Second Fantasy Prologue

The river ran backwards on the day the Queen vanished. The quick current of the Great Bend River paused, wavering for a minute as if debating what to do next, and then started flowing in the wrong direction—something no one in Willow Reach had ever seen before. The locals gathered by the riverbank, their mouths agape in terror as fish floundered helplessly on the rocks, swimming against their will.

The silver cloak of the Queen had been seen streaming behind her like a ribbon of moonlight as she approached the Whispering Woods before dawn. She was just gone now. There was no evidence of her whereabouts, no word, and simply this unexplained disturbance of nature, which everyone knew had to be a warning.

Mira, a seventeen-year-old girl with auburn hair and an insatiable curiosity, observed from the periphery of the throng. Her mind racing, she bit her lip and pulled at her cloak. She saw the Queen as the lifeblood of the country, not merely a far-off monarch wearing velvet robes. Deeply ingrained in the foundations of the country itself was the Queen's magic. What would happen to Willowreach if she disappeared?

Others whispered in confusion and terror, but Mira glimpsed a spark of something different. She had long hoped to sneak past the boundaries of her sleepy village and unearth tales and secrets that lay beyond the hills. She couldn't ignore the fact that the Queen's disappearance seemed like the start of something significant.

"They say that when a river runs backwards, it's the sign of a great rift," said an elderly woman next to Mira in a quivering voice. Something that shouldn't have left us has been ripped away.

It sent a chill down Mira's back. She had heard stories about monsters who lived in the world of mist and shadow, spells that were affixed to the earth, and old predictions. However, they were merely tales, narrated by fire. They seemed genuine now, buzzing with a subdued threat she hadn't anticipated.

Mira said, "Someone must find her," before she fully realized she had said the words out loud.

A few heads turned, but the villagers soon averted their gazes because they were too terrified to look her in the eyes. In the Whispering Woods, a location said to have secrets as old as the stars, nobody wanted to be the one looking for a vanished queen. Ancient guardians, shadows that moved without their owners, and voices that misled travelers might all be found among the woods.

However, Mira sensed a pull more powerful than fear. Her feet carried her down the tiny roads leading to her cottage as she turned and slipped past the crowd. Despite being aware of the risks, she packed minimally since she couldn't help but be drawn to the unknown.

The trees were gnarled and twisted, their branches resembling clawed hands reaching out to fend off intruders as she neared the edge of the Whispering Woods as dusk was falling. The ground glowed dimly just above the tree line, as though it were covered with bits of stardust. There was no denying the woods' enchantment here, and Mira experienced a sort of electric anticipation that made her fingertips tingle.

She inhaled deeply before entering the forest. In a moment, everything around her transformed. The sounds of the forest, such as the rustle of leaves and a distant hoot of an owl, seemed to be muffled by the dense air as the shadows lengthened. With its silver blade glistening with its own magic, Mira maintained her palm on the hilt of the knife her mother had given her years before.

Her sense of direction became confused as the road wound and twisted. Before long, she lost all sense of time as she followed hushed murmurs that seemed to draw her farther into the forest. A stranger was waiting in a silvery-lit clearing that Mira discovered after hours, or maybe only minutes.

The woman's eyes were dark and full of worlds Mira couldn't comprehend, and her hair was like flowing starlight. She donned a crown, but it wasn't the Queen's; it was made of vines and had an otherworldly shine about it.

The woman's voice sounded like the rustle of leaves as she murmured, "You seek the Queen." It was a somber statement rather than a question.

Heart thumping, Mira nodded. "Are you aware of her location?"

The woman's lips curled into a tiny smile as she tilted her head. Forces that flourish in the space between worlds drew her into the Deepwater Realm and carried her away by the River's Curse. She can only be retrieved by someone who is bound by both realms.

Mira's heartbeat accelerated. "What do you mean?"

Mira saw a slight glimmer on her own skin, a light akin to fireflies, as the woman held out her hand. "Child, you are touched by magic. It's ingrained in you. The only person who can enter the Deepwater Realm is someone like you, who is neither quite mortal nor entirely magical.

Even in her home hamlet, Mira had always felt strange and alienated. Mira had rejected the tales of a fae ancestor her mother had told her as myths. She could feel those stories bubbling inside her now, standing in front of this strange woman, like a song she had always known but never performed.

“How do I get back if I go?” Mira replied steadily.

The woman's eyes grew softer. "There is no certain path—only courage and confidence.. You might find your way back through the Queen, who has a deep connection to this area.

Mira inhaled deeply as a serene resolve descended upon her. "I'm going."

With a nod, the woman moved out of the way, exposing a glittering pool at the clearing's edge. Like moonlight, the water glistened, and Mira sensed its pull—a gentle lullaby that called her forward.

Mira entered the pool and took one final glance at the enigmatic woman. As she fell further, the odd and cool water embraced her in a gentle embrace, displacing Willowreach and the Whispering Woods.

She opened her eyes to find herself in a new world, where rivers gushed with starlight and the sky was a deep blue that appeared to go on forever. And there she was, far away, shackled by the darkness, the Queen, her face calm but white, her eyes closed.

Feeling the weight of the ancient power in the air, Mira took a step forward. She was aware that releasing the Queen would not be simple and that she would have to accept the magic she had always feared. However, she suddenly realized her mission and the fate that had led her here.

The quest to save the Queen had only just begun, and with it, Mira's personal metamorphosis into something she could never have predicted.