"Ask what I am if you want. Who says I'll answer you?"
Ben looked in surprise at the girl in front of him. Seaweed tied her hair back and she grinned nonchalantly.
"Oh. Who are you?"
A huge smile broke out on her face. "Very good!" She looked to be about fifteen, with shoulder length brown hair and a band's t shirt. Jeans hugged her waist, and sea green eyes sparkled at the teenager in front of her.
"I'll answer that. My name's Laila."
He eyed her warily. "And what are you?"
Twigleg popped his head out of Ben's pocket. "Stay away from him, evil creature!"
"I'm the person who owns this here lake." Laila smiled at Twigleg. "Although he knows of my Scandinavian cousins, it seems…"
She winked, before diving into the lake and disappearing. Ben gaped, and Twigleg made a face. "That was a Nixie! Horrible creatures that trick people."
A head popped up from the water. "I heard that! I don't trick people. And I'm the harmless sort…"
The seaweed was gone, and her hair was sopping wet, but the teenager in front of Ben seemed perfectly at ease. "And you, dragon rider, you should know that not many creatures are as evil as they might seem."
…
"A Nixie? Splendid!" Professor Greenbloom's eyes shone with excitement and he gripped Ben's shoulders. "I thought the lake might have one. Did she say what her name was?"
"Laila. She said she owned the lake." Ben shuffled about a bit and Professor Greenbloom nodded, chuckling.
"It's much more than that. Her life force is tied to it. I think you had better contact Guinevere again."
Ben nodded, and Twigleg climbed onto his shoulders. "We'll call her. It seemed a bit odd, we were just walking and she appeared."
"That means she doesn't know much about humans. She's probably spent a large amount of her time asleep underwater."
Ben fished a mobile phone out of his pocket and dialled his sister's number. Guinevere had gone to America to study mythology at one of the colleges, and rang every week with news of some new find, and she was currently hot on the trail of the Crichton Leprechaun.
"Hey, Guinevere? It's Ben."
She sounded pleased. "Ben! I've almost found him, you know. Apparently he's nice but hates company."
Ben felt a grin spread across his face. "That's fantastic. Listen; do you know what a Nixie is?"
She hummed, thinking. "Yes, I do. They're water spirits."
"I see. Thanks, but anything else?" He waited and heard a rustling sound.
"I'm just looking in my notes… Here we go! They play music and tricks. They love humans to hear it, and some are rumoured to go to sleep for a hundred years at a time."
"Thanks! I found one."
Guinevere grinned, and a thump was heard as she put down her notes. "That's brilliant. I hope it's a friendly sort."
"She is, but I'm not quite sure," Ben confessed.
"Oh, don't worry. She probably wants you to hear her sing. They only sing at night, some of them, so if she didn't sing when you found her, it means she plans to sing tonight."
"Oh!" Ben was reasonably surprised. Guinevere laughed. "Take a blanket, it might get cold."
Ben nodded, and in her lake the Nixie began to hum a little tune.