Within minutes, she’d killed most of the dragons. After that, she turned to the cadavru. Using her tail, she churned the water into deadly vortexes and hurled them at the cadavru, then watched, her green eyes narrowed, as the vortexes ripped them apart. Skulls rolled into the silt, snapping their teeth. Bony hands scrabbled across rocks. Legs tangled themselves in thickets of seaweed, kicking uselessly.
What the vortexes missed, Hafgufa tore with her teeth. As she plowed through the army of the dead, the surviving Razormouths, led by Hagarla, made a last desperate charge. Hafgufa saw the attack coming. Pulling herself up to her full height, she lunged at the dragons, catching one in her fearsome jaws. She savaged the creature, then gave chase to the rest.
Sera, bloodied and breathless, watched as Hagarla grew smaller and smaller in the water, and then disappeared entirely. She looked for the Meerteufel chieftain, but he was nowhere to be seen. “Thank you, Guldemar,” she whispered. “Wherever you are.”
The dragons were routed. The rotters had been decimated. Her troops were busy destroying any that Hafgufa had missed. But Sera knew that dragons and rotters were not her most lethal enemies.
“Sera!” a voice called out. “Are you all right?”
It was Neela. She was battered and bruised, but she was alive. Ling was with her. They swam to Sera and embraced her.
“Where are the others?” Sera asked. She shouted frantically for her friends.
“Over here!” Becca yelled back. She was in the clearing between the camp and the Carceron, and she had Yazeed’s arm around her neck. There was a deep gash in his tail; he could barely swim.
Sera and the others raced to them. They were joined a moment later by Alítheia and Ava.
“Thank the gods you’re all alive!” Ava said.
“Where’s Orfeo?” Sera asked warily, looking all around. “Where’s Astrid?”
“Did we…did we kill them?” Becca asked.
“No,” Ava said anxiously. “I can feel them. Both of them. Can you see them? They’re near…they’re—”
“Right here,” Orfeo said.
Sera whirled around. He was standing by the Carceron. Astrid was next to him. They were flanked by the few dozen rotters who’d survived the carnage.
“I’ve had enough of these games,” he said. “I want the talismans, Serafina.”
Sera was exhausted and bleeding, but she raised her crossbow.
“Come and get them,” she said.
Orfeo laughed scornfully. He snapped his fingers and two rotters roughly shoved someone forward—a small mermaid.
“Sera!” the little merl called out tearfully.
“No!” Sera cried as she realized who it was: Coco.
Astrid grabbed the child by her hair. She took her dagger out of its sheath. Coco whimpered in terror. She squeezed her eyes shut.
The sight completely unhinged Sera. How could Astrid do this? To them, to Coco?
“Who are you?” she shrieked at her. “That’s a child, Astrid, a helpless child! Is your pride worth an innocent life?”
“Kill her,” Orfeo commanded.
Astrid raised her knife.
“Stop!” Sera screamed. “Don’t hurt her!” Defeated, she turned to Garstig. “Bring the strongbox,” she ordered brokenly.
“A wise decision,” Orfeo said, watching the goblin run for Sera’s tent.
Astrid lowered her knife but kept a firm grip on Coco. The little merl was sobbing piteously. “She tricked me, Sera. She found me in my tent and told me you needed me. I’m sorry! I’m so sorry!”
A lethal rage filled Sera. Her hand went to her sword. Her fingers curled around its hilt. Before she could pull it free from its sheath, she felt someone take her arm.
“Don’t,” Ava whispered.
“I’ll kill them,” Sera vowed. “I’ll kill them both.”
“Shut up, Sera,” Ava hissed, her nails digging into Sera’s flesh.
Sera flinched. Ava had never spoken to her, or anyone else, like that before. She turned to look at her. Ava’s expression was intense; she was trembling. Sera didn’t have long to wonder at Ava’s strangeness, though, for Garstig had returned with the strongbox. He looked at Sera, his eyes silently asking if there was any other way.
Sera shook her head. “Give it to him,” she said.
Orfeo took it. He opened it, looked inside, then raised his eyes to Sera’s. “Where’s the blue diamond?”
“You have it,” Sera said. “Mahdi found it for Traho, and Traho gave it to you.”
“We both know that’s not true,” said Orfeo. “Astrid told me that the blue diamond I have is a fake. The infanta hid the real one aboard her ship, then gave it to you. Give it to me, please, or the little merl…”
Astrid raised her knife again.
Sera reached under the collar of her jacket and undid the clasp of the necklace the infanta had given her. She swam to Orfeo and handed it to him. As she did, despair descended on her. With the diamond went her last hope, and the hopes of all the waters of the world.
“Astrid, if you would be kind enough to hold this,” Orfeo said, handing the strongbox to her.
Astrid sheathed her knife and released Coco. Sera reached out to Coco, but the mermaid wouldn’t come to her.
She’s too frightened, Sera thought. She’s paralyzed.
Orfeo ripped the blue diamond free of its setting. He put the diamond into the box, then pulled the ruby ring out of his pocket and put that in, too. When he’d dropped his black pearl in, he looked at Astrid.
“Can you see it, child? Can you feel it?” he asked.
Astrid nodded, mesmerized. A glow was emanating from the box. Now that the talismans were together, their power was surging.
Orfeo threw his head back. “Hear me, Horok, and the denizens of the underworld!” he shouted. “I’m coming for what is mine!”
“You can’t do this, Orfeo,” Sera said, desperate to stop him. “The gods won’t allow it.”
“Then I’ll destroy the gods, and the world they made,” he said, staring at her with his empty black eyes. “I’ll rule over a new world. A world where I decide who lives and dies, where I’m a god!”
Sera covered her face with her hands. She knew she was about to witness the destruction of everything, and everyone, she loved. And she was powerless to stop it. She’d tried, she’d fought, she’d risked everything…and she’d lost.
Orfeo turned to Astrid. “Come, child. We’ll fit the talismans into the lock together. It’s time to release Abbadon.”
“Astrid, no. Don’t let him do this,” Sera begged, lowering her hands. She tried to swim to Astrid, to stop her, but Ava, who’d swum to her side, held her back again.
“Abbadon!” Orfeo shouted. “Abbadon, come!”
A terrifying shriek was heard from deep inside the Carceron. Orfeo’s summons had roused the monster. It was heading for the gates. Together, Orfeo and Astrid swam to meet it. Using the hilt of a dagger that he pulled from his belt, Orfeo knocked ice off the Carceron’s lock, then one by one, he and Astrid fitted the glowing talismans into it.
There was a metallic groan as the lock’s tumblers turned, an echoing thunk as the bolt slid back, and then the gates swung open.
“Abbadon! Come to me!” Orfeo roared.
The monster answered with another shriek. Sera could hear it pounding through the Carceron, coming closer to them with every step.
Around her, Black Fins, both goblin and mer, backed away from the prison. Some screamed. Others ran for their tents, or hid behind rocks that littered the base of the seamount.
As Abbadon’s steps grew louder, Orfeo laughed with a cruel joy. He took his black pearl out of the lock and threaded it back onto its leather string. He tied it around his neck, then removed the rest of the talismans from the lock and returned them to the strongbox.
Astrid carefully lowered the lid. The strongbox clicked shut. She smiled exultantly at Orfeo…
…and tossed the box to Coco.
“G
O, COCO! SWIM!” Astrid shouted as the little merl caught the strongbox.
Coco was a blur in the water. She streaked away like a marlin, over the heads of the rotters.
It took a few seconds for Sera to register what had happened.
“Ava, Astrid didn’t betray us!” she said. “She was only pretending! Coco, too!”
Ava nodded. She was beaming. She released Sera’s arm. “I knew she was on our side,” she said. “I could feel it. I could see her, see the good inside her.”
Orfeo, in shock, turned his empty eyes on Astrid. “What have you done?” he asked, menace in his voice.
“It’s over, Orfeo,” Astrid said. “I’m not on your side. I never was. I just pretended to be to get you—and your pearl—down here, so that my friends and I could get the Carceron open and destroy Abbadon.”
“But we’re kin, Astrid,” Orfeo said, shaking his head in disbelief. “Your blood is my blood. Your magic, my magic.”
“Yes, it is,” Astrid said. “But my heart’s my own.”
As she spoke, she pulled her sword from its scabbard.
“You’re a fool!” Orfeo spat, his face flushing with rage. “You could have had power, respect, pride—everything you ever wanted.”
“I already have everything,” Astrid said. “I have the love of my friends.”
Orfeo turned to the Carceron. He rattled the gates. “Abbadon, this is your master calling! Come to me now!”
Another screech was heard, closer to the gates than before.
Astrid raised her sword. The muscles in her arms rippled with strength.
“Step away from the gate, Orfeo,” she said. “You want to destroy the world? You’ll have to destroy me first.”
Sera joined her. Then Becca did. Ava. Ling. Neela.
“No, Orfeo,” Sera said. “If you want to destroy the world, you’ll have to destroy us first.”
WITH A WARRIOR’S YELL, Astrid charged, swinging her sword.
Orfeo threw up a water wall instantly, deflecting it. Her blade hit the bars of the Carceron’s gate with a loud clang.
“Alítheia!” Sera yelled, rushing toward Orfeo.
But the spider was ahead of her. She scuttled to Ava and crouched protectively over her.
Neela, Becca, and Ling were right behind Sera, their weapons out, but before the four could even get close, Orfeo expanded his water wall, creating an impenetrable dome around himself and Astrid.
“Sorry,” he said with a wink, “but this is a family affair.”
“No! Orfeo, let her go!” Sera shouted. She dropped her crossbow and hammered her fists against the watery barrier.
“We’ve got to help her!” Becca shouted. She threw her shoulder into the wall. Neela fragged it. But their efforts were to no avail. The water was as solid as rock.
The four mermaids watched helplessly as Orfeo advanced on Astrid. He threw a vortex at her. The swirling water wrapped around the sword and pulled it from her hand. It thudded to the ground at his feet, raising a cloud of silt.
Without missing a beat, Astrid lifted her head and sang, casting a stilo spell. She launched the spiked water bomb at Orfeo’s head.
He batted it away with a swipe of his hand. As it exploded harmlessly against the side of the dome, he launched another vortex. Astrid tried to duck it, but it caught her and slammed her to the ground, knocking the breath out her.
She lay there, gasping for water.
“He’s going to kill her,” Sera said.
“Get up! Get up, Astrid!” Ling cried.
Becca was songcasting one spell after another, trying to break through the water wall. Ling was trying to help her, but nothing was working.
An ear-piercing roar ripped through the water then. It came from the Carceron.
“My gods,” Sera said. “Abbadon. Orfeo unlocked the gate. It’s going to get out! We need waterfire, quick!”
“I’ll cast it!” said Becca. She shot to the prison.
“Ling, Neela, stay here! Keep trying to break through the water wall!” Sera said. She picked up her crossbow and sped off to catch up with Becca.
“Hurry, Becca,” Sera urged. “Hurry.”
Becca was the best waterfire caster they had. Within seconds, she was chanting the songspell. But waterfire was notoriously difficult to conjure.
As Becca continued to cast, a pair of black horns appeared behind the gates. Under them was an eyeless face, a lipless mouth.
Abbadon was as terrifying as Sera remembered. It took all her courage to stay where she was, cock her crossbow, and aim it.
“Kýrios!” the monster howled. “Zhŭ! Dominus!” Sera knew these were words for master. Abbadon was calling to Orfeo.
“Becca, watch out!” Sera shouted.
An arm, sinewy and black, streaked with red, shot out from between the bars. A hand opened. In the center of its palm was a lidless eye. More hands grasped the bars. The monster started pulling on them. The gates opened wider.
Sera fired on it. Her arrow sank into one of its arms. Abbadon snarled but kept pulling on the bars. Ice cracked. The ancient gates creaked and swung inward.
“Becca!” Sera screamed.
There was a huge whoosh, and then searing blue fire shot up from the ground in front of the prison, all the way to the top of the gates.
The monster shrieked. It staggered away from the bars, back into the prison.
“Stay there, Becca! Keep the flames going!”
Becca gave a quick nod, still songcasting. Sera raced back to the others and arrived at the water wall in time to see Orfeo circle Astrid.
“Did you really think you could beat me? Me?” he asked.
“I still do,” Astrid shot back.
Fury contorted Orfeo’s face. He threw a fragor lux at her. Astrid saw it coming; she rolled to one side. The stilo missed its mark, but it carved a gash into her shoulder.
“I gave you everything. Everything!” he snarled at her. “And this is how you repay me?”
“I’d hardly call a couple of black dresses everything,” Astrid drawled.
Orfeo threw another vortex. This one wound around Astrid’s tail, squeezing it cruelly. She arched her back, screaming in pain.
“Stop it!” Sera screamed, slapping her hands against the wall. “For gods’ sake, stop!”
Neela was crying. Ling was still songcasting, desperate to break through the wall.
Astrid, still on the ground, tried to crawl away from her tormentor. She pulled herself through the silt with her hands, dragging her battered tail behind her. Blood was pulsing from the gash on her shoulder. Slowly, painfully, she moved to the far end of the dome, where Orfeo had stood moments ago.
But she couldn’t get away from him. He came up behind her, grabbed a handful of her hair, and yanked her head back.
“Good-bye, you little fool,” he hissed. “I won’t make it quick. Or easy.”
Then he let go of her and started to songcast.
“No…oh, gods, no!” Sera moaned, sinking down against the water wall. She started to turn away; she couldn’t bear to watch what was going to happen.
Astrid’s head was hanging limply. Her body was still, her tail motionless.
But her hands were scrabbling madly in the silt.
What happened next happened so fast, all Sera could do was gasp.
With a wrenching cry, Astrid launched herself off the seafloor, her sword in her hands. Whirling her powerful body around, she swung the weapon through the water.
Orfeo’s eyes widened in shock. “Noooo!” he shouted, trying to deflect the blow.
But it was too late.
Astrid’s blade bit into his neck, and sliced through it.
His head fell into the silt. His body sank through the water and came to rest near it. Blood rose in a carmine plume. The dome he’d cast caved in; its waters washed over the mermaids.
Astrid had tricked him. She was hurt, but not as badly as she’d pretended. She’d baited him, making him so angry that he forgot about
her sword, which had been buried. She’d let him push her all around the dome until she could get to where it lay.
Astrid threw that sword down now. She collapsed near Orfeo’s body and let out a wail that came from the depths of her soul.
SERA, IN A SPELL-SHOCKED DAZE, viewed the devastation of war all around her—Orfeo’s headless body; Astrid, on the ground sobbing; Yazeed, his tail bleeding badly; Ava crawling out from under Alítheia; Black Fins, some bruised and battered, others dead; the remains of thousands of rotters. Her fighters needed help, but she didn’t know where to begin.
“We need to get to the wounded, Sera,” Ling said. “They’re our first priority.”
“And Abbadon,” said Neela.
Sera nodded, grateful for her capable friends. The haze receded. She snapped into action.
Some of her goblin commanders were nearby. “Garstig, Mulmig, Rök,” she said, “find all the able-bodied fighters you can and have them carry the wounded to the infirmary tents.”
As the three goblins hurried off, Sera glanced at the Carceron. Becca was still there, still songcasting, but it was quiet at the gates. There was no further sign of Abbadon.
Ava swam up, and Sera turned to her. “Where is it?” she asked.
“Deep inside the prison,” Ava replied. “It knows Orfeo’s dead. It’s hiding from us.”
“Orfeo’s not dead,” Astrid said, slowly rising from the silt. “I destroyed the body he used, that’s all. He’s still here and he’s still dangerous.”
She cast waterfire, high and hot, in a circle around and above Orfeo’s remains. “His soul lives on. In there,” she said, pointing to the black pearl, covered in blood and hanging from what was left of Orfeo’s neck. “No one can touch it. He knows how to jump bodies. That’s how he’s endured for four thousand years.”
“We should throw the body, and the pearl, into the lava pond,” Ava said, shivering.
“Lava would only destroy the body,” Astrid said. “The pearl is indestructible. The waterfire will keep everyone away until we figure out what to do with it.”
Sera put a gentle hand on Astrid’s back. Astrid turned, and the two mermaids embraced each other fiercely.
“I’m sorry,” Sera whispered.