Wardenhal was much bigger than he remembered. During the early access, it had served as a mining prison colony. A hub for a handful of quests and a dungeon run, players had loved gathering around the mines’ entrances. He’d spent a few sleepless nights himself, chatting with people for hours.

Now the place stood as a bustling town. People knocked into Joel without a care and he’d dodged two unconcerned carts that wheeled by. The air felt hot and trapped. The noise of moving crowds and shouting people surrounded him as he trudged along.

Tents were replaced by buildings; dirt roads were now cobbled stone. The town now even contained two towering stone keeps, one near the town’s center while the other hugged its border. 

He tried to ignore the uncomfortable realization of how much had changed. He’d always known it in the back of his head and after hearing how much time had passed. But every step he took behind the fast-walking Alis made him face that truth. 

“Not too far from the marketplace,” she yelled over her shoulder. “Someone there can help.” She glanced back at him, noticing his slight limp. “You alright?”

“No problem.” It was a half-truth. He felt alright to walk, mostly. But the days in bed had weakened his legs, forcing him to focus on his strides. It felt like walking with ice skates on.

He felt a hand — soft and warm — catch his arm. Alis was by his side, levelling out his weight so he could walk properly. Flustered, he almost wrenched his arm back but her firm grip dismissed the idea.

“Busy place, huh?” She slowed her pace to match his, something he was thankful for. “By the look on your face, I’d say it’s your first time here?”

The scent of her floral perfume mingled with a faint smoky smell — reminiscent of a cozy fireplace. With her so close to him, it was hard to ignore. Frankly, it was a welcome aroma compared to the sour, metallic tang that hung in Wardenhal’s air, something he also didn’t recall.

“Yeah, I’ve never been here before.” Another half-truth. “There’s a lot of people.” How insightful.

“Hah, Wardenhal’s big for a township but you should see some of Lorent’s cities further north. Twice this size. There’s even Calanur cities that supposedly dwarf towns like this.”

He nodded, as if those words all made sense. Unlike Wardenhal or the Berrygood Lodge, none of those locations were familiar to him. He must’ve missed several game expansions of the First Fantasy VRMMO.

They hobbled together into the market square. The cobblestones of the plaza disappeared under the sea of people and carts. Buildings that surrounded the square were all various stores, each with wide display windows and colorful signs. Several smaller shop stands surrounded the central fountain while criers shouted local news and prices.

It took longer than expected to track down someone who made deliveries to Gorum. The locals seemed to be more open to Alis than him. It was hard to blame them. While walking, he’d caught a glimpse of his reflection on a shop window. The scar across his cheek wasn’t fully healed yet; he probably looked like a dangerous, foreign vagabond

Not only that, Alis could be effectively personable when she wanted to. Her dazzling eyes, combined with a pretty smile, helped. However, what aided her the most was how disarming she was when being friendly. Without her, he doubted that they’d have gotten anywhere.

It was working perfectly with the merchant in front of them. Standing outside of his shop, the well-dressed young man had been intently listening to Alis’ every word. This merchant was already offering her a second free apple from his barrelfuls. 

“I ship some apples to the half-orc every few days,” he said, either oblivious or ignoring Joel. A comically stupid smile was plastered across his face. “You’d be surprised at the amount of business his spot does. We make good coin off of each other.”

“Well, maybe you could do me a favor? One that old Gorum would appreciate?” She gave her head a playful tilt as she took the apple from his hand. 

The merchant flushed, head nodding. “O-of course. How can Thadd serve?”

“You’re really too kind,” she replied. How Alis blushed on command was a mystery. She turned to point to Joel. “My companion here is a close friend to Gorum. Could you deliver a tiny message for him? You’d be an absolute life-saver.”

The smile on Thadd’s face faltered briefly. “Oh. What message would that be?” The merchant finally looked his way, as if it was a chore.

“If you’d tell him that Joel’s working in town and will visit soon, that’d be great.” Joel did his best impression of Alis’ smile. Unfortunately, it didn’t have the same effect. “Also, tell him thanks for his gift.”  

Thadd stroked his chin, making a show out of considering it. “Hm. That shouldn’t be too bothersome.” He turned back to Alis. “I’ll do it, just for you. Just promise to get your apples from me.”

“Your shop will be the only spot in town that I get apples from,” Alis said as she held her hand up, playfully pretending to give a solemn vow. 

Thadd looked like he was going to offer yet another apple until the crash interrupted them. They all turned their heads to spot a dwarf stumbling out of the neighboring shop door. The elderly dwarf fell, his gray beard sprawling as he hit the ground hard. 

Two men, both faces bearing heavy scars, followed out of the shop. The taller of the two held a carved club, its wood polish gleaming in the sun. The other man kicked the dwarf down as he tried to get to his feet. 

“This is the second week in a row, you stump,” the nasally man shouted, driving another muddy boot into the dwarf. “Do you know how pissed the boss’ll be? He’s already irritated as is!” He held onto the pommel of his dirk, sheathed at his hip, as he kicked again. People were beginning to stare but he glared at them until they looked away. 

“Not this again,” Thadd muttered darkly. His eyes averted away like the others. 

“I-I’ll have the money soon,” the dwarf cried out, turtling to protect himself from the blows. He was trying his best to speak between the blows. “O-Once the mines reopen, I-l’ll have the work to pay.” Another kick caught him in the ribs. 

“Damn right, you will.” The man with the dirk raised his foot above the dwarf’s ankle. “And so you remember!”

Joel wasn’t so exhausted that this didn’t piss him off. Shifting his weight, he lurched forward to charge the man. He reached for a cutlass that was no longer there, giving him pause.

A sharp pop — like firewood crackling ablaze — behind him interrupted his step, making him flinch. Joel whipped his head back, only to see Alis gone. Gasps chorused from ahead of him.

He turned again to see her, standing behind the nasally man, as white smoke faintly billowed off of her form. Her wand was a frightful thing —  like a charred branch that had endured a wildfire. And it was pointed, tip ablaze, directly at the base of the thug’s skull. Clearly, it was warm enough to make the man freeze. 

The taller thug went for his club, only to stop when Alis raised her free hand at him. About the size of a ping pong, a sphere of roiling flame gathered between her extended pinky and forefinger. 

“Move and I incinerate you,” Alis muttered. Earlier smiles vanished, her steady tone was unnerving. Whether from fear or the heat, the only thing that moved was their trickling sweat.

“You have balls for a lassie,” said the one with a hand on his club’s handle. “You don’t realize who you’re making trouble with.” 

“Say balls or lassie again.” She pressed the tip of her wand into the back of the other man’s neck, making him yelp. Her voice became venomous. “Say anything again.” 

He didn’t. No one did. 

After a tense silence, the larger thug raised his hands, recognizing the situation. He slowly backed off and glanced at his companion. Alis prodded the other away with her wand. The two men threw back murderous glares as they bounded off into the mess of the crowd, yelling at people to get out of their way.

By the time Joel made his way over, Alis was already helping the bruised dwarf to his feet. The dwarf, more diminutive than most, patted the dirt from his knees, already giving thankful nods to Alis. A surprised look came across his creased face as Alis muttered to him, an incomprehensible combination of low, sonorous tones. The old dwarf responded in the same rumbling words, ending with a happy laugh like someone who ate a homemade meal.

It almost felt rude to try to interject.

Behind him, Thadd cut in the conversation. “That lot again, Hottor?” He crossed his arms and shot a look at the direction where the thugs had fled. “I told you to think better than to get involved with those scoundrels.”

“Bah,” the elderly dwarf said, nursing his scraped cheek. “I’ve met worse. And they didn’t leave me with no injury too fierce.”

“They’re allowed to just do that?” Joel regretted using all of his [Lay on Hands]. With the way his face was swelling, Hottor could’ve used some healing. “Shouldn’t the guards be doing something?” For such an established town, it seemed unlikely that they would let people go beating shopkeeps in broad daylight.

Thadd scoffed. “Half of the guards have a hand in the racket and the other half don’t have the courage. You’d have a better chance of pulling gold from a horse’s ass.”

Stifling a chuckle, Joel just nodded in agreement; it felt inappropriate to laugh. 

“The guards have their hands full anyway, tending to the mines and all,” Hottor said hopefully. “Once the baron sorts things out, business will return.”

“Hah! They’ve been saying that for months. If it was some minor hiccup, they’d have the mines up and running by now.” Thadd thumbed back towards the more distant keep, near Wardenhal’s edges. “Heard they’ve even had to resort to using prisoners because so many people are winding up dead.”

Hottor stared at the ground, eyes downcast.

“There’s nothing to worry about,” Alis said, placing a reassuring hand on the dwarf’s back. A severe look from her silenced the young merchant from saying more. Gently, she turned back to Hottor. “I’ve heard the baron’s going to recruit some folk from the Freewalker League. That bodes well.”

A tender smile returned to Hottor’s face. “Aye, Freewalkers always bring good tidings.”

Joel stopped Thadd from saying another wayward comment, placing a hand on the merchant’s shoulder and shaking his head. Thankfully, Thadd kept his mouth shut with a resigned sigh as they watched Alis accompany the stout dwarf back into his store. 

“Those scumbags won’t stop,” Thadd said unhappily. “All this did was delay Hottor’s beating. The poor bastard has debt stacked to his ears to people you don’t want to owe coin. Dangerous folk.” 

The thought of Bhas — her miserable humming and midnight eyes — invaded Joel’s mind. “Some people are just bloodthirsty.” The surprised look on Thadd’s face brought Joel back from his momentary reverie. “Uh, so you’re alright for relaying my message?”

“I have a delivery planned in a couple days. I’ll make sure Gorum receives it,” Thadd said before pausing. “It’s Joel, right?”

“Yeah, just let him know I’m fine,” he replied. He gave a thankful smile to the young merchant as Thadd returned to his shop. 

By the time Alis returned, she was visibly irritated; her lips pursed together. The smell of burnt pine lingered around her as she tugged down her robes like she was straightening out an imperceptible crease.

“Doesn’t that boil your blood? Debt or not, it’s an outrageous way to treat someone,” she said, her voice rising. He had a feeling that a rant was incoming. “Like who do these people think they are? Beating someone like that? And everyone else is just standing there, watching! I’d heard the border counties were rowdy this far south, but that was awful.”

“Good thing you were here, huh?” Joel raised a brow at the black wand in her hand. “That looked like some powerful magic you scared them off with.”

She smirked, a dimple reappearing. “That was nothing. Pretty basic fire manipulation.” Like the lit fuse of a firework, the young mage summoned a tiny sparkle of warmth and light. The crackling flame floated around her palm before weaving between the fingers. “Thankfully, even a little bit of fire is hot nonetheless.” Her hand danced with it until the light slowly fizzled out. She gave a wink to a passing toddler, mouth wide open at the display. 

“Amazing.” Joel had to admit magic was always cool, especially when it wasn’t being used to try and kill him. 

“Aw, flattery will get you everywhere,” she said playfully, helping him by the arm. “Well, as much as I’d love to look around the market for more rude ruffians, it’s best we get back to the others.”

Turning together, they went back the way they’d arrived, through the mess of the marketplace’s crowds that had returned to their regular din. Joel still hobbled as he walked, though he felt his legs regaining their normalcy. Nevertheless, he appreciated Alis’s stable hand. 

People still bumped into them as they walked. It was only when they got out of the clamor of the plaza, and to slightly quieter streets, that they could even talk without shouting. 

“So you’ve seen a lot of magic then?” She tilted her head up towards him. The question caught him off guard. “Oh, well, most people who haven’t seen it regularly always comment on it. But you didn’t even flinch when I summoned my magical hand.”

Shit.

“Well, to be fair, I wasn’t exactly in a condition to comment that much on anything,” he replied, hoping it didn’t sound too canned. 

Alis thought about it before relinquishing a shrug. “That’s true.” 

In all honesty, he wasn’t sure why he was deflecting away from the truth. He’d done the same when he’d lied about not remembering what happened to him. The trio had shown him a kindness that you wouldn’t have regularly experienced in the real world. 

He thought of his childhood, the times his parents had lectured him about honesty being the best policy. Yet, their voices felt so distant — like echoes in an endless cave. It made his stomach twist. He didn’t want to think about it; he had enough problems. 

The real reason he was avoiding telling them the whole truth was obvious. After everything, he still didn’t trust them. Freewalkers, registered adventurers, whatever they were, he’d be much more cautious with strangers this time. 

He changed the subject. “So Freewalker, huh? What’s that like?”

“It’s good work.” She paused before correcting herself. “It’s hard work, but there’s some really good people in the League. It took time to get used to some of the… discomforts. The coin usually eases over those.” A sheepish expression came across her face. Though Al will tell you that helping folks is its own reward. I view it more as a great bonus.”

The thought of the loam elves — shackled within cages — crying out for their mother entered his mind. Their mother. The lifeberry balm. Druidic magic. Why hadn’t he pieced it together earlier? The black bear.

His life for her children. “Fair enough.”

“What is?” Alis blinked. 

“Uh.” Joel scrambled, caught off-guard by her question, and instinctively responded with a question of his own. “Where’d you learn your magic? I noticed you don’t have a spellbook.” It was a decent deflecting inquiry. 

Her touch on his arm lightened and she leaned away from him slightly. He saw her jaw go tight and a dark look came over her face. It didn’t take any magic to figure out that she didn’t like the question.

They walked back to the inn in silence.