Finn pushed forward through the snow until she reached the pair of women sitting on the rock.
"Mayra, am I hallucinating? Did we run out of air in our little cave, and my mind broke?" She asked slowly.
"This is Gwen," Mayra said, as if that explained everything.
"Good Morning, Gwen," Finn found the situation bizarre but was willing to be polite. Surely it didn't hurt to be polite to a figment of her addled imagination.
"Good Morning, Serafina!" The old woman greeted her with enthusiasm. Her hair was a soft grey, and lay about her shoulders in a carefree manner. She wore a lightweight mossy-green gown, and her bare feet dangled below the hem, swinging slightly like a child who is sitting in a chair too tall for their feet to reach the floor.
"Are you not cold?" Finn asked, glossing over the part where this strange old woman on top of a mountain knew her name. Maybe Mayra had already told her. Maybe the cold had messed with Finn's mind and none of this was real. Maybe she was still asleep in the cave and this was a weird dream.
"It's not a dream," Gwen said with an amused grin.
Finn flinched. Had she spoken out loud?
Gwen laughed, and Mayra joined in. Finn gave a nervous chuckle, still very confused.
"It's all right, Finn. Gwen won't hurt us. I dreamed all of this last night." Mayra stated confidently.
"You what?" Finn asked.
"I met Gwen in my dream last night. She's very kind. She's Fae, and she'll take us to her home."
"I'm clearly not awake. None of this is making any sense at all." Finn tried to wipe her face, only to be reminded that her mittens were still caked in snow from her tumble.
"You poor things, frozen half to death. Come!" Gwen clapped her hands, and a bright door appeared before them. At the Fae's urging, they stepped through.
The snow under their feet shimmered and transformed into soft, lush grass. The sky's grey clouds dissipated into a blue that rivaled the purest glaciers. Trees appeared, heavy laden with fruit and flowers.
Mayra smiled from ear to ear, seemingly already familiar with the strange place around them.
She reached up and took a piece of fruit. Finn opened her mouth to protest on several grounds: one, she didn't know what the fruit was, it could be poisonous, two, they didn't know who it belonged to and that might be stealing, and three, wasn't it terribly rude to assume that would be all right for her to do?
Gwen laughed, and pulled her along faster toward the middle of the plateau. No more was the giant's skeleton; in its place a small row of round-topped houses.
"I don't mean to be rude, Gwen," Finn tentatively said, "but may I ask who you are, where in the world we are, and what is happening?"
"You're cold, child. Come, take your coat off and have something to eat." Gwen helped Finn out of her heavy winter coat and mittens. Oddly, as soon as they were off, Finn did feel warmer.
Gwen pressed a piece of fruit into her hands. Though part of her was still wary of all these strange happenings, she cautiously took a small bite. Energy flooded through her, and her muscles and bones, aching from weeks of sleeping on the ground and climbing all day, felt sudden relief from the pain.
Finn flexed and stretched, enjoying it but still confused.
"Thank you, you're very kind," Finn didn't repeat her questions, no matter how great the temptation to do so was. Her hostess was being very welcoming and she didn't want to be rude in return.
Gwen laughed. "No need to worry about rudeness, though it's very sweet of you. I would invite you inside, but I think the sunshine is quite pleasant, don't you? Let's sit and talk out here."
The sun was indeed nice and soothing on Finn's face. Mayra sat on the grass, still munching on her fruit, and the other two women joined her.
Finn waited as patiently as she could for the strange woman--or Fae-- to begin speaking.
"We're impressed you made it this far," She smiled. "Most of the few who intend to try to find us turn back before even reaching the first peak."
"We were exiled," Offered Mayra around a bite of the succulent and strange fruit, "we couldn't turn back."
Finn wished Mayra wouldn't be such an open book to strangers. Or a stranger. Why had Gwen said 'we'? There was no one else present that Finn could see.
"The others are staying out of sight for your comfort. They thought you might be overwhelmed by too many strangers at once after your solitary journey," Gwen offered, answering the unspoken question.
Finn's brow creased. Gwen's habit of answering her thoughts instead of her words was slightly unnerving. Having her mind read put her on edge. What if she accidentally thought something offensive, or a secret she wanted to not have known?
"I don't mean to unnerve you, child," Gwen said, "put yourself at ease. I am neither easily offended, nor is there much you know that I do not."
Comforting. Very comforting. Finn cringed at the sarcastic thought, but Gwen smiled larger.
"I will do my best to only answer your spoken words, but it may be difficult for me. We don't speak that much verbally amongst ourselves." The Fae leaned back on her hands.
"Where are we?" Finn finally asked.
"Faeland." Gwen said simply. "It is a world parallel to yours, pleasant and bright and fertile. We are its primary inhabitants. You came to the doorway on the mountain, and I opened it for you."
"Another world? Like the place Rhone uses?" Finn squinted. Jimmy had described the world he went to as dark and quiet.
"The Rhone are lost. They believe they are found, but they have yet to find the true light," Gwen smiled sadly.
"Is that a yes?" Finn took another bite of her fruit. At least Gwen wasn't demanding favors of her while being cryptic, as Jimmy usually did.
"The Rhone go to a world permeated by dark. It has invaded their souls, and they will never be free until they can truly leave it behind." Gwen said.
"They're not free?" This was news to the girls.
"At first they were trapped through little fault of their own. Now they remain in chains because they refuse to cast them off."
Finn was sure she didn't understand a word of what Gwen was saying, but pressed on.
"We need help. A lot of help really, but to start, we think our friend Roland might be held captive by the Rhone, in the other world they go to. We were hoping you could... check for us, please?" Finn smiled beseechingly.
"He is not in the Darkness, but another is wandering there. Would you like us to retrieve him?" Gwen tilted her head.
"Yes?" Finn wasn't sure what Gwen meant.
"Please excuse me for a moment." She nodded her head and disappeared through another door.
"I'm very confused," Finn turned to Mayra, who was still happily snacking on the fruit.
"I was too, but it's fine. They are kind and altruistic. They'll do what's best." Mayra smiled.
"How can you possibly know that??" Finn was growing frustrated with the other girl's confidence and comfort while she herself felt flustered and out of sorts.
"I told you, I dreamed of them. Gwen came and took me to this place, and we talked. It was indescribable, comforting, and magical. When I woke with you back in the giant's skull, I was crushed that such a beautiful experience was only a dream. But then, I saw her footprints, and I knew." Mayra beamed. "And here we are!"
"That doesn't make any sense," Finn said. "If they're so magical, they could have planted that dream in your head to fool you, and lure us here, and..." She paused. The book had said that the Fae were noble and good, hadn't it? It was the only race described as having positive attributes.
"You know they can all hear you. They're hidden, but they watch pretty much everything," Mayra said, laying back on the soft green grass.
Finn huffed. What a miserable thing to have no privacy at all. Always watched, even her thoughts wide open to these strange creature-people.
"They look just like people," she mused aloud to Mayra.
"Oh, that's just Gwen. She wanted us to be comfortable. At first in the dream she was... I don't even know how to describe it. She was like light and fire."
"That makes me feel a lot better about trusting her," Finn's mouth twisted ironically.
"Don't be like that. I promise you, I can feel it in my soul. They are good." Mayra sighed and rolled up on her elbow to face Finn better. "When have I ever been wrong about something this important? The answer is never! Sure, there hasn't been anything this important before, but the point stands."
Finn ignored her for a while, wondering how long it would take for Gwen to come back. She laid back on the ground like Mayra, and turned her head to the side. The blades of grass were soft as a feather pillow, and a gentle breeze stirred the trees like a whispered lullaby. The sun shined on her skin like a warm caress, and she did feel an unmistakable peace in it.
More than she'd felt since the moment she'd left home, now months ago. She began to drift in and out, lightly dozing, when the sound of footsteps roused her from her semiconscious state.