Page 63 of Raven's Dawn

Hair. Golden blond hair atop the water’s surface.

Two glowing orbs came into sight as the creature continued to grow, stretching to its full height. Blue eyes, blond hair, and pale white skin.

Gradually, her face became clear. Despite having been submerged in water, it seemed dry to the touch. More than that, it was moving with the wind, her catlike features changing imperceptibly with every ripple out and back throughout the atmosphere. It reminded me of the lake which she’d emerged from, and I wondered how she came to come from it.

Fully out now, the naked woman bowed to us.

Laila bowed back. The rest of us followed suit.

She almost didn’t look like a woman at all. She didn’t look human, that was for sure. Too pretty to be human, too perfect.

It was as if every feature on her face—the little ski slope nose, the widespread, catlike eyes, her long thick lips, even the black eyeliner atop her lids and the bright red lips—were painted by a timeless artist. Her body was no different. I didn’t spend too much time looking at her breasts and curves, but they were without flaw. Like a man had imagined the perfect woman and created her from thin air.

“In this daze, the truth, it hides.” Even her voice was like a song. “Through this maze, protect your brides.”

Was it a song? It rhymed.

“Illusions are all; trust not your eye, within these halls.” She tilted backwards, feet raising with her. Rather than standing atop the water, she floated over it, as though she was still within it. Lying on her back now, facing the stars, she finished, “Only the sky will catch your fall.”

“Ah, fuck,” Graham said under his breath.

“What?” I asked.

“It’s a riddle.”

Well, shit. I didn’t remember what she said.

“The key is near,” she said, floating back to a standing position. Once her feet were on the water, she continued. “I promise thee. Find the deer, and you’ll be free.”

“That’s the key?” I asked. “A deer?”

She smiled, then floated slowly back into the water below.

The lake remained, but she was gone.

It was only the ten of us, the lake, and the bushes surrounding us.

“In this daze, the truth, it hides. Through this maze, protect your brides,” Jeremy murmured, repeating it in a singsong tone. “Illusions are all; trust not your eyes within these halls. Only the sky will catch your fall. The key is near, I promise thee. Find the deer, and you’ll be free.” He looked between us all. “Anybody else catch that?”

I looked around, but none of us were paying enough attention.

“Alright, repeat after me. In this daze, the truth, it hides. Through this maze…” He continued, then proceeded to repeat it a dozen times, until we all had remembered it. Before any of us moved, he insisted we each recite it.

“She gave us that for a reason,” he said. “In case something happens, we each need to remember it.”

Before long, I was singing it like a song.

In this daze,

the truth, it hides.

Through this maze,

protect your bride’s.

Illusions are all,

trust not your eye,