Chalice Bay (10 of 27)

The pass puts out on the edge of Chalice Bay. The water's crisp and blue, and it puts the Girl on edge. She hasn't seen water like this, only in the pictures and the books. All the rain and water from the spire trickle down into the Chalice, so some people set up shop on the Chalice's rim. Of course, they didn't figure the critters living in the Chalice wouldn't be too keen on having neighbours. She throws herself to the ground as a line of spikes shoot out of the bay, dead set on filling her with holes. Spinerns float just beneath the water. They taste pretty good over a fire, but getting one there, that's another story. The Girl runs towards the line of small houses, all unlocked, all empty. Not a living soul on this rock. Just beasts in the bushes, monsters on the hills, wyrms underwater, and the Girl, trying to make sense enough to get back into the sky. She goes through the small shacks. One's an empty house, stone cold and quiet. The next is also lonely, but a family of Wingfoxes have made it their home. The Girl backs out before they rile up too much. The next few houses are like the first two. No folks, just new occupants. The last building on the Chalice's rim is the chapel. It ain't much to look at now, but Lyanhk used to be worshiped here. You could make a case for spire's problems being a feud between gods. Lyanhk the Noble Bridge and Anak the Rising Tide, the storm god, never got on very well. But feuding gods or no, the Girl finds the last boon laid before the Lyanhk's hems. It's the last vestige of faith to an almost-forgotten god, an idol carved out of the black glass stone from the mine at the back of the Gongfall shrine. It's smooth and striking, just the right amount of suggestion to set thoughts wondering, thinking too long, asking those questions that shouldn't have answers. But to the Girl, she sees something else. Something practical, something beyond her age. She sees a price tag, and her first piece of real loot. She pulls some cloth from a banner and makes a backsling. An axe, a bag, and her first piece of treasure. She doesn't even think whether anyone, or anything, is watching.