The fishing boat approached the island at the very nadir of low tide. The sun was low and red, the sea glassy and still enough that Enoch could make out the shadowy shapes of fish below the surface now and again. The cove they nevigated seemed sheltered and inviting, yet there were none of the fishing villages Enoch had grown used to seeing on the other islands, no thin plumes of smoke from hearth fires here. There was only a wide, flat shelf of rock near the water's surface, low enough that it would be covered when the tide came in. The boat came up alongside it, as near as their pilot could manage, and lacking any pilings to tie a line to, two of the larger fishers heaved their anchor onto the rock and let it serve to hold them there.

They had been catching strange, lambent jellyfish in the waters around this island, the like of which Enoch had never seen, but rather than throwing them back, each one was taken from the net and kept in a tub of seawater. Their stings were painless, but left glowing marks upon their skin, until their hands and forearms shone as much as the jellies themselves. It was a curious light to work by, as the daylight faded.

At last, the fishing crew lowered a ramp from their low, broad boat and Enoch helped them carry the tub of jellyfish onto the rock. As he set foot on it, he saw the stone under their feet illuminated by the glow of their cargo and their own hands. At a distance it had seemed black and mirror slick, but now he saw it was carved in intricate, swirling patterns. If it depicted something, imagery or language, he couldn't tell. They set the jellies upon the rock, and then a large casque of rum, and lastly a small chest of coin.

Enoch asked if it was an offering to some god of the sea and the captain looked up from the net she was mending, chuckled, and shook her head. "Nah, friend. We only pay our passage. This is their land and their waters."

"They? Who are they?"

"The Threshers, lad, like we been telling you."

Enoch gave her a flat look. "You keep baiting that hook but I'm not biting." The crew had the most varied and colorful collection of fish-stories he could imagine, which stood to reason given their profession, but Enoch was well aware their favorite activity after sundown was drinking together and pulling his leg, seeing what wild tales they could get him to believe.

"Suit yourself, but if you watch the stone as the tide comes in, perhaps you'll see something none of your land-locked book-loving friends has."