The Third Chapter of Aarni’s Story

I had wonderful time in Nila, but my journey must continue. Otso told me there was another village, Lehto, four days to the east if I wanted to stop by to get more rations. He also warned me of strange creatures, that lived on the road there. Many of them were malicious and if I ever saw one I should run as far as I could.

After what happened to me in the magical forest I had gotten more careful, so I kept Otso’s words in my mind when I left the village. I was curious to see the creatures of course, but I had to be careful. I was extremely lucky someone was there when I got in trouble last time and I might not be so a second time.

The sun was setting and I started to look for a good place to set my camp. In the distance I saw a lake glimmering between the trees and thought it would be a good place to settle down for the night. As I was making a camp fire I threw a couple pieces of dried meat for the forest, as a safety precaution. I didn’t want to get eaten again, even though I should be outside of the magical forest by now.

I slept quite lightly the first night, cautious of my surroundings. The night had gone smoothly but I was really tired when I got up. The first rays of sun gleamed on the serene lake as I washed my face and packed my belongings. Suddenly I thought I heard some lively giggling in the distance. I turned to the lake and saw a couple of people playing in the water on the other side of the lake. When they saw me they waved for me to join them.

“Come play with us, the water is so warm!”

They seemed to have so much fun so I thought why not. A refreshing dip in the lake wasn’t a bad idea if I was to hike all day again. I took my backpack and walked closer.

I got to the shore where the people were, but then I started to feel something was off. They were still calling me to join them, but they were all facing away from me. All I could see were long thick locks of hair, that looked like kelp.

“Come with us! Let’s have a swimming competition! I bet you are good at swimming!”

I started to hesitate. I remembered Otso had told me about water spirits that wanted to lure you in the water with them only to drag you under the surface. They looked like humans at first, but their face… It was not like ours.

“I’m sorry, maybe next time” I said politely and took a couple steps backwards.

“Oh, you are leaving? Too bad.”

Their voice changed from bubbly and happy to cold and sinister. They turned around and I saw their uncanny, ugly faces. They approached me fast, like they didn’t have any resistance to water. I had no time to think other than Otso’s advice and run as fast as I could.

I ran for a few minutes before I dared to look back. They didn’t seem to follow me into the forest and I stopped to catch my breath. So these were the Vetehinen, water spirits, that live in the lakes.