The thing beneath the Glass Sea was not the Deepening. It was not the Stillness. It was something the void had never mentioned, something Kaela's oldest stories did not name.
Elara felt it first. A pulse. Not silver. Not grey. Clear. Like water dripping in a cave where no water should be.
Something is wrong, the void said.
"The Stillness is sleeping. The Deepening is resting. What else could be down there?"
I do not know. That is what frightens me.
---
Sarah woke to her daughter standing at the foot of her bed.
"The void is scared."
"The void doesn't get scared."
"It does now."
Elara sat on the edge of the mattress. "There is something beneath the Glass Sea. Something the Deepening was not holding down. Something the Stillness was not covering. Something else."
"What something?"
