"It is forbidden for a reason, young one. Love makes you weak, a fraction of yourself. It keeps you from being the best you can be and that is why we must mask it. Ambition, intelligence, strength - now those are qualities that will get you through this harsh life. But being loving, compassionate, kind? Those are the best ways to get yourself killed." Generations after the Masked Uprising and the fall of StarClan, DarkClan's way of life is no less harsh. Emotions are strictly forbidden and any talk of the Old Life is considered treasonous and punishable by death. It is in this cruel setting that Nightpaw finds himself apprenticed to the only cat with an ounce of freedom: the truth-teller, a cat specifically chosen by the Masked to remember the history of DarkClan. Yet, Nightpaw doubts the truth in the truth-teller's stories and finds them even harder to reconcile when he is visited by someone he'd been taught no longer exists. Caught between fear and curiosity, the truth-teller's apprentice finds himself stuck between two versions of the Clan's history - two truths where there should only be one. And he will stop at nothing until the truth is unmasked. // I have the story rated as teen. Please be warned that there will be a lot of bloodshed and dark matters discussed in this novel.

Each baby born beneath the waves is killed--with one exception: the one hundred thousandth is spared. There's one rule shared between the island's tribes: don't touch the water. When Cressa-la breaks this law, her world, and body, changes. Sure, change is normal... but when has growing scales ever been normal? • • • Watty Award Winner 2015: Best Use of Visuals • • • Each baby born beneath the waves is killed--with one exception: the one hundred thousandth is spared. Among the spared, magic chooses a rare few, connecting them to the moon or sea. These are the One-Hundreds, mermaids and humans with the power to save the world-or corrupt it. When Cressa-la breaks the first rule of her tribe and touches the water surrounding her island, everything she knows turns on its head. Talking, sinister dolphins, mind control, and a whole world just under the waves await her on her eigteenth birthday... but she never asked for any of this. All she wanted was to become a Tribe Leader and take care of her village. It's amazing how one screw-up can change everything. A relentless darkness reaches for her, wanting her affections for his own twisted purposes. In opposition stands a fractured light, haunted by a painful past where corruption eroded friendship. Unless Cressa-la can bring the darkness to his knees and fight the war raging inside, the world is doomed. • • • Content warning: This story contains themes of depression and violence.