text: [Themes: fantasy, serious, fantasy]
  
  Cold.
  
  That is the general impression this trip has made on you so far. To be fair, a strenuous and difficult hike was what you were searching for, but the whole idea sounded much better at home, in front of the merrily burning fireplace.
  
  Your life was never easy, but the last few months were really no fun at all. You lost your sweetheart, your job and the last member of your family, all in a scant few months. To cars, disease and the thrice-damned suspicion of your boss: the disease wasting your sisters life away is one that runs in the family, hereditary.
  
  Once your boss heard of that – curse you, Google Analytics – he immediately used a sub-clause in your contract to burn the thing and fire your sorry ass. Once your girlfriend heard of your sudden case of impending brokeness – curse you, rumor mill – she thought about it, and that "It would be best for you if this relationship would take a break. I´m only thinking about you here, darling." Once your mother heard about this string of ... bad things ... that were happening to you, she decided that you needed some reassurances that your life was still good, and that you still had family and people loving you. That is, she planned to visit you, because while crossing the street that separated the local tram-station from your cottage, she got run over. Dying instantly.
  
  After that, you sought solace in the only thing that always comforted you: snowy, frozen mountains. Seeking a change from the "boring" Alps that were usually your destination, you traveled to the snowy peaks of the Urals, sometime in November.
  
  Now, it was January and you, you are lost.
  
  Regardless of why you are here, what is important right now is a) finding your way back to civilization, and b) staying alive. You have a tent and some food left, but although the sky is clear, the literally freezing temperatures make you wish for a fire. Thank God this isn´t your first night out in the cold, alone and freezing. Also, you know how to make a fire, you just need some kindling.
  
  > go and forage
  While staying in your tent might keep you alive, you really don´t want to risk it.
  
  A snowstorm of something similar is always a possibility, and you did´t buy a tent with integrated fire-place for nothing. You have, however, run out of coals. Dry kindling and wood is required, as much as you can comfortably carry.
  
  You know that the natives have a store of timber at the peak of the mountain, but below, in the actual forest, you might have better chances of actually finding a large amount of wood.
  
  > decend into the dark forest
  This forest is seriously dark and dank.
  
  This is, actually, one of the reasons you came here. You sought to find happyness in your old memories of hiking in the countryside, following you dear old dad.
  
  This is the real reason you went here. He vanished in these very mountains. Well, somewhere in the Urals. They are quite big. And you have been lost.
  
  But this is where he vanished.
  
  As you gather the (slightly wet) kindling, you notice a rather peculiar clearing. It seems to be one of those witch-circles, where mushrooms grow in a circle. These mushrooms might be edible, but might also be extremely poisonous. Or somewhere in-between.
  
  > go to the circle and look at the mushrooms
  You know what you´re doing. You survived these mountains for months now, and know which mushrooms are safe for eating and which leave you sick in bed, heaving.
  
  As you approach the circle and crouch directly in front of it, intent on identifying the mushrooms, you hear a lone wolf howl. You jump a bit, startled, and find yourself within the circle.
  
  > leave the circle
  You look around, nervously, but that howl sounded like it was very far away. You crouch down again, and hit your head.
  
  On thin air.
  
  You reach out and make an impression of a mime: there seems to be an invisible wall, trapping you. You slowly walk the peremiter of the wall, attempting to find a way out, but you find no gap. It´s a seemless wall, reaching out from the mushrooms to the sky.
  
  You slowly begin to panic, and look for something sturdy. As your pile of wood is not in this circle, and your knife stayed in the tent, the only thing you have are your arms. You hammer against this invisible wall, but it is in vain.
  
  "That won´t work, dearie." suddenly, a voice behind you.
  
  You turn around to see a woman floating in the air. She is small, only a few inches high, but practicaly radiates wisdom and power.
  
  "What are you?" you blurt out. "And why can´t I leave the circle?"
  
  She smiles, a smile that seems nearly human, and floats out of the circle. You try to follow, but walk face-first into the wall again. A suspicion bubbles up.
  
  "Have you trapped me here?" you ask pointedly.
  
  She smiles again. "Why, obviously. That is a faery-trap after all. My design. Used to trap foolish mortals." She giggles. "Works every time."
  
  You begin to suspect that there is more to your fathers stories of the Fae after all. He did say that he went to these mountains to search for fearys ... and never returned ...
  
  Another suspicion bubbles up. and it is confirmed a moment later.
  
  "I am sooo exited. I never had a set before. Your father is a wonderful pet, and I´m sure his spawn will be as well." She is spinning in excitement.
  
  If she weren´t a evil faery holding you prisoner (and, apparently your father) she´d be kind of cute. But she is, so she isn´t.
  
  "What have you done to my father!" you scream at her, beating at your invisible prison.
  
  She giggles ominously. "You will soon find out!"
  
  She then pulls a wand out of somewhere and starts to swing it. You can feel the air within the circle start to spin, at first slowly, then faster and faster.
  
  Slowly, in the center of the vortex, a portal is opening.
  
  This is your last chance.
  
  > plead for mercy
  "PLEASE! DON`T!" you desperately beg. "DON`T DO THIS!"
  
  The faery just smiles and waves her wand one last time. The portal widens, and you fall ...
  
  fall
  
  fall
  
  fall
  
  and land on a soft surface. A lap. You look up to see a face you haven´t seen in years. Your father.
  
  "Papa?" you ask with a small voice.
  
  He looks down at you, his eyes full of love, and answers: "Son? How lovely. HER power is great indeed, if she could bring us both together again." He looks up for a moment, a glazed look in his eyes. "How fare your mother and sister?" he then asks.
  
  "Dead!" you sob. "They are all dead. Why didn´t you come back?"
  
  He looks at you and seems to start an answer, but abruptly his eyes close.
  
  As he opens them again, his pupils are literal hearts. He is gazing up into the sky.
  
  You follow his gaze, and find the faery that had trapped you.
  
  "That evil witch." you grumble to yourself. Unfortunately, both the faery and your father hear you say it. And your father reacts immediately by choking you.
  
  "HOW DARE YOU CALL MISTRESS AN EVIL WITCH!" he screams into your ear. "I WILL KILL YOU FOR THIS INSULT!"
  
  The faery watches your strangulation for a while, and then motions with her wand. One moment your father is trying to kill you, the next he is fast asleep. You fall to the mossy ground, and stare up at the faery.
  
  "What ... have you ... done to him?" you ask.
  
  "The same that will happen to you, dearie. You might fight me in the first few years, but I found that with enough time, any mortal breaks. And in my personal grove, you mortals don´t actually age. One day, you will be just like your father: a devoted pet."