She takes a swim

From her perch on the bank, Lux peers down into the river, watching the little waves and ripples swirl past. She can make out the shapes of weeds waving, the shadows of one or two tiny darting fish – no vast toothy maws or grasping tentacles. Not to say safe, but it looks…like a river. She licks her lips at the thought of one long drink. Maybe it’ll even help her get some appetite for the rations in the gnome’s pack.

She dips a toe in to test the water. It should be cold, but it’s just pleasantly cool, the current flowing by without rushing. Just right. In a magical fey-filled forest, what else would she expect?

One quick glance around for any movement in the foggy stillness – nothing. Well, all right. Lux eases herself further down, letting her foot and ankle slip below the ripples, feeling her way for the hidden slope. And before she knows it, she’s taken the next step out, fully committed.

A long, shuddering sigh breaks from her lips as she sinks down into the river’s embrace. Filth and grime starting, slowly, to wash away; the ache in her bones and muscles, so deep and persistent that she’d become almost unaware of it, beginning to ease. Even the sting of bruises and nicks, little bite marks on her tits and flanks, felt now even as immersion and the effects of potions soothes them. She ducks her head under to rinse her hair before rising back up, running her hands down her body, eyes closed as she thrills in the sheer relief of this blessed moment.

Stretching out her arms and legs, feet barely touching the slope of the riverbed, she closes her eyes and lets the lazy eddies of the current support her. Just for now, her all-too-recent ordeal with the mites feels like a distant nightmare. Nothing could trouble her. Well, except…

A shrill voice reaches her half-submerged ears. From overhead – what is that sprite yelling about now?

“—Lux! She’s coming up! Get out of the water—”

She? Wait, who…?

Lux opens her eyes. At first she sees nothing, nothing but the gentle waves washing around her. False alarm…

Then she sees a face. Under the water, ethereal and pale, framed by floating locks of shining hair; looking up at her with longing, with hunger. Lux is struck – startled – by the faint vision of haunting beauty, even as more becomes visible: elegant shoulders, slender breasts, toned midriff, draped over with the sheen of a thin, silky robe. A dryad? What’s like a dryad, but lives in water…?

Before Lux’s mind can reach any of the likely answers, she feels a touch. Gentle enough at first to be mistaken for the caress of the current, but now stronger, more insistent, more forceful. Tracing a path along her waist, around her hip; cupping her breast before sliding behind her back. And then suddenly, sharply, pulling her down—