River witch
At the center of it all, half-sunken and veiled in moss, she finds it: a shrine made of driftwood, clay… and human ribs.
Inside, she finds a carved figure — part woman, part fish — wrapped in black cloth and sealed with red twine.
The moment she touches it, the water around her begins to rise.
Bride of the River
Mira wakes at the river’s edge with the idol clutched to her chest — her arms covered in script she never wrote, glowing faintly green.
Back in the village, Kojo confronts her. He’s terrified — but not of the river. Of her.