Read Waterfire Saga, Book Three: Dark Tide: A Deep Blue Novel for Free Online Page B

Six Who Ruled,” Sera explained. “We have their magic inside us and it gets stronger when we’re together.
Vr ă ja hoped it would be strong enough to defeat Abbadon.”
    “But why did Orfeo create that thing in the first place? Why did he let it destroy Atlantis?”
    “Because he was angry. And sad. And out of his mind,” Sera said. “His wife, Alma, died, and he couldn’t accept her death. He decided to march on the underworld and take
her back, but he needed help, so he went to Morsa, the death goddess. He sacrificed people to her.”
    “He did
what
?” Sophia said, appalled. “We never learned that in school!”
    “No, we didn’t,” Sera said ruefully. “Merrow didn’t want anyone to know the truth; she kept it secret. She thought the mer would be safer that way. I can almost see
why. I found the temple where the sacrifices were made. I touched the blood, heard the victims’ voices. It was horrible.” She shuddered at the memory.
    “Why didn’t anyone stop him?” asked Sophia.
    “By the time his fellow Atlanteans found out, it was too late. Morsa, the death goddess, had given Orfeo a talisman—a black pearl—that made him very powerful. Ling and I
learned this from a vitrina we met in the ruins of Atlantis. She said that Orfeo beseeched Morsa to share the secrets of immortality with him, and that he somehow used them to create Abbadon. The
monster was incredibly powerful. All the other mages could do was kill Orfeo, imprison Abbadon, and then sink it in the Southern Sea.”
    “
Imprison
Abbadon? Not kill it? You mean it’s—”
    “—still alive? Yes. But locked away forever. Or so Merrow thought. The prison can only be opened or closed by fitting a certain six talismans into its lock,” Sera said,
gesturing at the walls. “The objects that the mages are holding in these mosaics
are
those talismans. Merrow hid them in different waters to make sure no one could ever use them to
free Abbadon. But someone else has been trying to find them. We don’t know who, but we’re trying to stay ahead of him. So far, we’ve found two of the talismans—a blue
diamond that belonged to Merrow and a moonstone that Navi owned. When we have them all, we can open the prison and try to kill Abbadon.”
    “Hold on, Sera…you’re going to try to kill a monster that the most powerful mages ever couldn’t kill? That’s insane!”
    Sera nodded solemnly. “Yeah, it probably is.”
    “And just
how
are you going to do that?”
    Sera sighed. “I wish I knew. But, according to the Iele, we have to. Before the shadowy
someone
frees it.”
    Sophia was quiet when Sera finished. She looked like she was in shock. “That
is
a big fight,” she finally said. “The biggest. I mean, as if trying to defeat your uncle
and take back Miromara wasn’t enough.”
    Sera was about to agree when a bolt of pain shot up her tail. Wincing, she bit back a cry. The excitement of finding Merrow’s secret rooms and the mosaics they contained had dulled the
pain, but now it was coming back with a vengeance.
    “What’s wrong?” Sophia asked, worried.
    “My tail…” Sera said.
    Sophia took her arm. “Sit down, Sera. You need to rest.”
    Sera spun away. “No, we’ve got to get going.”
    Sophia started to argue, but Sera cut her off. She turned around and looked deeply into her friend’s eyes.
    “Soph, I’m still bleeding and the death riders are still out there,” she said. “I told you about the talismans because I trust you, but for another reason, too: if you
make it back to HQ and I don’t, you need to tell Neela what we saw here. Promise me. The information can’t die with me.”
    Sophia shook her head. “You’re going to tell her yourself, Sera, because you’re going to make it back. I’m going to
make
you make it,” she said.
    “Sophia, listen to me…”
    “No, Sera,
you
listen. They don’t get to do this—Vallerio, Portia, Lucia, Mfeme. They don’t—” Her voice broke. She struggled to