Elizabeth gasped and sat back scraping her bum on a rock before struggling to get her feet under her so as to face this new threat! Blair went from reclining at her ease to completing a backflip that somehow landed her on the side of the pool in a crouch as her long wet black tail wagged in agitation before seven other magical pink tails appeared as she hissed at Lyne. Ailsa was caught by surprise and tried desperately to hold on to Elizabeth's breasts, but lost her grip and fell down into the pool of water with a tiny splash!
"Ahh," Lyne cried with an empathizing expression as she watched Ailsa fall into the water. With a cough and chirpy whistle Ailsa's head reappeared but with her wings wet she was unable to take flight. Pursing her mouth as her silver eyes looked from Ailsa to Elizabeth who was standing in a crouch with fists out ready for a fight, she purred, "Poor thing! That is the problem with Fairy wings, no matter what type they are… You just can't fly when they are soaked! Here, let me help you…"
As she finished, Lyne raised her right hand and held it out palm up, and then raised it higher. When her hand lifted up, so did another small hand made of water beneath Ailsa, raising her up so that she was standing in the palm of her hand.
"There," Lyne purred in satisfaction before raising her left hand and waggling a finger at Ailsa as she continued, "Now, to dry out those wings!"
As water fell away from her body, Ailsa gave a happy chirp in thanks before 'vrooming' away and returning to land on Elizabeth's shoulder.
"See, I am no threat," Lyne said in a low calm tone meant to reassure, "I am a simple water nymph, and my sister, Elowyn…" She turned to gaze at the massive felled walnut tree's blackened carcass and silver tears budded at the corners of her eyes and trickled down her cheeks before she continued, "We both knew this day would come when we bound Grimaovinr. We thought that together we could seal him away from the world with her magic and mine. Elowyn sacrificed herself to become the prison that would contain his evil while I fed her water and magic to sustain her. In the end, his evil grew like a malignant tumor and slowly, over ages of life times, he devoured her until what was his prison was nothing more than a façade disguising the malevolence inside. Once my sister was dead, he began feeding on me, draining my magic, growing his roots deeper and deeper, until I slipped into a sleep that I couldn't awake from. So, thank you…"
As Elizabeth and Blair listened they began to relax. The nymph seemed to be an ancient hero. Blair released her magic and stepped back down into the pool, and with a self confirming nod Elizabeth followed her example before making introductions, "My name is Elizabeth, and the kitsune is Blair, and the fairy is Ailsa. There's a stranger with us, his name is Connor, and Blair and Ailsa's little brother Lachlan is with him."
"So you don't let your men bathe with you?" Lyne asked, suddenly interested and looking around for the men to appear from behind a burned root or bush.
"Ew," Blair replied disgustedly, "I don't bathe with my brother!"
Ailsa whistled vehemently with much wing waving, and then Elizabeth chimed in, "I am not sure how it works for nymphs, but in this day and age, you won't find many women bathing with men they don't know, our brothers, and not even with other women unless they are familiar and comfortable with each other…" She paused to think about her general statement and then amended, "Well, that is, in most countries that's how it is. There are still some places where public bathing is practiced, but still, it's segregated separating men from women."
"Well," Lyne sighed in disappointment, "In my day the most entertaining bathing parties were always when men and women mingled together!"
"I bet it was," Elizabeth chuckled with a rueful grin.
"Well, changing subjects," Lyne said excitedly as she suddenly bounced to her feet, "Your little friend, Ailsa, must be a fairly new fairy. Does she not know how to shift into her human form?"
"Human form?" Elizabeth asked while Blair gasped and Ailsa chirped excitedly!
"Of course," Lyne offered with a generous smile, "All Fae have a human form they can take. This, for example, is my human form, however as a water nymph my real form is water."
To illustrate she executed a perfect pirouette and before it was complete her blue skin and white hair became translucent water. Only the silver irises of her eyes remained the same as she smiled at them in a "ta-da" pose. Elizabeth's mouth hung slack, and Blair clapped. A second pirouette and Lyne was an opaque sky blue skinned woman with long curvy legs, a voluptuous heart-shaped bottom and broad hips, a sensually curvy belly, and breasts that rivaled Elizabeth's ample bosom and were somehow supernaturally perfect. Her hair was long and opalescent complimenting her silver eyes.
"Us Fae take many shapes and forms," Lyne said in a voice as beautiful and soothing as babies laughter, "The dryads, the nymph, the fairies, we are but only a few of an infinitely diverse folk. My sister was a dryad anchored to her tree, and like her I am anchored to this spring. The fairies however are different. Each one is born with a connection to some part of the animal kingdom and one of the four aspects of nature. Ailsa, for example, seems to be bonded to hummingbirds. Even before my slumber I have never seen a fairy like her before. No doubt she is very special!"
"She is indeed," Elizabeth agreed.
Lyne smiled but when she started speaking next it sounded like whistles and chirps…
——(!)——
"Hello Ailsa," Lyne greeted, for the first time not sounding like an old analog tape on slow.
Perking up, she answered, "Uh, hello!"
"So I take it you are a new fairy?" Lyne surmised.
"Yes," She answered with a nod, "Brand new. I was human. My name is Ailsa Thornburn and I am Blair and Lachlan's older sister, believe it or not!"
"I see," Lyne replied with a confirming nod and brought a hand up to her shin in thought, "That is very interesting. So, am I to assume that you were all humans before?"
"Yes," She confirmed with an adamant nod.
"I feel it, now that you mention it," Lyne mumbled almost to herself, "This is the power of magic not unlike yours and mine. It is the most powerful but also the most fickle of all Magic's. It is Wish Magic."
"Wish Magic?" She chirped in surprise.
"Yes," Lyne purred with a smile, "We are able to grant wishes. For others, and also for ourselves. However, like all Magic it has its limitations."
"How so?" She asked.
"Take your predicament for example," Lyne answered in a teacher's voice as glasses suddenly appeared on her face and a ruler in her hand. To accompany the new look, Lyne's naked blue body was suddenly clothed in a tight white button up blouse unbuttoned so that her overflowing breasts were nearly cascading out of the sensual push-up bra. Around her hips she was suddenly wearing an ultra tight black pencil skirt that showed the clear outlines of a garter-belt and thigh high stockings before she continued, "If you wanted to be bigger, you could always wish to be "Bigger". However, since you were not specific as to how big you want to be when making your wish, you may wind up growing to fifty feet tall or more. Do you understand?"
"Um, I think so," Ailsa answered with a shrug of uncertainty, "So you're saying that if I got into a fight with my sister, for example, and I simply wished I was somewhere else, then without a specific location in mind the wish could send me anywhere? From next door to the Great Wall of China?"
"Yes," Lyne confirmed, but then added, "And yet, your imagination is confined by the limitations of what you think is possible. If you made such a wish, or even wished for someone else to be gone, it could perceivably send them to the heart of a sun, to the edge of the universe or even to its core. That is the power of Wish Magic! Cosmically powerful, and just as fickle…"
"So, how do I control it then," She asked.
"You must be armed with specifics," Lyne answered, "The more defined, the more refined your wish, the less likely it is to have unforeseen consequences."
"How do I do that," Ailsa asked.
Lyne's smile broadened as she leaned over as if she were sharing a secret and whispered, "You must hold in your mind as sharply a detailed image of what you want as you can when you make a wish. For instance; how tall were you in your human form? What color were you eyes and hair? What did your skin look like? What did your face look like? The more detailed your self image, the more like your old self you will be. The same is true for any wish you make, and any wish asked of you."
"Okay," Ailsa giggled excitedly, "I think I get it. I am going to try it now and see what happens!"
"Alright," Lyne agreed supportively, then nodded to the side of the spring and added, "But just in case you mess up and become the size of a mountain, why don't you get off of your friend and go stand over there," She finished by pointing toward the stump of the old walnut tree.
"Okay," Ailsa agreed and 'vroomed' away.
Landing on the old stump, Ailsa walked in circles as she tried to remember what she looked like in the mirror just yesterday morning. Then she came to a sudden stop as a thought peaked her interest. In order to look like she had before, she had to have a detailed image of how she had appeared which meant that she could change herself to look however she wanted, right?
The overly sensual appearances of Lyne and Elizabeth immediately flashed through her imagination, and then she also remembered her mother. She was a classic beauty, a dark, almost black, cherry redhead look alike of the classic actress Virna Lisa Pieralisi. A smile curled Ailsa's mouth up in a pretty smile as she closed her eyes and imagined what she wished to look like...
——(!)——
"Where did she go?" Elizabeth asked her tone now guarded and concerned as she watched Lyne follow Ailsa's trajectory while releasing her illusion of the hot school teacher uniform, and returning to her nudity.
Lyne turned to look at her before she answered, "Why, she's changing of course."
There was a green flash of light and then Ailsa stepped out from behind the tree trunk as Lyne, Elizabeth, and Blair all gawked. Even in the dark they could see that Ailsa was back to her five feet two inches, but as she walked toward them it was with a new sensual roll of much broader hips that she hadn't had before. She moved with an almost supernatural grace as she approached the edge of Lyne's Pool. Elizabeth and Blair's mouths fell open, and even Blair subconsciously moved her hands over her chest at Ailsa's arrival. Her breasts were not quite as large as Elizabeth's, but they were close, and they had a supernatural perkiness like Lyne's. Aside from her hips and breasts, her skin was mint-green. She had her mother's spirited, nearly glowing glacial blue eyes. Her once fiery red mane of hair was now vibrant red feathered hair that seemed to bounce and poof with every step, and fell in long thick strands well past her buttocks. Her arms were arms once again, instead of hummingbird wings, but she had long vividly green feathers that grew from the backs of them starting just below her shoulders and ending at her wrists. And lastly, she still had a short green feathered tail that grew from between her buttocks. It was covered in short and long green tail feathers that swished back and forth behind her.
"Ailsa!" Blair squeaked in surprise.
"You," Elizabeth gasped as she stood up and helped her young charge into the pool, "You look like your mother, and me!"
Ailsa chuckled as she stepped down into the water and then sat as Elizabeth followed her, "I always wished I was as beautiful as you and regal as mother…"
Elizabeth guffawed at the compliment, but then added as an aside, "I appreciate your feelings Ailsa, but we also love you for who you are. Besides, you're only fourteen, I think next time you transform you should dial back the sexy. Just for a few more years at least."
"I…understand," Ailsa agreed half-heartedly, then turned to Lyne and asked, "So, Lyne, could you explain what you said earlier about feeling a Magic heavy in the air that was much like yours and mine?"
"Of course," Lyne agreed with a smile before looking at Elizabeth and Blair as she explained, "As I mentioned to Ailsa, I can feel Magic all around us covering the land like a blanket. You are all very young, and have never felt the land without this sort of presence, so you wouldn't know the difference…"
"She says, it is like my magic and hers," Ailsa interjected excitedly, "Wish Magic, but on a very grand scale!"
"Wish Magic?" Elizabeth whispered as she sat up straighter in the water then hissing when she scraped the tender abrasion on her bum again.
"Yes," Lyne confirmed with a nod, "The most powerful Magic in the universe, able to create something from nothing, simply by desire."
"So whatever made Gabriel Shara's property like this was created with a wish," Elizabeth mused thoughtfully.
"Possibly," Lyne corrected as she shook her head, "I said it is not unlike our Magic, however, whatever this is, it is very precise and controlled. As I told Ailsa, Wish Magic is the most powerful magic there is. However, it is also the most fickle. This nature leads to most wishes going horribly wrong because the one making the wish fails to clearly define the details and limitations of his or her wish. This then leads to most wishes having unforeseen consequences that are so undesirable that the wish is renowned or another wish is made that could either fix the problem or compound it. Most Wish-Masters try to combat this by placing rules on themselves and or the ones making the wish limiting how many wishes they will grant."
"Oh! So, like genies that grant only three wishes," Blair giggled.
"Yes, exactly," Lyne answered with a nod, then asked, "So humanity is still familiar with the genies? Which ones do you know?"
Elizabeth chuckled as she shook her head as she answered, "None personally, I am afraid all of our knowledge of genies come from popular animated movies."
Lyne gave them a queer look as she mouthed the word 'animated movies' before asking, "So do the makers of these 'animated movies' know any genies?"
"No," Elizabeth answered, "Genies are just myths and stories."
"Oh," Lyne mumbled thoughtfully. After a few seconds she continued, "As I was saying, vague wishes can be unpleasant at the best and catastrophic at their worst. That is the main difference I feel here. The enchantment that lays over this land feels very, very, controlled."
"Is that unusual," Blair asked.
"Very," Lyne answered grimly, "It means that the one that has made this place is a masterful wisher, or this person is in possession of something or someone that has placed rules on the enchantments that limits the Wish Magic's natural chaotic nature. If it is an item, then it is extremely powerful and will be coveted by many, but if it is a person, then it would have to be truly ancient, maybe even a god, to be able to foresee all of the consequences."
"Which would you rather it be," Elizabeth asked as she shifted uncomfortably, feeling the gravity of the situation.
"I rather it be an item," Lyne answered, "An item can be taken away, or destroyed if need be. Not so with a god, not even a minor one. They are impossible for a mortal to kill."
"So," Elizabeth sighed as she shook her head, "We are looking for an item, hopefully."
"Hopefully," Lyne agreed.
The pool became very quiet as they all thought about what had been discussed. After several minutes Elizabeth laid down and dunked her head under the water to wash the ash out of her hair. As she did she felt the water move like hands across her body, massaging her muscles and relaxing the pores of her skin so that Lyne was able to draw out all of the dirt and whisk it away. Blair and Ailsa followed suit and soon they were standing up and stepping out of the pool.
Turning around, Elizabeth bowed to the water nymph, "Thank you Lyne for the bath."
Ailsa and Blair followed her example, and then Blair began dressing while Ailsa walked up with Elizabeth's ruined bra. Placing it along with Elizabeth's leather girdle, the heavily fleeced leather belt and loincloth on the red cloak, she closed her eyes and imagined her wish.
"What are you doing?" Elizabeth asked as she approached.
"I am fixing your clothes," Ailsa answered before taking a step back.
On the ground before Elizabeth her clothes were changed completely. The red cloak, the bra, the girdle, the belt, and the loincloth were all one piece resembling the lorica segmented leather armor of Roman Praetorian Guard. Of course it was customized to fit a woman's body, hers specifically.
Elizabeth picked up the red cloth of the cloak and found that it was now little more than a short sleeveless tunic with the back completely missing. However there was a whole for her head and arms so that the front managed to cover most of her breasts, with the exception of the sides, before falling down her body. Two small ties pulled the backless waist tight while remaining low enough that they wouldn't be severed or burned up by Elizabeth's magical dragon's wings of golden flame. From the waist the tunic swept out encircling her broad hips and thick behind and fell to her mid-thighs. It was fabulously better than a simple loincloth, but she found that when she walked her tail quite often flipped the bottom up so that she flashed the bottoms of her cheeks!
This would have to do, she thought grimly as she cut her eyes to Ailsa suspiciously, since she destroyed the cloak. Picking up the leather girth hoops Ailsa and Blair were both needed to help her put on the new girdle that fit more tightly than any corset she'd ever worn before. She was thankful for the tunic though, as the girdle fit snugly beneath the sag of her breasts covering her ribs and belly before stopping at her prominent hip flares. The rest of her lower belly was protected by the baltea of the same segmented leather that was clipped to the bottom of the girdle.
Next were the pauldrons. Blair took up one while Ailsa brought the other. Carefully they buckled them to Elizabeth's shoulders. When they were finished with the back, Ailsa and Blair moved in front of Elizabeth and flipped the hinged breastplates down over her copious bosoms before buckling the last belts to secure the breastplates and pauldrons in place.
"Well," She sighed in resignation as she lifted her hands up to feel the soft bare flesh of the bottoms and sides of her breasts, "I guess I should be grateful that most of my boobs are covered. How did you not account for this Ailsa?"
Ailsa looked up through long thick purple eyelashes and gave her guardian/nanny a sheepish grin as she apologized, "I'm sorry Elle, I had a very clear image of want I wanted you new armor to look like, but, well, I have always been jealous of your, um, curvaceous-ness. Well, I might have had a fantasy of wearing something like this myself if I ever had a body like yours, and so, it might have crept into my wish by mistake… Sorry!"
Elizabeth returned her apology with a flat stare until Ailsa's mint-green cheeks blushed with embarrassment, and then she retorted, "What is done is done I guess. Both Lachlan and Connor have both seen me pretty much naked, so there is no putting that back in the box! However, once we get to the house I am going to find something to cover myself with. There is no way I am going to let that man see me nearly naked before I give him some very choice words and a piece of my mind!"
Once she was done with her rant she looked at the still naked Ailsa and she realized they had no clothes for her, so she wagged a finger at her as she asked, "Can you conjure yourself some clothes or do you need to revert to your fairy form?"
"Oh, she can conjure herself clothes," Lyne called from her pool, "She just needs to focus on what she wants to wear. Unlike wishing though, she must maintain her concentration to sustain her clothing. Now that she has chosen her human appearance she will not be able to make changes or alterations from now on, at least not without help from an outside party. Her wish has been granted, but she can switch from her fairy form and human form at will. On the other hand, clothes are not the same, they are a conjuration not a wish…"
"Hence, the constant focus that is needed," She surmised.
"Yes," Lyne agreed with a nod, "Another thing to know Ailsa, Fairies may only make one selfish wish a year. Afterward you are only able to grant wishes."
"I understand," Ailsa answered and then with a flash of green light she reverted to her fairy form and flew to Blair and took refuge within the folds of her kimono.
Walking back to the pool Elizabeth held her hand out to Lyne, "Thank you for your help and education of Ailsa. I don't know what we would have done without you. I know we are leaving you here all by yourself now, is there anything we can do for you?"
Lyne's silver eyes lit up at the question and she smiled. The water rustled and deep within the pool. The glint of what looked like a ruby cut in the shape of a fist sized walnut seed caught Elizabeth's gaze. It tumbled through the water like it was being carried on glowing currents in the shapes of many hands and forearms until a single hand raised out of the water and handed the ruby walnut seed to Lyne. A few seconds later another mass of hands made up of water brought up and handed a perfectly spherical sapphire and also handed it to Lyne.
With a ruby and sapphire in each hand, Lyne held them out to Elizabeth as tears began to slowly trickle down her cheeks, "Take these please, and when you find a special spot, plant both in the ground."
Elizabeth nodded and took the gems but then had to ask, "They're beautiful, what are they?"
Lyne wiped tears from her cheeks and gave a weak smile as she answered, "They are Lyne and Elowyn's Hearts. It was why Grimaovinr was able to take root and grow inside Elowyn, because she gave me her heart. Now I am all alone, and I am more ancient than you could ever guess. So, by giving you our hearts, I will now fade away."
"Oh Lyne, but what of your hearts?" She asked, her voice full of empathy and concern, "When I find a place and plant them, will you and Elowyn return there?"
"No," Lyne answered with a shake of her head, "Like all things, once a Fae is dead, we are dead. My spring will lose its Magic and from that day on it will be only a normal pool of water. You must tell Ailsa this, Wish Magic is very powerful, but she must never use it to kill the living or to try to resurrect the dead. It never turns out well in either case. As for Elowyn's and my hearts, what will be born from them is our daughters. Please, treat them well."
"I will, we will," Elizabeth agreed with a firm nod.
"Good," Lyne purred before cutting her eyes to look over Elizabeth's shoulder and added, "Be sure not to leave before sending your men over here to bathe. It has been a terribly long time since I got to enjoy masculine company."
Elizabeth found herself grinning despite being shocked at Lyne's blatantly open lasciviousness, "Oh, don't worry, they stink! They aren't going anywhere with us until they wash!"
Elizabeth turned away and then stopped and turned back as she added, "Lyne, don't do anything untoward to the boy, he is only ten."
Lyne giggled and then shifted her body, losing her full grown height as her body leaned out until her hips and bosoms were much smaller. When she was finished Elizabeth would have guessed she was no older than fifteen. Giggling again, this time her voice much younger, she purred, "When you're my age honey, all the men are boys!"
Lyne paused for effect, then added, "But, do not worry, I will not do anything…untoward."
"Thank you," Elizabeth answered before she took her leave.