Chapter 98: Date With Watery Destiny, Part One
Grace lay spread-eagle in the grassy clearing, watching clouds drift across the darkening sky like slow-moving ships. Her white hair fanned out beneath her, probably collecting all kinds of dirt and bugs, but who cared?
Not Grace. Not tonight.
[So this is it,] she thought with a sigh. [Tonight I’m going to get freaky with a water spirit who may or may not want to kill me out of a sense of generational bitterness... Just another day in the life of Grace Lightsinger, eh?]
The village buzzed behind her like a kicked beehive. People nailed boards over windows and hauled their precious stuff to higher ground, prepping for the Tide’s big entrance. The air tasted like salt and fear, tension thick enough to slice with her rapier.
"I... hope you’re not planning to just lie there all night," a meek voice said from above.
Grace tilted her head back to see Petriel standing over her, green hair falling around her face like a curtain. The healer’s golden eyes were doing that worried-puppy thing, but her smile was real.
"I’m conserving energy," Grace replied, not moving. "For my hot date with disaster."
Petriel giggled and plopped down beside her on the grass.
"Y-You’ll do fine. I’ve seen what you can do."
"I’m not sure about that."
"I am."