Page 51 of The Shadow Fae Rhapsody
But the wyverns ignore him like a lazy house cat.
Good.
I use the opportunity to draw a summoning circle on the ground.
“Seeds of water, Nurturer of earth, I call upon you to dance with me.”
The runes on the circle I had written on the ground shine with a chartreuse glow. Nimue slowly rises from my summoning. The woodland nymph looks mostly like fae and elves, except for her webbed fingers. She’s wearing the same white dress I had given her fifty years ago.
The Lady of the lake raises her head slowly, her long dark hair falling along her pale face.
“Rhianelle?” Her eyes widen in surprise, then in delight.
Nimue jumps and wraps her arms around me in a tight hug. “It’s been a long time.”
“I’ve missed you too.” I ease out from her cold embrace.
“Your hair is softer now,” I say, toning down on my compliment. If I tell her she is beautiful or something along those lines, she might faint and return into the summoning circle.
“Thank you,” she says, her pale cheeks slowly gaining color as she blushes.
Nimue takes in her new environment, her expression growing wary. “Rhianelle, where are we?”
“I’m surrounded by fire-breathing drakes. Please lend me your strength,” I plead desperately.
“Of course, I’ll help,” she says without a beat of hesitation. “But there’s no one else here but these lizards, right?”
This is the Lady of the Lake’s only weakness. She is extremely shy and doesn’t like to be around people.
I stare at her in silence.
“Right?” she asks again.
I’ve destroyed my friendship with Jessica by being dishonest. I’m not going to lose Nimue for the same reason.
“There is one person living in that castle.”
Just as I say it, Landon steps at the broken window on the fifth floor, looking down at us. His sleek, dark body armor seems to feast on the light from the sun itself.
“There he is…” I look up nervously and Nimue follows my gaze. “That fae wants to kill me.”
Panic seizes me at the truth behind those words.
He’s really going to kill me.Then he’ll burn my kingdom.
“Kill you?” Nimue looks at me with disbelief and shock. She then trains her eyes on Landon with quiet determination. “Then I guess I’ll have to be brave.”
She may look fragile, but Nimue has a rare gift. If she can cast away her insecurities, she would have been one of the most lethal creatures in Astefar.
The water wraith glances around the courtyard. “I don’t think I can call for water in the middle of nowhere—”
Her brows suddenly knit in concentration.
“What’s wrong?” I ask nervously.
“A stream. I can feel it close,” she says, closing her eyes to focus. “Give me some time.”
I don’t think we have it.I glance at the fae standing above us.
