Page 3 of A Dance of Water

The air vibrated with a presence, and her eyes popped open, no longer able to focus solely on that call, but on whatever it was that had just arrived in this space she had found herself in.

She scanned the forest with intense focus.

Its wooded depths were dark. Yet, not foreboding. Something about it was almost inviting to her. Warm and speaking of strolls at dusk and picnics at midday. Picking flowers and making shapes out of the clouds.

But the longer she stared, the more spindly those limbs became. The deeper the shadows grew.

Tendrils of air tickled against her white hair as it tumbled about her shoulders, and her fingers tapped a nervous rhythm against her thigh.

She looked up above her. To the soaring heights of the trees and the swaying leaves of the treetops. To the quick roll of the clouds in the sky, blotting out the sun for the briefest of moments before the puffs of white swept by, forcing shadows to flicker out and burst to life from the steady, constant covering of the thick sun.

Leaves rustled.

Luella jolted to action.

She took quick steps forward, forgoing all sense of hesitancyfrom the knowledge that this was not real. That Bastian had brought her here. She was dreaming. This was a dream.

Something quiet begged her to turn and look at the water, the way the small waves lapped against the muddy shore—to press her hands into the chilled depths and allow herself to melt into it. But she did not listen.

As the ground turned from wet earth to a blanket of thick, lush, and green grass, her bare feet tracked dirty footprints. The beginnings of the forest beckoned her. She was sad to leave the embrace of the lake behind her, but curious about what lay before her, the secrets held within the midst of the tall green expanse.

Her ears strained, and she lamented her weaker fae hearing.

She held herself still, the sound of her heart thunderous in her ears as she waited with bated breath for the telltale crunch of leaves from the dream-like step of her vampiric captor.

A flash of color in the otherwise shadowed green of the still forest.

And she surged forward.

"Bastian!" Luella called. Her voice rang out in the quiet; the rustle of leaves throughout the canopy was her only answer.

Her blue eyes squinted as she tried to catch that fleeting pop of color that had first caught her attention.

"Bastian," she breathed. "Is that you?"

Nothing answered.

Until something did.

Sharp peals of laughter broke the loud silence of the dreamscape, ringing out with brilliant clarity. Her ears rang from the noise, unused to such a joyous sound.

At that moment, Luella grew uneasy. For the laughter that pierced the air was not of the masculine sort, but the soft, bell-like trill of a female.

Her hands fluttered to her chest as she stood before the invisible line that marked the beginning of the forest. "Bastian?" She took a step back. "This isn’t funny anymore. Where are you?"

Leaves crunched, the laughter echoed throughout the forest, and she quaked where she stood, toes curling into the grass to ground herself.

The feminine lilt of the laughter was joined by the sharp, unmistakable bark of a male—one she did not recognize.

Her eyes burned with unshed tears the longer she stared at the unmoving forest, not wanting to blink and miss the flash of movement.

"I want to wake up."

Warmth cascaded over her back, and she did not break away from her unfaltering watch of the forest, even as something soothing whispered over her nape. Somehow, she knew then that it would all be okay, that she was safe and would not be harmed here. The touch was like a phantom; she knew it was not from someone—butsomething—though her heart did not kick up in fear, and her breath did not labor.

She watched, and she waited. And she felt. The sun warmed her skin, the clouds blotting out its rays occasionally; she could see the faintest impression of the moon, even though it was the middle of the day; air tickled her cheeks, and the grass blanketed her feet; the memory of the cool lap of water against her skin made her release the breath she had been holding so fearfully.

The laughter had grown quiet, but leaves still crunched, growing nearer with every passing moment.

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