sit upright. I was lying in a… wooden bathtub? And the substance around me was real. It was warm and thick and even the color of honey, and yet, it was not honey. It did not smell like it; its scent was woody. It smelled like resin.
As I regained feeling in the rest of my body, there was something strange about my feet… something not right. They felt weighed down. As I lifted them up in the bath tub, I almost yelped.
These weren’t my feet.
They were solid blocks of resin, starting at my ankles.
Either this was a nightmare, or I was tripping out on something. What was the last thing that had happened to me? What was the last thing I remembered ?
I had been zooming through trees, chasing that… thing. That woman. Then she had flown at me suddenly and dragged me underwater. I’d felt her lips touch mine and then… that was it.
Oh, God. What is going on?
My eyes swept around me, taking in the rest of my surroundings. I was in some kind of room constructed entirely from wooden logs. The loose, melted resin surrounding me was warm, making it hard for me to gauge the exact temperature of the room outside, but it felt moderate, if not a little cool.
That girl. That marsh dweller. She brought me here. What has she done to me?
For the first time I realized that I was stark naked. A shiver ran down my spine.
I grabbed at the blocks where my feet had been and attempted to break them, push them off me somehow. As I flexed my ankles, at least I was able to move the blocks—assuring me that I still had feet… they were just buried deep inside the slabs of resin.
I came under a spell of dizziness. I was forced to lie back down. I realized just how weak I was feeling. It was an effort to sit up. Just to raise my legs.
I tried to thin myself but quickly realized I couldn’t. I was too much in contact with the physical world. Not only was I drenched in this thick resin, but the blocks around my feet clung so tightly to my skin, there was no room for my feet to even breathe.
“Hello?” I dared call, trying once again to sit upright. My speech sounded disturbingly slurred. “Is there anyone here?”
As I gripped the sides of the wooden tub, it took all the strength I had to raise myself and kneel against its edge. I was about to attempt to throw myself out and roll along the floor toward a door I had just spied in one corner of the room when the door creaked open. A familiar form glided inside. The marsh dweller I had been chasing. Damn Ottalie . She was naked as she had been then, but for a skimpy skirt of flowers hanging around her waist. And behind her entered another marsh dweller—only this was a male. His skin was just as pale, smooth and flawless as the female, and he was also just as naked—with the same kind of skirt wrapped around his hips.
Okay. This is getting weird.
“You need to let me go,” I breathed.
Before I could throw myself out of the bath, the girl hurried over to me and gripped my arms. She pushed me back down. Her grip was alarmingly strong.
What had she done to me to make me so weak? I should have at least been able to soar out of here in my physical body, even if I couldn’t thin myself.
“What do you want with me?” I managed.
Her pillowy lips parted in a smile. She merely knelt by the tub next to me, pressing her hand over my forehead and gazing down at me adoringly.
“Rest, my sweet,” she whispered.
Her face descended too close, until her lips were on mine again. I resisted, trying to push her away, but she caught my hands and planted them by my sides. Then she let out a giggle and raised her head. She pressed her palms against my chest and kept my back pressed down against the base of the tub.
“Stay,” she said firmly.
I swallowed as her fingers ran down my chest, tracing a line toward my abdomen. Then she stopped and moved around the tub until she was standing over my legs. She drew up a three-legged wooden stool and sat at the end of the tub before reaching her
As I regained feeling in the rest of my body, there was something strange about my feet… something not right. They felt weighed down. As I lifted them up in the bath tub, I almost yelped.
These weren’t my feet.
They were solid blocks of resin, starting at my ankles.
Either this was a nightmare, or I was tripping out on something. What was the last thing that had happened to me? What was the last thing I remembered ?
I had been zooming through trees, chasing that… thing. That woman. Then she had flown at me suddenly and dragged me underwater. I’d felt her lips touch mine and then… that was it.
Oh, God. What is going on?
My eyes swept around me, taking in the rest of my surroundings. I was in some kind of room constructed entirely from wooden logs. The loose, melted resin surrounding me was warm, making it hard for me to gauge the exact temperature of the room outside, but it felt moderate, if not a little cool.
That girl. That marsh dweller. She brought me here. What has she done to me?
For the first time I realized that I was stark naked. A shiver ran down my spine.
I grabbed at the blocks where my feet had been and attempted to break them, push them off me somehow. As I flexed my ankles, at least I was able to move the blocks—assuring me that I still had feet… they were just buried deep inside the slabs of resin.
I came under a spell of dizziness. I was forced to lie back down. I realized just how weak I was feeling. It was an effort to sit up. Just to raise my legs.
I tried to thin myself but quickly realized I couldn’t. I was too much in contact with the physical world. Not only was I drenched in this thick resin, but the blocks around my feet clung so tightly to my skin, there was no room for my feet to even breathe.
“Hello?” I dared call, trying once again to sit upright. My speech sounded disturbingly slurred. “Is there anyone here?”
As I gripped the sides of the wooden tub, it took all the strength I had to raise myself and kneel against its edge. I was about to attempt to throw myself out and roll along the floor toward a door I had just spied in one corner of the room when the door creaked open. A familiar form glided inside. The marsh dweller I had been chasing. Damn Ottalie . She was naked as she had been then, but for a skimpy skirt of flowers hanging around her waist. And behind her entered another marsh dweller—only this was a male. His skin was just as pale, smooth and flawless as the female, and he was also just as naked—with the same kind of skirt wrapped around his hips.
Okay. This is getting weird.
“You need to let me go,” I breathed.
Before I could throw myself out of the bath, the girl hurried over to me and gripped my arms. She pushed me back down. Her grip was alarmingly strong.
What had she done to me to make me so weak? I should have at least been able to soar out of here in my physical body, even if I couldn’t thin myself.
“What do you want with me?” I managed.
Her pillowy lips parted in a smile. She merely knelt by the tub next to me, pressing her hand over my forehead and gazing down at me adoringly.
“Rest, my sweet,” she whispered.
Her face descended too close, until her lips were on mine again. I resisted, trying to push her away, but she caught my hands and planted them by my sides. Then she let out a giggle and raised her head. She pressed her palms against my chest and kept my back pressed down against the base of the tub.
“Stay,” she said firmly.
I swallowed as her fingers ran down my chest, tracing a line toward my abdomen. Then she stopped and moved around the tub until she was standing over my legs. She drew up a three-legged wooden stool and sat at the end of the tub before reaching her
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