33rd of Summer, 514
Hot was the only word to describe that day.
Even for Alia, who had lived on a volcano for nineteen years of her life, could barely take the heat. It seemed as if the gods themselves had decided that, after the snow-covered winter, Riverfall deserved another beating from the elements. This time not from the clouds, but from the sun.
Even with the scorching temperatures, Alia had continued her newfound tradition of walking to the beach on her days off. Fortunately, from the heat, today was one of those days. Even the stagemaster couldn’t deny that it was far too hot to work, especially outside in the sun. Today had been the one day that Alia had been grateful for the man’s inability to work in extreme temperatures. She had an entire day to explore Riverfall, though, she didn’t get far.
Originally she had planned to go to the Sapphire Star, another business Alia had written into her To-Do list of places to explore, but the mixed blood had barely made it out the doorway of her home before realizing that it was much too hot for her plans. Instead, she changed her course for the beach, planning to wade in the water and cool down for the day. She had packed scarcely for the occasion, not even bringing her notebook, knowing that you could never predict the ocean and when it would steal away what may be left on the beach.
Or, Alia realized as she approached the beach, steal itself away.
The beach looked more like a desert than an ocean, with more sand than water covering the place. She had been visiting the beach for several days before, and, though she had noticed the lower tides, the water had never receded this far back. It was as if the very ocean itself was afraid of something, or someone. Curiosity peaked at the woman, so, after quickly adjusting the string that held back her hair, she walked along the beach to where it seemed the water was lowest.
As she strolled, Alia took inventory of what she had brought with her, making sure she was ready for this miniature adventure that she had chosen to join. The Mystery of the Lost Tide. Laughing briefly before returning to her list of possessions, Alia adjusted her bag on her shoulders. She had packed lightly, though her full waterskin weighed down the bag quite a bit.
Looking around, Alia found that the company on the beach was scarce, it seemed that only a special few had decided to brave the heat and explore the beach, much like Alia. The heat had to have been unbearable for the majority of Riverfall, especially those not used to the extreme heat. No wonder she had barely seen anyone all day, they were all hiding from the heat, like the ocean that had shriveled away to nothing. It was quite disappointing, really, going to the beach, expecting a cool ocean breeze and lapping waves only to be met with an infinite amount of sand.
Slipping off her sandals, Alia dipped her foot into the sand, expecting to be met by cold earth and soft sand, but instead found just the opposite. Though she probably should have expected it, the sand was burning hot. Once her foot touched the sand, Alia withdrew her leg hurriedly, as if she had touched a hot stove. In reality, that had been what it had felt like. Sighing, she slipped her shoes back on and continued her way down the beach, hoping to find a cooler spot to relax in. She settled in for a long walk, the tide had drawn back quite far away, leaving nothing but sand where the water had been just days ago.
Adjusting her sunhat and staring down at the sand, Alia found that there were many, many treasures to be found lying in the uncovered earth. It seemed that, with the drawn back waves, the ocean had abandoned tiny treasures to be found. Small, shiny stones, beautiful shells, old pieces of wood and jewelry, all sorts of things adorned the seaside. The small things fascinated Alia, where had they come from? Had they been washed up with the waves, or had they been there all along, just now exposed?
Crouching down to inspect a few glass beads that had survived the harsh tides of the ocean, Alia brushed her hand over the sand, hoping to scoop up the treasures. Instead, she only succeeded in uncovered a different kind of stone. Many kinds of stones, actually. Cobbles ranging from pebbles to large rocks lay under a thin sheet of sand, hiding from the world. The strange rocks didn’t stop there, though. As Alia looked around, she realized that there were many of the cobblestones lying around, as if arranged in a particular way.
Looking up, the red-haired girl saw that the stones led on in one particular direction, towards a part of the beach she hadn’t explored yet. Actually, as she thought about it, it looked as if she’d never explored it at all. There was sealife evident everywhere, from water plants lying baked in the sun, to small fish skeletons, burned white from Syna’s light. Looking even farther into the distance, it seemed that the sealife present on the beach intensified around one spot, where an old building, some sort of chapel with a rounded roof, stood.
It was strange, the building was so low down and out of the way, where had it been before the waves had withdrawn? Alia abandoned her inspection of the cobblestone road in favour of an inspection of the building. It seemed she hadn’t been the first to find it, as there were footprints all over the otherwise untouched sand, but it was relatively late in the day. Of course she wasn’t the first to find it.
As she began walking towards the building, Alia wondered where it had come from. After all her visits to the beach, she had never seen a building that far out to sea, or even near that part of the beach. The new, lower tides must have uncovered them when it stole the water away. Curiosity overtaking her worry at the possibility of the tide coming back, Alia adjusted her sunhat and began strolling down to the newest addition to the Riverfall beach.
