Don't wander from the path. They always told him, don't wander from the path. Queer things live in the woods, and they like to lure you off the path.
So, during his walk to town in the afternoons, Beren kept his eyes on the path. In the evenings, after his last drink at the inn, he did the same. In the evenings it was harder. He could hear things, voices lilting on the wind. Whispers that tickled the back of his neck.
But he stayed on the path and always found home...
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Matheson is getting married. It's a long night at the inn, drinking and laughing and singing. Beren drinks more than he aught and stumbles out later than he would. But he starts his walk home dutifully enough, eyes down, his back to the moon, chasing his own long shadow. The walk is so much longer tonight, weighed down by the drink muddying his thoughts.
"Beren..."
He stops.
"Yes... help me..."
A cool sigh of a voice. Off in the trees.
He shouldn't look. Don't wander from the path.
But looking isn't wandering.
He lifts his eyes.
She's as tall as him, with a slender waist and strong legs. Her hair looks auburn, and her eyes glitter in the dark. She reaches a hand out, and in the moonlight, her skin looks green, like the colour of fresh leaves in the spring.
"I need you, Beren..."
He doesn't see her lips move. Truthfully, his eyes have slipped from her hand to her chest. Is this woman naked? Has she been robbed?
He takes a step toward her.
"Yes..."
He's off the path now.
"This way..."
She melts into the shadows of the trees, and he stumbles after her, "Wait!"
He follows what he thinks must be the sounds of her footfalls, bumping off tree trunks and nearly tripping over a root. Finally, he breaks into a clearing, lit by the moon. At the centre is a rocky pool, and he's struck by how thirsty he is, and warm from the pursuit. The urge to wade in catches, and he follows it like a rabbit down a warren. He sheds his clothes, standing bare in the moonlight, and wades into the water. It's cool, and laps at his body with loving fingers. He leans down and washes his face, letting it rung through his hair and down his back.
Lips brush his shoulder.
He spins around, and there she is, the green woman. Naked and watching him with hungry, amber eyes.