Princess Araxa's Arc

Chapter 1 of 14

Araxa swims lower through the dark water, searching for anything that might point her home. Tide glows silver beside her, a small comfort in the endless blue. She misses her mother's hands in her hair, the weight of routine, the knowing where she belonged. But the current pulled her far from all of that, and now she moves through strange waters with no map, no direction, only the need to keep looking. The seafloor shifts. Something vast stirs beneath the sand and stone. Araxa freezes, her hand moving to her side by instinct. Tide darts behind her. The water grows bright with blue and white light, soft at first, then brilliant. A formation rises from below, ancient stone glowing indigo around its edges. The light comes from within it, pulsing like breath. Araxa's heart pounds. It's beautiful in a way that hurts to see. The structure stops rising when it reaches her level. Inside the glowing entrance, something moves. A creature emerges, all flowing tendrils and bright scales, blue fading to white along its body. It looks at her. Not past her, not through her. At her. Its eye is huge and clear, and Araxa knows without question that it sees her, that it chose to rise. She should swim away. Her body doesn't move. The creature drifts closer to the entrance but doesn't leave the stone. One tendril extends, deliberate and slow, and settles something on the lip of the opening. A blade made of bone, marked with faint indigo light that matches the cavern walls. It pulls back. Waits. Araxa stares at the offering, her breath shallow. This thing knows she's here. It gave her something. She reaches out and takes the blade, feeling its weight settle into her palm. The creature's eye holds hers a moment longer, then it retreats into the blue glow. The structure begins to sink, stone and light disappearing back into the deep. Araxa clutches the blade and watches it go, something in her chest cracked wide open.