Azriel sighed happily as she sat in the grassy plain. The Duke came and flopped next to her and he smiled, "Do you like this?"
"Its beautiful." I have never seen anything like it."
It was indeed beautiful. The lake was unlike any she had ever seen, it glittered in the sunlight, with water that looked like blue crystal. Long reeds grew along the shore and wild poppies grew beyond it in the grass. There were wild flowers everywhere, across the grassy plain. The mountains were closer here, and Azriel's breath caught as she saw the rugged peaks, capped with snow. The Duke quietly held her hand and pointed towards a peak on her left.
"There on that peak is the fortress of Irismus, look closely and you will see it's carved out of the mountain rock itself."
Azriel held her breath and suddenly saw the walls and turrets of the fortress. It looked hewn from slate grey stone.
"It's lovely," she said, her voice low in awe.
Ashdeer smiled at her and said, "Just like you!"
She blushed suddenly and looked away. She knew Ashdeer's soldiers were around but they kept a respectful distance.
He got up suddenly and said, "Care for a swim Azriel."
"Here? Now?"
"Well, you can dip your feet if you like...come on!" He said, taking his boots off and shrugging off his dark coat. Underneath he wore a white shirt, which he also unbuttoned and took off. Azriel could not help but stare at the scales on his body. They had a strange metallic hue and looked embedded just under the surface. She felt a sudden urge to reach out and touch him, but he bent down and started folding the lower ends of his breeches. She pulled her hand back as she looked at the muscles that rippled down his back, his skin a lighter shade of caramel than his brother. She resisted the urge to stare and touch and instead focused on hitching up her own dress so she could wade into the water till mid calve length.
Ashdeer held out his hand to her and wordlessly she took it. He smiled at her, suddenly looking younger and calmer. His dark eyes were full of sparkling mischief and she found herself smiling back at him. The two brothers were so different, where one was darkness, the other was full of light.
They waded into the water and suddenly, she heard a female voice reverberate around her, "Welcome" it said. "Welcome to my home."
To Azriel's utter shock, the waves on the surface of the lake, began to roil and churn till they formed two horses made of the waves itself. She looked at it stupefied and then at Ashdeer. He grinned back at her and said, "Welcome to the magical world of Irismus. Everything here lives and breathes."
He pciked her up by her waist and for a moment she was eye level with him. They started into each other's eyes for a long moment and she felt him tighten his grip on her waist. She didn't want the spell to break as she looked back at him. But, he was obviously made of sterner stuff. He quietly placed her on her water horse and got onto his, and said, "Whenever you are ready Lara."
To her surprise the water horses started gliding across the lake and soon she was lost in the merry ride. Ashdeer smiled at her shrieks of laughter and delight. Never had she seen something like this in her life.
Too soon, the water horses brought them back and he said, "Lara thank you so much!"
Azriel looked up to see the lake shimmering and roiling till a beautiful woman emerged from the lake. Her body was part female and part fish. Her breasts were human and bare, and she wore glittering jewel necklaces on her chest. Her hair was an electric blue, just like her eyes and her skin had a pale blue sheen to it. She held a scepter in her hand and waved to them, before curtsying to Ashdeer and jumping back into the water.
"The lake is actually very deep Azriel. There is a colony of mer-people who live here as well. They have homes in the caverns at the bottom of the Lake."
She nodded and tried to absorb this brand new world.
They slowly waded out of the water and Azriel realized she was wet like a rag. Water seeped out of her outfit and her hair now hung around her face. Ashdeer looked at her and flicked his finger and she found herself suddenly dry.
"You used magic to dry me off."
"Not really, Azriel. Magic is different. I just manipulated the elements a little to let you dry out. I didn't want you being uncomfortable or catching your death of cold."
She was just going to thank him, when the skies went dark above them and screams rent the air. She looked up in horror to see wraith like creatures above them, falling out from a tear in the sky. Ashdeer looked up and snarled when he saw them. His eyes became a dark shade of red and his face looked darker suddenly.
"Hide", he hissed to her. Just hide and disappear and don't look at me no matter what you hear."
"Where do I hide?" she asked desperately as the wraiths moved closer.
"There, behind that copse on the left...go...now Azriel....run!"