Selune Depthsong's Arc

Chapter 1 of 3

Selune slid down through the murky water of her hollow pond. The vortex at its heart spun slow, blue petals drifting inward like sleepy moths. She had built this place to bloom. One soul, one flower. That was the deal she made with the dark. She surfaced and looked at her garden. The kelp trellis stood empty, its woven vines reaching for a bloom that had not come. At the edge, the toothy flower yawned, hungry and waiting. Selune touched its petals and felt it shiver for a meal. She opened her mouth and sang. Her voice rolled up the hill, sweet and low, the kind of song that pulled feet off paths. She waited. No footsteps came. She sang louder, then louder still, until her throat ached. Then she saw why. On the rise above her shore stood a pavilion wrapped in roses, its lanterns glowing soft and steady. Inside, she knew, sat a book that held souls in place. Her song hit those walls and died. The roses drank the sound. Selune sank to her knees in the shallows. She sang one last note, thin and cracked, just to hear it. No one came. No one would. The trellis stayed bare. The hungry flower closed its mouth and waited for tomorrow. She stared up the hill at the quiet pavilion. Her song could not reach past it. If she wanted a bloom, she would need more than a voice. She would need a new way to pull souls down into her water.