Heron Lake Plateau Good morning sunshine

It smelled better here. That was the primary reason Mag chose to go inland in the first place. Sure the mire could be a bit skunky, or maybe it was the frog water everywhere taking on a musk, but it was better than the rotting seaside by far.

The water here held almost no smell or taste. It was cold and crisp and didn't trick you the way the salted tide did, or could, if you were young enough and daft enough to drink from it.

Mag watched the ripples spread across the water where each fish clipped the open air; she stalked along the landform edge, then stopped, and when she moved again it was to reach out and ( hopefully ) pluck a fish free of the water.

Instead she got a mouthful of the cold, and as she dragged her clenched teeth back, she raked through grasses and reeds. All she could taste was dirt.