Mira #2
Taika’s expression darkens. A flicker of annoyance and danger sparks in her eyes.
“The map will reveal itself when you draw nearer to what it is you truly yearn for,” she says, voice laced with ire.
“It listens to your heart, not your eyes.” She leans in, her breath colder than before, a low hiss curling from her lips.
“Don’t be fooled, some pieces don’t show where to go, but whom to find.
” Her long nails graze the skin on my arm, sending goosebumps down my body.
Smith moves forward with his hand on the hilt of his sword.
I motion for him to back down. If she really wanted to hurt me, she would have done it already.
She crosses to the far side of her cluttered hut and plucks a small shell from a crooked shelf.
Blue, laced with black and white shards like splintered glass.
Holding it to her lips, she whispers something, a secret meant only for the sea, before pressing it into my palm.
“If you need me,” she says, “speak into this shell. I will hear you.” Then her tone sharpens like the crack of a whip.
“But heed my warning: lose it, and you lose me. Question me again… and you lose me forever.”
Her dark, beady eyes lock onto mine like a curse. “Your soul is tied to something strong. Something that will change who you are to your very core.” She pauses. The air stills. “Find out who you are. Find your destiny.” A beat.
“Now go. And stay alive. You are a key, child. And we all need you to live.”
My hands curl into fists before I know it.
The words sink into me. First comes anger, hot and sharp, because she’s just handed me a debt I never asked for.
“A key,” I breathe, tasting bile. “You’re making me into something I didn’t choose.
” My voice cracks on the last word, equal parts fury and a small, ugly fear.
For a second I want to curl up and hide.
So many impulses fight in my ribs until the breath from my lungs comes out cold and steady. I hold her stare, not backing down.
“I did not fashion you, child. This was born with you, your destiny from the first breath. I answer to it no more than you do. Leave now.” Her words fall like a chill, her dirt-covered hand waving me off as she turns around.
The hut begins to darken, shadows stretching like hungry fingers until Taika vanishes completely into the gloom.
Smith and I don’t hesitate. We turn and cross the crooked wooden bridge that docked itself to The Siren, treasures clutched tight in my hands. The moment our boots hit the deck, the cursed fog begins to burn away, hissing, evaporating in curls of black smoke as if it never existed.
Light pours in, golden and sudden. The skies above shift from slate to sapphire, and the sea sparkles like polished glass. A scene so breathtaking, so impossibly peaceful, it could have been painted by the gods themselves. And yet every detail felt wrong. Like this was some facade made by Taika.
As if Taika and the horrors we saw in that hut had all been a dream. A terrible, whispered dream the ocean is trying very hard to forget.
Taika believes I’m some kind of key to finding the fountain. I always wondered why so many fought to protect me growing up. And now, with both of my parents gone, that protection is gone too. Maybe they were the only ones who truly knew the truth.
I lean against a rum barrel, casual but unyielding, watching Smith strike his pipe alight. “Did you know?” My voice cuts sharp, eyes locking on his. He shakes his head. “Words, Smith. Use them.”
His jaw tightens, eyes narrowing. “I knew you weren't just the captain’s daughter,” he says slowly. “But I didn’t know you’re the key to finding the fountain.”
I tilt my head, just enough to show I’ve heard, and look to the horizon. Then down at Taika’s little treasures in my hand. “Interesting. Here’s the thing, I’m done being kept in the dark. If you’re holding anything back, now is the time to speak.”
“You know as much as I do,” he answers, earnest. I study him, eyes trailing up and down, searching for the crack.
I have never had any reason to doubt him, but it seems there are many secrets being hidden from me.
For now, I believe him. But Taika’s warning still etches itself into my brain.
She doesn’t trust him. She said he has bad blood in his veins.
“Okay,” I say. “Thank you for being there.”
He gives me that small, loyal smile. “I’ll always be right there.” The words warm some buried part of me. Smith has been my father figure growing up, the one who taught me all I know. I walk away with many emotions stirring inside me.
Anger curls in my chest, low and hot, building with every breath.
Why didn’t they tell me who I am? Did they really think they’d live forever?
My parents weren’t even close to finding the fountain.
My father was always chasing something else, another map, another myth, another thrill.
He should’ve focused on the one thing that mattered.
But he didn’t. They both failed me in that. I was nineteen when my father died. I was old enough to know the burdens I carry. But they left me in the dark. And now I have to light my own way. I can handle that. I just wish I didn’t have to do it blindly.
The only thing my father was ever truly loyal to was my mother.
In its own way, that was beautiful, but what about everything else?
I never really understood love. I’ve never taken a lover, never even come close to trusting a man that way.
The men in my life, the role models I grew up with, didn’t exactly inspire faith.
I don’t see the point in chasing someone who’ll only end up letting me down, bedding another woman, or finding new ways to break me.
Unlike Neressa, who can have any man she wants. She holds power over them, courted by nobles and commoners alike. She thrives in that world. I guess I never had that kind of interest. Or maybe I never had the chance to want it.
I move toward the helm and meet the gaze of one of our newer crew members, relieving him of the wheel with a nod.
My hand glides across the enchanted teak wood, its magic seeping into my skin, steadying me.
One hand grips the helm, the other holds the so-called map Taika gave me, its pull guiding our course.