The Drowned Gods, #1
Curious Tides
by Pascale Lacelle
Contents
Last Spring
Overview
In a dreamlike aftermath of a cave catastrophe, Emory surfaces from a sea of stars and reaches shore. She discovers four dead students, but not her friend Romie. The moment cements Emory’s survivor’s guilt and establishes the mystery of Romie’s fate and Emory’s culpability.
Summary
Emory is submerged in a surreal sea of stars, convinced she is dying as memories of a flooded cave and trapped students surge back. She recalls Romie’s wide-eyed terror as the sea rushed in and clings to a frail resolve not to surrender to death.
Grasping something solid, Emory hauls herself onto shore while the tide whispers her name and recedes. On the sand, she confronts a corpse with twisted limbs and three more bodies with blue lips and vacant eyes. None belong to Romie, a realization that both relieves and terrifies her.
As Emory absorbs the devastation, the stars feel accusatory, and she cannot deny the blame closing in. The scene leaves Emory alive but isolated, burdened by survivor’s guilt and uncertainty over Romie’s fate, setting a tone of grief, responsibility, and lingering mystery.
Who Appears
- EmorySurvivor of a cave flood; escapes a sea of stars, finds bodies, and is wracked with guilt.
- RomieEmory’s friend; last seen during the cave flood, missing among the dead and feared lost.