VI

The rider was tall with broad shoulders and curved horns. He turned his head to look at Eleanor and Lumi for a moment; no water seemed to be dripping from his clothes, and the girl guessed that his horse must be a Kelpi.

The rider was too far to make out any details, and he took off in silence, hooves of his horse clattering gently on the rocks. Elanor fished her short mushroom knife from her supplies and moved it into the pocket of her pants to have at hand if wild animals attacked her. Wolf howls were sometimes audible from different directions.

"No one would speak to me in this strange place. Are you leading me back to the clearing from which we arrived? I looked, and there was no portal back," complained Elanor to Lumi.

Samoyed only licked her face in reply. Elanor rose to her feet, adjusted the backpack, and her dog strolled past some beautiful tall ferns, and the waterfalls soon were left behind. They walked through a shadowy alder forest, the freshness of the wind making it a pleasant trip, nothing like the mad rush and horrific perils of last night. 

In time, they came upon a real path, at first a simple trail twisting and turning among the alders, then more of a cobblestone one, and Elanor was anticipating coming to a dwelling or a village. 

Maybe I can bargain with someone to show me a way out? The highlands looked very Scottish. I wonder if that's where Lumi and I will end up if I find any portals here?

The trail was taking them through what Elanor thought was an orchard, but she noticed, when paying more attention, that the "fruit trees" were flower stems, and to her shock, the more she looked, the more evident it was that either they shrank to the size of garden bees, or they walked into a land of massive plants. Confused, she searched for actual bees, butterflies, or any bug that normally is tiny, but she found no living creature until much later at the crossroads, where a green-skinned elvish kid flew past her on a sparrow, followed by his friends riding a frog and a hedgehog. 

Lumi was not bothered in the slightest, and Elanor kept following him, spotting a fae with a cart that was set up in the manner of a street kiosk under the shadow of a tree-sized dandelion. She was hoping that the fae could give her hints on where to cross back to the human world, or, if anything, would not try to dance her to death.

The merchant was reading a book, leaning onto the dandelion stem with the effortless grace she could see on the covers of magazines. His face looked young and much similar to humans than the faeries Elanor had the displeasure to meet yesterday. He was lean, dressed in a long, elegant purple shirt that fell to his thighs, embroidered with birds and bound with an intricate belt at his slender waist. The belt was made of leather and covered in golden tinsel ornaments; multiple golden chains of different lengths were attached to the bottom rim, some fixed to the belt, while others dangled off with charms and stones on the ends. Elanor felt grateful that he was reading a book, and she could take in all of his luscious accessories and unusual features. His green hair was falling to his shoulders in loose curls, and his long, pointy ears peeked out, rich with multiple piercings. His skin was tanned, golden freckles, spread here and there, shone under the light on his face, arms and chest. Everything was magical about him; his simple presence was spilling charmed air around, and Elanor was anxious that she was getting put under a spell. His long green lashes trembled, and he looked up at them from his book with his dark eyes. 

Unattended Lumi approached the stall and began to sniff around, Elanor noticing just in time how he almost sampled some of the merchant's food. Scared, she tugged on the leash and called the Samoyed back.

"Do not worry, my lady. No harm will come to your friend from the fae food," said the merchant. His voice was youthful and warm. Elanor secretly admired how handsomely the fae's eyes lit with a mischievous glimmer.

"Would he not be trapped in Fae if he eats it?" hesitantly asked Elanor.

"That is a fair assumption. But some animals can traverse the worlds, and the same rules do not apply to them as they do to us. Often, cats can travel through planes when they wish, so some dogs bear this talent too."

"Th- that is very helpful to know," Elanor almost said, "thank you", but corrected herself. Legends claim that some faeries take gratitude as a sign that the bargain was accepted and demand things in return.

"How else may I be helpful to you, lovely lark?" asked the stranger and smiled teasingly. 

"I am looking for a way back to the human lands. My dog Lumi jumped into a mushroom ring, and I had to follow. Now I need to get back home, my... lord? What- How should I call you?" She almost said the wrong thing again. A true name to faeries holds so much power that it's simply rude to ask for it. Obviously, one should not offer their true name to the folk either. 

The fae looked amused; he must have picked up on Elanor's attempts at faery rules. 

"Lumi, you said? What a gorgeous creature he is. Call me Talvi*, then. And I shall call you Little Lark," she knew then that "Talvi" was playing with her, like many fae loved to do with humans. 

"Lark, or Lara then, if you prefer," smiled Elanor, determined to play along and stay vigilant to the dangers of trusting a handsome tease, until she is safely home. It was useless to deny, however, how fun it felt to be the object of flirting for this tall, witty stranger. Now that he was standing in front of her and not leaning behind the stall, she could see he was a whole head taller than her, with long limbs that had to look awkward in combination, but instead were giving him an elegant demeanor of a scholar or a poet who is unaware of his charm. Although Talvi was definitely aware of it and was shamelessly proud.

"Well met, lady Lara," he said, taking her hand gently with his, letting Elanor notice his fingertips up to the mid flanges were painted with gold, as if dipped into stardust. Talvi bent lightly at his waist, giving the girl a bow, and kissed her hand. 

* Talvi - Finnish for "winter".