Felix collapsed to the ground, exhausted and racked with pain. For three days and three nights, he had been running without pause. On the horizon behind him, a pillar of smoke wafted up into the heavens, letting the world know that the city of Troy had been razed. On that fateful night, the armies of Greece had broken through their mighty walls and set the city ablaze. The persistent flames were now the closest thing to life behind the blood-splattered ramparts. While his body was as dry as sand from thirst and blood loss, the half-dead wanderer couldn’t help but cry in misery and agony. It was only last season that his family celebrated his twenty-fifth birthday. He had long since reached the league of manhood, was unable to protect his parents or his siblings when the Greeks stormed the city.
Felix remembered waking up to the sound of his front door being smashed in as the soldiers broke into the city. His father and brother were killed without mercy and he was stabbed in the side, a near fatal blow. He remembered falling to the floor, unable to stand or move as blood poured from his wound. Like savages, the soldiers took turns violating his sisters and mother in front of him, before killing them all and leaving him for dead.
With the fires of the burning buildings illuminating the dark night and smoke tearing at his throat, Felix staggered out of his home and fled the city, running past the horrors of the soldiers slaughtering his fellow Trojans. He was supposed to be a soldier of Troy, a valiant warrior that ignored all injuries and fought to the death for his city and its citizens. Not once had Felix thought to put on his armor or even lift up a sword. Not once did he think to go into battle to fight for Troy and all the people within its crumbling walls. He just ran, ran like a coward. He didn’t even know why he had ran, as his heart and soul had lost the will to live.
Ignoring his burning thirst, the blood oozing from his side, and the rough ground tearing his feet like broken glass, Felix ran beneath the searing heat of the sun during the day and the pearled scythe-like moon at night, unaware of his surroundings and lacking the knowledge of why he was running at all. Now he was here, sprawled out on the ground of a forest and unable to take another step, with his only relief coming from the cool night air and soil beneath him leaching away the intense heat smoldering within his shredded body. He was more tired and in more pain than ever in his life, but the only relief he desired was the relief of death. His family was dead and his home was destroyed, what was the point of living? Now Felix only hoped the ferryman Charon would pity his poor soul and bring him across the river Styx without payment.
As Felix prayed to the gods for a quick death, the sound of footsteps reached his ears. They were so soft on the forest floor that he wasn’t sure if it was truly a person or an animal. All Felix knew was that he was not alone.
“Please don’t help me. Please, just leave me here to die,” he murmured with his voice raspy.
The stranger crouched down and placed their hand on his cheek, and from just that small touch, he knew it was a woman. She had the softest skin he had ever felt and the tender care that seemed to radiate from her palm and fingers eased his pain and calmed his shaking muscles in ways nothing else could. The woman leaned forward and her long soft hair brushed against his skin, making him shiver. As her face approached his, Felix desperately wished he had the strength to open his eyes and see her face before his death.
“It is not time for you to leave this world. You still have a life to live,” she whispered softly, speaking with the most beautiful voice that had ever blessed his ears.
She wrapped her arms around Felix and gently rolled him over with his head on her lap. He strained to open his eyes, just to get the slightest glimpse of her. All he saw was a green and blue glow and the silhouette of her long hair, but he also caught the scent of her breath, and the sweet fruity aroma smelled more tantalizing than the masterpiece of an apothecary. She pressed her fingers against his lips and poured water into his mouth from her cupped palm, quenching his stinging thirst. Cold as the sea in winter, the liquid crystal cooled his travel-worn body and calmed the fires of agony within him.
She brushed her soft hands against his face as his mind fell into warm darkness. “Sleep, sweet soul. Let your mind and body rest and heal so that you may continue to enjoy the bliss of life.”

Felix’s eyes slowly opened and he gave a soft sigh. His whole body felt like it was bathing in warm wine, and while he was so exhausted that he couldn’t move, he did feel more rested than before he fell asleep. He looked around, having only the strength to move his eyes. He was lying at the base of a tree on a bed of moss, as soft as a pillow and covered in a sheet of some mysterious material that was as smooth and flexible as water, but did not feel like it was made of animal skin or a natural fabric. It actually looked like it was made of woven straw, but it was softer than braided wool. He was covered with a blanket of the same material, and while it was quite thin, it held in more warmth than a thick quilt. Up above, the branches of the tree were bent down towards the ground and interlaced, forming a tightly knit canopy of wood and leaves, thorough enough to keep even the most persistent rain from leaking through. The canopy was so extensive that it formed two walls with the tree trunk as the third, creating a small egg-shaped bedchamber, almost like an animal den.
It was still night, but the forest seemed different from any forest Felix had ever seen before. Every tree and leaf appeared to have the faintest of auras, while the stars and moon glowed brighter than ever before. The air was filled with fireflies, further illuminating the forest and constantly moving around the lush fruit that hung from every tree. About twenty paces away was a babbling brook, giving off the soothing sound of water on rock. Every spot of exposed ground was laden with short lush grass and thousands of flowers, all with different sizes, hues, and characteristics, but all equal in beauty. Rustling around in the trees were countless squirrels and birds, all more energetic and full of life than young children.
The former soldier wasn’t so much exhausted now as he was peacefully tired, and every ounce of pain that had tormented him before was now gone. While the night air was cool, it was in no way chilly and uncomfortable. The mattress of moss he was lying on was incredibly warm and soft, and with the blanket over him, it felt like he was wrapped up in his own bed.
Felix’s eyes widened as a figure of light came into view, walking through the shallow brook towards him. The figure approached and the light became dimmer and more focused, letting their features be distinguished. It was the woman from before, the woman who had saved him, and she was far more beautiful than he would have dared dream. Her skin was a light greenish-turquoise shade, while her long hair was of a much deeper and more bluish hue. Her eyes glowed like the stars that were sprinkled across the sky above and the smile upon her soft lips was more beautiful than a sunrise in Troy. She had the face of a goddess, with features that were illuminated seemingly by the light of the heavens. She was wearing a dress of the same fabric as the sheet he was laying on, but it was covering her just enough so that Felix could see the tribal-style tattoos on her body.
She stepped out of the creek and walked towards him, with the plants glowing brightly around her with each step of her bare feet. Perched on her shoulders were several tiny birds, all chirping softly, and rings of squirrels and field mice could be seen running laps around her feet, all desperate for her attention. As she approached, all the animals moved away from her and she fixed her gem-like eyes on Felix. Completely hypnotized by her beauty, the young wanderer held his breath as she crouched down beside him with a tender smile. She placed her soft hand on his cheek and he couldn’t help but shiver from her touch.
“You are safe, weary traveler. I am Serenity, the forest nymph, and this is my paradise. Rest and recover without worry or fear.”
Felix’s eyes widened as the words were spoken by her angelic voice. Was it possible? A real nymph in the flesh? Everyone knew the legends, the myth of the nymphs and their genesis. The Olympians had a long history of intermingling with mortals and bearing many children, meeting someone with an Olympian parent was unusual, but not rare. But from time to time, a child would be born with special powers, inherited from their divine parent.
On the rare times when a god bedded a woman and a child of mysticism would be conceived, the gender would dictate the result. A son would be born a demigod and a daughter would be born a nymph. Demigods carried the strength and powers of their father into battle, but had the vulnerabilities of their human mother and were not immune to sword, disease, or the slow decay of time. While nymphs did not have any offensive abilities, they were blessed with eternal youth and carried the life-giving properties that allowed the gods to create and shape the world and their human mothers to give birth. According to legend, areas of nature that surpassed all others in their beauty or fertility were the homes of nymphs.
Serenity’s voice washed over Felix like warm rain, and as hard as he tried to respond, he was too tired to even use his voice. After running for three days without food or rest, his body was still half-dead from exhaustion. The nymph’s smile became even warmer and she stood up, grasping one of the fruits hanging above and plucking it from the branch. She crouched back down and sank her teeth into the fruit. Felix watched her smooth cheeks contract and inflate as she drained the fleshy orb of all liquids. With her mouth full, she relinquished the fruit and crouched over him.
Felix’s heart fluttered as she slowly leaned down and pressed her lips against his. This was the first time he had ever kissed a woman, and the experience mocked his wildest fantasies. Her lips were softer than rose petals and were as warm as the first rays of the sun after a chilly night. With their lips connected, she transferred the fruit juice from her mouth and into his. It was the sweetest nectar that he had ever sampled, and the second it touched his tongue, he could feel his body being slowly rejuvenated.
In his mind, Felix smiled as he recognized the flavor. He had first encountered the taste on Serenity’s breath when she saved him, but eating the fruits was not the cause of the delectable aroma. Nymphs affected the area they lived in, making the land more fertile and increasing the amount of life. The fruits had their flavor because the forest was basking in the life-giving energy she gave off. It was the taste of her nymph radiance.
Once Felix had drank it all, she ended the kiss and sucked more juice from the fruit, then resumed transferring it to him. She did this several times with many more fruits, draining them and then giving them to Felix with a soft kiss. Through her efforts, his thirst was quenched, his hunger was removed, his body was resupplied with the nutrients that it had been deprived of, and he gained enough strength to speak.
“As a nymph, I am unable to leave this forest, and I have never had company before. It is so nice to have someone with me. What is your name?”
“Felix.”
“Felix, welcome to my garden.”
Serenity then moved over to his side and gently lifted the blanket and his bloody tunic to examine his injury. Felix jerked and writhed in pain from the fabric touching the blood-caked gash, which had gone all the way through him and nearly tore his organs. While the twin wounds had clotted and were no longer bleeding, the skin around them and the wounds themselves were dark from infection. He would be lucky to last a week before rotting from the inside out, but right now, living longer was not what he would consider to be a blessing of luck.
“Why do the gods despise me so?” Felix cursed with tears falling from his eyes. “Everything in my life is ripped away in one fell swoop, but the sweet embrace of death will only come in exchange for time and agony. I’ve been running for three days and three nights, but I cannot escape my pain and I cannot reach the blessing of the afterlife.”
“The gods do not despise you; they took pity on you by letting us meet. Do not despair when your life is far from forfeited.”
With a sweet smile, Serenity bent down and blew a cold stream of air on his injury. Felix jerked as a mix of relief and pain surged from the wound, partnered by the sound of hot metal being dipped in water. As her breath touched his wound, the blood-caked flesh was cured of all traces of infection and necrosis and his flesh was mended all the way through to the exit wound on his back. The intense sensations that filled his body were slowly snuffed out and he became limp, drained of what little energy he had.
She pressed her fingers on Felix’s side to make sure that the stab wound had been fully taken care of. “The injury is now healed. However, your muscles have all sustained heavy damage due to your arduous trek. A lesser man would have died from exhaustion after a single day, especially with such an injury. You should have at least permanently lost the ability the move after two days of such an ordeal.”
Felix was silent and his eyes were gray with sadness and exhaustion. With a small smile, Serenity reached up and brushed her fingers against the side of his face, sending a blissful shiver through his body. “Your will to live is strong, Felix, even if you do not know it. No matter how much pain you feel, the fact that you are here now with me means that some part of you wants to stay alive. Whatever piece it is that keeps your heart beating, I will aid it and do whatever I can to help you heal.”
“I don’t want to heal, I don’t want to live… I just want to die.”
Serenity then moved up on top of him, sitting on his lap, and placed her hands on his cheeks. “Do not despair, Felix. Do not try to escape your pain by forsaking your life. Just sleep dear soul, sleep.”
She then leaned forward and kissed him on the forehead. “Sleep,” she whispered again.
Felix’s eyelids slowly lowered, and in the moments before he sank into the realm of dreams, he could feel Serenity lying down beside him with her arm across his chest, holding him in her tight embrace as she pulled the blanket over them.

Shining brightly through his eyelids, the sun woke Felix from his deep slumber and he gave a yawning sigh as his body slowly fell back under his control. He was still alive, but had what he’d seen really happened? Finally able to move, Felix sat up and looked around, hoping that his encounter with Serenity had not just been a sweet dream. He was still on the bed of moss beneath the interwoven canopy of branches, and twenty paces away was the babbling brook he had seen from the night before. He looked down and spotted one of the fruits that Serenity had bit into before kissing him. So she did exist…
Felix slowly stepped out of the tree nook, struggling to maintain his balance and wincing in pain from the scars under his feet. After running for three days without even wearing sandals, the skin and muscle within had been badly damaged and would take a long time to heal, not to mention that every sinew and muscle cord in his legs was frayed to the point of snapping. He staggered into the brook and collapsed, breathing heavily. A red streak ran away on the surface of the water as the dried blood from his injuries and clothes were washed off.
Felix rolled onto his back, letting the cool water run over him while he gazed up at the sky. ‘What am I supposed to do? Am I just supposed to keep running once my injuries heal? Find a new home or city and try to start a new life? Will I ever see Serenity again?’
Felix thought back to when they had kissed and the euphoria that filled his mind from that blissful touch, the sweet taste, the softness of her lips, and the tender care that seemed to waft from her like the fruity scent on her breath. He opened his eyes as the sound of a soft tune reached his ears. He quickly rolled back over and looked up the river, gasping as he saw her. Serenity was walking down the babbling brook, humming a soft tune and dancing with each step. Fluttering around her head were countless butterflies, honeybees, and humming birds, all orbiting around the gorgeous nymph in reverence. With a smile on her face, she sat down and gently kissed him on the forehead. The sensation of her lips against his skin made it feel like the water around him was as warm as home-cooked stew.
“Good morning,” she said sweetly as she moved his head onto her lap.
“Serenity…” he murmured, unable to believe she was real.
“I’m glad to see that you are alright, though you should not be out here. You should be in bed, resting. Your muscles are still far from having fully recovered and you need to take it easy if you are to fully heal.”
Felix was still unable to believe this beautiful woman actually existed. Here he was, saved from an agonizing death by a forest nymph, more beautiful than any goddess and as sweet as the fruits that hung in her orchard.
“Did you sleep well? I couldn’t keep my eyes shut for the briefest span of time. I was so excited to finally have someone to talk to. It’s a beautiful day, and if you stay here with me, you’ll experience more than you could possibly count.”
Felix still did not respond, as he was completely hypnotized by the smile on her lips.
“Once you are fully healed, will you dance with me? It is the calling of my life, the way in which I express my soul, and I would truly love it even more if you joined me.”
He shuddered as a wave of pain coursed through his veins like sludgy poison, finally prompting him to speak as painful memories returned and tears fell from his eyes. “How can you dance when Troy is nothing but ashes? How can there still be happiness in the world when so many men have been killed, women violated, and children enslaved over the course of one night? How can I go on when the monsters of Greece tainted and destroyed everything that I held dear? There is nothing for me left but pain and misery and nothing in this world but war and loneliness.”
“Shhhhhhh,” Serenity hushed as she wiped away his tears.
She held her face over his, with locks of her silky hair sweeping across his skin more gently than a spring breeze. “There is still so much in your life for you to cherish: this beautiful world full of wonder and happiness, your life and the majesty of life itself, and the gift you have of being able to see the years go by and watch the world in its eternal metamorphosis. Your life is not fated to hold only pain is misery; it is a cascade of choices for you to find your own path to happiness.
If there really is nothing in this world other than war and loneliness, then stay here with me. Live with me in this forest so that we can banish each other’s loneliness and be together and happy for the rest of our lives. Please, Felix, don’t leave me.”
She wrapped her arms around him and holding him tightly, so close that it was as if she were wrapping herself around him like a scarf. In the warmth of her embrace, Felix sensed something, something different about Serenity. There was sadness in her voice, and the way she was holding him… he sensed desperation. While it was hidden away beneath the warm blankets of light and love of her soul, Felix could feel pain within her. What she had said about being lonely and longing for someone to talk to, it was true, and now that he was this close to her, he could feel it as clearly as he could feel the beats of her heart gently tapping from her body to his.
At that moment, he could not imagine anything outside of Serenity’s embrace. Was there honestly anything in the world that could bring him more peace than a commune with this divine figure? Was there anything in this world that could make him happy, other than Serenity’s tender care? Besides, he was still alive when he believed he should have died. Through he eyes, he possessed a life that should no longer belong to him.
‘What right do I have to selfishly do what would make me happy when I don’t deserve to be happy? If I am going to continue living, I will not live for myself; I will live to make others happy. And if staying alive and staying with Serenity will make her happy, then that is my new reason to live. I will live, solely for her.’ “Serenity, I will stay. You returned my life to me, so now my life belongs to you. So that you will be happy and won’t have to be alone, I will stay.”
The nymph lit up and kissed him again on the forehead. “In these woods, your only worry is healing so that you will have the strength to dance with me. Thank you, Felix. I know the life we will live together will be a beautiful one.”

Felix and Serenity were lying on the bed of moss, enjoying the cool shade of the interwoven canopy above them while everything else cooked under the midday sun. Felix had his arm around Serenity and the nymph was leaning her head on his shoulder with her arm across his chest. According to the nymph, such proximity would allow her to share her life energy with him and speed up his recovery. Felix wondered if that was what was causing the blissful feeling that filled every fiber of his being when they touched.
“Who are you, Serenity? I know only your name and that you are a forest nymph, nothing else. Please tell me more, I want to learn more about you,” he asked, breaking the dozing silence.
Serenity hummed in reply and pressed herself against him tighter before replying. “I was born in these woods as the daughter of Helios and his human bride, a woman that he loved more than any other in the worlds of the mortals and gods. I was conceived and brought into this world in secret, for my parents loved each other and loved me so much that they wanted to keep me safe from the dangers of the world. Wherever a nymph is born, they can never leave, so my parents searched the world for the most beautiful place for me to live. They came here and I was born under this tree. Out of love, my father and his sister Selene granted me a great gift: the Light of Outsight. Everything that the sunlight and moonlight shines upon is in my sight, letting me see the world from this forest. I’ve been here ever since, waiting for company.
What about you? Tell me about your life.”
Felix looked up at the branches and shuddered as the memories came back. “I was a warrior of Troy during our struggle with the forces of Greece, having joined the army at fifteen when the war started. Originally I had wanted to be a poet and knew nothing of fighting, but with the skills I gained in training and the thought of protecting my family and home, I had the strength and resolve to slay my enemies and survive every battle. Over the course of ten years, I rose through the ranks and became well respected by the royal family for my achievements in battle. I was one of the most celebrated soldiers in Troy, having slain more enemies than anyone else.
I had a younger brother, four years my junior and a fellow soldier. We would spend hours dueling and sparring, making sure our skills never dulled. I also had twin sisters, both barely in adolescence. They loved to sing, and the house was always filled with the sound of their beautiful voices. My parents loved us all and were proud of my accomplishments in the war, all brought on by my will to fight and protect what was important to me.
When the news finally came that the war was over and our enemies had left our shores, I was so happy. I was happy that I would no longer have to fear for my family and have to kill to keep them safe. Maybe now I could retire as a soldier and do something with my life that would let me use my heart instead of my sword. On the night that we retrieved the wooden horse left for us by the Greeks, everyone in Troy celebrated the end of the war. For ten years, the city had been oppressed by the fear of death, with families praying every night for the safety of their members and love failing to bloom as people strayed away from each other, either afraid to get married one day and become a widow the next, or too busy training and honing skills for survival.
Late into the night, everyone sang and drank as we celebrated the veil that had been lifted from Troy, freeing us from fear. That night, I was awoken by the sound of our front door being kicked down and soldiers streaming in. Before I could get to my feet, I was stabbed through the side by an enemy spear and left to bleed out. In a pool of my own blood and in too much pain to move, I could do nothing as the troops beheaded my father and stabbed my brother to death.
Then they made their way through the house, knocking over all the furniture and walking over me as if I were a carpet. I could hear the screams as they found my mother and sisters and the soldier’s laughs as they dragged them into the den. My sisters… they were so young and so innocent… they screamed the loudest as the soldiers ripped off their clothes and violated them. I struggled to move, but one of the soldiers was standing on me with his full weight and my blood loss was making me delirious, pouring from my side a torn wineskin. Once the soldiers had their way with my family, they killed them and left, leaving me for dead. A torch was thrown through the window, landing next to a rack of scrolls. It seemed like the whole house was burning in a matter of seconds, with me lying among my butchered family.
With the smallest spark of strength in my bleeding body, I got to my feet and staggered out of my home. I was supposed to be a legendary warrior and a war hero, but I just ran like a pathetic coward. Everything after that point became a blur of pain as I ran out of the city, past hundreds of people being raped and killed by Greek soldiers. I remember the sun searing my back as I ran during the day and the cool air giving me some relief as I ran at night. I don’t remember the changing scenery, but I remember leaving behind red footprints as my feet deteriorated and gripping my side to stop the bleeding of my wound. Finally, I remember being found by you.
I shouldn’t be alive like this, I should have fought through the pain to protect my family, and either gotten them out of the city or died with them. I didn’t do anything except lie on the floor and then run. I’m a weakling and a coward, and it’s my fault that my family is dead.”
As his tears began to fall, Serenity raised her head and looked at him with an expression of deep sadness on her face. “Do not say that, Felix. It is not your fault. What happened to your family was out of your hands. Mourn the loss of your loved ones, but don’t blame yourself for their deaths. Don’t try to heal your wounded heart by stabbing it with the blade of self-loathing and misery. Do not doom yourself to a life of self-pity and suffering. Work and hope for a future where you can be happy.”
“All hope of happiness died with my family and was burned with my home.”
“Then let that hope grow anew, with me as your family and this forest as your home. You have to let your wounds heal or else you will never be well and you will be poisoned by your own hatred forever.”
She then placed her hands on his cheeks and her own voice began to tremble. “You have to stay alive and be happy. I need you with me. I don’t want to be alone again,” she whispered as liquid pearls rose up from her eyes.
The sight of her sadness extinguished Felix’s own pain and filled him with hers as he realized she thought he might kill himself. He slowly reached out and cupped her cheek. “I’m sorry, I did not man to make you sad. My pain is my own and you do not have to worry about me. I live for you now, and will not let my past get in the way of you being happy. I will be with you and you will not be alone. By all that I am, I swear to you that you will not be alone.”
Serenity regained her smile and moved up, gently kissing him on the cheek.

The next several days blurred together into a torrent of relaxation. All day and all night, Serenity and Felix would lie in the moss bed, snuggled up tightly and holding each other. The shifts between the moon and the sun were filled with napping, talking, and eating the sweet fruits that hung from the trees. With Serenity in his arms, Felix could feel his body being rejuvenated far faster than it would be normally.
Serenity was the most incredible woman he had ever met. While she had the youth and beauty of a woman his age, she had lived the lifespan of a human many times over, and with the gift of Outsight, she had watched the goings on of the world for hundreds of years. Many of their conversations were about history and the past; he would tell her about his childhood memories and she would recant the incredible things she had seen in the world.
Serenity was also very complicated, with several attributes within her mind. On one hand, she was the sweetest and most gentle spirit he had ever met, but in her heart, he could feel the flames of passion and the resolve to fight for what she cared about and sacrifice herself without hesitation, much like himself. She was also incredibly patient and caring, nursing him back to health and always at his side, rarely separating from him for more than a few minutes.

Felix stepped out of the tree chamber, wincing slightly with each step. Every day he would walk around and test his limits, and each day brought far less soreness than the day before. With how well he was feeling, he knew that he would regain his full health within a few days. He had woken up by himself and was looking for Serenity. Having to lean on every tree for support and putting what little strength he had into each step, Felix slowly staggered through the woods. He finally heard the soft coo of her voice and stopped dead in his tracks, leaning against a large tree. He looked out at the shallow brook and saw Serenity, lying in the water amidst the smooth zones. His heart skipped a beat when he realized that she wasn’t wearing any clothes. Serenity had nothing on her body but a thin sheen of water, making her turquoise skin glisten in the sunlight She was writhing and stretching in the water as she worked her fingers between her legs, massaging the soft lips of her slit. She had her long smooth thighs clamped tightly around her hand and every movement she made caused her round full breasts to bounce and shake. She was giving a very soft but high-pitched moan as she touched herself, rolling her head from side to side while she ran her fingers through her long silky hair.
It was in all honesty the most gorgeous thing Felix had ever seen in his life. No god or goddess could ever hope to create a piece of art as awe-inspiring as the scene before him. The sight would forever be imprinted in his memory, but to him, that wasn’t good enough. He wanted to have the image of Serenity in this state tattooed on his eyelids so that he could always see her this way. He stared, all the while hating himself for betraying the trust of the angel who had saved him and showed him unparalleled kindness, but he could not deny his roaring lust.
Serenity began to pick up speed, rubbing her slit with more energy and enthusiasm. Her moan increased in volume as her whole body trembled. Finally, she released a scream of ecstasy and arched her back as she achieved an orgasm. In that few moments of bliss, her body was wrapped in a glowing aura, her long hair seemed to merge with the water and become like liquid, her skin shimmered like light through glass, and her voice seemed to carry a hypnotic chime that made Felix shake in euphoria. All of the plants on either side of the brook began to sway and bend as they were vitalized by the energy Serenity was emitting.
Finally the forest nymph became still and silent, lying in the shallow water with her chest heaving. Her body was so beautiful that Felix just wanted to run his tongue along every square inch. Reluctantly, he decided he should go back. The sensations she had been giving herself had mostly likely distracted her from her ability of Outsight, but now that she had calmed down, the world would again be under her view. He had to get back to the tree chamber before Serenity found out that he had been watching her. As Felix silently made his way back through the forest, he could have sworn that he heard Serenity whisper his name.

Felix tried to remain calm as Serenity approached, having finished “bathing” in the stream. From the warm smile on her face, he could only assume that she had not sensed his presence, something that he was incredibly grateful for, as he did not know how to endure the knowledge of any grudge or disdain the beautiful angel would hold if she were to find out.
“Good morning,” Serenity said sweetly as she reached him, providing Felix with the reassurance that she had no knowledge of him moving about before.
“Good morning,” he replied as she gently kissed him on the forehead.
“How did you sleep?”
Felix gave a lazy smile. “Babies don’t sleep as well as I do. How about you?”
The nymph just smiled and pressed herself tightly against him. “Amazingly as usual, now that I have someone with me.”

Felix was lying by the creek in the shade of a tree, listening to the sweet melody of water on rock. Having recovered enough to move around for at least short distances, he decided he wanted a small change of view and moved out of the tree chamber and out to the river. He was glad he did, for the world around him was exceptionally gorgeous. It was such a beautiful day in the forest; the clouds were moving across the sky like colossal whales, the birds were fluttering through the air in endless loops while they chirped out sweet symphonies, the trees were rustling with the bobbing balls of fur that were the squirrels, the air was thick with the aroma of delectable fruits and millions of flowers of all colors and sizes that blanketed the forest floor, and the ground itself seemed almost to rise and fall as if all the soil was covering a great slumbering behemoth that was taking slow gentle breaths in its eternal relaxation.
Hearing a soft tune being hummed, Felix looked over and grinned as Serenity approached. As usual, she was crowned with halo of birds and butterflies and the flowers around her all glowed and leaned forward with each gentle step, but this time, two young deer also followed her. The adolescent hinds walked beside her closely, playfully and affectionately rubbing up against her and licking her hands.
“How is that all the animals here are so drawn to you?” Felix asked while laughing at the behavior of the two creatures.
Serenity gained the same smile as she petted the two deer and nuzzled the birds on her shoulders against her cheeks. “Since I am a forest nymph, these woods are rich with my ambient energy, causing all the plants and animals to flourish. Without me, the amount of offspring born would be less than half, but because the animals here feed on my life-giving energy, they too are able to give life. Every animal here acknowledges me as its mother and I love each and every one of them as my children.”
The warm smile on her face and the happiness in her voice made Felix’s whole body melt as she spoke. Upon reaching him, all the animals departed as Serenity lied down beneath the tree beside him.
“I’ve never met someone so happy and lighthearted as you,” Felix tiredly hummed as he watched the shallow film of water run across the smooth stones of the creek.
“My heart is filled with love: love for this world, love for its people, and love for all life,” she replied, leaning her head on his shoulder.
“How is it that you can love life so much?”
“From these woods, I watch the whole of the world. I see every animal being born, every beautiful flower swaying in the breeze, every tree grow old and nurture the creatures around it, every piece of art being made, every family happy and content, and every pair of lovers opening their hearts and bonding their souls. After centuries of watching the beauty of this world, how can’t I love life with all my heart?
What about you, what do you love?”
Felix was silent for a moment. “I loved my family and Troy, but now, I’m not sure what to love. I have not seen the world as you have, my eyes have only seen a small scrap of nature.”
He picked up a flower and held it in his hands. The soft seed-sized petals were a deep beautiful purple, and in the center were a bundle of yellow antennae, thick with pollen. Felix spun the flower around between his fingers, noting every detail. Beside him, Serenity rolled over onto her stomach, resting her head on her crossed arms while her feet swayed lazily in the air.
“You do not need to see the whole world to love something. You need only to care about something deeply and love will blossom. It does not need to be something grand. It can be something as simple as the gentle kiss of the breeze, the aroma of the flowers, the sound of a babbling brook, or the taste of sweet fruit. If you seek something to love, then you need look no further than this forest.”
Felix turned his head and gazed at Serenity, completely overpowered by the sheer beauty of her peaceful face. As he gazed at her, he let his mind wander and mull over her words. He focused on the soft touch of the wind against his skin, the dreamy smell of flowers, the massage-like sound of the river, and the taste on his tongue of the delectable fruits he had eaten for breakfast. The nymph was right; the forest was rich in treasures for one to hold close to their heart, and as Felix stared at Serenity’s divine visage, he could feel love for something she had not mentioned, something that he now cared about very deeply.

Lightning cracked across the storming sky, casting a cold light down onto the forest while the rain fell. The storm was on an unusually chilly night, made only colder by the wind and water bleeding from the clouds. Immune to the cold, Felix and Serenity were curled up in the tree chamber with the blanket over them, sealing them in warmth. Constantly being disturbed from their slumber by the crashing of thunder, the human and nymph were just content in basking in the warmth of their bed and their embrace, held right between the world of dreams and being fully awake.
“Serenity, what is the most amazing thing you’ve seen with your gift of Outsight?” he asked, unable to fall asleep and knowing that the nymph could not either.
Serenity gave a soft hum as she considered the question. “What would probably be the most memorable thing would be when I once saw a mother mountain lion adopt an orphaned wolf cub and raise it as her own. I watched their family without pause for a year as the wolf was brought up in a clan of felines, coexisting with them peacefully as one big family. Not only was it a miracle in itself, it showed that even sworn enemies by nature can live together in peace. No matter how much war and strife there is in the world, you need only to wait for people to learn that same lesson, then misery will be replaced with harmony and everyone can live together in bliss.”
Felix looked at the dark clouds outside. “That is a beautiful thought.”
“Don’t you believe it can happen?” Serenity asked, finally opening her eyes and rolling over to face him.
“I believe that all people can live in peace, but it would be more difficult to achieve than with animals. Humans are neither good nor evil, we all make choices that define who we are. There are men who rape and steal and women who lie and cheat, but there are also men who protect what is important and women who work to make the world a better place.”
A small smile crossed Serenity’s lips. “That’s the heart of a poet that I’ve come to know. What about you, what is your most amazing and memorable sight?”
Felix let out a loud huff as he tried to decide, with his eyes slowly darting to every corner of the tree chamber. “I’m not sure. I’ve seen my friends saved by the gods and the greatest battles of the war change tides over and over again in less than an hour. But probably the one thing that I’ll always remember was a very simple anomaly that I found, one that helped me hold onto hope. It was after one of our battles with the Greeks, and we had pushed them out of a nearby village and back to their bases on the shore. As we helped to rebuild the town and strengthen it for the next attack, I came across a temple of Apollo, surrounded by the murdered villagers that had prayed for protection unto their dying breath. There were few women in the area, as those that hadn’t been raped and killed were taken back by the Greeks to be held as slaves.
Looking at the bodies of those innocent people, I wondered if there was really a hope of winning this war. I wondered if there was such a thing as peace and if it could be achieved. I began to lose hope and doubt entered my mind, doubt that I would live to see the day when Troy could stand without the fear of attack from jealous kingdoms. I wondered if I would ever be able to watch my siblings grow up, see my brother find himself a wife and raise a son, attend my sisters’ weddings when they became adults, and even start a family of my own.
This doubt would not leave, and I found myself so distraught that I could barely stand. I sat down on a broken wall around the temple, trying to catch my breath and regain my mental bearings. As I reached for my wineskin, I looked down and saw something remarkable. Growing right out of the middle of a solid stone brick was a white flower, full of life as it basked in the sun. In a place where life could not exist like the depths of a stone, one beautiful flower had managed to find a home and grow.
Staring at that flower, I had a life-saving realization. No matter what had happened, life was able to continue on. The people around me had been killed, but life in itself could never be crushed. And like life, neither would my love for my family and the drive to protect them. I wanted to take that flower and carry it with me as a good luck charm, but I decided it would be best to let the miracle continue as long as possible. I left that stone there, carrying the flower only in memory.”
“Like I said before, that’s the heart of a poet that I’ve come to know,” Serenity cooed with soft admiration in her voice.
Felix smiled and laid his head back down, pulling the nymph close. As the storm progressed, the roaring cracks of thunder became fewer in number, allowing the two dozers to finally drift into a deep sleep.

Felix and Serenity were walking through one of the meadows that pierced the canopy of the forest. Felix was now strong enough to walk moderate distances, but only with the nymph’s care. Serenity was clinging to Felix’s arm, helping him maintain his balance with each trembling step.
“Serenity, there is something I’ve been meaning to ask you…” Felix began.
The nymph raised her head from his shoulder and looked at him.
“What started the war between Greece and Troy? I knew it had something to do with Queen Helen of Sparta, but that is literally all I know. You have the gift of Outsight and have witnessed all of history, do you know what was the true source of the war?”
Serenity gave a sigh at the question and Felix could sense dread in her tone. Was there something she did not want him to know?
“Let’s find a place to sit.”
Serenity and Felix stepped into the shade of a nearby tree and lied down by its roots. Serenity took several deep breaths before she spoke. “The seeds of war were first planted at the wedding between the sea-goddess Thetis and the warrior Peleus, who were actually the parents of the fighter Achilles.”
Felix’s eyes widened in astonishment, as he thought back to the times he had faced Achilles in the battlefield. ‘So, there was divine blood in him after all…’
“The wedding was attended by all the gods of Olympus. However, Eris, the goddess of discord, was banned from the wedding. Furious for being rejected, she sought vengeance and decided to turn the guests on each other. Inscribing the words “for the fairest” on one of her golden apples, she threw it into the wedding. Immediately, there was an argument among the goddesses Aphrodite, Hera, and Athena over who was the fairest and who deserved the apple.
Not wanting to get involved in the goddesses’ squabble, Zeus suggested they choose a mortal to decide whom the apple should go to. The mortal they picked was Paris, the prince of Troy. The goddesses each bribed him in their desperation to get the apple; Athena offered to make him a legendary hero or general, Hera offered to make him the ruler of the richest and most powerful kingdom, and Aphrodite offered him the love of the most beautiful mortal, Helen of Sparta. Paris picked Aphrodite and gave her the apple.
After arriving in Sparta for a diplomatic mission, Paris won the heart of Helen and she left with him for Troy. Furious from this insult, King Menelaus of Sparta summoned the forces of all of his allies, each of which had sworn oaths to defend Helen’s marriage in order to be eligible suitors before she married the king. With a vast army, Menelaus and his brother Agamemnon waged war against the city of Troy.”
Felix’s hands were clenched tightly into fists and he was growling through his gritted teeth. “The war was started because of the stupidity of the prince of my city and the arrogant pride of the goddesses?”
With sadness in her eyes, Serenity continued to speak. “During the war, the gods repeatedly intervened in the war. At least half of them helped the Greeks, due to the belief that Troy was destined to fall. Athena herself was responsible for the death of Hector and the interruption of the peace established after Menelaus defeated Paris, all because Paris did not give her the apple.”
Shocking Serenity, Felix quickly got to his feet and stormed off into the meadow, where he gave a lion-like roar of anger while shaking his fists at the sky. “I studied you, I prayed to you, I worshipped you, and you are the ones that destroyed my city! You could have stopped the war or prevented it, but you allowed it to happen and you allowed everything I love to be taken away from me! You let it all burn for the sake of your pride and entertainment! You should have killed me when you had the chance, because now I’m going to get my revenge, even if I have to destroy Mt. Olympus with my own two hands!”
Serenity rushed over and wrapped her arms around his neck, trying to calm him down. “Stop it, Felix! Don’t anger the gods and tempt fate!”
“It is because of them that my home was destroyed and my family was killed! Gods or not, I will make them pay for their selfishness!” he yelled with all the pain of the war flooding through him once again.
He then gagged in agony and fell to his knee, gripping his leg to try and ease the pain ravaging him. His muscles were not ready for the quick movement he had made or the strain his emotions were inflicting on his body, and the combination had just caused multiple still-recovering tendons to snap, essentially crippling him. Felix gave another roar of frustration and helplessness, gripping his leg so tightly that blood trickled down his ankle from his nails digging into his skin.
Serenity crouched beside him, holding him tightly with her forehead pressed against the back of his neck. “Let it go, Felix. Please just let it go. I know you’re angry, but you’ll kill yourself if you cling to all this hatred.”
“How can I let it go? How can I just forget about my family and Troy and let the ones who are guilty get away with it?! HOW CAN I ACCEPT THIS PAIN AND NOT FIGHT BACK?!”
“I’m not asking you to accept the pain, I’m asking you to open your heart and let there be inner peace as well. I didn’t want to answer your question because I knew you would get angry and all the progress you’ve made towards being at peace would be lost. If you let vengeance fill your heart and resign yourself to die in the futile attempt to achieve it, there will be no going back.”
“I have to avenge my family, I have to avenge Troy, and if Nemesis herself will not punish the gods for their sins, then I will!” Felix countered, trying to stand up but instantly falling back to his knees.
“You can’t leave and die in the name of vengeance, you have to stay here and live! I don’t care about being alone anymore! I just want you to be happy and alive! I want to do whatever I can to make you happy and I couldn’t bear it if you left me! That is why I want you to stay. But if leaving here is want you want to do and will bring you solace, I will not stop you. Just promise me that if you’ll leave, you won’t die in the name of vengeance, but live long with peace in your heart.
I just want you to be happy, Felix! Live long and be happy! That’s all I ever wanted!”

Felix was lying on the moss bed, looking out at the nearby creek. Serenity was beside him with her hands on the area in his leg where his tendons had snapped. Her palms and fingers were glowing with a green radiance, and she was using her hands to send the healing energy deep beneath the flesh to repair the cords. Once the tendons were reformed, she removed her hands and sighed. “There, you can walk again, but you still need to heal so that they won’t just break like they did before.”
“Thank you,” Felix said, but without looking at her.
Serenity had a sad hue in her eyes, but mixed it with a tinge of determination as she took a deep breath.
Felix quickly turned in surprise as she sat on his lap, facing him.
“Serenity, what are you–”
She placed her finger on his lips and silenced him. Before speaking, she wrapped her fingers around his hand and clutched it tightly against her chest. “There is nothing I can do to stop you if you truly want to leave. I can’t keep you here as a prisoner or force you to forget about vengeance. My words can only go so far, so you must decide. But if you will leave me in your pursuit to kill the gods, then I ask that you do me one favor…”
She opened his hand and pressing it against her throat. “Kill me first, take my life.”
The air was ripped from Felix’s lungs by her words and the unfathomable sadness they carried. Felix stared at his fingers, which she had pressed around her throat, forcefully putting her life in his hands. She leaned forward, pressing her forehead against his with her long silky hair hanging down and forming a canopy that almost sealed their faces in tiny world of their own, where they could do nothing but stare into each other’s eyes with their lips only a few inches apart.
“I’ve waited so long for you, I’ve waited so long to have someone here with me. I don’t want to live if I have to be alone again, my heart cannot withstand the pain of losing you. I told you not to forsake your life to escape your pain, but I must confess that not even I cannot follow those words, as I would rather die than be without you. Let it be now or let it be when you are fully healed, but if you really want to leave and face the gods, then let me escape the pain of your departure through the final sleep.”
Her every breath was filled with emotions and tears ran down her face like melted silver.
Felix’s whole body trembled under the crushing sorrow in her voice and the horrible guilt of even facing such a request. In his heart burned the desire to avenge his family and city, but every fraction of a second that passed by in which he stared at Serenity’s beautiful face smothered the flames of anger, leaving only cold embers, stewing in a pool of empathy. Vengeance or Serenity, the choice had to be made, and Felix knew that it had to be made now. Taking a deep breath, Felix let the anger and pain in his aching heart finally slip away, abandoning his desire for vengeance. After taking another deep breath, he moved his hand from Serenity’s throat and placed both hands on her cheeks. The nymph’s eyes opened and she gasped as Felix kissed her on the forehead.
“I will never leave you and I will never harm you, I swear.”
With a warm smile on her face, Serenity wrapped her arms around Felix’s neck and Felix held her slender body, both hugging each other tighter than ever in their lives.

Serenity’s eyes flicked open and she gave a tired yawn while stretching every muscle in her body. As soon as she reached outwards, she knew that Felix was no longer in the bed with her. Like a cat hearing the pitter-patter of a nearby mouse, Serenity perked up to the sound of deep breathing just outside. Giving another yawn, she climbed out of the chamber and looked around. Hanging from the branch of a nearby tree, Felix was panting as he did chin-ups with his back to her. A warm smile on her lips, Serenity stood up and plucked one of the fruits from the tree of her bedchamber and bit into it. She walked over to Felix with the juices of the fruit running down her chin, watching him try to regain his strength. She stood behind Felix, nibbling on the fruit while he continued to work the atrophy out of his arms, completely unaware of her.
Holding the large half-eaten pear in her teeth, Serenity jumped up onto the branch, swinging on and over it like an acrobat. Felix pulled himself up onto the tree limb and smiled as she showed off, before finally coming to a stop and offering him the fruit.
“Thank you,” he said graciously before digging into its sweet flesh.
“So I see you have almost completely recovered.”
“Not quite, my legs are still hurting, but I’m at least strong enough to get some real exercise. I’m hoping that working out will help me recover faster, plus, even though I’m going to spend the rest of my life here, I don’t want all of my muscles to become as weak as a baby steer’s.”
The last sentence brought a particularly happy smile to Serenity’s beautiful face, and she expressed these warm emotions by kissing Felix on the cheek and making his face turn red.

The day proved to be a very restless one, as Felix took advantage of his progress in recovery to regain his strength in as many muscles as he could. While he worked, Serenity would sit beside him and they would talk as usual, or she would even join the routine and teasingly compete with him, just for the look on his face of when she would beat him. The day was finished with a long walk around the forest, with Serenity holding his hand and leaning her head on his shoulder.
‘One more day…’ he thought to himself, feeling only the occasional tinges of soreness as he walked. ‘Just one more day until I am fully healed.’

“Tell me Felix, what kind of poetry did you wish to write?” Serenity asked.
Night had fallen, and Felix and Serenity were in their tree chamber, having dinner. As usual, the meal consisted of the large pear-like fruits that overflowed from the trees. They were sitting on opposite sides of the chamber with a pile of fruits in their laps and the blanket over their legs. Gorging himself on the soft wet skin of the giant berry, Felix couldn’t imagine himself ever getting tired or used to the sweet addictive taste. He didn’t even miss meat or bread when he had such a perfect substitute.
“What?” he asked, pulling off the last scrap from the core.
“You told me that you wanted to become a poet before you joined the Trojan army, what kind of poetry did you want to create?”
Finishing one of the fruits, she tossed it out of the chamber, where it was quickly snatched up by a group of squirrels.
Felix looked up at the interwoven branches that formed the roof of the chamber. “When I was young, I experimented with several different kinds, but I never knew what I wanted to focus on when I became an adult. When I was a soldier, I spent much of my time between battles returning to poetry. Much of it was about fighting and the war, ballads, and epic tales of real and fictional heroes of Troy. But my favorite subjects were mythology, which I studied endlessly, and even love stories.”
“Did anyone ever write any poems about you? You said you were a war hero.”
Felix chuckled and looked outside at the moon and stars. “There were a few. One of them was written by my younger sisters, as a gift for me for my twenty-fifth birthday, just a few months ago.”
Just as Serenity was about to lose her smile, Felix gained one. “Thank you, Serenity. Thank you for taking care of me. Thank you so much for all of your help. I am truly beginning to feel at peace with what happened. It will take time to fully recover from my trauma, but thanks to you, I’ve come farther than I ever thought possible, and I look forward to the day when I can put my past behind me and look to the future with you by my side.”
At Felix’s words, Serenity’s eyes seemed to sparkle and her smile became so soft and tender, no words conceived by man could ever describe it.
“You are welcome, Felix, you are most welcome,” she said with a tone that sounded like she was about to cry tears of joy. She then chuckled.
“What is it?”
“I remember when you told me that because of the war in Troy, no one dared fall in love for fear of losing whoever they cared about.”
“What about it?”
Serenity chuckled again. “If no one was falling in love, then how did you get the experience in which to write your love stories?”
Felix gave a soft laugh and hummed before answering, choosing his words carefully. “I just wrote about… what I always dreamed it would be like.”
He looked back at Serenity and was completely at awe from the smile on her face and her indescribable beauty. The warmth and care in her eyes was like a miracle itself. Felix and Serenity stared into each other’s eyes for several silent moments, and outside, it was as if the entire forest was as still and quiet as they were.
“I imagine our dreams were very similar,” the nymph finally whispered.
Then like a cat seeking a warm place in which to doze, she crawled across the tiny den to Felix, where she moved under the blanket and curled up beside him. With a tired smile on his face, he wrapped his arm around her and kissed her on the forehead, then lied back before they both fell asleep.

The rain pounded the forest in a relentless torrent, forcing every leaf and blade of grass into submission under the weight of each drop. Serenity and Felix were curled up in their tree chamber, completely dry and warm. With a dull yawn, Felix held out his hand into the open and felt the rain. Unlike with the previous storm, this rain was incredibly warm to the touch, much warmer than he had ever felt, and every drop seemed like it was as large as a grape.
“I think I’m fully healed.”
“Then will you dance with me?” Serenity asked with a tender smile.
“Now? In the rain?”
“When it’s raining is my absolute favorite time to dance. The rain is one of my favorite aspects of nature. No matter how bad things may be, when the rain begins to pour, all the sadness and grief in the world is washed away. It’s just so pure and soothing, and when I dance, I feel like I can release my soul and let the rain wash it the way it washes the land.”
Felix gained a small smile. “Very well, let’s go out.”
With the same smile, Serenity stood up and grasped his hand, pulling him to his feet. They stepped out into the rain, instantly becoming soaked as the drops drummed on their bodies. They moved out into the creek and began the sequence of poetry in motion to the rhythm of Serenity’s soft hum, with the nymph guiding his movements and Felix enjoying the chance to truly stretch his muscles. True to what Serenity described, a new sensation infatuated Felix’s senses as the rain fell down on them in warm sheets, one that he had never experienced before. To him, it felt like his soul was leaving its physical form and floating up into the sky above them, letting him look down on their bodies from a bird’s eye view. His limbs seemed to move without his directions as he forsook his human body for a transcended existence, as naught but a glimmer of light or a wisp of steam floating in the air.
He felt like the rain was passing through his soul, sending ripples and shivers through every aspect of his sentience. All the pain that had been tormenting him since he fled from Troy was now being washed off like dirt from his palms after a day of hard work. Serenity had healed his physical injuries and now the rain was healing his emotional ones. Felix still missed his family, but no longer did he blame himself for their deaths or have a hole in his chest in place of his heart. Floating and twisting through the sky as a transient specter, he looked down and could see Serenity’s soul leaving her body as well and floating up to him. With their flesh and blood bodies continuing to dance like empty puppets, their souls began to wrap and bind around each other’s, twisting like twin vines desperately reaching for sunlight.
This was it; Felix knew that this was where he was meant to belong. He was truly home. When he originally told Serenity that he would stay and never leave her, he said it because he didn’t see a point in leaving, as he didn’t think there was anywhere in the world that could make him happy and he didn’t deserve to be happy at all. But now, he didn’t want to leave because he was happy, happy to be living in this beautiful forest with Serenity.
Finally, their souls retreated back into their bodies, which were lying in the shallow brook in a tight embrace. Felix shook his head from side to side and gasped from the returning feeling of his spirit to its shell. Serenity just had a sweet grin on her face.
“You felt it as well?” she asked.
“That was the most amazing thing I’ve… I don’t even know what to say. Is that how you feel whenever you do this?”
“Yes, but the feeling is only half as jubilant when you don’t have someone to share it with.”
Then she slowly leaned over and kissed him, filling every corner of his mind with a physical and emotional euphoria, a thousand times greater than the first kiss they shared.
“I love you, Felix. From a nymph, those words are meaningless, I know. My race is known for their sexuality, but it’s different for you and I. The way I feel about you, I could never feel for someone else. Felix, I’ve been lying to you. Almost every question I asked about your life, I already knew the answer to, even when I asked you your name. I have the gift of Outsight, and for the last decade, the only thing I have watched is you. Ever since I first saw you behind the walls of Troy, I felt something that I had never felt for anyone else: adoration.
I watched your life, your heart, your words, you actions, your emotions, and everything else that makes you who you are. You are a man who is willing to fight with every ounce of strength he has for what he cares about, a man that is willing to carry the weight of his family and city on his back in the battlefield, and yet a man with a heart so kind and pure as to be a poet. I could not take my eyes off you, Felix, not since the first day I saw you. With every day that I watched over you, my feelings became stronger and stronger. It didn’t take long for me to realize that I loved you with all my heart and soul. Every night, I dreamed of someday being with you, of being held by you in the bed we would share, and the warmth of your love.
On the night that Troy was ransacked and you fled, I guided you across the empty landscape. The Light of Outsight lets me see all of the world and it also let me reach out with my soul and link it to yours, drawing you to me so that we could finally be together. I love you, Felix. I love you in a way that I can love no other.”
Her words shook his entire world, freeing him to finally say the words that he desperately desired to speak.
“I love you too, Serenity. I have loved you since the moment I saw you. Not only did you save my life, but you also gave me something to live for, and that desire is a treasure that I thought I had lost in Troy. I love you, Serenity, and I want to spend the rest of my life here with you.”
The two lovers locked lips, kissing passionately for several seconds. Serenity eventually pulled away, shivering in arousal. “I saw you the other day when I was in the river, I saw you watching me. For so long, I have wanted you to see me that way, to be so exposed and so open to you. Now, I want us both to be that open, do you?”
“More than anything else in the world,” he replied before giving her another kiss.
With a smile, Serenity rolled up on top of him, straddling his lap. With a coy smile on her face, she slowly pulled the straps of her dress off her shoulders, exposing her large luscious breasts. They seemed to be even fuller and more beautiful than he remembered, as perky and energetic as she was and with nipples like berries. They rolled over again, this time so that he was on top of her, and kissed for several seconds, letting their tongues slip past their lips and wrap around each other. After several seconds, he pulled away, kissing her several times on the cheeks and forehead. He began to move down, running his lips along her smooth neck, around her collarbone, and the middle of her chest.
With one hand massaging her left breast, he began tracing his tongue around the nipple of her right, making her moan and gasp in arousal from the stimulation. He wrapped his lips around the nipple, sucking on it like a drunken man trying to empty the last drop from his wineskin. He switched between her breasts, lathering them with his tongue, massaging them with his hands, and sucking on her nipples hungrily. Her breasts were so warm and soft that he wanted to fall asleep while using them as pillows.
Finally, he relinquished her welcoming breasts and continued to move down, dragging his tongue down her flat belly and licking the rain off her soft skin while he pulled off her dress, revealing her womanly slit. He wanted to taste her insides so bad that he couldn’t think straight, but he also wanted to savor this. Before he moved to her slit, he continued kissing her body, running his lips along her long smooth legs, while relishing the feeling of her soft skin with his hands.
After he had peppered her voluptuous thighs with his lips, he moved back up to her valley. It looked like a rose in mid-bloom and smelled as sweet. He finally reached in between the hot lips with his tongue, making Serenity arch her back and give a shrill whine of euphoria. He reached farther up, kissing her lips with his while he sampled her essence. Her arousal tasted like the juices of the fruits in the trees, sweet and addictively delicious. The inside of her slit was so warm and so soft that he felt like he tasted her innocent soul itself. With each flick of his tongue, Serenity would give another moan. As he orally explored the interior of her body, she was rolling her head from side to side, chewing on her hair, running her fingers through his, and gripping the riverbed for dear life.
Finally, he pulled away from her. He was done with mere build-up, he wanted to truly demonstrate his love for her in the only way a man could. He sat up and undressed, revealing his throbbing erection and making Serenity purr with anticipation. He suspended himself over her and they kissed for several seconds.
“Are you ready for this?”
Before replying, she wrapped her arms around his neck. “I’m not ready, I’m desperate.”
He kissed her and grasped his throbbing manhood. He pressed it against the lips of her slit, taking a few moments to savor the anticipation and the intimate feeling. Serenity wrapped her legs around his waist and dug her fingernails into his back, moaning like a banshee from the feeling of him penetrating her. He slowly worked himself into womanhood, coming to a stop when he felt her hymen.
“I’m ready my love, take me,” Serenity whispered in his ear.
Felix kissed her neck several times in response and pushed the entirety of his phallus all the way into her, rupturing her hymen and deflowering the sweet nymph. Serenity screamed in both pleasure and pain as he took her virginity. He pulled his manhood out almost the whole way, exposing her blood on the shaft. The liquid seemed to glow as it rolled off into the river. He slowly pushed himself back in, causing Serenity to give a second moan. Moving back and forth, he began to establish of rhythm, driving his manhood deep inside her beautiful body.
Just as they had danced in the rain, Felix and Serenity began to act out the sacred moves of intimacy, with their frames interlocked and their hearts more open than ever before in their lives. As the rhythm of lovemaking became more and more inscribed in their memories and muscles, their minds began to wander and take note of the sensations of their surroundings. In the midst of their consummation, their minds unraveled. As the warm waves of rainfall and the shallow creek held them and lapped at their skin, it felt like the ground was shifting beneath them. It was as if they were on the trembling ocean, but could not penetrate the surface. The rain fell down on them with gentle thumps and the waves of water flowing down the shallow creek were like a warm blanket, sealing them in pure bliss.
With the two lovers linked physically, they reopened the bond between their minds. Their souls again reached out and began to wrap around each other like serpents. In an endless number of spirals, their souls intertwined over and over again as they desperately tried to show the love they felt. It was a futile attempt, because there were no words or actions that could express how much they loved each other. The volume of their affection was incomprehensible. But regardless of the impossibility of that feat, the spiritual proximity they each felt with the partner of their heart was a form of emotional ecstasy that surpassed their parameters of understanding.
The two strands that were their souls began to unravel like string and split up into countless smaller threads. These threads too wrapped around each other over and over again, twisting endlessly as they made love. Their souls repeatedly dove into each other as if they were vapors, in a desperate attempt to fuse into a conjoined dyad of sentience. As every last barrier between them was broken, they began to break away from their physical forms. Felix and Serenity’s perceptions of reality were warped, as their senses were switched between them. Sometimes Serenity would view reality through Felix’s senses, then it would switch and Felix would perceive everything through Serenity, using her senses.
Felix could feel the warm rain running down his back, then it switched, and he could feel the water dripping off of Serenity’s eyelashes through her world of feelings. He could feel his lips against hers and could see into her beautiful eyes, then it switched again, and he shared her sense of touch as the water and wind kissed her skin. He could feel her heartbeat as he clutched her in his arms and he could feel his own heartbeat through her as they held onto each other for dear life. Serenity was experiencing the switching of perception as well, and was feeling everything through both her senses and Felix’s. With their minds being shuffled over and over again, Felix was amazed that their bodies were able to maintain the rhythm of lovemaking.
At last, they both experienced a simultaneous climax, and the physical joy overwhelmed their souls. Felix could feel thick jets of semen being launched from the head of his manhood deep into Serenity’s womb and the nymph’s beautiful body glowed with a breathtaking aura. Like when he saw her touching herself, the area around them reacted to Serenity’s climax. Branches and grass shifted and stretched, leaning towards her as they tried to absorb the vitalizing energy she was giving off. After what felt like hours, their bonded completion came to an end. They both collapsed, holding onto each other tightly and gasping for air.
“I love you,” they both murmured.
Several silent moments passed by, in which only the running water and their rapid panting continued with the flow of time.
“I think it’s time for us to get out of the water and dry off,” Felix finally said tiredly.
“As do I, I want to go to sleep, but only with you holding me.”
Felix sat up and reached under her. With one arm against her back and the other under her knees, he picked her up, relishing the warmth of her body against his. Serenity buried her face in the side of his neck and held onto his shoulders as he carried her back to the tree chamber. He laid her out on the soft moss bed and got down next to her. With her back against his chest and his arm around her waist, Felix wrapped the two of them in the blanket. The second the sheet touched their skin, the two lovers could feel any chills from the water taken away and their bodies drying.
Serenity smiled and kissed him. “I love you, Felix of Troy.”
“And I love you, Serenity of the nymphs.”
Then Serenity rolled back over and Felix wrapped his arm around her, holding her close as they both drifted to sleep.

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