Everglow was… glowing. I supposed that made sense, based on the name. It wasn’t just alight like a city at night in my world; every inch of it literally radiated a soft light, starting about a mile away from where buildings actually stood.

Colors vibrantly lit up the entire area. Although the sun was nearly set, grass shone with a yellow green light, leaves glowed like Christmas lights, and even the bark of trees glowed a golden brown. Even that vibrancy, however, was muted compared to the town itself.

It was a town, midway between a village and a city: large enough that even from a mile away I couldn’t see where the settlement ended, but also not as dense as a city with its tall buildings and apartment complexes.

The buildings were somewhat like pyramids, with walls made of mudbricks which slanted inwards until they were about 7 feet in height. Here, however, instead of continuing to form a peak, each building had a thatched roof. What was striking was the vibrancy of each building. The rooves were uniform, made from the golden-brown bark of surrounding trees, but the bricks themselves each shone with different colors, making bright mosaics out of every wall. Each place was unique: some walls featured simple designs and patterns, while one depicted an image of dolphins leaping out of the sea. It was the most beautiful thing I had ever seen.

I continued forwards, and the step I took from the normal ground onto the shining grass made me feel like I was walking through water for a second, as if there was some barrier separating Everglow from the rest of the world. Walking through it woke Elsie, who smiled at the sight of all the lights.

“Every time I see it, it changes,” she said with a nostalgic look on her face unsuitable for a five-year-old. Then, she squirmed in my arms, reverting mentally to her physical age. “Lemme down, I can walk.”

I lowered her onto the ground, grateful that my arms could have a break. I didn’t realize how exhausted they really were until I let her go and felt all the strength rush out of me.

To the horror of my exhausted bones, Elsie began to run, “betcha can’t catch me!” She yelled, giggling.

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“Stahp, I can’t run anymore I am too weak!” I yelled after my charge as she fled further and further from me.

Ugh. Elsie paused to scowl at me, and I jogged to where she stood. “You’re so boring,” she pouted.

“Just a little further,” I sighed, more to myself than to Elsie, who had the energy to run for miles. Children are tiring.

It took about half an hour to reach the town from the barrier, and once we were there, I let Elsie take the lead. At lease she had been in Everglow before, although “before” could be anything from weeks to centuries depending on how time wanted to play its hand.

Elsie hummed as she skipped, carefree, down the street. We had decided to stay the night at an inn and collect information in the morning.

The inn itself was a large building with an open entryway. It looked somewhat more like a pyramid than most other buildings around since it was tall enough to accommodate multiple stories. The front wall’s mural depicted a garden scene straight out of myth, with golden apples, dryads, and a snake coiled around a tree. This world made me wonder whether the scene depicted was actual history or simply legend.

The inside of the inn was just as bright as the outside since everything from the furniture to the restroom sign glowed in various colors. I wondered for a moment whether it was the material things were made of or some magic affecting the area which caused the glowing phenomenon. Based on what Arantia said earlier, it could very well be that Elsie or Carter went through a phase of loving Christmas lights which resulted in the place popping into existence.

I was broken out of my reverie by a sharply dressed, thin young…woman?

She, or it, looked somewhat like a human woman in that it was bipedal, around my height, had hair on her head, and was vaguely humanoid. She was also reptilian, however, with green skin, scales, gills, slitted yellow eyes, and a forked tongue, like a character out of some Sci-Fi fantasy movie.

The most astonishing thing, however, was the faint glow her own skin gave off. I supposed I should have expected as much, given the nature of the town itself, but it was still surprising.

“Sununt’veth falast! Mavunt’veth kelere vast os zos ques?

Real translation: Welcome travelers! How can I assist you?

More literal translation: I welcome the travelers! In what way can I assist you?

I looked at Elsie, panicked since while Arantia’s spell made me able to speak Xamxa, I was still unable to interpret it. At least, I assumed the lizard-woman was speaking Xamxa. The sound was like what I remembered, but it could have easily been a different language.

Thankfully, I had my faithful five-year-old translator, who seemed to understand what the woman was saying.

“She says hi and wants to know how she can help,” Elsie whispered to me, suddenly shy as she hid behind my legs. I didn’t know what had come over her typically cheerful demeanor, but I was willing to speak as long as Arantia’s spell was still in effect.

“Desunt’vent bam ap tonos,” I said, the words pouring out of my mouth without me needing to think. “We need a room for the night.” It was a simple sentence, spoken thoughtlessly, but in a language that had no place in my world.

“Doth! Gitevex’vint bust kevast.”

Translation: Great! That will be 2 keva (a currency of the world)

She held out her hand-palm up. I looked at Elsie, confused at the woman’s gesture as a strange look crossed her face. “Um… she’s asking for money…”

Ah, damnit.