Tell her your name

“I’m Fina,” she mumbled and inched closer to the water again.

“Fiinna,” the water sprite repeated and her tiny wings fluttered excitedly. Her wings seemed slightly bigger than a fairy’s wings and glowed even stronger.

Fina nodded shakily. “Y-yes.”

“Why are you so alone out here, Fiinna?”

Fina swallowed. “My…my village got destroyed by Kretchers -”

The water sprite widened her tiny eyes. “Oooh, Kretchers are very dangerous.”

Fina nodded. She could feel her fear growing with the sprite’s words. “What shall I do?”

The water sprite gazed at her and frowned her bluish-silver glimmering forehead. “I would say…go to the South. There is a town where you can find shelter. Maybe even work.”

“South?” Fina repeated and frowned. “Where…?”

The water sprite pointed to the right. “There. Go there. The faster you reach the town the better…” With those words the water sprite vanished back into the water making a splashing sound.

“Ah…thank you.” Fina bent down to look where she had gone but there was nothing to be seen. “Strange,” she mumbled and carefully stood up. Her legs shivered with the cold and her thin dress offered almost no protection against it. She gazed around, trying see anything in the darkness. The moonlight gave the canopy a sparkling look, but didn’t produce so much light. She looked down at herself. “If I had at least shoes.”

Should she go to the South right now or wait until the morning? If she waited too long, it could be dangerous, after all she didn’t know whether the Kretchers were following her. But the dark forest was surely more dangerous than with daylight.