Ulrika ducked under the long branch that Gisil held aloft for her, and took a quick look around. It wasn't that she didn't believe her friend about "The Green Faerie," but where she was from that title referred to absinthe. A hallucinogenic liquor - illegal in her home country of America though, at least if it was distilled from wormwood with all its drug like properties intact. She was in a new, mystical land after all, but she just couldn't shake the train of thought.
The air inside the grove felt warm and wet against Ulrika's skin, nearly to the point of discomfort. It made her aware of each part of her body that was exposed to the air. It even smelled wet, but at least it was the kind of wet that came after a spring shower - earthy and soothing. In the center was a small pool of water that was an emerald color, with a tall, smooth stone covered in moss rising from the center. It was tucked between the curling roots of a great oak that stretched high out of sight.
"This place is strange," Ulrika said, catching sight of Bates settling onto a high branch to observe. That's all he seemed to do, was observe. He never really interfered with her decisions other than to devil's advocate her til she ignored him.
"So you can feel it in the air?" Gisil asked curiously. He didn't look as unsettled here. "I have never been here before, but I've been told only certain types of people can feel the presence of the faerie before she even exposes herself."
"So it's a real faerie?" Ulrika gazed into the green colored pool, frowning skeptically.
"Yes. Though if you can't sense her on your own terms, you can always drink from the pool to call her to you."
Ulrika blanched. So it was absinthe. This place had naturally occurring absinthe? She took a closer look at what she thought was an oak and wondered if instead it was a wormwood tree - but wormwood was a bush wasn't it? Did this place have wormwood trees instead?
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