Amidst the snowstorm and shaking trees, the small windows of the humble hut of old Barthra, hermit and healer, gave a glimpse of the warmth inside. Although it was past after midnight, she continued to work in the candlelight and the crackling fire in the hearth.

But that night she was not alone. A group of seven tiny, enchanting fairies had decided to station themselves on her work table. This was not unusual. Those little forest Elementals had known Barthra since she was a child. They knew the love and respect she felt for beings like them, unlike the wizards, who wanted to trap them to study their magical attributes.

But as much as Barthra had taken the trouble to talk to some of them about this delicate matter, there was no point. They still didn't seem to understand that it was impossible to force a magical being to lend its power unless it did so of its own free will.

The wizards had actually forgotten long ago the true origin of their power. That was why they needed to learn tricks to manipulate reality.

Barthra, on the other hand, a simple human, honored the Elementals, the beings closest to nature, since they themselves were born of its life force. They were the true masters of the forest even if the elves did not like to hear that.

Gnomes of the earth, sylphs of the wind, salamanders of the fire, undines of the waters, dryads of the trees and the fairies of the flowers, like these ones before her.

In fact, the latter were not supposed to be there. Their appearance was not due until early spring, and it was still too early. It had been quite a surprise for Barthra to see them sneaking through a small hole in the roof to try to protect themselves from the cold.

The poor things were disoriented since they could not understand how they had awakened from their winter slumber. As if it were a nightmare, they had told the healer about a strange noise that had shaken their home. A bolt of lightning had crossed the forest from tree to tree, root to root, and had been moving away towards the center of their sacred territory.

Not good, thought Barthra, who already imagined who could be involved in this matter.

In any case, the old woman had a lot of work to do that night and for that reason she felt fortunate to have their help, as well as their candid company.

Though she couldn't help but be distracted by watching the graceful movements of their translucent wings, and petal dresses. While the old woman took the mortar and pestle and crushed the ingredients before pouring them into the mixture, the fairies had set about the task of moving the fragrant herbs back and forth and stirring the jars of ointments with wooden spoons, tools that were too big for them.Their determined little faces looked very cute as they put all their efforts into their chores.

In the village several children had contracted illnesses so she found herself preparing different potions according to the symptoms she had seen in her tours of the surrounding areas. It was a lot of work for one person but she did not like to rely on the wizards of the castle, famous for their strange experiments and rather rough with their healing methods.

Outside, meanwhile, the wind howled louder, making the windows shake and the door creak. Barthra stood oblivious, concentrating on her tasks. At some point, the verses of an ancient song that children used to sing in her village to invoke spring began to flow from her lips.

Hearing her, the fairies stopped what they were doing and began to dance in a circle around the candles.

In our world of glorious light,

the stars dance

the moon laughs.

In our land of tender springs,

while the wind whistles

the brook sings.

In our kingdom

of ancient knights

legends live on

The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.

and dreams take flight.

And in our home

of humble treasures,

of flowers, of lights

and whispers of the sea,

those who love

dance and sing,

those who are brave

laugh and dream.

Suddenly, her hands stopped, alerted by a strange sensation that overcame her, as if an invisible presence was watching her from the darkness of the forest. She approached the window and looked out, searching perhaps for something similar to what the fairies had described to her.They flew to her shoulders, nestling between her long snow-colored hair and her winter clothes.In front of her window, she saw the eyes of a red fox gleam.

Initially, that shouldn't be strange. Every now and then some animal would come by to search for food. However, Barthra sensed something different. It seemed to her that this was not the innocent creature it appeared to be.

The fairies also seemed to be drawn to it, but she did not glimpse any fear in their tiny, sweet little faces. They left the old woman's protection and floated to the door, urging her to open it.

When she did it, the door was blown open by the wind. Shaken by the gusts, the fairies flew with their trembling wings towards the fox, and floated around him.

They petted his ears, stood on his muzzle and pulled at his tail. They seemed to be having fun.

The fox, on the contrary, didn't seem too happy with the attention and shook himself to stop them from bothering him further. The fairies reluctantly flitted away.

For a moment, Barthra set aside her inicial suspicions and made way for the animal to enter into the coziness of the hut.

But the fox didn't move.

In fact, it did something far more surprising.

“Are you the healer?” asked the fox.

The old woman remained speechless.

The fox's ears twitched as he repeated the question again.

- Are you...? - he sounded suspicious. His paws recoiled.

Barthra reacted before the animal ran away.

“Yes, yes, it's me.”

The fox studied her for a second.

“I come on behalf of the Count's daughter.”

Well, well, thought the woman, apparently that night in the Whispering Forest would be unlike any other.

Guided by the fox and in the company of the fairies, who protected themselves from the storm in the pockets of her thick coat, Barthra went through the forest to find the young noblewoman she had taken care of since she was a child, as well as her father a few decades before.

She found her under a fir tree, trembling violently. Her face was white and her lips were purple. She could not move and Barthra did not possess the strength to carry her on her own. But she did not have to do anything as the fairies, realizing her predicament, began to shake their wings, emitting sounds of small bells.

There was a crunching sound of something stirring the ground and in the snow a small hole opened up through which about twenty small gnomes of stout build and wrinkled skin began to emerge. Their thick beards were covered with moss, leaves, dirt and snowflakes.

The fox, who had stayed behind the old woman as the hole appeared, now watched in amazement as the gnomes positioned themselves around Olivia and with the greatest of ease lifted her up and carried her away without even burying their feet in the snow. Thus they continued all the way without pause to the healer's hut.

Once inside, she was placed in front of the fireplace and covered with several blankets. The old woman prepared a hot infusion that she made the barealy conscious girl drink. She did not even have the strength to grasp the cup with her own hands, but as she sipped it little by little the pink color returned to her cheeks. After this, the old woman put some of the stew she had been cooking on the hearth into the girl's mouth.

Olivia, still weak and trembling, looked at the old woman and the gnomes with gratitude and awe. She turned her eyes to the fox, who, exhausted, had fallen asleep next to her by the fireplace. The fairies had laid down on top of his fur as if it were a comfortable pillow.

In gratitude, the old woman gave the gnomes a jar of honey and a bag of seeds. The gnomes went out happily making their little steps sound until they disappeared in the snow.

Due to the excitement of that night, Olivia could not fall asleep, so she began to tell Barthra everything that had happened that so far. The old woman was not surprised when she heard the truth about the fox, which in the end was not a fox at all. Rather, it made sense because at no time did she think it was a common animal.

Nor had she ever believed she would live long enough to see a chimera. What an amazing time to be alive. That, if known, would shock the Council and mobilize the wizards of the entire kingdom.

But on this she made no comment because she did not want to put any more weight on the shoulders of her dear, impulsive girl.

“So...” Barthra began to say, once the story was finished. “You have escaped from your father... Well done! That will teach him.”

“Won't he punish you for helping me?”

“My girl, I've known him since he was born. I know how to handle him. Although... you shouldn't have gone to this length... You know the laws of this forest, it was enough that...”

Olivia interrupted her.

“No, she can't know I'm here.”

The old woman sighed.

“Yes, maybe it's for the best. You'll know, you're almost grown up. Anyway, don't be ashamed to accept my help. Stay here as long as you need to.”

“I'd like to stay a while longer but at any moment the shields will be dropped and we'll have to leave as soon as the sun comes up.”

“By tomorrow you won't have recovered yet.”

“If we don't leave right away, they will find us. This will be the first place my father will come for me.”

“You are right. But let me worry about that... What do you say, ladies?”

The fairies looked at each other smiling mischievously. They didn't always have the occasion to tease the wizards.

The next morning, as soon as the wind died down and the sun began its ascent, the fairies left the hut to summon their gnome friends again, along with the salamanders and the sylphs. They also awakened the dryads and undines, who felt a little annoyed to see their sleep disturbed. However, when the flower fairies told them about their plan, that corner of the forest turned into a warm party even in the midst of the winter cold.