Sea of Secrets

Chapter 3 - Mira

Mira placed the bag of mammos in her satchel, holding back a smile as she heard the clinking of the coins with each step. She turned down an empty alleyway, a shortcut back to the Slums.

As she started up the dark alley, coins echoing throughout the cobblestone, Mira saw shadows of three figures up ahead near the exit. Her steps were now less enthusiastic, and more cautious.

A cold chill passed through her.

The shadows looked as though they were huddled together, but as Mira approached nearer, they disbanded. The three lined up shoulder to shoulder, blocking the exit.

Mira took a couple of steps back and tried to hide her true fear. She couldn't see their faces, but maybe they were at the competition. They'd probably seen her win, and judging by her small stature, thought it would be easy to rob her of her prize. Mira tried to stay calm and aloof, knowing what would probably happen next, "Sorry, is something wrong?"

A voice bellowed from the darkness, "Queen of daggers?"

He emerged into the faint moonlight that seeped into the alley.

Jules.

He and his goons surrounded her on either side. Mira turned back to the entrance, back to the Dav, but another goon blocked there too. She glared at him, clutching hard to her satchel.

Jules pointed, and his goons took her by the arms and shoved Mira into the alley's stone wall, pinning her there. Throbbing pain on the back of her head.

Jules's icy eyes stared into her own, his face inches away. Mira tried to push her head forward, hoping to strike him right in the nose, but his hand swiftly grabbed the back of her hair. He tugged, pushing her chin up, "That was easier than I thought, Sora. I hoped you'd make it interesting."

That name. Mira hated that name. All she could think of was her cold hand, the rushing water, Sora's blue skin, her own fingers losing grip, the body flowing down the river after Mira-

"You don't say much, do you? I suppose you let your throwing do the taking, no? 3 bullseyes is quite surprising, especially for an amateur."

Mira wasn't that surprised. Sora and she had done it in Odina, and she'd had no entertainment at the Tavern, so throwing daggers had become a pastime as Nikolai joked around with his drinking buddies. She hadn't meant for her skills to become so serious, but now Mira used them to her advantage. She wouldn't let someone take what was hers.

"Well, I'm going to make this simple." Jules's hand released her hair. "You weren't supposed to win."

It all made sense. The competitors, their awful throws, all a ploy to rig the game for Jules to get the prize. Mira looked at her satchel, "But I did."

"That's where it gets interesting." He gestured towards his goons and they reinforced Mira's wrists to the wall. She tried her best to stay calm and continue my cool tone, but she wasn't sure how this would end, or what Jules truly wanted. Did he want to make a point? Justify his loss? Whatever it was, he would take her money.

Time to get scrappy, Nikolai's voice echoed in her head. Mira turned to the goon holding her wrist, and with a quick kick between his legs, his grip loosened. With her one arm free, she punched the other goon in the throat. He doubled over, coughing.

Run. Mira heard the coins jingling in her bag as she willed herself to leave the alley. She could hear Jules's pants behind her, getting closer with each stride.

Mira took out one of her daggers, flicking it straight for the goon blocking the alleyway from the street. It struck him in the neck, his anguish unrelenting. She slipped past him as he lay on the ground, barely breathing, his hand pressed against the dagger lodged in his neck. His face, that scared face of death, plagued her thoughts.