The day after Saint Nicholas' Day, something had changed at the North Pole. The air seemed softer, as if a subtle warmth had crept in among the snowflakes. Even the morning light seemed different, more golden, as if a fragrance from elsewhere still lingered in the workshop.
The reindeer, however, were no longer the same. They trotted in the snow in wide circles, sniffing the wind, straining their ears towards the horizon. Even Comet, usually so calm, seemed agitated. An invisible murmur seemed to pass over them, a breath that carried the trace of a still-fresh human magic.
Rudolf stepped forward, his red muzzle shining with a deep light the elves had never seen before. He called Pipette, Ludo, and Groubelin in a deep, unusual voice.
"Something is moving across the sky," he said slowly. "Human magic. It's looking for something... or someone."
Pipette nodded, her heart still heavy from what she had glimpsed the day before in the portal.
"Saint Nicholas left a red thread in the light," she whispered. "It looked like the one on Santa's hat."
Groubelin opened the Magic Compass. For the first time since the start of the investigation, the needle wasn't spinning wildly. It moved slowly, cautiously, as if carried by an ancient breath. And it pointed straight toward a place no one had ever dared to explore:
the world of humans.
Ludo shivered.
"Do you think the hat... could be over there?"
Rudolf inclined his head, majestic.
"Or that a human force can help us find it. But we must understand what is calling us. And for that, we must come together."
Then the reindeer arranged themselves in a circle in the center of the clearing, forming a silent ring around the three elves. The snow began to glisten beneath their hooves. A warm breath rose from the ground, as if the earth itself were holding its breath to hear their decision.
The Council was about to deliberate.
And somewhere, far away from the North Pole, another light had just been switched on.
The Quello Christmas Calendar continues tomorrow, with one more step towards the world of humans.