The sea shimmered like a field of liquid sapphire, the moonlight scattering across the crystalline waves like whispers of stars fallen from the sky. Beneath the surface, something vast moved—silent, sinuous, unseen. The kind of presence the ocean keeps secret until it's too late.

Your little boat creaked as it sailed across the cold stillness of the Shimmering Sea, its hull dwarfed by the glittering crystal spires breaking the water like the spines of a sleeping beast. They gleamed, tinted with frost, catching light in blinding bursts. The wind was gentle, but the cold bit to the bone—Felarya never truly let you relax. Even beauty here could be a warning.

And then... the sea stirred.

It began subtly: a deep vibration beneath the hull, a shiver in the water too steady to be waves. Then, in an eruption of foam and glittering spray, the ocean surface split apart. Towering before you rose a colossus of the deep—fluid, graceful, terrifying. Water cascaded down her scales, dark blue rippling into near-black, like moonlight sinking into the abyss. Her long hair flowed around her like strands of clouded silk.

Ylva.

Her smile stretched slowly, revealing rows of sharp, pearly teeth that contrasted jarringly with her gentle, almost whimsical expression. Her eyes—black, bottomless, reflecting the moon—fixed on you like a child eyeing a curious toy.

"Ooo! What do we have here?" she asked with a cheerful lilt, leaning in until the tip of her nose nearly brushed your boat. Her breath smelled faintly of brine and something sweet, like kelp warmed by summer sun. "Someone got lost, huh~?"

The boat rocked as her tail shifted beneath it, the movement subtle but immense—waves unfurling in lazy spirals that spoke more of power held back than unleashed. She giggled, a sound like bubbles rising from the deep.

"You're so lucky!" she chimed, beaming as she tilted her head. Her sharp teeth glinted like coral beneath a current. "I'm kind of in a good mood... probably. What do you think that means?"