From chapter 2 The Shallows
Katie wandered through the forest she wondered how she had gotten here, she had never seen so many full grown trees close up in her life, she had seen a few on the big screen in the gathering hall but never this many and they were never this beautiful. She walked up to a tree and felt the roughness of the trunk, she had no idea what type of tree it was but it was not important to her. She was alone and she could see the sunlight shining down from amongst the top of the trees. She smelt the air and it was fresh, and she heard the creatures of the forest whistling and chirping, a cool breeze brushed against the smooth skin of her body and it was then that she realised that she was naked.
At first she was shocked but then she realised it did not matter no one could see her and she liked the fresh air on her naked body it made her feel free. Being here had made her realise the potential of no restriction, doing whatever she wanted and yes that included being naked in a forest, and she did not care she felt like she was a part of nature, she did not even think too long on the fact of how she came to be in such a place.
She turned away from the tree. The breeze blew something in her eye, she squinted and rubbed her eye to remove the dirt, when she finally gained her focus again she was not surprised to find six other young woman standing around her also unclothed. It was like she had expected them, it was as if they were a part of the forest or that they were the forest themselves. Their skins had a hint of green to them and their hair were long and like gold all except one, her hair was short. Their features were sharp and their ears were pointed like what Katie had expected an elf to look like, but they were not Elves as their eyes were bright green and hair colour was all wrong, every one of them were beautiful.
Katie felt no threat, the breeze turned into to a whistle, and the girl with the short hair stepped forward.
“I am Luceria, you may call me Lucy.” Her voice was musical like her mother’s when she spoke to her seriously.
“I am.” Katie begun.
“Katie,” She was interrupted “we know, you must be very special to be able to come here from so far. Listen. Can you hear that?”
Katie listened. It was the wind, it had become musical almost flute like and the trees began to sway as if dancing to the rhythm.
“Yes I hear” Katie answered.
“Then come young one. Dance with us.”
They began to sway with the rhythm and the world became as though it was in slow motion. The wind became strong but smooth the leaves from the ground flew up in the air and danced around them. Katie began to dance also it was heavenly, dreamy, the breeze lifted the hair on their heads and their hair flowed in the wind while they all dance in a circle. As Katie danced she realised each girl was disappearing one by one. Leaving each a beautiful tree standing where the girls had last danced. All eventually vanished; all but Lucy, Katie and the strange girl stopped dancing and faced each other.
“I must go,” Lucy said “it is not good for you to stay here long because the wind is changing but when he comes go with him. You will be safe with him, bring him to us and we can help.”
Just then the forest became dark. Katie looked up and saw black clouds above. When she looked back all she could see was a tree where Lucy had been standing. She heard footsteps coming up behind her. She turned and saw a dark-skinned man of the like she had never seen before. He was different; she could tell, it was not just his hair that reminded her of long twisted black worm like things it was the way he carried himself. Remembering she was naked, she felt bashful, but by the time she had decided to run he had picked her up in his arms, carrying her as though she was a small child. She felt his strength in his arms and was fearful of what he might do to her so she decided to scream. Her heart began to beat wildly and she hoped that maybe the girls would return and help her. But looking over the shoulders of the stranger she saw something even more frightening than the strange man that was carrying her.
Three dark figures in hooded cloaks were running after them; it was as though they were floating on air chasing them she looked into the hood of one of them and all she could see were bright red eyes peering back. There was something frightening about them, something desperate and something evil that she sensed and made her skin crawl. Now she urged the stranger to run faster but she realised the stranger was running faster than any man she had ever known. Her heart began to beat frantically; she felt there was something wrong with her. She looked down at her chest, and was shocked at what she saw. A light was pulsating through her skin where her heart was and she wondered if she was going to die. As if in answer to her wondering straight ahead of them were more of those things, nine of them stood waiting. And the stranger stopped.
One of the dark things spoke with a voice that echoed though her mind and sent shivers down her spine, it hissed the words “Giiive us the giiiirl and you may pass.”
“No!” She screamed horrified “don’t leave me with them.”
And it was then the man spoke; he put her down and faced her. He had a beard that only went around his mouth and not along the cheeks of his face; with a sad half smile that showed a dimple on his face he said.
“I will never leave you.”
Then he turned and rushed at the dark hooded creatures.