Page 118 of Sea's Secret

“Wow, that is so wonderful.”

“It can help you, too, possibly help you find your mother, tell you if she is truly in Walden, or how to save your people,” Dominick said with excitement.

“Truly?”

“Yes, if that is the desire of your heart,” he said with a gentle smile.

I wanted to save my people, wanted to find my mother, but shamefully, I was not sure it was the current, greatest desire of my heart.

“Shall we get the answers we seek? We must meet with the protector of the sea, first.”

“Who is the protector of the sea?” I asked.

Dominick set me down on a rock and pulled out his map from his back pocket.

“Here, it is a drawing of a dragon.”

“A dragon!” I gasped. I knew very little about Dragons, only that they were some of the oldest magical beings in existence, even older than the Ancients.

“Yes, if we ripple the water, the dragon is supposed to come and tell us what to do to gain our desires. I will learn where my sister is, and you will learn how to save your people.”

I nodded. Yes, I wanted to save them. I loved my people. I focused on them as Dominick picked me up again, and we moved to the edge of Mirror Sea.

Looking over the edge of the rocks and down into the depths, it seemed so deep.

I looked at Dominick.

“You should go first. You have wanted this far longer than I have,” I said.

“No. You go first, Meria.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yes,” he said tenderly. He sat down beside me, and I took his hand in mine as I leaned over. I felt him squeeze it as I dipped my hand into the water, watching the once still pool ripple and warp, the stars sparkling within it.

“Think of your intent; hold it there in your heart,” he whispered.

I thought of my people, thought of my family, my sisters, and my nieces, nephews, Finn and Dominick. Dominick, his painful, hurting eyes, his furrowed brow, the scar on his cheek from his father, the black veins that drained the happiness from him, the blasted curse I wanted to save him from, the light in his eyes when he looked at me. I loved his smirky pirate smile, the golden earring in his ear, the fathoms within his eyes. I loved the way he always protected me and the others he cared about, and those precious memories of the cave, him saving me and helping me when I was so afraid.

He was good. He was so good.

“Sea Princess.”

‘I looked from the water, and then pulled back. Moving along the surface of the sea was a huge silver dragon. His scales reflected like a thousand stars in the moonlight. His wings spread out wide in the water on either side of him.

“Dragon?” I asked as he reached us, his head just barely above the water.

“You have come to receive the answer to the desires of your heart.”

“I have, wise dragon,” I said gently. The dragon lifted himself, and it was then I saw that he was a dragon serpent as he curled and lifted himself out of the water, his large wings moving, creating more ripples in the pool below.

“What is the desire of your heart?” he roared.

“To save my people. How can I save them?”

“The Mirror Sea is a reflection of who we are. It teaches us. What have you seen within it?”

“I have not–”