CYOA Wednesday 2025 #11 [Beyond the Woods 11]

This fantasy CYOA story continues today. Synopsis below:

When Derek, Jade, and Clara go camping, they stumble upon a portal to another dimension filled with strange creatures and sexy seductresses.

With the shapeshifter’s help, our trio tries to make it underground, but they need to get past a lake full of “mermaids” first. Now what?

https://www.patreon.com/posts/124241791

Read the eleventh segment below:

11 – “Mermaids”

The air grew cooler as they ventured back into the crystal forest, each step crunching on the ground. Towering structures of glittering quartz rose around them, their facets reflecting hues of sapphire and amethyst, casting a kaleidoscope of colors across the terrain.

Clara, her curiosity piqued, walked beside the shapeshifter. “I’ve realized I’ve yet to ask your name,” she began. “Do you mind telling me what it is?”

The alien creature paused, her back to them, and for a moment, she seemed to blend into the shimmering crystals around her. Then she turned. Her eyes gleamed with a soft, otherworldly light, and her voice carried a hint of something ancient and forgotten. “My name,” she said, “is Aethera. It means… starlight in a language no one speaks anymore.”

Clara’s eyes widened, captivated by the simplicity and beauty of the name. “Aethera,” she murmured, as if tasting the sound of it. “It suits you.”

Aethera’s lips curved into a faint, enigmatic smile. “Perhaps. Or perhaps it is a name that once suited me, long ago. Things change, even for those of us who do not age.”

Jade and Derek exchanged a glance. Aethera commanded respect, yet her enigmatic nature left them all on edge. She was a guide, a potential ally, but also a mystery—one that none of them could grasp.

The forest, while breathtaking, seemed to whisper warnings. Strange sounds echoed through the crystals—whispers that didn’t belong to their group. Shadows danced at the edges of their vision, and the weight of unseen eyes lingered, making the hairs on the back of their necks stand on end.

“Are we being watched?” Derek asked.

“We are always being watched. Be careful here,” Aethera warned.

“The crystals are sensitive to movement. Too much noise, and they will announce our presence to anything within earshot.”

As they pressed onward, the path twisted and turned, leading them through narrower passages where the crystals loomed closer, their sharp edges glinting. The group moved with care, their breaths visible in the cooling air.

“Hey, do you hear that?” Clara asked.

At first, there was nothing but the soft crunch of their boots on the crystal dust. Then a low, resonant sound echoed through the passage, a sound that grew louder with each step. It was a deep, almost musical hum, like the reverberation of a great bell.

Aethera paused, her head tilted to one side. “We are close,” she said. “The entrance to the Undercroft is not much farther.”

As she spoke, the passage opened up into a wide, still lake, its surface unbroken by even a single ripple. The water was clear, and in its depths, they could see the faint, shimmering outlines of something moving—something graceful and slow, like great, sinuous creatures gliding through the darkness.

“What are we looking at?” Jade asked.

“Stay vigilant,” Aethera replied. “They’re not what they seem.”

Jade frowned, her arms crossed. “What do you mean?”

Before Aethera could answer, a figure broke the surface of the water. It was a woman—or at least, the upper half of her was.

Her form was unmistakable, yet alien. The woman’s torso glistened with a faint, iridescent sheen, as though her skin were covered in microscopic, shifting pearls. Her eyes were vast and black, shining with an eerie light that seemed to draw in the dim glow of the cavern, only to emit it back in an unnatural, pulsating rhythm.

But it was her lower half that made them all freeze. Instead of the shimmering scales of a mermaid’s tail, her body transitioned into something far more sinister.

Below her torso, her form dissolved into a mass of writhing, translucent tendrils. The tendrils were long, coiling and uncoiling like living shadows, their tips flaring into delicate, almost feathery appendages that shimmered with an ethereal light. They moved in a way that defied logic, as though they were not bound by the physical laws of the world. The water around her rippled unnaturally, as if her presence distorted the very fabric of the lake itself.

Another figure emerged beside her, and then another, each one more breathtaking and terrifying than the last.

“What do we do?” Derek asked.

“Don’t engage,” Aethera replied. “They don’t take kindly to strangers.”

Jade’s eyes narrowed. “So, how do we get past them?”

Aethera’s gaze was steady. “We must be careful. They are not hyper aggressive, but they can be dangerous. If we are quick and quiet, we may pass without incident. Avert your gaze and follow behind me.”

Derek nodded, his jaw set. They followed a small path by the lake, their footsteps hushed against the stillness. The creatures, now closer, watched with unblinking eyes, their forms glistening under the dim light.

Clara, her curiosity overpowering her caution, glanced back. The moment her gaze met one creature head-on, she felt an inexplicable pull, as though an unseen force was drawing her in. The creature’s eyes, black and endless, seemed to hold a world of secrets, each depth promising answers she couldn’t resist. Her heart pounded, yet her feet froze in place, unable to tear away from the hypnotic stare.

“Clara!” Derek’s voice was a low, urgent whisper, but she didn’t respond. Her eyes remained locked on the creature, her breath shallow and uneven.

Jade, sensing something was wrong, turned just in time to see Clara’s transfixed form. “Derek, she’s—”

Derek grabbed Clara’s arm, his grip firm. “Clara, snap out of it!” he urged.

The creature began to move towards them, its tendrils undulating. Aethera stepped forward, her presence commanding. “Look away, Clara,” she instructed, her voice calm but authoritative.

Clara’s eyelids fluttered, her gaze slowly breaking free. She blinked, disoriented, as Derek pulled her close. “What happened?” she murmured, confusion etched on her face.

“No time to explain,” Aethera interrupted, her voice low and urgent. “We must keep moving.”

The creature’s head tilted to one side, its gaze never leaving Clara.

Its iridescent sheen deepened, shifting into a darker, more menacing hue. The water around it rippled, as though something beneath the surface was stirring. The others saw the change in its posture and prepared to strike.

To decide what happens next, head over to my Patreon (you can join for free), and vote on the poll there until next Sunday. 

If you’re new to these CYOA stories, here are the basic rules:

1) You can only choose one option;

2) If there’s a tie at the end of the poll, and the competing options can be combined somehow, I’ll do that. If not, I get the deciding vote to keep the tale going.

3) The process continues every Wednesday until the story runs its natural course.

Have fun.