Sea of Secrets

Prologue - Young Mira

Mira took a step out of the window into the cool air and scaled down the vine on the Inn's side. With her feet finally to the ground, she hurried to the front gate and into the woods. Sora had always been like this, always daydreaming, always wanting more than just Odina. Sora liked traveling, and she'd go crazy if she were confined to one spot. The mountaintop was nearly a prison for her, and Mira knew this drove her mad. As Sora had grown older, she'd go off without telling anyone, fought with the other kids at home, and she never listened to Andira. But she did listen to Mira.

"Sora!" She called, her voice echoing through the trees. "Sora!"

I swear, her hands clenched, her voice more urgent as she looked deeper in the woods. "Sora! Andira's angry with you, now!"

She'd combed through every path, but there was nothing. No sign of her anywhere. The panic began setting in. She walked to the cliff at the edge of the woods where she and Sora had been earlier, but still nothing. Mira called out one last time, "Sora!"

Her eyes closed for a moment, listening to the nothingness.

But then there was a noise.

Then many noises.

Horse hooves.

"Mira." A small, crying voice from behind one of the trees answered. She frantically followed it back into the woods, where she found Sora sprawled out on the ground. Her tears had stopped, but at the sight of Sora, they had come back full force. "Sora?" She had a deep gash underneath her rib, the blood seeping into the grass. The sound of hooves still in the air.

Her voice quivered as Mira knelt down beside her. "They're here. The Deimos."

Go home. Go home. Go home. But she couldn't leave Sora here. "We've got to go." Mira lifted her up off the ground and went down to her knees, "Get on my back."

Sora clung on, her hands weakly wrapped around Mira's neck. She sprinted as hard as she could back into the forest, her body moving faster than the legs beneath her. The hooves sounded as if they were closer with each stride.

Were they chasing her or was she chasing them?

"Let me go." said Sora.

"No! We are almost there." Mira tried to keep running at full speed, but her legs were growing heavy.

Sora released her hands from Mira's back, her body hitting the dirt path.

Mira grabbed Sora under her arms and tried to pull her up but couldn't. She wasn't strong enough. "C'mon!"

Sora slapped Mira's hands away, "Stop."

But Mira tried again, her teeth clenched, "No!"

"Let me go." Sora's voice was stern, "Please, you have to get back." Mira knew she was right, but she wouldn't leave her helpless. She ripped a large piece of cloth from her coat and wrapped it tightly around Sora's waist, setting her up against a tree off the path.

Her hand squeezed Sora's, "I'll be back for you."

When Mira reached the front gate, out of breath, throat burning, she looked out to the Deimo's chaos. Houses burning, women screaming, children crying. They began storming into homes, slaughtering whoever objected. They were loading all capable hands into barred wagons.

Her gaze was locked onto one of them, a wagon. A woman was on the ground, a little girl in a bright red jacket leaning over her, shaking her shoulders. There was a blood puddle beneath the woman, seeping into crevices of cobblestone on the road. Mira could see the little girl crying, her face blotchy with tears. A Deimo had come up behind her, and for a moment Mira thought she could go to her. Scoop her up.