Shaken but thrilled, Emily records that she has finally met one of the Hidden Ones. After an unproductive previous day, Emily spends the morning getting a detailed map from Finn, dividing the surrounding forest and mountains into search grids, and planning a more systematic investigation of Karr rskogur.

Before beginning that formal search, Emily returns to the sulphuric spring to better learn the terrain. There she finds that her earlier offerings have been taken, and she spots her diamond embedded in a nearby rock as if it were a marker. Emily sits by the spring with her boots off, expecting a long wait for any faerie to approach.

Instead, a small juvenile faerie appears almost at once and begins rifling through Emily’s pockets. Emily notes its uncanny form: skeletal, raven-cloaked, and half-substantial, with dangerous needle-like nails. When Emily startles slightly, the faerie vanishes into the forest, but Emily calms it by speaking Faie and declaring that she has come to bargain.

The faerie asks what Emily will give, and Emily carefully answers that she will trade whatever is in her power. The creature asks for a bearskin, revealing knowledge from stories despite there being no bears in Ljosland. Emily bargains back with a promise of a beaver skin and possibly more, then learns that the faerie already knows she wants information but refuses to speak about itself because it dislikes doing so.

That refusal excites Emily because the faerie uses the continental term "noser" for scholars, which supports her theory that faerie realms overlap across regions. Rather than press directly, Emily complains about Finn’s terrible bread, prompting the vain young faerie to boast that he is an excellent cook. Emily turns that boast into a bargain: in exchange for the skin, the faerie will bring her bread, even if it will not share its deeper secrets.

Emily seals the encounter by giving the faerie Turkish delights as an offering separate from the bargain. Delighted by the personal gift, the faerie takes the sweets and disappears into the landscape. Emily leaves exhilarated, already composing a description for her encyclopaedia, because this first successful contact promises both evidence and future cooperation.