A Series of Books for the Queen of the Sea

The dawn came in steely gray, brisk winds blowing out of the south, across the lagoon, up the beach and whistling through the palm trees, waves overtopping the reef, boiling into the lagoon, adding their disturbance to that of the wind, creating miniscule surf on the beach. Twelve human forms assembled on the beach, six bearded men and six women, their hair blowing around their faces. They formed up into two rows with one figure facing them, his back to the wind. They began to exercise.

The man at the front shouted something that half of the others did not hear. Suddenly, what had looked like a well-choreographed dance became chaos. All movement stopped. The man at the front shouted again and waved his hands.