Isaac didn't know when he opened his eyes, but the forest seemed quieter than usual. The silvery moonlight played through the dense leaves, which parted slightly around the river, creating a glittering path of water. Despite the lack of noise, Isaac waited with baited breath, somehow knowing instinctively that something strange was about to happen.
In the distance, Isaac's ears began to catch a strange lilting melody. Spellbound, he stared downriver, as a beautiful maiden dressed in golden robes walked gracefully up the silver moonlight path. As she neared, he realized that she was the source of the ethereal song, which seemed to hold at the same time a careless joy and a wistful nostalgia.
As though his body were moving on its own, Isaac rose to his feet, then suddenly dropped to one knee, his head bowed. Smiling gently, the otherworldly maid stepped from the shining river onto the bank, approaching Isaac. She appeared to glide across the ground, and all around her delicate feet flowers and sweet-smelling grasses seemed to burst into life. As she came to a halt before Isaac, his body shuddered in joyful anticipation, his duties and quest forgotten. Reaching down, the beauty cupped his head in her hands, raising his eyes to rest upon her. Isaac felt certain he had never seen such exquisite woman in his entire life, although being a master paladin, the majority of his time had been focused on his training, rather than any familiarity with the other sex. Still, intrinsically, Isaac was still a man, and before he realized it, his heart had been captured.
The maiden pulled Isaac to his feet, to which he acquiesced with no resistance. Moving around him, her slender fingers easily undid the clasps that bound his armor to him, and she elegantly set each piece on the ground. After the holy armor had been removed, she continued until Isaac stood there before her completely unclothed, yet somehow not self-conscious or embarrassed at all. Coming to stand before him, the maiden dropped her own garments, and as though it had been planned, the two moved into each other's welcoming embrace.
Isaac did not know how much time passed as he and the angelic woman gently but urgently made love, but all too soon the maiden rose to her feet and dressed herself. As if it were a signal, Isaac too rose to his feet, and as she had when she first approached, the woman moved around Isaac, this time redressing him and replacing his armor. However, as she lifted his cuirass, Isaac was overcome by the sudden fear that he would never see her again. Dropping to his knees before her, he cried out.
"If you please, dear maid, your name!"
A bit startled that her enchantment seemed to have worn off a bit, the woman hesitated. Then smiling, she gave a light-hearted laugh that sounded like bells tinkling.
"Our names are not for mortals to know, brave knight. However, in return for this eve, you shall have my favor."
Stepping around Isaac, who was still kneeling with head bowed, she leaned over behind him and gently kissed the bare base of his neck. Isaac felt the touch like a burning brand, but did not budge. Lifting the cuirass over his head, the maiden slipped it on him, and he stood to allow her to complete buckling it on him. When Isaac was finally fully armored, and the moon was nearly about to vanish behind the trees, the maiden gave a backward glance with that same sweet smile, then disappeared down the moonlight path with the same song she had sung as she approached. Isaac stared until the moonlight faded, causing the path to vanish as well.
Opening his eyes to the sound of birds chirping in the trees, Isaac found himself in the same position he had fallen asleep in last night, his wards unbroken, and no indication that anything out of the ordinary had happened. Involuntarily raising a hand to the back of his neck, he found that it was still covered by his cuirass. Confused and feeling a bit silly, but brushing off the night's events as a dream, Isaac refilled his water satchel in the predawn light, readied himself, and strode off in the direction of the crypt.
In the trees, the tiny pink figure giggled softly. Beside her, the yellow figure seemed to glow more brightly than before, a gentle smile on her beautiful face.