The landscape was pure, unbroken white.    As a flurry of snowflakes fell from the sky, the grayish white of the clouds blended with the soft white of the fields of snow, a vast plane of frozen ice.  Trudging through the endless expanse of white was a single figure, wearing brown fur pelts that outlined them against the tundra.  

Taking struggling steps against the powerful flurries, Leora was beginning to regret having arrived at Sitara, the winters in this part of the country were far worse than anything she was used to.  Well, maybe that wasn’t entirely true, but even when the fair skinned elf was in colder climates, she would simply be moving from one warm building to the next, nothing like this.  She cursed herself for not having focused more on a graduation project while she was an underclassman.  Instead, she’d gone for the first project that presented itself, studying reports of isolated mages in the frozen wastes of northern Sitara.  No one else in her class had gone for it, and now here she was, alone and desperately trying to keep her magic up to avoid freezing to death, with no way out in sight.

Even in her warm boots and double layer of stockings, her feet were starting to go numb and tingly.  She wiggled her toes, brushing up against the lean bodies of her foot warmers, which were slowly starting to cool down themselves.  They were normally much more active and helpful, but she hadn’t been able to rest for three days, and the little things were probably unconscious.  Things were starting to look bad.  Gods, she just wanted to curl up by a fire and relax for an evening.  Her magic was already beginning to grow weak, soon she’d be in actual danger.  Hoping to extend her energy as long as possible, she reached for the leather pouch at her waist and fumbled around inside.  She was mildly happy to grab the squirming form of one of her emergency rations.  Pulling out the wriggling human boy, she didn’t even wait to hear his little squeaks before popping him into her waiting mouth.

The boy was quickly sealed into wet darkness, his arms trying to find purchase as Leora’s powerful tongue swept up from under him and pushed him harshly into the roof of her mouth.  He yelped as he was scraped across the smooth, firm surface and pressed up against something jagged like stone.  He kicked his legs, trying to push away, but the tongue easily shepherded him against the sharp edges.

Leora bit down on the boy’s arm, shattering it and allowing the warm blood to fill her mouth, sucking on him slightly as she enjoyed the coppery umami.  The slight squirming stopped, and soon the snack became flavorless and began to grow cold.  She unceremoniously swallowed, hoping that would tide over her stomach for a while.

Refocusing her efforts on moving forward, she continued to trudge towards a hill in the distance.  Currently there was literally nothing of note in any direction, no trees, no rocks visible beyond the mounds of snow.  If she could just get to that hill she might be able to see something off in the distance from the higher She was thankful for the many layers she was wearing, and thought back to how much effort she had put in disguising herself.  The heavy fur hat that covered her head, while necessary now that her hood was not enough to keep her warm, had originally simply been to hide her green hair and pointed ears that humans would notice.  Her emerald eyes were striking, but she’d been assured that it was something humans had as well, if a bit rare.  At 6’2’’ she was a bit tall for a human woman, but when she had initially arrived the humans in the towns had merely stared and not spoken to her.  Her slim figure was completely hidden the many layers of leather and fur.

The cold continued to seem to literally bite through her clothes as the wind picked up.  Her toes maneuvered around in her stockings, poking and prodding at her warmers, but it did little good.  She felt them barely move, then go limp again, so no luck there.  Gods, she was only now at the base of the hill, it had felt like forever.  She reached for her pouch again, this time dismayed as no matter how much her fingers searched, it was empty.  Her steps began to get sluggish and slower, her muscles gradually feeling heavier and heavier.  Was it because she was going uphill?  It was just so cold, she wanted to be anywhere but here, she wanted to be in a desert, surrounded by hot sand, or in a steamy tropical jungle.

She just wanted to be warm, warm and…

safe…

-

Leora slowly rose to wakefulness.  The snapping of a fire sounding next to her.  Several warm pelts were piled on top her, she was…

“Eep!”  She snapped to attention, sitting up suddenly as she looked at her surroundings.  She was in a rustic looking cabin room, there was a fireplace with a metal pot hanging over it nearby, where a stocky, middle-aged human brunette was stoking the flames.  The woman turned to look at her and smiled.

“Well, it looks like sleeping beauty is awake.  Don’t worry, you’re safe.  You’re lucky my Flevas was taking his route at this time, got you back before frostbite started.”  Her voice was kind, and helped put Leora at ease in spite of the course common tongue.  The elf hoped the elocution practice to hide her elven accent would work.

“Thank you very much.  My name is Tanya.” the elf lied, keeping .  “And you are…?”

“Name’s Pam dear.  Now let’s get you sitting up, where were you traveling from?”

Leora swung her legs out over the side of the bed, still a little nervous but thankful that she’d disguised herself well enough not to be recognized.  “I was coming from Donphas.”  That much was true, Donphas had been the last town she had been in.  Pam looked shocked.

“You’ve been walking alone from Donphas?  That’s days away!  By the gods it’s a miracle you’re alive!  What were you thinking?  Come on, come on, let’s get you something.”

Pam gently slide a wooden bucket down near Leora’s boots, it was filled halfway with water, still steaming in the cold air.  Leora felt unprepared for human customs and was not sure what the woman was expecting of her.

“Go ahead, soak your feet for a moment, can’t offer you a full bath in this cold but it’ll do wonders.”

Leora nodded and smiled at the woman, and began unlacing her boots.  As she slide off her socks, she was careful to make sure her warmers were still safely tucked away inside the musty cloth.  Rolling up her leather pant legs, she tested the water with her toes, then dipped both her feet inside.

“Ah…that feels so good.” She giggled a bit, it felt like all the anxiety she had was melting away.

“Alright, I got the deer fed.  Is our guest up yet?” A loud voice and a gust of wind interrupted as a gruff man, almost completely obscured between his heavy fur and bushy beard, entered into the cabin, before quickly sealing the door shut again, banishing the winds voice to a whisper outside the walls.

“Aye she’s awake.  Poor thing was walking alone from Donphas!” Pam exclaimed.  The man, presumably Flevas, took off his hat as he walked over to the fire, lifting the lid off of the pot and sniffing it.  “Ah, the stew smells ready love, I’ll…Donphas?  Were you traveling with anyone girl?  Did you get separated?”

“Ah…no, I was traveling by myself.”  Leora wasn’t sure how much she should lie, easier to stick to her story if it was mostly the truth.  Besides, the couple didn’t seem hostile.

“You’ll have to tell us more, but let’s do that over some stew.” Pam suggested. Moving quickly between the hearth and a large oak table, setting up places for the meal.  Leora dried her feet off with the edge of the furs on the bed and carefully put her stockings and boots back on, feeling considerably refreshed.  She sat down at the table, looking at the simple wooden bowl filled with some kind of stew, she was able to pick out root vegetables and some kind of fowl.

“Tanya, what were you doing out all alone?  Are you traveling somewhere?” Pam questioned as Flevas began eating.  Leora took a sip of the soup herself, it was a bit salty, but her stomach was glad for it all the same.

“Ah, well, I’ve been asked to pick something up from a mage that lives near here.  But I’m afraid I don’t quite know where he is…” She hoped this wouldn’t be too suspicious.

“Mage eh?  There’s some wizards out West of here, spooky lot, never seem to leave their caves.”  Flevas snorted.  “Whoever sent you should be ashamed, sending a single lass out without even knowing quite where she’s going.”

“Then you know where they are?” Leora’s green eyes lit up.

“That I do.  I’m not sure how I feel about you leaving again, but I suppose the caves aren’t too far from here, do you have a map?”

Leora had thankfully packed a map with common markings in it.  She opened her travel bag and searched around a bit, eventually finding the thin roll of parchment and placing it down on the table for Flevas to look at.  The gruff human rolled open the map and peered at it for a moment, his ruddy nose almost touching the paper.  Then he leaned back and pointed.

“Here it is, you’ll find the caves about here.”

Leora studied the map for a moment.  If he was correct, it would only take her about half a day’s travel to make it there.  After that she didn’t have a great plan of action, it was her goal to study the mages after all, but hopefully she’d be able to live among them for a bit.

“Thank you so much!  First you saved my life, now you’re helping me…what do I owe you?”

Pam waved her hand dismissively.  “It’s just hauling you up here and letting you share some soup.  Nothing to it.  Have to watch out for each other out here.”

Leora was touched, this level of kindness was positively elven.  She hadn’t given humans much thought when she was back in Elsira, but she was starting to appreciate the elves who said they were fascinating and complex creatures.

“Thank you so much!” Leora chirped.

“Think nothing of it, just be more careful alright?” Pam chided gently.  “It’s late, you can sleep on the extra bed, and head out in the morning.”

“This is a trading outpost, so after you get whatever it is your employer wants you to pick up, you can come back here and wait for someone shipping something to Donphas.  Much safer that way.” Flevas added cheerfully.  He took a flask out from under his sleeve and uncorked it, taking a swig.

“I’ll be sure to be a lot more careful this time.” Leora smiled.  Sipping at the hot stew again, she sighed happily as she felt her strength returning to her.  This was going to work out after all.

-

Early in the morning Leora was soon at the cabin doorway, studying the camp outside.  It was indeed a small trading outpost, it only looked to have a couple dozen people milling about, and no children to be seen anywhere.  Probably people only lived here for stints at a time.  Aside from a few small cabins like the one she had spent the night in there were some large buildings that seemed to be barns, or perhaps warehouses, and some stables with some species of elk, it made sense that they’d travel by sled with how deep the snow got here.  Pam and Flevas were still asleep, humans DID sleep a lot.  Well, Leora thought to herself, no use sitting around, time to get ready to go.

Flevas was startled awake by the feeling of being lifted up off the ground.  “What the…”

“Flevas, Flevas help me!” He tried to move but his arms and legs had nothing to grip on, he snapped his head towards the sound of Pam’s voice and saw her kicking and squirming, with two columns holding her up by her back.  He instinctively reached up towards his back, and felt something thick and powerful gripping him there.

“What’s going on?  Are you alright love?!” He shouted, still not quite sure what to do in this situation.  Before he could come up with a plan of action, he felt himself being dragged through the air, until he and Pam had stopped in front of a massive pair of shining, emerald eyes.  A thunderous giggle echoed around him.  He was completely at a loss for words.  Pam found her voice before he did.

“T…tanya?” The little woman managed to spit out.

“My name’s Leora, actually.  Sorry about lying yesterday.”  The girl’s voice was unchanged, but magnified to a degree where it seemed to be coming from all around them.  “Thank you again for helping me out, not sure what I would have done without you both!  So don’t worry, I’ll keep you both safe.”

The shrunken couple was too dumbfounded to say anything, ask anything.  Why was everything so big?  Why was this girl doing this to them?  A loud, melodic humming filled the air.

As Leora sung idly to herself she sat down on the bed and placed the couple in her lap.  She felt a little guilty about this but these two would have to learn their place one way or the other, and this would probably get the point across without her having to deal with any harsh training.  Their little squeaky sobs were getting irritating though, time to put them somewhere warm.  Opening her socks she dropped Pam into her left stocking, and Flevas in her right.

Pam screamed bloody murder as she fell down into the dark tunnel, the air moving quickly from crisp and cool to humid, warm and dank.  The side of her arm caught on a wall of cloth and soon she was sliding down it, until she landed on a thick, damp cloth floor.  The entire thing was swaying, and by the light shining in from the hole above, she was able to see the fine brown cloth, and…

“Oh gods!” She cried as she tried to back away, merely pressing up against the side of the prison.  In front of her was a lean, naked woman with unkempt hair, the original color hard to tell as it was matted to her.  She was sucking on the cloth, looking up briefly at Pam with a vacant expression.  The light was blotted out as the pale, dainty foot of Pam’s new owner entered the mouth of the sock.  As the warm skin pressed against her and began pushing her further into the sock, the dank smell was momentarily overpowered by a fresh, almost floral scent.  Soon Pam was completely stuck, the other little woman disappeared behind some wall of darkness.

Leora carefully slid her socks on, now feeling two pairs of little warmers get wedged between her waiting toes.  She hoped she remembered to feed them, she wanted to make sure she could keep the couple for a long time, a reminder of the dangers she had survived on this journey.  Leaving the cabin, she began to walk around the little outpost, gathering supplies for the sled she was going to ride up to the mages’ location.  Sometimes a human would appear and begin shouting at her for stealing or the like, but with a momentary incantation they were soon added to her rations pouch, which was soon stuffed with nearly two dozen of the little treats.  She leashed an elk to the sled, the smallest she could find, and began leading it out.

A little sob.

Then another.

Leora’s long ears twitched from within her hat, she tied the elk’s harness to a nearby post and quickly entered one of the barns.  She scanned around the the barrels and crates, it was around hear somewhere…

“Ah ha!  Gotcha!”  Quickly muttering the incantation, she walked up to the huddling forms of 3 more humans, they must have been hiding.  Reaching down and scooping them up in her leather glove, she wondered if any more would fit in her pouch, the last few were already pushing up against the edges, she didn’t want to squish any of them, they tasted much better live.  Ah!  That was it!

Damian was still shell shocked.  He knew he had been shrunk, they had seen it happen to others, managed to hide.  But he still couldn’t quite process that he was now a bug in the hand of this terrible woman.  The leather walls of the glove shifted around him and soon he and his friends were being pressed up against a metal wall.  Two of the fingers curled in an unnaturally delicate manner, pinning them against the palm, while the other fingers began working on the metal object, some kind of tower, before eventually removing a screwed in top, releasing a cascade of steam.  Suddenly he found himself positioned above the steam, and then falling into the warm air.  His descent was abruptly stopped as he landed in some kind of warm, thick muck.  His legs kicked to try and keep himself afloat but he found himself sinking into the goop.  He heard the gasps of Titus and Layla nearby, but could not clearlly see them due to the thick steam.  A god-like voice echoed above them.

"Ah, that should fix up the flavor of Pam's stew quite nicely." Leora screwed her thermos shut again and placed it back at her belt.  Returning back to the sled, she untethered the elk and began to walk out of town, her toes toasty warm from the struggles of her new friends.

Her new adventure was just beginning.