Curious carvings

Experiencing the beauty and calmness of the town after the first leg of our trip was refreshing. It felt good to have some time to myself, some time to think.

Before I knew it, half an hour had gone by with no other sounds apart from birds and rustling leaves. Something, however, caught my attention.

I came across a fork in the road which had strange carvings. Tiny stone carvings of bears. Moss covered some of them, but others were freshly polished. Curious, I decided to follow that turn. Was there a shrine or a temple perhaps?

A few minutes later, the path entered a forest and curved towards a cave. As I approached it, a stag walked in front of me, but not just any stag. A beautiful stag, its antlers draped in flowering vines, and little birds perch on them without fear. For a few second I followed it with my eyes before returning my gaze to the cave.

I almost gasped as I noticed two young night elves looking at me. They were barefoot, their hair was loose and had a concerned expression on their face.

“You’re late”, they said.
“Late? What do you mean?”
“We expected you days earlier”, the response came, but it clarified nothing.
“I... what? I was not aware of anyone expecting me.”
“It does not matter. Come.”