"Wake up, wake up! C'mon, I got rid of the scary stuff, wake up already!"

 

"Heeeeeey, are you listening to me? Wake up!"

 

"Wakeupwakeupwakeupwakeup."

 

"You aren't listening to me, are you! You're ignoring me! That's mean!"

 

"I wanna ask you a question so wake up already!"

 

Elvira jolted awake as something poked her in her side. A small bush was sitting beside her, a branch jabbing her ribs. Why was she so sore, she wondered? She was in the boat, and then...

 

"You're awake! Finally!"

 

The elf tried to scramble away, pushing off the tree she had been leaning against with her left arm. As she landed her left arm gave out, she fell to the ground, a burst of pain coming from her ribs. The small bush unfurled, its branches bending backwards as it stood up to reveal a small wooden humanoid, barely a foot tall. The creature looked as if it had grown naturally, like a small tree that just happened to be shaped something like a person. The only detail besides its ability to move that gave away that it was anything else were the two spots of green light where a person would have eyes, the colour of moss.

 

"You're awake, you're awake! You should talk to me!"

 

The little creature didn't look very dangerous, but the elf wasn't exactly in shape to fight, nor did she have any weapons. An angry squirrel could probably kill her, let alone a clearly magical creature. It didn't seem aggressive, but she'd heard tales of strange creatures that lived in the trees and earth that were incomprehensible to normal people, either blessing or cursing people they came across based on some criteria only they understood. She had always thought the Fae were just a legend meant to scare children into staying away from the dangerous parts of the woods, but looking at the creature before her she could believe one of them had come out to talk. Grandpa Felaern had always said that every myth had a kernel of truth. If the old tales were to be believed the Fae favoured those they liked, but any that displeased them would meet a terrible fate. As long as she didn't make the little thing mad she would probably be fine, but if she did...

 

"Talk, talk! I have a question for you!"

 

"Alright," Elvria began cautiously, "but first, what are you?" Best to check if it was indeed Fae. The old myths had mentioned them trying to hide their identity at times, but usually they rewarded anyone smart enough to figure out who they truly were. A safe question, probably.

 

The creature cocked its head quizzically. "You're a child of the forest aren't you? Elf? You have elf ears and elf eyes! And an elf soul!"

 

"My... soul? What the fu-" the elf cut herself off, pausing to take a deep breath. She shouldn't shout at it, that might make it angry. "Yes, I'm an elf. What are you?"

 

"I'm a spirit! Elves should know spirits, we're friends!"

 

"But... Spirits look like-"

 

"Like this!" The two glowing orbs that mad up the creature's eyes lurched forwards, exiting its body and merging into a single ball of green light slightly larger than a fist. The body itself seemed to be drained of its vitality as the spirit left it, the bark turning grey and the leaves withering to nothing as it toppled over.

 

"I made a body! It makes it easier to talk! I'm really smart, right, right?" The green orb danced and flitted through the air, leaving a trail of green sparks as it went.  The thing did look almost identical to how spirits had been described to Elvira when she had been a child, not that she had ever seen one before. After a few moments of showing off the spirit returned to its wooden body, retaking its place within it. Slowly the colour returned to it, leaves regrowing in moments as it rose to its feet. "See, see? It's easier to talk like this!"

 

"Yeah," Elvira muttered, "you're brilliant."

 

Not Fae, then? She couldn't completely rule out the possibility, but it seemed to really be a spirit. It was said that elves and spirits had a special connection, that in a bygone era the elves had tended to a sacred tree from which the spirits were born. Some even said that elves were part spirit, that in that ancient time the blood of spirits and mortals had mixed to create her race. That era was long gone, the tree burned. However, elves and spirits still kept a special connection, few besides the elves could see the true body of a spirit. That didn't necissaraly mean she was safe, though, as spirits were said to be almost as fickle as the Fae. But it did seem to think of elves as friends, maybe she could convince it to help her?

 

"I know, I know!" The spirit was up in a moment, hopping from foot to foot in excitement. "Very very smart!"

 

"You... you're a spirit of life, right?" Elvira asked. Green was the colour of life magic, and spirits should follow the same colour scheme from what she knew.

 

"Yep yep! I like tree life more than meat life, but you're okay!"

 

"Meat..? Whatever, you can do healing magic, right? Can you heal me a bit?"

 

"Hmm, why?" The spirit seems genuinely curious as to why the elf would want it to heal her. "It takes power, and I have a job! The Mothers told me to find someone- Right, my question! I have to ask a question, you distracted me! How about this, if I heal you will you answer my question? You will, right, right?"

 

Before Elvira had a chance to respond the spirit placed its hand against her leg. Warmth spread through the elf's body from the place the spirit touched, but it was quickly followed by searing pain. It felt as if her blood had been replaced with ice water, pumping throughout her body and freezing her flesh. The spirit was entirely unperturbed as she writhed on the ground, bones being forcefully snapped back in place and cuts stitched closed. Once the wooden creature thought she would be able to respond to it, it asked its question.

 

"Do you know where the new champion is? You have some of the Mother's power on you, you must know them! Right, right? I have to check on them, the Mothers told me to!"

 

"The new champion?" Elvira forced the words out between pained breaths. "You mean-"

 

"Ah!" The little creature ran to Elvira's side, clinging to her leg. "Something's coming! Scary, like that!"

 

The creature pointed behind Elvira. She turned to find a mass of darkness lying in the middle of the forest. Definitely dark magic, and it looked similar to a spell Umbra had used before. "The thing that's coming, I think it-"

 

"It's almost here! Hide, hide!"

 

The roots of the tree Elvira had been leaning against burst from the ground, wrapping around the elf and spirit. More roots displaced the earth, creating a small hollow into which the two were pulled, the elf held in place as she struggled to get free. Yet more roots wove themselves together above the two, completely obscuring them from view.