III

With every step, Elanor's doubts rang louder in her mind, but she did not turn around and kept running swiftly back to the cottage. She tried to stay focused and shove away any guilt that was chasing her, trying almost to outrun it, but with no success. 

If I want to save Lumi, I can't be reckless and must take supplies with me. Neither of us would survive if I just jumped after him. Please, let me not be too late!..

One, of course, should never eat faery food if you intend to come back. Elanor was planning on the go what to grab so that not a single second is wasted once she reaches home.  She could already see her house ahead and was trying to ignore how dry her mouth was and the nausea from running for so long. Ten more steps, nine, eight-

Finally inside, Elanor grabbed her backpack, loaded it with two entire boxes of energy bars, some cheese, and all the remaining rye bread, which was just half of a loaf. She moved around frantically and kept tripping and bumping into chairs and corners, too hurried to care. A couple of bottles of water were the last to go inside her backpack; she put on a winter jacket, grabbed a woollen scarf from the closet, and sprinted back into the forest, not even bothering to lock the door.

Elanor tried to mentally trace back the path through the woods while rushing forward, much slower due to exhaustion and thirst, to the forest edge. She realized there was no need; the fireflies she was ignoring while chasing after her Samoyed were even brighter after the sunset, and she followed their trail to the exact meadow where her dog disappeared just less than half an hour ago. 

She approached the circle of glowing, pulsating mushrooms on the bottom of the valley and stood still, watching them, catching her breath. Now that her pulse was not drowning out every other sound, she noticed how silent the forest truly was. Her hands started shaking.

If I keep standing here, fear will get the best of me. It's time...

She closed her eyes and stepped forward. 

***

Immediately, Elanor felt like she was inside a tornado; she was too scared to open her eyes and check if she was lifted from the ground by this whirlwind, but it was over in a few heartbeats. Her light brown hair was blown wild and messy by the portal. Elanor was blushing, colour of her cheeks contrasting against the green of her jacket. She was breathing with life, looking alien here, and the woods had gone still, expectant.

With a deep breath, Elanor opened her eyes and looked around. This was without a doubt a different forest: tall twisted trees rose tall, covering the skies, so there was no telling what time of day it is. Thick trunks were of a maroon shade, rusty coloured moss covered most of their surface like a disease. Some trees were wrapped in spiky vines that ran like veins along their length and into the branches. 

"Lumi?!" breathed Elanor, her gaze restless, scanning the surroundings for any trace of a fluffy white canine. She called again louder, even though she feared it might draw the attention of the unknown forest dwellers. There were no traces of him on the ground: the floor was covered with a carpet of red brown leaves that were unnaturally silent under her steps.

A silly thought crossed her mind.

If it's a proper magic world, maybe I could talk to animals and ask for directions?

There didn't seem to be any around, but she spotted a crow a few trees away. The bird did not fly away when Elanor approached, and she asked, embarrassed already:

"Hello, have you seen a big white dog running by?"

A coarse cow echoed in response.  

Well, that happened. Let's put the shame of this encounter in the farthest corner of the Earth, along with the hopes I'm a fairy tale princess... Am I technically still on Earth?

That's when Elanor realised she had just made eye contact with someone with a tiny face, watching her from the opposite tree. The creature was hard to spot since its body was seamlessly blending into the trunk. She got a better look only because the little one immediately moved and took off, crawling around to hide from the weird human. 

"Wait! Please!.." cried Elanor, following what probably was a fae. "Have you seen a white dog running through these woods?"

But the unknown faery fled without a trace. For some time, Elanor walked around in search of any hidden friends of the frightful creature she had briefly met, but to no avail. 

Why, why, why did I not jump after Lumi right away?! This was a mistake. Where am I supposed to find him now?..

She could no longer will herself to brush the panic off and broke down in tears. She dumped her heavy backpack on the ground, dropped to her knees beside it and began sobbing. Perhaps a good cry was just what she needed, because soon her voice softened, then slowly the sobbing faded into the quiet of these strange silent woods.

Elanor finally got up, wiped her face and dove into action. First she confirmed that stepping in the spot where she came from does not activate the portal to Sefloss. It also did not change location to anywhere on this clearing. 

Second, she searched for a tree that suits best for climbing and attempted to get a better understanding of the area from the height, but that also had proven fruitless: this part of the woods was too dense to see anything far enough to be useful. 

Back on the ground, however, Elanor saw in a slight distance a firefly, and having nowhere else to go set course to follow it. She was nervously excited, hoping that since Lumi ran after it initially, she might be on the right way; but after some time she lost sight of the bug and continued moving to the best of her ability in set direction. After what felt like hours, something white peeked between the trees ahead, and Elanor hastened forward.