into the fog, but Nate followed Sara out into the sunlit valley.
She looked to her left and noticed a beautiful woman sitting on a large boulder. The woman had long black hair and eyes as blue as violets. Her lips were red as blood, as was the cap she wore on her head. She held a harp on her lap and smiled as Sara approached. The girl did not notice when Nate dropped her hand and turned right to investigate something in the river’s glimmering blue and white water.
The river was filled with pretty girls who laughed as they washed each other’s hair, and filled the air with soap bubbles. They gestured for Nate to join them… they urged him with shining eyes and coaxed him into their bath with whispered endearments. His eyes shone with passion as he saw their lithe bodies, naked and slippery with suds. He thought a bath would be nice… honestly- his clothes were soaked through with the fog’s clammy touch, and the feel of his own nervous sweat.
Nate took off the heavy canvas cloak he wore and removed the steel sword the dwarves had given him from its scabbard. He peeled his damp shirt off and sat down in the tall grass to remove his shoes. As each piece of the boy’s clothing fell away, the nixies that lured him to his death crooned, caressing him with whispered promises of love undying and passion unsurpassed.
Fifty feet away from where the young man stood, hesitating by the river’s shoreline, Sara stepped toward the woman with the golden harp, smiling with pleasure. She had never heard music like this before, a haunting tune filled with joy and sorrow, promises and broken vows, keen pleasure and dreadful agony. The harp pulsed with a rhythm of its own and Sara’s feet tapped the ground. Then she started to dance.
The lovely woman threw back her head and laughed as the girl’s feet spun faster and faster. Sara’s hair fell from her braids, and whipped in the breeze as she held her arms out and twirled around in a frenzy of ecstasy. Something deep inside Sara’s heart whispered words of caution as her heart pounded painfully in her chest and her lungs heaved with effort. Still she danced, caught in a web of enchantment.
Then the ground shook as a bellow of rage filled the valley. It sounded like a mountain falling and overrode the nixies croon and the hag’s insidious song. Nate started in alarm, covering his ears, as Sara fell to the ground trembling with dizzy fatigue.
While the two teenagers had crept into the Red Cap’s stronghold, a band of pixie pinchers seized their companions. Although the pinchers were not strong individually, there were many of them. The elves, dwarves, sprites and cats struggled as tiny invisible fingers seized their clothes, pulled their fur, pinched their ears and tripped their feet out from under them. The unicorn whinnied in fear as a number of the pinchers climbed its golden horn and blew into its sensitive ears.
Muriel, Pollo and Chloe grunted and snarled in rage, as the pinchers pinched Pollo’ tiny sword and grabbed Chloe’s eyelids, slamming them shut. Muriel grimaced in frustration as her cloak of leaves was seized and wound tightly around her body.
The only beings that were not afflicted by the pinchers were the giants. As their bodies were made up of stone, they simply shrugged the pests off and ran to where the real dangers lay… the nixies, who by now had coaxed Nate up to his thighs in their watery trap, and Redwyn, queen of the Red Caps.
Red Caps had always been affiliated with the Unseelie court. They loved nothing more than killing humans beings and showed their proclivities by dying their caps and coats scarlet with the blood of man. Redwyn was a hag who had joined forces with the Red Caps and eventually became their queen. She was one of the most hideous hags the Red Caps had ever seen, but conversely, when Redwyn did don the false cloak of physical beauty, there were none more beautiful than she was. When she used her glamour, her long,
She looked to her left and noticed a beautiful woman sitting on a large boulder. The woman had long black hair and eyes as blue as violets. Her lips were red as blood, as was the cap she wore on her head. She held a harp on her lap and smiled as Sara approached. The girl did not notice when Nate dropped her hand and turned right to investigate something in the river’s glimmering blue and white water.
The river was filled with pretty girls who laughed as they washed each other’s hair, and filled the air with soap bubbles. They gestured for Nate to join them… they urged him with shining eyes and coaxed him into their bath with whispered endearments. His eyes shone with passion as he saw their lithe bodies, naked and slippery with suds. He thought a bath would be nice… honestly- his clothes were soaked through with the fog’s clammy touch, and the feel of his own nervous sweat.
Nate took off the heavy canvas cloak he wore and removed the steel sword the dwarves had given him from its scabbard. He peeled his damp shirt off and sat down in the tall grass to remove his shoes. As each piece of the boy’s clothing fell away, the nixies that lured him to his death crooned, caressing him with whispered promises of love undying and passion unsurpassed.
Fifty feet away from where the young man stood, hesitating by the river’s shoreline, Sara stepped toward the woman with the golden harp, smiling with pleasure. She had never heard music like this before, a haunting tune filled with joy and sorrow, promises and broken vows, keen pleasure and dreadful agony. The harp pulsed with a rhythm of its own and Sara’s feet tapped the ground. Then she started to dance.
The lovely woman threw back her head and laughed as the girl’s feet spun faster and faster. Sara’s hair fell from her braids, and whipped in the breeze as she held her arms out and twirled around in a frenzy of ecstasy. Something deep inside Sara’s heart whispered words of caution as her heart pounded painfully in her chest and her lungs heaved with effort. Still she danced, caught in a web of enchantment.
Then the ground shook as a bellow of rage filled the valley. It sounded like a mountain falling and overrode the nixies croon and the hag’s insidious song. Nate started in alarm, covering his ears, as Sara fell to the ground trembling with dizzy fatigue.
While the two teenagers had crept into the Red Cap’s stronghold, a band of pixie pinchers seized their companions. Although the pinchers were not strong individually, there were many of them. The elves, dwarves, sprites and cats struggled as tiny invisible fingers seized their clothes, pulled their fur, pinched their ears and tripped their feet out from under them. The unicorn whinnied in fear as a number of the pinchers climbed its golden horn and blew into its sensitive ears.
Muriel, Pollo and Chloe grunted and snarled in rage, as the pinchers pinched Pollo’ tiny sword and grabbed Chloe’s eyelids, slamming them shut. Muriel grimaced in frustration as her cloak of leaves was seized and wound tightly around her body.
The only beings that were not afflicted by the pinchers were the giants. As their bodies were made up of stone, they simply shrugged the pests off and ran to where the real dangers lay… the nixies, who by now had coaxed Nate up to his thighs in their watery trap, and Redwyn, queen of the Red Caps.
Red Caps had always been affiliated with the Unseelie court. They loved nothing more than killing humans beings and showed their proclivities by dying their caps and coats scarlet with the blood of man. Redwyn was a hag who had joined forces with the Red Caps and eventually became their queen. She was one of the most hideous hags the Red Caps had ever seen, but conversely, when Redwyn did don the false cloak of physical beauty, there were none more beautiful than she was. When she used her glamour, her long,
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