Standing at the water's edge, Valeska sighed. The cave had been clever this time. There wasn't a single inch of land around the lake as water lapped mockingly against high, sheer-rock walls on every side, save for where the she-wolf now stood and the promising other end of it.

She was deep in the throes of contemplation as she pondered her next move, of which there were only two options: take the shorter route plunging straight ahead and swimming like her life depended on it for the better part of a mile, or stick to what she presumed to be the shallower, safer outer edges and take twice as long. Gods only knew what lurked beneath the surface farther out, but...

A harrowing half-wail of the damned pierced through the veil of silence, sending an electric jolt up her spine that just as quickly abated as she recognized it to be her daughter's voice from somewhere far behind.

Amaya!

My dearest! she called out affectionately into the void, Come, I am straight ahead.

Valeska turned to face from whence she came, squinting into the darkness as she struggled to parse Amaya's figure from the rest of the pitch-black - a foolish endeavor.

What are you doing here? she asked, taking on a stern, motherly tone. You should be more careful than to stick your nose in cursed holes in the ground.

Typical teenager.