11-25-2013, 03:38 PM
As Merlin and Abalone continued the forest grew thick around them but the path they walked on was old and worn smooth and wide as a Roman road. He could see other sprites flickering deep in the woods. Some bravely flew across the path in front of them until, through a combination of courage and curiosity, there were dozens of them flitting back and forth. As the sun was setting it was getting difficult to see in the forest, even with the full moon already shining bright so Merlin strode carefully next to the horse, trusting Abalone with the directions. As the last of the sun disappeared over the horizon the path opened into a glade with a large pond reflecting the fullness of the moon and the pleasant glow of the sprites flying back and forth over the water.
Abalone turned to him, “Merlin, you need a bath,” and with that she started tugging at his robes. He tried to resist, flushing red and looking nervously around him, but soon scores of sprites were stripping him bare and pushing him into the water. He grimaced at first as he entered the pool but quickly got himself settled and started splashing water over his face. More sprites arrived with soaps and perfumes and scrubbed through his hair and even smoothed the tangles of his beard applying some kind of lotion to make it soft then braiding small white water lilies through it. Before long, Merlin felt clean and invigorated. He rested pleasantly in the pool and enjoyed the beautiful moonlit glade, marveling at the sight of the glowing wisps flitting about. The sprites continued to fly about, chirping to each other occasionally but for the most part the woods were peaceful as if charging with excitement for later.
As Merlin stepped out of the pool, fully refreshed, three fauns arrived with clothing and dressed him in red breeches gilt with gold and a loose fitting red poet shirt. He looked around the banks for his boots and robes but another faun arrived with supple black boots. Merlin luxuriated in the silky feel of the fabrics. Abalone flew over and hovered in front of him, “Merlin! You look positively wonderful.”
He puffed up a bit and pranced a few paces to show off his outfit which set her in fits of laughter. After she calmed down she beckoned him to follow, “come on, Merlin, it is starting without us.”
Looking around, he noticed that the glade had grown empty except for the two of them, “but where are my things? and my horse?”
“don’t worry, silly, everything is safe here,” she tugged him forward and he followed, but he felt strangely disquieted for the first time since he had entered the woods. He had brought a horse to Avalon, probably the only horse on Avalon, and he felt responsible for him. He shrugged it off and turned to follow her. The path through the woods was very dark now, even with the full moon shining brightly above so Merlin was careful to follow closely to the glowing form of Abalone. He could hear the sounds of pan pipes, flutes and drums growing in the distance.
After a short travel they broke the edge of the forest into a large clearing. Merlin was surprised to see a ring of massive stone assemblages throughout the clearing that looked very similar to the Stonehenge monuments in Amesbury but the edges hadn't been worn as smooth as if they had been protected from the weather. Beneath each assembly of stones was large brass-colored dish, longer than a horse, filled with a pool of liquid that stood perfectly still, reflecting the moonlight like a mirror. The lights from all of the pools was directed toward the center of the ring where a tower stood higher than all of the surrounding trees. The tower seemed to be constructed of silk tents and the moonlight seemed to fill the tents to bursting. The whole effect was a multicolored tower of billowing cloth diffusing moonlight and lighting up the whole clearance. There were also multi-colored strands of the same loose, billowy fabric strewn from the stones to the tower that shimmered with the music. It seemed like the music itself was weaving through the air. Fauns were dancing a complex interchanging pattern along the ground, interleaving through the wells of moonlight while sprites danced a similar but opposite pattern in the air. The dance had the contrasting impressions of impossible choreography and spontaneity. Merlin just stood and watched, awestruck.
“Just think,” Abalone interrupted his awe, “right now, somewhere, Oberon and Titania are starting to dance,” she placed a kiss on his forehead and flew off to join the dance.
Merlin watched the movements mesmerized for a long time before he noticed her, one of Oberon’s children seated at a delicate bench right next to the silk tower. Occasionally the movements of the dance would change and some sprites or fauns would break off from the pack and perform directly in front of her briefly, then go spinning off to join the rest. He crossed the clearing to join her. She sensed him coming and stood, lowering into a slight curtsy as he approached. “Well, what do we have here?” a small smile turned the edges of her lips.
She was smaller than most of Oberon’s children, not much taller than a human female. Her hair was pale like cornsilk, her skin was even paler and had a slight shimmer to it as if she had been sprinkled with gold dust. She was slender like all Aelfish but she was fuller than most, particularly in the face and the lips. Her eyes were the deep grey of heather with a touch of deep blue at the edges. She was dressed in a simple dress of emerald green, the color of Oberon’s royal house, gilt with gold at the edges that left her shoulders bare. Merlin gave a slight bow, “hello my lady, I am Merlin. A wizard, of course. And you are clearly one of Oberon’s children, but I don’t think we have met before.”
She eyed him slyly and stepped closer than he expected so that he could hear the whispery tones of her voice clearly above the music and dancing, “I am called Nimue, or, sometimes ‘last-borne’, but I don’t think I’ve seen anything like you before. She stood even closer and entwined her fingers in his beard, “what is this? you have a beard like a faun! It is so soft and wonderful.”
The scent of her so close, honeysuckle and melon, was making Merlin a little dizzy, “well, yes, all wizards have beards, well, the good ones anyway.”
“And you are a good ‘wizard’ then, Merlin?” she smiled at him mischievously. “Come, wizard Merlin, the dance has started and I need a partner.”
She placed her cool hand in his and drew him out into the dance. His legs moved of their own accord as he felt his body join the dance. She drew him in and out of the moonlight, hypnotizing him with the light, the beat of the drums and her gaze which was making him breathless and hot. They stopped occasionally and drank a sweet nectar from the pools or ate flaky pieces of manna that were arranged on some flat stone shelves.
After hours of dancing, Merlin noticed some of the sprites and fauns pairing off and disappearing into the woods. The beat of the drums had become more subdued and the flutes sounded lazier and less insistent. Nimue stopped dancing abruptly and led him by the hand into the woods, “come, I want to show you something.” Merlin followed helplessly as she led him off through the woods. After a short period, they came to a smaller clearing with a little brook bubbling through it. He could see her skin glistening dimly in the moonlight. She turned to face him and dropped his hand. She pulled the straps of her dress of her shoulders and let it fall to where it was barely caught at her chest. He reached his hand to touch her bare shoulder and the dress fell the rest of the way off, revealing her naked and lithe in the moonlight.
“Let me help you,” Nimue pulled his shirt over his head then guided his hands along her body. She pressed her lips to his and they both settled clumsily to the mossy ground, struggling to get his remaining clothes off. She was gentle with him, undulating over him with a pulse that reminded him of the dance until he finally released. Afterwards, a part of his conscious nagged at him, reminding him not to sleep. He had a last vision before he went under, Nimue, propped over him, whispering, “sleep, Merlin,” and then leaning in to kiss him on the lips. Merlin slept.
Abalone turned to him, “Merlin, you need a bath,” and with that she started tugging at his robes. He tried to resist, flushing red and looking nervously around him, but soon scores of sprites were stripping him bare and pushing him into the water. He grimaced at first as he entered the pool but quickly got himself settled and started splashing water over his face. More sprites arrived with soaps and perfumes and scrubbed through his hair and even smoothed the tangles of his beard applying some kind of lotion to make it soft then braiding small white water lilies through it. Before long, Merlin felt clean and invigorated. He rested pleasantly in the pool and enjoyed the beautiful moonlit glade, marveling at the sight of the glowing wisps flitting about. The sprites continued to fly about, chirping to each other occasionally but for the most part the woods were peaceful as if charging with excitement for later.
As Merlin stepped out of the pool, fully refreshed, three fauns arrived with clothing and dressed him in red breeches gilt with gold and a loose fitting red poet shirt. He looked around the banks for his boots and robes but another faun arrived with supple black boots. Merlin luxuriated in the silky feel of the fabrics. Abalone flew over and hovered in front of him, “Merlin! You look positively wonderful.”
He puffed up a bit and pranced a few paces to show off his outfit which set her in fits of laughter. After she calmed down she beckoned him to follow, “come on, Merlin, it is starting without us.”
Looking around, he noticed that the glade had grown empty except for the two of them, “but where are my things? and my horse?”
“don’t worry, silly, everything is safe here,” she tugged him forward and he followed, but he felt strangely disquieted for the first time since he had entered the woods. He had brought a horse to Avalon, probably the only horse on Avalon, and he felt responsible for him. He shrugged it off and turned to follow her. The path through the woods was very dark now, even with the full moon shining brightly above so Merlin was careful to follow closely to the glowing form of Abalone. He could hear the sounds of pan pipes, flutes and drums growing in the distance.
After a short travel they broke the edge of the forest into a large clearing. Merlin was surprised to see a ring of massive stone assemblages throughout the clearing that looked very similar to the Stonehenge monuments in Amesbury but the edges hadn't been worn as smooth as if they had been protected from the weather. Beneath each assembly of stones was large brass-colored dish, longer than a horse, filled with a pool of liquid that stood perfectly still, reflecting the moonlight like a mirror. The lights from all of the pools was directed toward the center of the ring where a tower stood higher than all of the surrounding trees. The tower seemed to be constructed of silk tents and the moonlight seemed to fill the tents to bursting. The whole effect was a multicolored tower of billowing cloth diffusing moonlight and lighting up the whole clearance. There were also multi-colored strands of the same loose, billowy fabric strewn from the stones to the tower that shimmered with the music. It seemed like the music itself was weaving through the air. Fauns were dancing a complex interchanging pattern along the ground, interleaving through the wells of moonlight while sprites danced a similar but opposite pattern in the air. The dance had the contrasting impressions of impossible choreography and spontaneity. Merlin just stood and watched, awestruck.
“Just think,” Abalone interrupted his awe, “right now, somewhere, Oberon and Titania are starting to dance,” she placed a kiss on his forehead and flew off to join the dance.
Merlin watched the movements mesmerized for a long time before he noticed her, one of Oberon’s children seated at a delicate bench right next to the silk tower. Occasionally the movements of the dance would change and some sprites or fauns would break off from the pack and perform directly in front of her briefly, then go spinning off to join the rest. He crossed the clearing to join her. She sensed him coming and stood, lowering into a slight curtsy as he approached. “Well, what do we have here?” a small smile turned the edges of her lips.
She was smaller than most of Oberon’s children, not much taller than a human female. Her hair was pale like cornsilk, her skin was even paler and had a slight shimmer to it as if she had been sprinkled with gold dust. She was slender like all Aelfish but she was fuller than most, particularly in the face and the lips. Her eyes were the deep grey of heather with a touch of deep blue at the edges. She was dressed in a simple dress of emerald green, the color of Oberon’s royal house, gilt with gold at the edges that left her shoulders bare. Merlin gave a slight bow, “hello my lady, I am Merlin. A wizard, of course. And you are clearly one of Oberon’s children, but I don’t think we have met before.”
She eyed him slyly and stepped closer than he expected so that he could hear the whispery tones of her voice clearly above the music and dancing, “I am called Nimue, or, sometimes ‘last-borne’, but I don’t think I’ve seen anything like you before. She stood even closer and entwined her fingers in his beard, “what is this? you have a beard like a faun! It is so soft and wonderful.”
The scent of her so close, honeysuckle and melon, was making Merlin a little dizzy, “well, yes, all wizards have beards, well, the good ones anyway.”
“And you are a good ‘wizard’ then, Merlin?” she smiled at him mischievously. “Come, wizard Merlin, the dance has started and I need a partner.”
She placed her cool hand in his and drew him out into the dance. His legs moved of their own accord as he felt his body join the dance. She drew him in and out of the moonlight, hypnotizing him with the light, the beat of the drums and her gaze which was making him breathless and hot. They stopped occasionally and drank a sweet nectar from the pools or ate flaky pieces of manna that were arranged on some flat stone shelves.
After hours of dancing, Merlin noticed some of the sprites and fauns pairing off and disappearing into the woods. The beat of the drums had become more subdued and the flutes sounded lazier and less insistent. Nimue stopped dancing abruptly and led him by the hand into the woods, “come, I want to show you something.” Merlin followed helplessly as she led him off through the woods. After a short period, they came to a smaller clearing with a little brook bubbling through it. He could see her skin glistening dimly in the moonlight. She turned to face him and dropped his hand. She pulled the straps of her dress of her shoulders and let it fall to where it was barely caught at her chest. He reached his hand to touch her bare shoulder and the dress fell the rest of the way off, revealing her naked and lithe in the moonlight.
“Let me help you,” Nimue pulled his shirt over his head then guided his hands along her body. She pressed her lips to his and they both settled clumsily to the mossy ground, struggling to get his remaining clothes off. She was gentle with him, undulating over him with a pulse that reminded him of the dance until he finally released. Afterwards, a part of his conscious nagged at him, reminding him not to sleep. He had a last vision before he went under, Nimue, propped over him, whispering, “sleep, Merlin,” and then leaning in to kiss him on the lips. Merlin slept.
