TIDES OF LIGHT

In the time before the Veil thinned, when the waters remembered the Voice that spoke over them, there existed a kingdom carved from coral and starlight. Men called it legend. Mermaids called it home. Dragons called it hunting ground. And the spirits, the fae, the sylphs, the deep ones, called it their playground and their pantry, for mortal souls were sweetest to those who had none. For a thousand years, the Mer Kingdom of Aqualon paid tribute to the spirits. Blood offerings at the dark of the moon. Firstborn children surrendered to the deep places. Worship demanded, fear enforced. The spirits were not gods. They were parasites wearing god skins. But the mortals of the deep did not know that. Not yet. Not until the Drowning One came walking on the waves.