Perspective A
The youth stared, frozen in place, across the narrow ravine. She looked to be something from a dream and paid him little heed as she carefully drew up the bucket from her well. Arin reached up and smoothed his unruly curls. He hastily straightened his tunic and looked up in time to catch the maiden�s attention.
The distance between the two quickly shortened. Arin could have sword if he only stretched his arm out he could have ran his fingers through the golden hair. Something stirred within his blood, lighting his senses on fire. He forgot about his herd of goats, not noticing as they disappeared into the shadows of the trees. He nervously licked at his lips, trying to find his voice.
The maiden gave him a shadow of a smile. �Greetings stranger!� Arin watched, spellbound as she gracefully placed her bucket on a flat rock. Arin desperately searched within himself to find not only the courage to speak, but impressive words to say. �What brings you to my clearing?� Her voice floated to his ears like the sweet song of the birds that woke him each morning.
Arin stared blankly at the maiden, losing himself in the emerald eyes that seemed only inches from his own. A tiny voice in his head told him to run, that this must be some use of sorcery. �Do you really wish to leave me?� That same voice floated to his ears, only this time tinted with sadness.
�No.� Arin answered, unsure of whether he spoke aloud or simply thought his response. His puzzled thoughts were interrupted when the maiden suddenly appeared on the edge of her side of the ravine. She extended her hand to him, a vision of sunlight and summer. Arin desperately wanted to take her hand in his.
�Do you wish to touch me?� The voice lilted inside his head. Arin nodded quickly, unable to speak. �You must give something up first.� She looked at him expectantly.
�My goats.� Arin thought and spun to locate them to give to her, but they were far from sight. �Now I have nothing.� The thought rang through him, breaking his heart. He would give up anything, provided he had something to give.
�Anything?� She smiled at him. �What about forever?� Arin nodded, not thinking, and took another step forward. �The maiden stretched her hand toward him again and he quickly walked forward, not heeding the fact that the ground soon ran out.
Arin felt as if he were falling and his head suddenly cleared. �What have I done?� He lamented as he waited for the imminent landing and death. Before Arin could comprehend his fate his world was swallowed by darkness.
Perspective B
The nymph grudgingly tossed her bucket into the well, yet again. She had no use for the water, but yet she was forced to draw it every time someone came close to her ravine. Nira saw the youth from the corner of her eye long before he noticed her. Part of her wished he would not notice her and continue on his way with his goats. Nira cautiously and as slowly as possible drew her bucket up from the depths of the murky water. �Hurry it up.� The chilling voice from the well floated to her ear alone.
Nira looked over at the youth and immediately felt sorry for him, but knew she must obey her master�s wishes. Unruly red curls crowned his freckled face that was clearly displaying his nervousness. �Greetings stranger!� Nira called across the ravine to him before putting her bucket back on its rock. She fought the urge to look over her shoulder to the trees behind her that could have given her escape if not for her master�s tight grip. �What brings you to my clearing?� Nira finally fought the words out, feeling the stare of her master�s eyes in her back. She would gain her freedom once she had collected what he wanted.
The urge to gain her freedom was greater than her pity for the poor soul before her and Nira let herself find a way into the youth�s mind. �Do you really wish to leave me?� She silently spoke into his head and took a tiny step forward, letting her magic and beauty do the work for her. Her voice was tinted with sadness at what she would most likely end up doing to him, not for leaving as his soul thought. Nira tried not to feel any more of the emotions of her victims than necessary to get what her master wanted, but this one touched her.
�No.� His mind resounded clearly to hers. Nira lightly held out her hand, offering it to the youth, despite the fact he could not physically reach it, nor ever take it.
�Do you wish to touch me?� Nira tilted her head slightly tempting the youth, Arin, she now knew his name, a fact she cursed and blessed. �Freedom.� She thought over and over again. One more soul and she would be free. �You must give something up first.� She slithered the words into his head, trying not to think about what the poor boy must really give up.
She watched as he clumsily spun about, no doubt looking for the goats that had had the sense to leave the moment they entered the clearing. Nira bit at her tongue and forced her arm out, offering him her hand. She could feel his desperation and it mixed with hers pushing her to finish the task. �Anything?� She asked the boy, smiling ever so slightly. Nira pushed her arm out even more to him, extending it over the ravine. �What about forever?� She beckoned to him ever so slightly, offering her hand to him again.
Nira watched in pained silence as the boy plunged to his death at the bottom of the ravine. He was the thousandth soul to fall to his death there, and hopefully the last. Her heart seemed to follow him to his death and she grieved for him, silently and deep within her soul, hiding it from the prying eyes that bored into her back. �You promised me my freedom.�
�I did no such thing.� The voice hissed into her ear. Nira avoided looking back at the cruel creature that had captured her and left to this fate. Tears fell down her face, and without a thought Nira took the single step it would take to plunge to her own fate. She could no longer live with herself after all the death she had caused, and for what? Some silly beast�s quest for power, it seemed so pointless now that she was again denied her freedom.