"Lady of the Green Water, appear!" cried Sebastian. "You who command the Pool of Melthumiel, show yourself! Arian-Lhynn, I summon thee!"
His words faded into the forest, and silence fell. Nothing happened.
"Arian-Lhynn, by my power I command you to show yourself!" he repeated, putting a trace of magic into the words. Not too much, for the Fae were better not angered.
Nothing.
"Arian-Lhynn-"
"It's all right. You don't have to yell like that."
Arian-Lhynn peered out of the water in the middle of the pond. She had an oval face with big golden eyes, a small pointed nose, and a pouty mouth. Her skin was fair, almost pale, and her long greenish hair framed her face.
Puzzled, Sebastian replied, "Oh, uh, I, well..."
The Fae tilted her head slightly and said, "A spell weaver like you shouldn't run out of words so quickly." Her voice was velvety and soft. Her intonations were strange and made her words sound almost like a song. The hairs on the back of Sebastian's neck stood up.
Sebastian recalled the instructions he had received from his colleague in the Hermetic Society.
"Arian-Lhynn, I desire your help."
The Fae, who still only showed her face, raised an eyebrow. "Well, well. You desire my help. Do you know what you're getting yourself into?"
"Yes," Sebastian replied. It was common knowledge that the Fae gave nothing without expecting a return.
"And what exactly do you desire from me?" the Fae asked, fixing the gaze of her golden eyes on him. It was an intense gaze that promised things no mortal could imagine. Terrible things. Beautiful things. Sebastian shuddered.
"Not much," he said, trying to sound casual. "Just a branch from the willow that grows on the shore of your pond."
"Hmm... Not much you say. I wonder what you could be up to with it."
Sebastian kept silent.
Arian-Lhynn rose from the water. First her neck became visible, then her bare shoulders. Sebastian gulped as he realized that the Fae was naked. Naked and unearthly beautiful. A glow seemed to emanate from her fair skin. Her long hair flowed over her shoulders, curling a little here and there. Strands of it covered her breasts, just enough to stimulate the imagination. Her belly was tight and flat, and just above the surface of the water Sebastian could see her hip bones. If she could just get a little farther out of the water... His mouth went dry.
Arian-Lhynn turned around and presented her backside to Sebastian. Her hair covered most of it, but he could see the base of her small round buttocks. His cock twitched a little. The Fae walked through the water to the willow tree that stood on the opposite bank and stroked the trunk with her hand. Then she turned back to him.
"This tree is old and holds power."
"So they say," Sebastian said after swallowing a few times to drive the dryness from his mouth.
"A staff carved from one of its branches could give a mortal wizard great power," the Fae said.
"It could," Sebastian conceded.
"Power that might be used against us."
"I have always been on good terms with the Fae," Sebastian replied.
"That is true. But you mortals are not to be relied upon. You are fickle and like to break your word. I cannot take that risk."
Disappointment shot through Sebastian. It had been worth a try.
"Then I apologize for the intrusion," he said.
"Not without a guarantee, anyway," the Fae interrupted him.
"What?"
"In return, I demand a guarantee that you will not turn against me and my kind. A token of your good will."
"And that would be?"
Arian Lhynn tilted her head again and looked at him in that piercing way that quickened his heartbeat and made his pants tighten. She came through the water toward him.
"Your firstborn child."
"My what? I don't have any children!"
"Not yet," the Fae countered. "But that can change."
"You mean, if one day I meet someone and we start a family, then..."
"If you agree to this deal, the first child that sprouts from your loins will be mine. As soon as it takes its first breath, I will be there."
Sebastian shook his head. "I can't do that."
"Too bad," Arian-Lhynn said. "Then I guess you'll have to find other wood for your staff." Slowly, she sank back into the water.
"Wait!" shouted Sebastian. "Isn't there another way? Anything?"
The Fae paused. Her hair floated in the water. Ripples made it slosh back and forth, revealing occasional glances of her breasts. Of her spherical breasts the size of oranges, with little nipples sticking up.
"There is indeed one possibility, wizard."