Clip… Clop… Clip… Clop…
Slowly and deliberately, Sally Vinebrook eased her horse along the narrow path that snaked its way in a meandering zigzag through the heart of the massive forest that blanketed countless leagues of the Western Reaches. Though the pace was slower than either of them would have preferred, both rider and mount were content to take their time and ensure that each step was placed on solid (well, solid enough) ground; doing their best to keep a wary eye out for snares and pitfalls, or anything that might think diminutive mage girls made for tasty snacks.
After all, becoming dinner for some nameless horror that lurked in the bowels of the forest was no way to go about having an adventure. Which was exactly what she was trying to do!
Sally Vinebrook was on a quest for knowledge. More specifically, she was looking for a spring. But not just any spring. She was looking for a mystical spring. She’d heard second and third-hand accounts at a local inn some three days’ ride back about a squire boy who had inadvertently stumbled into the domain of a water nymph here in this very forest, and now she was determined to do the same.
The lucky lad had even had the good fortune of actually coming face to face with the mistress of the bog herself! Apparently she’d made quite the impression on him, because everyone Sally had spoken to at the inn had been more than eager to recount his adventure for her once it had become known that she had the coin to pay for the information in drinks. Unfortunately, the details of what exactly had happened between the boy and the naiad had been murky, and often rather contradictory, and in the end what little she’d managed to pry from the locals had sketched only a very basic picture.
Somewhere deep in the forest, nobody could say for certain other than that it was near its heart and required at least two or three days of careful riding to reach, there was a bog, within which apparently lived some sort of water nymph.
Beyond that though, the rest was speculation.
While the story itself wasn’t exactly up to her mistresses’ usual standards of academic rigor, Sally still felt confident that she’d managed to spin the tenuous threads of rumor that she’d gathered during that night of unsupervised drinking and fact-finding into a reasonably compelling – and brief – report, which she’d sent with a letter carrier back to the monastery before she’d set off. Hopefully it would be enough to keep the locals from thinking she was off on some wild goose chase.
Bunch of porridge-minded rock farmers… Humph!
The thought of the nearby townsfolk’s complete and utter lack of any proper documentation of the boy’s adventures into the bog were enough to make Sally’s blood boil as she twisted her reins in frustration. How could they not understand what a fantastic opportunity for learning that had been? Were encounters with creatures of legend so commonplace for them that they just didn’t care? It was absurd!
Fuming to herself over all the valuable information that may have been lost forever because of their ignorance, she gave the sides of her mare a sharp little kick with her heels, and was rewarded with an equally sharp snort and buck of the animal’s hips that bounced her roughly in her saddle.
“Sorry Bella,” she sighed in apology, leaning forward and patting her steed behind the ears, making sure to rub the knot underneath the left one that always made her swish her tail happily.
“Get a hold of yourself Sally,” she chided herself quietly. “You’re supposed to be a proper and in control acolyte now, not some unruly novice!”
Shaking off her annoyance and fixing on a chagrinned smirk, grateful that nobody had been around to see her moment of petulance, she smoothed down the front of her tan tunic across the ample swell of her chest and refocused her thoughts on the task at hand.
The important thing was that there had been a boy who’d ventured into the naiad’s domain somewhat recently, and that said boy had escaped (or rather, had been allowed to leave) from the bog alive. That indicated to her that the mystical entity that had dominion over the area did in fact exist, probably, and that she wasn’t particularly malicious, probably. Or at the very least wasn’t outright hostile toward humans.
Again, probably.
To be fair, she had heard a few accounts that included the boy fleeing from the swamp with a bright red bottom and no clothes on save for his boots, but that didn’t sound all that scary.
As a newly elevated sister of the Celestine Order, having just completed her novice training only a few weeks earlier, it was her responsibility for the foreseeable future to explore the world in search of new lore and training on her own before returning home, which meant facing the possibility of a little bit of danger. Turned loose from the monastery that had been her home for the better part of the last decade , she was beyond excited for any opportunity that might give her a chance to put the arcane arts she’d been honing day in and day out to the test, and if that meant stepping into the domain of some grumpy goose naiad, then so be it.
She’d just be on her best behavior.
While rumors of a water spirit who vented her frustrations on people’s backsides and taking their clothes might have scared off other, less intrepid, adventurers than herself, it only served to draw in the young mage in like a moth to the flame. As a proud Cindertouched sister of the Celestine order (and a respectably powerful one at that, if her mistresses were to be believed), of course she was intrigued! Although the extent of her experience within the realms of the Watertouched extended only to her heating up her bath water at night, she still couldn’t help but be fascinated. After all, it was a naiad. How often did someone get the chance to meet one of those in person?
Apparently not very, if the scant accounts she could recall coming across in the monastery’s archives were anything to go by. At least, not in recent centuries.
The way she saw it, it was her responsibility as a sister of the Celestine Order to investigate and properly document this mystical bog and its elusive mistress.
For posterity.
‘My Adventures into the Deep Dark Woods’ sounds like a sufficiently impressive sounding title for this journey to me, she thought to herself with a giggle. No, no, how about ‘A Descent into Danger and… Darkness’ instead? Yes, that’s even better!
Humming happily to herself as she pictured the looks on her former instructors’ faces when they eventually read her account, Sally urged her steed to move a little bit faster.
“Come on, Bella, it can’t be too far now.”
And then, as if she’d been destined to find it all her life, she was suddenly there.
“Hmmm…”
Reining in her horse to a stop, Sally squinted her bright green eyes behind her delicate spectacles at an even more narrow and brambly path through the trees just a few paces off to her right. To any ordinary observer, it might have just looked like another small offshoot that led deeper into the forest, but Sally Vinebrook was no ordinary observer. She could feel the roiling currents of the Power thrumming from deep within the shroud of trees, radiating out in palpable waves that vibrated in her bones as her heart fluttered in excitement.
She’d found it!
Scrambling down from off the back of her horse, she nearly toppled into the mud in her haste to investigate the seemingly innocuous offshoot. She let out a giddy squeal of delight then as the soles of her soft leather boots came into contact with the damp earth beneath her, and overjoyed, she threw her arms around her mare in a fierce hug.
“We did it Bella, it’s really here! There’s an actual water nymph somewhere down along that path. There just has to be, I can feel it! Oh if only Mistress Alviren were here to see this.”
The thought of her strict – but never unkind – former instructor sobered some of the young acolyte’s exuberance, and with a burst of speed borne from years of quick swats to the seat of her apprentice robes to get her moving, she set to work lashing her horse to a tree so that it wouldn’t wander off anywhere while she was exploring the bog. Then, after giving the matter some more thought, she undid the knot and petted her mane reassuringly.
She wasn’t sure how long she’d be gone for, and she would just hate for something bad to happen to her mount just because she was stuck to a tree and unable to escape.
“You just wait here for me, alright?”
The horse gave a snort and a shake of its dappled mane, and Sally patted her affectionately on the cheek again.
“Good girl.”
After securing an overstuffed feedbag of oats around Bella’s muzzle so that she could enjoy a well-deserved snack while she rested, Sally took in several long, deep breaths to steady her nerves and gave her tunic and riding pants a few quick tugs to make sure that she looked presentable. Then, gathering her courage and thrusting her shoulders back, she stepped onto the path that led away from her horse and deeper into the dark forest.
“I should be back before nightfall, Bella,” she called in a sing-song voice over her shoulder as she disappeared into the press of trees. “Be good for me while I’m gone, alright?”
As she moved forward, the trees around Sally began to grow fewer in number, but thicker and older. Their canopies formed a roof of leaves overhead with some branches brought low under the weight of many hanging vines and other strange growths, all of which pressed in above her to blot out the sun’s light so that only a faint trickle was able to find its way through. Underfoot her boots made muffled squelching noises as they tread tentatively across a thick carpet of damp leaves and springy undergrowth, and as she continued to follow the winding path for what felt like forever, a heavy white mist began to crawl across the forest floor toward her, further obscuring her vision.
On the bright side though, it was nice and warm, and the growing heat and moisture buoyed her spirits.
She was getting close.
Weaving her way around a pair of thick, root-gnarled trunks, Sally let out a small gasp of excitement as she caught her first glimpse of a dark green pool of water filling a vast clearing ahead of her with more tree trunks sprouting up ahead of her on all sides like the pillars of an ancient temple. The fog here was heavier than it had been back in the forest and seemed to be rolling in from across the water, blocking her view of whatever was on the other side… or even in the middle. Stranger still, from somewhere further ahead beyond the fog she could hear a faint bubbling noise.
“Wow…” she breathed in a low whisper, momentarily overwhelmed by what she was seeing.
With a mixture of excitement at having finally reached her destination after several sleepless nights lying awake with her mind racing at the prospect of what she might discover, and trepidation at being well and truly alone in the domain of a powerful magical entity, Sally took a moment to once again gather her courage and straighten out her outfit before she moved forward.
Her spectacles began to fog over as she ventured closer to the shoreline of the murky green pool, and she had to pause every few paces to wipe them clean with the inside of her forest hued cloak. It was like walking through the inside of a bathhouse! The nearer she drew to the water, the more the humidity began to make her sweat, and about halfway to her destination she was forced to draw back her hood to expose her intricate bun of bright blonde hair to the somewhat cooler air around her. She could hear the bubbling sound in the distance far more clearly now, and she found herself idly wondering if perhaps something was boiling there beyond her sight.
It sure feels hot enough for that! she thought to herself with a nervous titter. Plus it would explain where all of this mist was coming from…
Aside from the steady, rhythmic churning of water in the distance, the bog itself was eerily silent.
Drawing near the muddy edge of the small lake felt to Sally as if she were stepping into the hall of worship for some long-forgotten religious sect, and she suddenly wasn’t sure if she was supposed to be there. She did her best to try and ignore the sensation that she was treading on sacred ground uninvited that was currently gnawing at the pit of her stomach as she craned her head back in an attempt to catch sight of the tops of the trees surrounding her. Their reach was far too high for her to discern anything that might constitute a “top” in this mist, however, seemingly stretching on for eternity.
Do they even have a top?
Shaking off the thought, Sally brought her gaze back down to the lake in front of her, and with another deep breath began to center her mind, her senses reaching out to feel the energy of the territory all around her.
It was incredible!
But now came the hard part.
Clearing her throat, she drew herself up to her full height (for what little of it there was), and with as much confidence as she could muster, called out into the silence.
“Um, h-hellooooo! Is anybody home?”
Her words echoed across the still surface of the lake, only somewhat muffled by the thick, rolling mist.
For several long moments nothing happened, then just as she was about to call out again (only this time a little bit louder) she heard a sloshing sound just ahead of her and off to one side, like something heavy emerging from the thick, muddy water.
Giddy with excitement but managing to keep herself under control lest she look like an undisciplined novice, the young mage leaned forward eagerly and squinted behind her fogged-up spectacles into the mist ahead of her in an attempt to pick out what was doing all that splashing. Said noises quickly became sloshing footsteps, followed a moment later by heavy growling, as the form of a massive creature with two legs, no arms, and a huge mouth full of pointy teeth emerged from out of the mist and began to lumber ponderously toward her.
“Eek!” cried Sally, her bleary-eyed squint shattering into a mask of terror as she got a good look at the horned monstrosity heading for her with a hungry look in its three, beady little eyes.
Terrified as she was, at least part of her still remembered her training, and with trembling hands and a pounding heart she reached deep within the swirling ethereal energies all around her, gathering them to her chest in a concentrated ball of light as she cried out.
“I am not a snack!”
With that, she hurled the energy toward the monster, managing by some miracle to actually hit it. The haphazardly formed ball of Power made manifest flashed a brilliant shade of red as it sailed across the water and then exploded in a shower of sparks against the monster’s rough hide. However all the attack seemed to do was scorch some of its scales and make it angry.
And that’s when true panic began to set in.
Growling in pain and surprise, the beast stumbled around in a daze for a moment before regaining its footing. Then, lowering its oversized spine-covered head, its toothy maw yawned wide enough to swallow Sally whole, and with a thundering roar it began stampeding forward through the muck and fog, clearly coming in for a bite.
“S-stay awaaaaay!”
Realizing that she was about to meet a gruesome end at the jaws of an even more gruesome swamp monster, she turned on her heel and started fleeing from the charging monster just as fast as her mud-caked boots would carry her.
“No, please, I’m sorry! Go away!”
As she slipped and stumbled her way away from the edge of the lake, nearly toppling into the mud on several occasions, the young mage desperately tried to calm her mind and channel a proper attack spell, or defense ward, or something. Unfortunately for her however, the real world was far less neat and organized than the archives and practice ranges back home at the monastery.
At least there none of her books ever tried to eat her.
Well, not usually.
Either way though, Sally was unable to channel so much as a spark of the Power right then, and with that horrifying realization came tears of frustration, streaming from the corners of her eyes and obscuring her vision as she continued to make a mad dash toward the tree line and its flimsy promise of safety.
Then, as if they’d never been there in the first place, the growls and sloshing footfalls suddenly stopped, leaving only the faint bubbling of water and the distant songs of frogs, birds, and buzzing insects in the distance.
“Oh dear, oh my… Oh gods below, forgive me for being such a fool! I swear I’ll be more careful from now on…”
It took several more heart-poundingly terrifying moments for Sally to fully come to grips with the reality that she wasn’t being chewed on by any rows of razor-sharp teeth, and it took several more moments for her to gather enough courage to peek out from behind the tree trunk she’d hidden behind.
The monster was gone.
“Creature.” she chided herself, her mistress’ sharp voices ringing in her ears despite the fear still roiling through her veins. “It was a creature, not a monster. Don’t be silly.”
Stepping out from behind her tree and retracing her muddy footprints back over to the edge of the shallow lake, she cast a long, searching glance in all directions before finally letting out a huge sigh of relief and collapsing unceremoniously onto her backside against the soft earth with a squishy thump.
It was gone. She was safe.
“Thank goodness…” she sighed, flopping back against the muddy shore behind her, ignoring how dirty it was going to get her clothes as she nearly started sobbing in relief. “That was way too close.”
Then, as if in response to her, there suddenly came a deep, female voice from somewhere within the fog.
“Humans,” it drawled in bemused contempt. “All the same these days. Trying to kill things for no good reason, even when you’re unlikely to succeed.”
The fog seemed to thicken as she spoke.
“She’s hungry you know… Do you think perhaps I should let her eat you?”
“Wha-?”
The voice had Sally jerking back up in an instant, and although she could tell it was coming from somewhere within the thickly swirling mist that hung like a shroud above the water in front of her, she couldn’t yet make out the figure of whoever was speaking.
Not that she really had to guess who it must be.
That commanding presence, that mellifluous cadence, the way the energies of the forest and water seemed to crackle with each syllable. It could only be the water nymph who made this bog her domain.
Scrambling back to her feet and hurriedly trying to brush away the mud and stray bits of leaves clinging to her sodden clothes as best she could, Sally squeaked nervously and replied.
“Um… I wasn’t t-trying to kill it, ma’am!”
Then, gulping and fumbling for some excuse that would keep the mysterious nymph woman from turning the creature loose on her again, she added hurriedly.
“I wouldn’t make a very good snack, anyway! But if you want, I could… I could, um… Oh!”
Her face lighting up in a smile as an idea came to her, Sally whipped around and began gathering the Power of the forest to her once again, this time focusing it on one of the trees near the shoreline as she said through a veil of concentration.
“I can… make this… tree… grow some delicious… fruits… instead..!”
And true to her word, the branches of the tree that she was focusing on began to writhe and snake, reforming themselves on a fundamental level as small, sweet apricots began to blossom and swell in bunches along them.
“Oh? And why are you making this tree grow delicious fruits?”
The voice seemed to be closer now, just beyond the wall of fog.
Her unexpected question distracted Sally for a few precious heartbeats as she looked back to cast her eyes about in search of the naiad again. Suddenly she couldn’t help but feel as if she were back at the monastery and about to be chewed out for not knowing the answer to a question she’d been asked.
“Um, well…” she stalled, trying to come up with something sufficiently clever sounding.
Nothing was coming to mind though, and she could feel her mouth growing uncomfortably dry with each passing moment.
“S-so she can eat..?”
A furtive glance back at the tree she’d been manipulating caused her to realize that her lapse in concentration had allowed her blossoming fruits to wither to almost nothing on their branches. And with a terrified squeak, she redoubled her efforts, pouring as much energy into the tree as she could and causing the apricots to swell like bright orange balloons before suddenly bursting.
“Oh no!” she moaned, a wave of mortified horror washing over her as her face and hair were pelted with a hail of apricot debris. “Hold on, I can fix this!”
In response, a deep, melodious laugh reverberated across the swamp.
“I think I’ve seen quite enough of your particular brand of problem solving, little human.”
More chuckles continued to echo all around her, and Sally cast another quick look over her shoulder toward the shoreline behind her before fully turning with a nervous swallow.
“But you’re at least much more polite than the last one of your kind who came here was.”
Only a few feet away from her now, she saw the silhouette of a head rise up out of the water. Although most of its features were still obscured by fog, she could still make out the impression of a strong chin, round, full cheeks, and thick, tangled hair falling behind its owner like a damp curtain.
“How about you don’t accidentally destroy any of these trees, though?”
Feeling her cheeks coloring at having failed so spectacularly to impress the mysterious nymph, Sally released her mental hold on her failed apricot tree. In the distance she could just barely see the outline of the woman’s face now, and the sight of those strong commanding features made her stomach flip-flop in the same way it so often did whenever Mistress Alviren would summon her to her chambers for…
Cutting her wandering thoughts off with a shake of her head and an even brighter blush, she clasped her hands in front of her and bowed in supplication.
“Oh please, pleeeease don’t let her eat me, Mistress Nymph!”
“Mistress Nymph?” laughed the voice again, although this time it was more of a quiet giggle. “I am Modan, child. And you are a strange, funny little creature.”
With those words the figure began moving closer, somehow not leaving a wake as she glided smoothly through the water and out of the fog toward Sally. As she approached the shore, she rose up out of the lake, giving the young mage her first clear view of the vinelets and little blossoms woven in throughout the curtain of dark hair framing either side of her wide, naked shoulders and round breasts.
Eying her back far more openly, the naiad’s aquamarine hued lips twitched up into a teasing smile as water trickled down her belly and between her bare thighs.
“Were you looking for a wolf to skin to impress your little friends? Hmmm, no… I don’t think so. Not this one…”
Modan reached up and pushed back a stray lock of hair with a little sigh, all the while keeping her liquid, dark eyes fixed on the stranger in her bog.
‘But another human so soon? Surely that must mean something…’
Sally could feel her ears burning all throughout the naiad’s inspection of her. She’d been trying to be polite and respectful, but the way the nymph woman had laughed off her earnest pleas to not be served as a snack just made her feel like a fumbling novice all over again. She didn’t have much time to dwell on those feelings however, as she surreptitiously stole her first proper glimpse of the woman’s form as a whole, her still stooped forward bow putting her precisely at eye-level with her more than ample chest.
She was beautiful.
Moreover there was something intangible in the fluidity and grace of her movements that belied the raw power she knew thrummed within her, making Sally swallow hard as her heart was set a flutter.
Gods below, I can’t believe this is really happening!
It took a few moments before she finally realized that Modan had stopped speaking and was eying her expectantly. She’d been so caught up in staring at the enticing bare breasts on display before her (it was the first time that she’d had the opportunity to be so close to someone so… commanding in such an intimate way in a very long time) that she’d completely lost track of herself. Then, blushing scarlet, she piped up from behind her still-clasped hands (now hiding behind them like she had with the tree trunk earlier), squeaking.
“M-my name is S-Sally Vinebrook Mistress Nym-, I mean, Mistress Modan!”
Swallowing hard she forced her bright green eyes up to meet the creature’s fathomlessly deep, black ones as she went on earnestly.
“I’m, uh… I’m a mage of the Celestine Order out on her first excursion from the monastery, and I… I heard that there was a water nymph that lived in this forest and I wanted to um… to meet her, and uh…”
She swallowed again then as she ran out of steam, eyeing the woman and hoping against hope that she’d believe her story and not think that she was plotting some sort of foul treachery. Then, remembering the packet of seeds she still had tucked away in a pocket of her cloak, she snatched the small pouch out and held it before her with slightly trembling hands as she added hastily.
“I um… I brought you s-some marsh marigold seeds as a gift, Mistress Modan!”
Not immediately speaking, Modan strode forward until she was looming directly before Sally, the waterline now at her ankles. Naked but for the curtain of black hair framing her face and chest, she seemed to tower over the diminutive mage girl both in height and mass as she plucked up the small pouch of seeds.
“Oh.” she said with a thoughtful frown, rolling one of them between her damp, pale-skinned fingers. “These are like the herbs that grow near my banks… Like them, but still different.”
She looked back at the still bowing mage with a softer, more appraising smile this time.
“These may be nice to grow.”
Then, raising a dark eyebrow, she added with a smirk.
“Just so long as you leave the growing to me.”
A chagrinned smile to match the water nymph’s demeaning one tugged at the corners of Sally’s lips, Modan’s teasing admonition about “assisting” her plants along in their growth having hit far too close to home for her liking. She knew that she’d botched her earlier attempt to save her skin and impress her, which was doubly-embarrassing considering that coaxing plants to grow strong was ostensibly one of her specialties as a Cindertouched mage. The blow to her pride stung more than she thought it would, and she planned to redouble her drills from then on so that she could do better next time.
Assuming of course, there would ever even be a next time for her. That yet remained to be seen, unfortunately.
Straightening up from her bent over position and surreptitiously knuckling the aching small of her back while at the same time trying to take in every detail of the naked nymph standing in front of her without her noticing, Sally felt a fresh wave of nervousness seize her stomach.
Nodding shyly and doing her best to sound respectful and sincere she said, “I-I’m happy you like them, Mistress Modan, and um… I’m sorry I, uh… I’m sorry I couldn’t help feed your, um…”
She gestured vaguely toward the wall of mist obscuring the water behind the naiad and gave her an embarrassed shrugged.
“Your pet.”
‘I don’t keep pets… Although if you’d like to feed that hungry knucker , you still can,’ replied Modan with a cruel grin. ‘I don’t think you actually want to do that, though.’
“N-no that’s fine!” Sally quickly reassured her with a frantic wave of her hands. “I really don’t taste that good, I promise.”
“Is that so?”
With her grin now firmly in place, Modan stepped out of the water and circled around to stand directly behind Sally, getting a good look at her from all angles.
“Well, you’ve met the lady of the spring, oh intrepid scholar of the arcane. What did you plan to do after that?”
She was still smiling as she spoke, and her deep voice had adopted a teasing quality now. Both of which were very good signs as far as Sally was concerned.
Feeling herself stiffen at Modan’s words, the sight of her cruel grin sending frissons of nervous excitement coursing down her spine and making her stomach flip-flop, it took all of her willpower not to turn around just then. Instead, doing her best to keep track of the water nymph’s presence through her powerful aura and out of the corners of her eyes, decades of Mistress Alviren’s pre-discipline lectures keeping her feet rooted firmly to the ground and her back straight, Sally racked her brain for something to say.
Swallowing hard in an attempt to return some of the moisture to her suddenly dry mouth, she opened it to speak only to then realize that she really hadn’t planned this far ahead.
Oh dear…
Clamping her lips shut again, she blushed and then a moment later offered weakly, “Um… I was rather hoping that maybe I could stay with you for a few days so that you could, um… teach me about yourself and your domain?”
Then, worried that she may have been too forward, she added quickly.
“I-if that’s alright with you, I mean! If not I’ll leave right now, and I promise I won’t tell anyone about your bog, I-!”
Realizing that she was rambling, Sally snapped her mouth shut tight once again before any more foolish words could come tumbling out of it.
Modan didn’t seem to mind though, her grin growing even wider as she stepped in close enough that the jittery mage could feel her body heat intermixing with the warmth of the rolling mist all around them.
“I don’t know about a few days,” she murmured very softly, making the younger girl’s skin prickle as she strained to catch every word. “But a polite, respectful human who comes bearing such lovely… gifts…”
At that, she walked around behind Sally again, licking her aquamarine lips with a low chuckle.
“…would certainly be welcome to stay for a time.”
“Really?” asked Sally, not daring to let herself hope as the butterflies in her stomach grew all the more agitated.
Her composure was also strained by the fact that she could feel the nymph’s hot breath on the back of her neck and shoulders.
‘Sure,’ replied Modan matter-of-factly as she breezed back around and past her into the fog at an easy pace. She walked back into the swamp, her wide hips swaying suggestively from side to side as they sank back beneath the surface of the water.
“Come with me.”
The naiad’s breath tickling the back of her neck a moment ago had made Sally go weak in the knees, and it took her a moment or two to fully process her sudden and casual approval of her request to stay and study for a time, but when she did, she let out a squeal of joy.
“Thank you, thank you, thank you!”
Before then remembering that she was supposed to be a noble and elegant representative of her order.
“Oh! Um, or rather…”
Reining in her exuberance, she bent forward once more in a formal bow as she said with as much dignity as she could muster.
“Thank you for your kindness, Mistress Modan. You honor me greatly with your, um… benevolence.”
Then, with a skip in her step that was made all the more springy by the soft earth beneath her feet, the young mage danced off after the naiad’s distractingly swaying hips, not sure where she was being led to, but eager to get there all the same.
