The night is cold and dark. A thick fog has wrapped up my little cottage within its pale arms. Right now I’m warming myself by the fire and watching the dark embers blaze crimson as they crackle and break. What a strange evening it has been, oh, so much like the tale I shared with my friends on Hallinox night, save that… well, it has all just happened to me! Though do not fear; as I mentioned I am safe at home once again, but it makes for an eerie tale to share with you, dear reader.
I was walking in the forest as I so often do, admiring the variety of moss and lichen that live on the trunks and boughs of the old trees. It was chilly and a little misty this afternoon, but I wanted to save in the magic mirror some of the things I was seeing, so I drew it out… A “caw caw” reached my ears. I looked up to see that a few of my new crow friends were perched in a nearby tree. “Hello there,” I called to them, and one flew down to land on the rock beside me, clicking and croaking in a raspy tone. I smiled at it; perhaps this one was curious about the sounds I was making and might want to learn more. But that’s when I spotted its eyes. Oh goodness, not blue or brown, but icy white. I was taken aback. After a moment, I swallowed hard and took a deep breath to steady myself. It was just a crow after all. “Hello there,” I said again, this time a little weaker, I do admit.
“Hello there!” Oh… the bird’s voice was high and uncanny, but the words were unmistakable. It had spoken to me. I nervously giggled while it rubbed its beak against the rock. The other crows cawed from the tree above me and I glanced up. Then all at once, a rush of black feathers came at me! I squealed and dropped the mirror! The mirror! The white-eyed crow had snatched it up and flew off! “Oh,” I cried, “please, please come back!” “Come, come!” it beckoned me like the voice in the story, but I didn’t care. I ran as fast as I could after it, deeper into the mist.
The bird did not fly very fast. Once or twice it even circled back over me before gliding away in its chosen direction. But I was frustrated, and it was hard to see where I was going in the mist. Nearly out of breath, my lungs beginning to sting with the cold wet air, the crow finally seemed to reach its destination, and flew into… into the dark hollow of a great dead tree. Now my heart stopped; this seemed all too familiar. I slowed and looked around. The fog circled this place, filled with skeleton trees, but it did not seep in any further, as if an invisible fence held it back.
Again the crow cried, “Come, come!” and I set my jaw. Scared as I was —and I was shaking in my boots, dear reader— I would not lose my precious mirror so easily. Slowly I drew nearer. It seemed a regular tree, though the shadows made it difficult to peer very far into the hollow. I thought I caught the glint of reflected light, so with every measured care, I stepped inside and reached my hand out for what I hoped was the magic mirror. And it was. But as my fingers closed around it, I heard the rising sound of a thousand strange and eerie whispers. Darkness closed in all around me, and I screamed as I felt the flapping of wings! I threw myself out of the hollow and onto the damp earth.
Oh, dear reader, the pale light of day returned and it seemed all was well! I breathed hard, but the white-eyed crow hopped from the hollow and fluffed its feathers as though nothing had happened. Oh goodness, I shook my finger at it. “You trickster!” I shouted. I was most upset, but of course this did nothing to actually reprimand the crow. They seem ever and always to be their own masters. I stood and dusted myself off, sighing… but this… this was not the same place I had been before. The fog still kept back, but the trees were different. I walked forward a bit, trying to figure out where I could possibly be! The crow flew ahead and again spoke, “Come, come!” Goodness, you can imagine I was quite hesitant to follow this bird anymore, but as I moved forward just a few more yards, I heard rushing water and the fog shifted, and then there before me on a tree-covered hill was a walled ring of stone giants. I was at the Well of the Green Sister! I laughed out loud in surprise, and the naughty crow cawed back. “Oh, you!” I said to it, tears beginning to roll down my cheeks in relief and surprise, “Thank you.” It echoed my word back to me, “Thank you”. The fog was very thick and the night was beginning to set in. I knew I needed to be getting home, and I had a suspicion that the hollow tree might work both ways. So I returned and sure enough when I step inside once more, the shadows and the whispers rose up, and then I was back where I had been before.
Now safely in my cottage, I ponder the strange magic of the hollow tree. Is it one tree that exists in two places? Or are they perhaps twin trees tied together by a charm? I was very angry with the crow at first, but I realize now that nothing would have enticed me to enter that hollow tree on my own. A very clever plan indeed, using the mirror to lure me in; I am grateful. And goodness, what a story I shall have for Lorenz and Alexander the next time we meet!