Elana doesn’t recognize her surroundings when she wakes up. She doesn’t try to move at first, but she recognizes that she’s laying on something soft, and a breeze is caressing her face.
She’s been in the woods before, but these woods are unfamiliar. The trees are tall, taller than any tree she’s ever seen. Snow dusts the area around her. Stars are winking through the branches above and there’s a crackling noise—fire.
For a moment, thoughts of a forest fire fill her head with panic, until she turns her head, wincing at the movement, and sees a roaring campfire contained safely in a pit ringed with stones.
There’s a person standing next to the fire.
The reaction is immediate, and Elana does a double take when the person she thought was already standing gets to their feet. They’re massive, taller than anyone she’s ever seen, including herself. They kneel next to her and lean down, and Elana blinks foggily up at them.
“Who?” She whispers again. Her voice is wrecked, cracking and rasping around the syllable.
“Don’t try to speak,” the stranger says softly. The voice is low and kindly and reminds Elana of a sun-warmed stone. “You’re safe now. My name is Kaija.”
A waterskin is held to her lips, and Elana drinks greedily, shaking with effort to stay sitting up. When she starts to tremble, an enormous hand settles at the small of her back, steadying her.
She drinks until the waterskin is pulled away, and the hand eases her back to the bedroll beneath her. She tries to sit up again, but the movement prompts injuries she didn’t know she had to bark for her attention. A wave of dizziness sweeps over her now-pounding head, her temple throbbing sharply. Her awareness of the pain spreads to her torso, her hip, her legs. Everything hurts.
“Oh, I wouldn’t-” The gentle hands are back, supporting her as they lay her back down and layer more blankets on top of her.
“Whatever happened to you, um, you’re really hurt. Just, um, just rest, for now. I’ll take care of you.”
Elana hums a weak assent and closes her eyes. She doesn’t know where she is or how she got here, or how she got hurt, or how long she’s been here. But Kaija will take care of her.
