Amaya Tidecrest's Arc

Chapter 2 of 3

The address led Amaya to a house swallowed by weeds. Broken windows faced the lake behind it. She searched every room before the sun dropped. Empty cupboards. Rotting boards. A rusted stove. Her parents had left nothing she could hold. Her small brown companion squeezed through a cracked wall and chirped. Amaya followed it outside. Beyond the house, a narrow dock leaned over dark water. Her gills tightened at the lake’s sharp, cold smell. “Maybe you know,” she whispered to the water. She slipped off her sandals and stepped onto the dock. A plank split beneath her webbed foot. Amaya grabbed a post, but the wet wood tore free. She fell into the lake. Cold water closed over her head. For one frightened second, she kicked toward the surface. Then her gills opened. Water rushed through them, clean and easy. Amaya stopped fighting. Below the dock lay a line tied to an iron ring. At its end, a small metal box rested in the mud. She swam down, freed the knot with her webbed fingers, and carried the box up. Someone stood at the shore when she surfaced. A young man with dark hair watched her from the reeds. Gills marked his neck. He looked relieved enough to stumble. “Amaya,” he said. “Please do not dive beside a broken dock alone.” She held the box against her chest. “Who are you?” The man bowed his head. “Finn Tidecrest. Your cousin. My father was Kai’s brother.” Kai’s name struck harder than the cold lake. Amaya climbed onto the dock, dripping. “You knew my father?” “I knew of him,” Finn said. “My family searched for you after Kai and Serin died. We learned too late that they had lived here.” He pointed at the box. “That was their signal cache. They hid it underwater when they feared people would search the house.” Amaya forced the lid open. Inside lay a waterproof strip of cloth, marked with two names: Kai and Serin. Beneath them, one sentence remained clear. KEEP AMAYA AWAY FROM THE DEEP CHANNEL. The lake shifted beside the dock. A long current pulled leaves toward a darker stretch of water. Finn read the message over her shoulder. His face went still. “Then they knew the deep channel was dangerous.” Amaya folded the cloth and closed her fist around it. The house had given her no answers. The lake had given her a warning, and a path she now had to follow.