I turn and try to flee but I’m too packed into the crowd, so now all I get for my overwhelming terror are some harsh words and some shoves pushing me back into place. I turn back to look at the witch and see that it's too late to do anything now though.

I had seen the Wizard in the tower. Bluey as well. But I hadn’t really seen it yet, I hadn’t really seen magic.

I see it now.

She’s glowing, scratch that, she’s shining. I can’t understand the power she’s wielding but I can feel it. It’s magnificent. Growing as she gets brighter and brighter.

It’s not long before it has reached its peak. Whatever's going to happen is going to happen and there’s nothing I can do. I close my eyes and brace myself, but even doing that can’t stop the light flooding into me.

I had expected pain, I had dreaded death, but it's… warm? I open myself up to it in time to feel the light fading away from my senses and see as everything in the square comes back into focus. I reassess myself and I realise... I feel good. I feel really good. I feel energetic, happy, and fresh. Everything feels more wonderful than it was before, maybe magic can be...well...magical. I look up to see the witch and I can see a smile on her face.

The crowd explodes. It looks like I’m not the only one who feels good as everyone starts yelling and cheering, whatever it is they are yelling and cheering. The excitement is clear in their voices. It’s electric. I feel like I’m in a massive audience and the band has just played their number one hit and everyone’s riding the euphoria, only this is even greater.

The cheering lasts for a while before it fades away as it was bound to I guess. Who I’m fairly certain are the city's leaders, begin to move about and start to come together in front of the town hall, waving at the people before they all shuffle back into the building behind them. The crowd stops cheering but the excitement is still there and even I am feeling it. Time passes however and the crowd starts to slowly but surely thin out before I’m finally able to make my way out of the crowd.

I’m out, but I’ve got nowhere to go. With no better options, I simply decide to go check out the ocean side of the city and see what it’s like.

It takes a few hours and I get turned around a few times but I eventually make it to the water.

It’s worth it though.

Sure. It’s a sight I have seen before and it’s not particularly outstanding to me anymore but for however long I was stuck in that tower there had been no fresh air and especially no cool sea breeze.

It’s still different of course. There’s wooden ships docked all the way along in what I recognise is all a port, all the way along the coastline of the city. But it doesn’t matter to me because all though it's not what I’m used to seeing and its smells maybe just a little bit different; the ocean is still the same.

I had lived all my life right next to it, swam in it and even travelled through it to this new world and it’s something I can understand as I make my way forward.

There’s more people filtering down from the festival to the ports now and with nowhere to go, and no goals to accomplish for now, I turn left and start walking along the port. I watch the ships, how they bob and jostle and with what must be the remains of whatever spell the witch had cast over me, I start to enjoy myself as if I’m a tourist in this place just taking in the sights.

***************************************************************************************************************

I have been walking for hours now, taking in the sights of the city and now, the Sun is starting to set over the water.

For over two hours I had walked along the shore line before I ran into what must have been some sort of privately owned section of the harbour as there were men there fitted out in armor stopping me from going any further. With that obstruction, I turned around and walked back the way I came and after getting back to where I started from I just kept walking. From there, what felt like another four hours passed and I had made it to the edges of the city, onto a sandy beach.

I had seen some different buildings, different ships, different people and I had started to get a feel for the town. I’m at the edge of the city now and there’s a big river in front of me that I hadn’t noticed before from my previous vantage point back on that hill in the city. I can’t see across it clearly but I can see along it. There’s a wide section of grasses and bushes between the river and city which, as of yet, remain undeveloped.

Next to that I can see another compulsory element of every fantasy world and a part of almost every major city on Earth as well. Slums.

They aren’t for as far as the eye can see but they do take up a big section of the city as far as I can tell. The infrastructure that is standing looks pretty old, so it might just be the old and rotting parts of the town that got left behind as the city grew.

But let’s put that aside for now. I’m still feeling pretty damn good which is giving me a positive enough mindset but even I have to admit the eight extra hours in the day have made me pretty tired.

I have no idea what it’s like to sleep in the city at night so I’m not going to risk it. Instead, I’m going to risk sleeping out in the open in an unfamiliar natural environment with who knows what kind of predators. I can understand the dangers, but I think it will all be alright.

I begin searching for whatever most closely resembles shelter while keeping an eye out for any sign of movement in the grass and the bushes. Eventually I stumble across a half decent tree that must be the biggest for miles around. With the light fading and not wanting to risk sleeping on the ground I give the tree as much of a shake as I can before I start climbing up it.

As I climb I make sure to look for any bugs, snakes or any other animal that can hide up a tree, but it seems to be clear. I find a good perch for myself between three branches and set myself down.

I know I’m likely to fall out of the tree whilst I’m sleeping so I unbuckle my belt and buckle it up again around my torso and one of the tree branches I’m leaning against. It doesn’t take me long before I’m settled in and the Sun is fully setting.

I look through the branches and I see not one, not two, but three moons, all different sizes to the one I’m familiar with hanging amongst a starry sky.

I gaze up at them, going over them with my eyes, trying to find something familiar either the moons or stars and as I do so, I drift off to sleep.