There was a short stone staircase – just a few shallow steps – and then Sophie was on the path. The trouble was, the path was so overgrown that it was hard to imagine there ever was a path. It was more like an animal trail now, with the occasional stone marker that was her only sense of direction. She’d hate to get lost in here, but she desperately needed to find something other than spoiled rice and dried up tea leaves if she wanted to last more than a day in this new world.

Elowen hadn’t given her much in the way of directions other than to say she would eventually reach a main road and that she would find a village called Caulis further down to the left. The spirit had no idea how far away Caulis actually was, though, and couldn’t even give Sophie an approximation. Apparently shrine spirits didn't have a good sense of physical distance.

Sophie wondered again just how long it had been since anyone had visited the shrine and how long Elowen had been existing there, alone. At the very least, it seemed like many years since anyone had maintained this path.

The trees around her were dense, as well. She definitely wouldn’t want to walk through here in the dark, so she would have to make the trip as quickly as possible if she was going to return to the shrine tonight.

At least it was currently full daylight and the weather was cool but not so cold that she wished she had a jacket. The trees were full of foliage, and Sophie could even hear birds chirping. She didn't pay much attention to trees or birds in general, but it helped make her feel a little less concerned about her surroundings. She almost felt like she could be taking a hike in any old, overgrown forest and not trapped in some sort of fantasy world.

Until she saw the dragon.

Okay, so it wasn’t really a dragon. It was more like a lizard. But it had wings, and it was perched on the branch of a tree, watching her with more intelligence than lizards usually had. It reminded her of a crow.

She stopped fully in her tracks, staring at the thing until it finally took off, zipping away much faster than she imagined birds usually did.

She suddenly wasn’t sure how much dallying she should be doing in the forest. If there were dragons – or even small winged lizards – what else could be lurking in the trees?

Larger dragons? Goblins? Trolls?

She hurried along the path as fast as she was able, avoiding the brambles and tall weeds as much as she could, wishing fervently to make it to the main road before she found out.

***

The path eventually opened up onto the main road, just like Elowen said it would. Sophie, thankfully, could see gates in the distance. As she approached, she noticed that Caulis was surrounded by modest walls, but the gates were open. A bored guard took one look at Sophie, shrugged, and waved her on in.

Sophie wandered on into the village, feeling like she was walking onto some sort of film set or maybe into a cosplay convention. The gate opened up into a large plaza area with a fountain. There were a few children splashing in the water, and some adults sitting on benches talking nearby. But the people – the people didn't look like what Sophie would expect…

Everyone looked mostly humanoid, but Sophie noticed a few people with wings or scales or horns here and there mixed in with people that looked like they could have come directly from Earth. Sophie was pretty sure she even saw someone with cat ears. She was relieved to see a wide variety of clothing as well – mostly simpler fare, but some finer dresses here and there that reminded her of all of those regency novels she read in college.

She glanced around at the buildings. Her brain did something wobbly when she tried to read the signs, but she could still understand them. It was as if she had grown up with the unfamiliar script as her native language, even though she definitely had not.

Despite Elowen’s description, Caulis appeared to be less of a village and more a lively town with restaurants and shops and – even a bakery! Sophie made a beeline to it. She hoped it also sold something hot and caffeinated to drink. Coffee, ideally, but she felt like she would take anything caffeinated at this point that wasn’t that nasty old tea.

She opened the door. A bell chimed above her head, and a woman around her own age with short black hair greeted her from behind a long wooden counter.

“Let me guess… A traveler?” The woman smiled in a friendly, offhand way. She had striking features, and if Sophie were back on good ole planet Earth, she would think the woman looked of Asian descent, but as it stood she wasn't even sure if Asia even existed.

Sophie panicked momentarily at the question. Crap. She hadn't figured out what to tell people! Elowen didn’t even believe her when she said she came from a different world, and Elowen apparently saw her walk through the portal. What was she supposed to tell the people in town now that she was finally here?

“I’m a shrine priestess, actually,” she managed, deciding to stick with the basics. “Just started yesterday.” She tried to make her tone light, hoping to end the conversation and move on to the food part of the transaction, but the woman’s eyes widened with clear interest.

“A shrine priestess?” she asked. “Which shrine are you part of?”

Double crap. Sophie didn’t know the answer to this either.

“Oh, just the one nearby,” she said. “It's just – uh, well it's within walking distance of here.”

The woman looked at her as if she had no idea what Sophie was talking about, and Sophie should have just left it at that, but she tried to explain further.

“You know, just off the main gate? There's a little path. I mean, I guess it looks like no one's been down it for a while. But –”

“You mean the haunted shrine?” The woman asked. “Surely not. You must be jesting.”

“Haunted?” Sophie asked, suddenly wary.

The woman nodded eagerly. “I'm Acacia, by the way. You really don't mean the shrine near the gates, do you? That shrine has been abandoned for decades. Maybe longer.”

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Decades? Sophia imagined it had to have been a few years at least – at least judging by the musty-smelling rice and the sad state of the tea. But… decades?

Sophie’s stomach growled suddenly, interrupting the conversation.

“Oh, I'm sorry,” Acacia said. “Here, what would you like to get? We can gossip about the shrine once we get some food in you.” She winked, and Sophie had to laugh in reply. It was a relief to meet someone so friendly who seemed more sure of her surroundings than Elowen did.

Sophie glanced at the display case of baked goods beneath the counter. To her relief, she saw a variety of familiar looking items – small loaves of bread, muffins, scones, cookies, and even an entire cake with a single slice taken out of it.

“I’ll have one of these.” She pointed to a scone that looked like it had some sort of fruit in it. “Make it two actually.” She debated for a moment longer as Acacia grabbed some sheets of brown paper from a long roll. She was really hungry, and she had no idea what she would find at the market. “Could I also get a loaf of that bread?”

“Of course!” Acacia pulled a loaf of the bread out first, wrapping it securely in the brown paper, before reaching in to grab two of the scones. Sophie looked around the store curiously as Acacia worked, but she didn’t see any of the usual signs of coffee service.

“Ah, you wouldn’t happen to have some coffee here as well, would you?”

Acacia glanced up, a confused look on her face. “Coffee? I haven't heard of that. What is it? Some type of sweet?”

Sophie shook her head, hoping it was just lost in translation. “It's a hot drink,” she tried to explain. “Brown. A little bitter.”

“Oh, you mean tea?” Acacia replied. “Well, we don’t serve drinks here, but we do have some tea in the break room. If you’d like, I could make you a cup, and you could tell me more about this shrine of yours.”

Tea would be better than nothing… Sophie was sorely tempted. On top of the much-needed caffeine, she’d love to ask Acacia a million and one questions about the world. Perhaps most importantly – were there trolls in the forest? Sure, Sophie could always ask Elowen when she got back, but the spirit didn’t really seem like the most reliable source of information at the moment.

Acacia finished wrapping the scones in the paper as Sophie tried to imagine what she would even tell Acacia, though. That Sophie somehow ended up here from another reality and that the shrine spirit or possibly a ghost haunting the abandoned shrine claimed that she promised to help restore the shrine? Her head hurt just thinking about it.

By the time Sophie finally decided she should probably just agree to Acacia’s offer and play it by ear, the bell rang above the shop’s door.

“Oh drat,” Acacia said, as her eyes darted up to glance at the next customer. She lowered her voice to a whisper. “We’ll have to do the tea another day, actually.”

Sophie nodded, suddenly disappointed. “Oh – oh of course. I'll just – do they sell it at the market?”

“The market? Oh, you mean the tea? Yes, of course,” Acacia replied distractedly. She slid the scones and the loaf of bread into a paper bag. “That’ll be five coppers.” She smiled with false sweetness at the other customer over Sophie’s shoulder, and Sophie had the strongest urge to turn around to see who could be making Acacia so obviously uncomfortable.

Instead, she pulled out the small coin purse, counting out the copper-colored coins. She wondered how many coppers went into a silver and so on. It seemed like she had more money than she thought. “Is there a clothes shop nearby as well?” she asked as she handed the coppers to Acacia. “I need to get something to wear.”

“There wasn’t anything for you at the shrine?” Acacia asked, her curiosity renewed.

Sophie’s face heated. “Uh, no – not exactly.”

Acacia frowned at the response, but shrugged. “I suppose you’d probably want to get something Tailored anyway,” she said. “Sure. I’ll point you in the right direction.”

“Oh! And somewhere I can hire someone to fix a window.”

Acacia looked especially suspicious at this last request. “You are staying at that abandoned shrine, aren’t you?” She whispered to Sophie over the counter. “Are you really even a priestess? There are places in town that can help if you need somewhere to stay, you know.”

Sophie shook her head frantically. “No, no – it’s fine. I just need someone to come out and take a look at things. I really am the priestess there.” She felt weird insisting on it when she still didn’t know what priestess duties entailed, but if she was going to be living there for any period of time, she really needed to get that window fixed.

The other customer cleared their throat behind Sophie, making Acacia jump. Acacia shook her head, sighing. “I really wish you could stay for a bit and chat,” she said. “But I have to deal with this.” She made a universal signal with her eyes indicating whoever was standing behind Sophie.

Sophie nodded. “The window?” she tried again.

“Ask for Briony over at the Crafter’s Guild,” Acacia said, leaning over the counter again. “She’ll help you out. She’s real handy, and I doubt she’ll be spooked by the rumors of ghosts.”

Sophie nodded, picking up her bag of baked goods. “Thanks,” she whispered back. She turned around to see another woman around their age who looked an awfully lot like Acacia standing behind them, arms crossed. She did not look impressed, whether at their conversation or something else, Sophie had no idea.

“And you better stop by again,” Acacia called out as Sophie made her way to the door. “I have to find out what’s going on with you and that shrine.”

“Okay,” Sophie agreed. “Thanks for the food.”

“What do you want?” she heard Acacia say over her shoulder, presumably to the other woman in the stop, but Sophie was already out the door.

In fact, by the time Sophie closed the door behind her, she realized she had forgotten to actually get any directions to a clothing store or the Crafter’s Guild, whatever that was. Drat, indeed.

Sophie glanced back, wondering if she could risk going back inside, but it looked like Acacia was in some sort of heated discussion now with the woman who had been waiting for her.

Oh well. Surely Sophie could wander around until she found the right place.

She’d ask about getting that window fixed if she could find this Crafter’s Guild, and then she’d find the market. And maybe then a tailor. Acacia had mentioned Tailoring, so perhaps they didn’t have off-the-rack clothing here? Sophie had never actually been to a tailor before. Well, maybe once for a bridesmaid’s fitting, but not for regular clothes. Regardless, it sounded expensive. Her little pouch of coins seemed like it would go a bit further than she expected, but she had no idea how she would get any more, so she still had to be a bit careful with them.

She would just have to see when she got there. And anyway, right now she had other pressing concerns. Like – was the shrine haunted? Was Elowen even the spirit there or was she actually a ghost?

Sophie shook her head to herself as she pulled one of the scones out of the bag, fully prepared to eat it as she walked to her next destination. Maybe she could get some answers to that as well.