The North Pole Files - 2

The trees in the Wonderland Woods kept to their word: they granted me passage to Kula, the Elven village, but not without one final trial. I had to spend one night within the woods. I didn't know why that was, but I somewhat assumed that it was because they might have wanted to absorb my aura or find out if I had any ounce of maliciousness in me. This might have been because of that last questions that one of the trees asked me: who am I and why am I doing what I'm doing?

I didn't think I'd be reflecting on my reasons for being here. Every case that I had been assigned, I just did my job and solved them. This was the first time where I had been asked to stay and try to investigate something deeper. Whatever Sir Jul (or Santa Claus) saw in me: the trees might have picked up on it, but I didn't. For now, I was still doing my job as an Operative and maybe hoping to make a difference.

I currently stared toward the nighttime sky as I sat against one of the wider trees. My butt was cold since my pants weren't exactly suitable for sleeping in snow, but the sound of the ocean waves in the background helped me get over that. I arrived almost five days ago, and this was the first time I was fully taking in the surroundings of the Noreski Isles. Every other day and night had gone by so quickly, that I only found time to absorb the details of possible culprits. I hadn't had time to absorb anything else.

Now I sat in the Wonderland Woods, noticing how the edges of the trees' branches twinkled beneath the stars that almost appeared to undulate up above. I had never seen such a phenomenon. It were as though the sky itself were a slow-moving ocean where some of the stars danced or moved like waves.

As I began to shift to my knees to admire them more, my ears picked up a crunch in the snow. Then another crunch. And another. My breath hitched as I held completely still. I didn't have many defensive skills except for my pepper spray, penknife, poison fairy dust, and a little bit of fae-style martial arts... Okay, maybe I had more skills than I thought I needed. Either way, I didn't believe I would need any of them in the formerly perfectly magical Noreski Isles.

I peeked around a few trees to try and see if I could discover the source of the crunching. For some strange reason, I had this small belief that the trees would protect me if any animal or whatever was coming after me. Then, on second thought, I found that to be a ridiculous idea because why would they care about an outsider like me? Any potential predator was native here and had all the right to make me its next meal. The trees didn't have any sort of obligation against the species that lived within them.

As I contemplated over whether to defend myself or not, a silhouette appeared some meters away. I froze on the spot, inspecting the rather lanky figure with...antlers? It didn't look like an elk, so maybe it was--

"The Horizon Effect," a juvenile-sounding male voice said.

I knew that voice. I knew that soft reddish glow. "Rudolph?"

The figure paused before releasing a small breath. "Yeah..."

I swallowed. "How..?" I dragged the word out, attempting to find a way to phrase my question. "I didn't know you were able to control the brightness of your...flames..." Okay, so I changed my question into a speculative statement.

"I somewhat can," Rudolph answered while taking another step forward, closer to the moonlight. "It usually depends on how I feel. If I'm angry or scared, everything can be...brighter...scarier..."

In case you aren't caught up yet, Rudolph didn't have a red nose as almost every outsider presumed. He—like the other reindeer—was a shapeshifter who lounged around shirtless in human form with antlers protruding from his temples. In Rudolph's case, he was slimmer than the other rather toned reindeer, his antlers were smaller, and his eyes and inside of his mouth held a fiery glow. When I first stumbled upon him, I learned that he was part dragon, which was still something I completely wanted to know about since I had never heard of a dragon-reindeer shifter before.

I imagined his flames becoming brighter as he mentioned. Then I gave a slight shake of my head. "That sounds more intriguing than scary...unless you're trying to hurt someone of course." I gave a short laugh to lighten the mood. I recalled that I gathered how he had not thought much of himself. He hadn't even believed that he contributed much to the North Pole. He didn't seem harmful though, especially if Santa Claus kept him around.

Rudolph's face seemed skeptical as he carefully stepped closer, the red glow in his mouth disappearing. From what I could see from my kneeling angle, his eyes held a faint orange tint to them--almost as if alive on their own.

When he seemed to hug at his own arms over his chest, I cleared my throat and diverted my attention from him and to the sky. "What was that you said earlier? Horizon Effect?"

"Horizon Effect," he repeated. "It's when the stars dance for you. At least they seem to dance for you. It's just...just an effect though...from the essence of Sir Jul and his ancestors that seeps into the atmosphere and protects us."

There was just something about the way he said that--about how he gazed up toward the sky so reflectively: it caused me to feel a tinge of that magic that the Noreski Isles were supposed to have. It also made me more curious about the history of this place.

I too peered upward. "To you, they're always dancing, aren't they?"

Through my periphery, I noticed Rudolph turn to me. "Why do you say that?"

I gave a one-shouldered shrug. "Call me a sucker for how others perceive things." I lowered my eyes to face him. "To me, these stars are waving...like the sea."

Perhaps it was a trick of the moonlight, or perhaps not, but I could have sworn that I noticed a tiny twitch of his lips that could have been discerned as an attempted smile. It was as I looked at him now that something came to me. "So...hmm...why'd you come here? Not to be rude, but I didn't really expect company. Did Santa send you?"

The boyish chuckle that fled him came as a surprise. "Santa," he repeated with him. "I keep forgetting that people out there still call him that."

"You don't hear it all the time when you--?" I instantly stopped, remembering that Rudolph had only participated once in driving the sleigh out into the world. Was it a world he never tried to explore later? He wasn't exactly tied to these Isles, was he? I couldn't think of those questions now because I still had to somehow find a way to finish my question without looking like an idiot.

And the only way I found out how to do that was by shaking my head and saying, "Never mind."

Rudolph made another distant amused sound. Then he looked off toward the now silent trees. "Sir Jul...or Santa...didn't send me. I came here because I've also wanted to know who or what's been the cause of these changes around here. After all of the recent anger and jealousy from everyone, it just hasn't felt the same. Now we had our first murder in what--over 200 years?" He swallowed and looked at me. "I want to find out more. And before you say no, I know you'll need my help in Kula. The elves there can be a little... Well, you'll see what I mean when we get there."

Kula, the elf village. I'd already had enough nonsense from the trees. I could only imagine what awaited me in an entire place where they didn't know me nor expected an outsider. If only I hadn't rushed into things. I should have spoken with the residents near Sir Jul's castle and maybe formed a small group or at least gotten information.

I was just so accustomed to doing things on my own.

I returned Rudolph's glance, noticing that faded orange touch to his eyes. They almost looked eerily peaceful. Not frightening at all.

"Since this probably isn't going to be a quick case," I started, "I guess you have a point. Having you along might work better in my favor. At least you know your way around."

I could almost swear that another barely formed indication of a smile appeared on his face, but it was too dark to tell.

"Just as long as you don't get in the way of my case," I said with a point.

Rudolph shook his head, that seemingly indicated smile still on his face. "No, of course not."

I nodded. "Good. Then I guess we have ourselves a deal." I glanced at him once more before stepping back towards the wide tree behind me. "In the meantime though, I think I should get some rest. Today's been a long day."

"The trees gave you a hard time?"

"Oh, so you know about that," I said with a playful roll of my eyes.

"They're just testing who you are," Rudolph told me. "If they allowed you to sleep here, then consider that a good first step." He moved toward one of the trees opposite me. "So get your rest. I'll keep watch."

"What? What about you?"

Rudolph waved me off. "I napped enough today. Get your rest. You're gonna need it for tomorrow."

For some reason, I didn't doubt that.

Thank you for reading! Below is the beginning chapter of this potential series!