Scent of Nymphs

A short hike through the forest brought the two young mages to the glade Troy had found. At first they hardly noticed the trees become sparse because the mist was so thick under the leafy canopy, but once the wind was able to reach the forest floor it swept away the bulk of the mist. What remained were white tendrils that flowed through the air, revealing brief glimpses of grass and a frozen pond only to obscure them again a second later.

Troy raised his wand and the breeze turned into a gale, clearing their view so they could take in the entire glade at once. It was a small circle of grass and bushes between the tall trees, with a pond in the middle. Jutting out of the ice at the far end of the pond was a spire of dark rock. Troy pointed it out and they both approached. "This is just the kind of rock frost nymphs like to rest on. Can you sense anything?"

Helena peered at the rock, noticing all the outcroppings and platforms scattered over its two meter height. They would make decent holds for a climber, as well as perfect resting places for a little nymph. Indeed, she spotted a tuft of grass lodged in one of the rock's deeper crevices; what remained of a nymph's bedding?

Helena asked her crush for a boost, and Troy crouched at the pond's edge to help his familiar up. Sticking her nose in the crevice, Helena sniffed at the grass. Nothing really sprang out at her, but there was an unusually crisp smell to it. As if the grass had just been plucked from the dirt, rather than being dead for days. Was that it? If so, she was going to have a hard time following the scent through a landscape full of fresh plants.

But she had to try anyway. Dropping down from the rock, Helena started walking in a circle to take in all the scents of the glade.

"Did you get something?" Troy asked, and she noticed he had stayed by the spire. He was leaning against it and watching her as she went.

"Maybe? I'm not sure yet." Helena hadn't smelled that crispness anywhere in the glade, so she moved on to sniffing the trees at its edge.

Only once she had walked the full circumference did she turn back to speak to Troy. "I had something on that rock. I can't smell it anywhere else, but I noticed something like it. At the treeline it all smells like cold bark and earth, but right here that smell is... crisper. That could be what the book was describing."

"It's the only lead we have. Might as well follow it," Troy said. "And it's more than I found, so great work."

Helena smiled at the praise. She noticed her tail was swishing behind her without her input. A part of her hoped Troy thought that was endearing, since it's not like she could stop it without holding it still with her hands. Her ears twitched at the mental image, and she quickly redirected her thoughts. "Great! This way, then."

She waited for Troy to join her so they could leave the glade together.

Helena shuddered when she stepped into the shade. Knowing the boy she liked was walking made her feel her warm on the inside, but her outside was another matter. Not only was it dark, it was also moist now that they were surrounded by wet mist again. The swirling tendrils obscured her sight even more than the dense foliage already did, but the smell was clear. At least for now, it was easy to follow.

But the further they went, the more animate the mist was. Instead of stilling their movements, as they should have with the wind blocked by trees, its tendrils seemed to circle the advancing duo. They wrapped around Helena's legs, making her shiver, and at one point she felt a very uncomfortable draft go up her skirt, reminding her that she had nothing on beneath it.

When she sqeaked and clenched her legs together, she heard a faint, high-pitched giggle.