had come to an end. But Elijah had no interest in going on a rampage, so even though he could tell that none of the watchers had good intentions, he still took the time to enjoy his breakfast before heading back upstairs.

The moment he was in his room, he threw open the window, checked to make certain that he hadn’t left anything behind, then shifted into his draconid form. Then, he embraced Guise of the Unseen before leaping through the window and landing in the alley beside the building. There, he settled into the shadows to wait.

Only ten minutes later, he heard a ruckus before the heavy tromp of boots announced that someone had entered his room up above. A few seconds after that, he saw one of the men from the inn’s common room poke his head out the window and let out a curse.

Elijah only had to wait a little longer before the hostile men and women stormed out of the inn and spread out, presumably to look for him. But he knew they wouldn’t find him. So, he waited until their search took them down the street before he set off across the city.

He didn’t intend to stick around Norcastle for much longer, but he still needed some information before he set off back into the wilderness. More, he intended to check on Jess and Essex to make sure they were okay.

Because if they weren’t, bad things were going to happen to whoever had hurt them.