A misty dawn shrouded Coral Bay in pale silver as Corwin guided his rickety fishing skiff through the calm inlet. The sun's first rays glinted off the sea's surface, and seabirds wheeled above, squawking their morning greeting. For as long as he could remember, Corwin's life had been bound to the tides: hauling nets, mending lines, and reading the sea's subtle moods. Yet today, the water felt different—hushed, expectant, as though holding its breath.
He drew alongside the old pier and lifted his last net. As the heavy mesh slipped through his fingers, something caught his eye: a swirl of phosphorescent blue beneath the waves. Curious, Corwin tied the skiff's rope to a cleat and waded ankle-deep to inspect. There, tangled in kelp, lay a shard of crystal no bigger than his palm, glowing like a fragment of moonlight trapped in glass.
Heart hammering, Corwin reached down. The moment his skin brushed the shard, the water around him rippled outward in gentle undulations. A soft pulse echoed through his veins—a steady, ebbing heartbeat. In his mind, he saw visions of rushing waterfalls, roaring maelstroms, and silent deep-sea trenches where creatures glowed in the dark. A voice whispered:
"Embrace the tide that sings within,
And let the ocean's truth begin."
He gasped and drew back, half-drowning in the cold shock of the moment. The shard's glow faded to a steady, serene blue, and the sea fell silent once more.
Footsteps on the pier startled him. Maris, the sea-priestess of Coral Haven, approached with water-stained robes and seafoam-tipped hair. She paused, her keen sea-glass eyes fixed on the shard in Corwin's trembling hand.
"You've found it," she murmured, voice like the distant roll of surf. "A fragment of the Water Crystal."
Corwin stared. "But… it called to me."
Maris knelt and traced the shard's smooth curve. "Only those whose hearts flow with the ocean's rhythm can bear its power. When the crystals shattered, the Water Crystal was said lost to the depths. Yet here it is, choosing its new steward."
Corwin's throat tightened. "What must I do?"
She rose and handed him a spiraled conch shell, its ivory surface etched with swirling runes. "This is a token of the Tidal Court. Keep it to your ear, and you will hear the currents' song. Tonight, at high tide, meet me at the Moonlit Cavern beyond the reef. There, you will learn to shape water with a gesture and call waves to your command."
He tucked the conch into his sash, staring out at the rolling sea. "And after the trial?"
Maris's gaze drifted north, toward distant cliffs where Lior and Sylas already began their quests. "Then we journey together to find the final shard of Earth. Only when all four are reunited can Aetherion's balance be restored… or forever lost."
A gentle breeze ruffled Corwin's hair, carrying a faint echo of rushing water. He nodded, conviction rising in his chest. "I will be there."
As Maris turned back toward the village, Corwin remained at the water's edge, the conch warm against his ribs. Somewhere in the deep, the ocean whispered its secrets, and he understood: his life had changed with the falling tide. Soon, the currents of destiny would sweep him from simple fisherman to guardian of the seas. And in those rolling waves lay the first strokes of an epic yet unwritten.