As the valley fell into shadow, the massive bonfire in the center of town began to burn bright. Multiple tables began to show up around it, carried there by the trolls and dryads. Since everyone was shrunk down, while the bonfire was full size, so it was absolutely massive compared to us. This was, of course, deliberate so everyone could be seated in range of its warmth on this cold winter night.

  Bahruun and Millid peeled off from the group. “Well, we will find our own place to sit then, I hope you don’t mind.” I was about to respond when Meleri grabbed the scruff of his neck. “Oh, I certainly do, you might not be related by blood, but you’re still an uncle to me at the very least. So you’re staying with us, that’s final.” Bahruun and Millid looked at her for a moment. Then began to laugh. “Knowing you there is no talking you out of this one, eh? Alright, alright then. You don’t mind, do you Millid?”

  Millid shook her head. “Sounds quite nice, actually.” Millid looked up at Bahruun with a big grin on her face. She turned her attention to Meleri and nodded, still smiling brightly. Well then. “Ok since that’s settled let’s see if we can get one of the bigger tables to ourselves, then?” We looked around for a bit and with help from a small tangle of trolls and a dryad we passed, we found a table that suited our needs.

  The large, for us, ring-shaped table was made from stone, and in the center of the table, inside the center ring was miniature bonfire. The seating arrangement was a bench made from stone, not the comfiest to sit on, but it absorbed the heat from the flames better than wood would.

  Nettle sat down next to Jaira, who was seated next to Irane, then Meleri, Irenji, Millid, Bahruun, Midnight, Winter, Soot, Rathina and then me. It was the perfect size for all of us. Meleri looked around as other people seated themselves on the other tables around us, each table having their own hushed conversation. The soft murmur and occasional snapping sound of the bonfires was a nice background noise.hoo

  Meleri looked down at the wooden cutlery and stone plate in front of her. “So… err… where is the food?” I looked past Nettle, who opened her eyes and also glanced over at Meleri. I cleared my throat. “Ah, right, this is your first time on one of these. Observe.” I closed my eyes as I touched the stone plate, and a few moments later it was overflowing with food. Roast turkey with sage and onion stuffing, roasted potatoes, pigs in blankets, roasted parsnips, roasted potatoes, brussels sprouts, and a pitcher of cranberry sauce appeared beside it.

  Meleri blinked. “Isn’t that…?” I nodded. “This is the closest to Christmas or New Year’s celebration this world has, so I go for this when I join the winter feast. And in case it wasn’t obvious what I did, just touch the plate with your eyes closed and focus on what you want to eat. The fae magic in the plate takes care of the rest, the same goes for your glass or drinking bowl.”

  The others followed suit and soon enough everyone was finished choosing their own meals. The warmth from the fire, the lights dimming as the sun finished going down beyond the mountains, the good food and pleasant conversation among ourselves. This wasn’t bad at all. I felt Rathina nudge me. “Trade you some turkey for some of my steak?” I turned and looked at her, her hair was glowing in the firelight, her eyes sparking, she was so beautiful I lost track of everything else for a few moments. “Err… I… oh, right, trading foods, sure.” I gave her some stuffed turkey, and she loaded a piece of her steak over. “Thanks, hon.” She leaned in and gave my cheek a peck. I smiled back at her as I took a taste of the steak piece she gave me. Whatever the meat was from, it was rather spicy, but… not bad, not bad at all.

  The evening soon bled into night as we continued just enjoying the atmosphere and the company of each other. Millid yawned. “I think it’s time for sleep, Boss.” She was rubbing her eyes and her words were a soft mumble. Bahruun looked down at her. “I guess it’s time for us to head back to the inn, it’s been fun you guys, see you tomorrow. He picked up Millid and carried her back towards The Sleepy Snowman. Ivy and Jaira also got to their feet. Nettle, who was watching Jaira regale Soot and Winter with a story of some kind seemed like she was half asleep. “Hey Nettle, you should head back to the inn before you fall asleep.” She flinched. “Wha-? Oh, hmm you’re right. Besides, if we want to get home at a reasonable time we need to be up early tomorrow anyway. Good night everyone.

  Meleri, Irenji and Irane were the next to go, the trio walking off together, followed by Jaira, Soot, Winter and Midnight, so fast that it was almost suspicious. That left just me and Rathina. It was actually really nice to have some proper alone time again, no need to worry about the rest of them disturbing us. We spent about another hour or so in each other’s company. Not talking, just enjoying being together as we watch the miniature bonfire in the center of the stone table.

  We walked hand in hand back to the inn once the fires began to die down. I squeezed her hand gently. “I hope you enjoyed yourself.” She turned to look at me. “It has been perfect.” We entered the inn and headed over to the bar, which Jenn was tending. “I’d like to request being woken up at dawn, as we have a long trip home tomorrow.” Jenn nodded. “Will do, have a good night.” I gave her a silent nod before the two of us walked up the stairs to our room hand in hand and fell asleep in each other’s arms soon after.

  The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.

  The next morning we were woken by an insistent knocking on our door. “Wake up, Ma’am. It’s dawn. I let out a weak groan. “Gotcha, thanks for the call.” Rathina was looking at me, looking as sleepy as I was. “Five more minutes?” I shook my head. “I would love to, but it will be late enough as it is by the time we get home.” She grimaced but didn’t stop me from sitting up.

  Twenty minutes later we were all eating breakfast. Everyone looked as sleepy as I felt, but that couldn’t be helped. I looked down at my omelette and yawned. Meleri handed me a cup of tea. “Thanks, sis.” I took a sip. Chamomile, nice. After breakfast, we checked out and left the inn. Irane trotted up next to me. “Say, Morgana, how do we get back to our usual size?” A good question. I pulled out the carpet. “Distance, once we leave the village the effect will start to wear off, and once we are far enough away, it will fall off entirely.”

  We hopped aboard and a few moments later I was taking us up and away from the village. As we looked down, we could see several young trolls, nymphs and dryads playing with the snow castles we built yesterday. It would lead to end of amusement to them, no doubt. As we neared the tunnel through the mountains, the shrinking effect began to dissipate, and by the time we exited on the other side, we were back to normal.

  Nettle landed on my left shoulder. “Well, that’s another feast done, thanks again for accompanying me, Morgana.” I looked over to her as I turned the carpet back towards home. “Don’t mention it, it was fun for us as well, wasn’t it?” There was a unanimous “yes” from everyone else. “See? By-the-by Nettle, want to stay the night before returning to Nettledale? It’s going to be late by the time we get back, after all.” Nettle looked out over the wide plain zooming past below us. “That doesn’t sound like a bad idea at all. Thanks.” I gave her a nod. “Don’t mention it.”

  The planes gave way to the Three Teeth once again, and I began the ascent early so we’d have a gradual incline and wouldn’t need to circle. Below us, we could still see the evidence of the ice storm’s destructive path. Irenji looked down at the shards of ice embedded in the snow. “We were really lucky to get out of that mess.”

  No kidding. “That we were.” Meleri reached over and began to scratch the wolf behind the ears. Irenji’s response was a happy sigh. Meleri looked down at him. “All’s well that ends well, am I right?” Irenji nodded. “That’s right.” His scratching session was forced to pause for a moment as Irane also wanted in on it.

  As we got down on the other side of the Three Teeth and began heading towards home proper, Jaira offered us some lunch she prepared before we left Winter Glen. “Just a few sandwiches, nothing special.” I accepted mine and bit in, ham and cheese, delicious. “Thanks, kiddo, these are excellent.” She shrugged as she took a bite out of her own, chewed for a bit, and swallowed. “Mmm, don’t thank me, I just bought them from the Inn as a traveling snack on the way home.”

  Midnight walked up beside her and began to rub against her legs with a happy purr. “These are tasty regardless, Jaira.” Jaira herself seemed quite happy with the praise. “Well, I aim to please.” She reached down and began to scratch Midnight’s head. Midnight began to purr louder.

  Soot was busy ripping a small piece from his own sandwich before he looked over at Jaira. “Hey, Jaira, mind helping me and Winter a bit with ours, these are meant for creatures with teeth.” Jaira looked over and nodded as she chewed on another mouthful. “Shure jhusht…” she swallowed. “There, let me help you out. Excuse me a moment, dear Midnight.” She moved over and helped to rip the sandwiches into sizes that Soot and Winter could handle. Soot cawed softly while Winter let out a happy hoot. “Thanks for the help.” Jaira gently scratched their heads. “Don’t mention it, enjoy yourselves.”

  The trip continued with pleasant weather as the sun finished rising, turning the world below into a beautiful white carpet, though pockmarked by the aftermath of the ice storm. Bahruun looked over the side. “Damn, the ice storm got over the mountain without blowing out.” Rathina followed his gaze. “So it would seem.” As we continued homeward, the trail of the storm trailed off and towards the south. Bahruun scratched his beard softly as he followed the trajectory. “Hmm, with that heading, if it somehow kept going, it would hit Nekkal and maybe even Appleridge.”

  Nettle landed on my shoulder. “At least it would have missed Nettledale, no offense to the bigun city, but our little village can’t really handle something that destructive on its own.” I glanced over at her. “I don’t blame you for being relieved, a storm like that would have been dangerous for your sleeping friends.” Nettle looked up at me with an expression of silent gratitude for understanding her viewpoint.

  “That being said, I think I’ll take a trip over to Nekkal and Appleridge to see that everything is going well with them tomorrow, just in case.” The trip continued, and soon the familiar snow-covered trees were once again covering the ground beneath the carpet, and as the sun began its slow descent towards sunset, we saw the smoke rising from the chimney of home. “Hey Bahruun want me to drop you off at your clearing so you don’t have to walk?” Bahruun looked down at Millid, who was napping in his lap. “I’d appreciate it.” I nodded. “Gotcha.” It was only a few minutes more anyway, not much of a detour.

  Bahruun gently lifted Millid into his arms and walked towards the door to their cabin. “See you tomorrow everyone, take care now.” He used a spell to open the door, and soon after light appeared behind the curtains. I turned the carpet, and it didn’t take long for us to land. As I clambered off the carpet, I couldn’t help but feel the popping of my legs and back, I spent far too long on that damn thing. Well, it was better than nothing. Alright everyone, how does Lasagna for dinner sound?”

  Meleri perked up immediately. “I have a few great recipes for that if you wouldn’t mind me helping.” Why not? “Sure, sounds great.” I could see Rathina was curious, as it was probably a meal she’d never tried before. No surprise there, as it was a dish not of this world, literally. “You’ll like it, love, trust me.” I rolled up the carpet, then paused for a moment to enjoy the sight of the setting sun. Life was good. I was knocked out of my thoughts as Meleri called out from inside. “I’m coming, I’m coming.” After another glance towards the sky, I walked inside and closed the door.