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She screamed, a horrible screeching sound that made my ears ring. Suddenly, a burst of white power came from her, shoving us all away from her. Pain shot through my shoulder, but I couldn’t see a thing. “Kaga?” I yelled. “Are you okay?”
I heard nothing. I shook my head frantically, trying to get my vision back. When I finally could see, I gasped. Kaga’s necklace was broken, and he lay on the sea floor, blood slowly seeping from his head. I moved to go to him, but couldn’t. A quick glance down showed me why; a bone shrapnel had embedded itself through my shoulder, pinning me to a rock. I tried to yank it out, but it was too far into the rock. My heart pounded. I was trapped.
Cordelia swam close to me, shaking her head. “This is what happens to those who challenge us. Don’t you understand yet? We two are going to take over the seas, the lakes. Every drop of water will be ours. And when it’s gone? We will set our sights on the land, taking everything we deserve.”
“No,” I said, my voice soft. “No. It won’t happen.”
She laughed in disbelief. “I’m afraid there’s nothing you can do about it. It’s basically already done.” She gestured to the cave. “Even now, the power of the merpeople feeds us. You cannot stop it.”
“Yes,” I said, resigned. “There’s one last thing.”
“There is nothing. Look around you. You have lost,” says Cordelia. “I can save him, if you sacrifice yourself to us.”
“No. I will not become your meal for eternity.” I closed my eyes, my fate sealed. Then loudly, with all the force I could muster, I yelled out. “I accept my birthright as mermaid queen.”
Chapter 36
Ablue glow surrounded me. Coraline screamed, trying to reach for me, but couldn’t penetrate the light. The bone in my shoulder dissolved and magic lifted me into the sea. Squiggles swam toward me, faster than I’d ever seen him move. He handed me the pearl that had been in my mother’s scepter. The dull orb now glowed even brighter than the moonflower pearl.
I held it in my hand, the scepter somewhere on the ocean floor after Coraline’s blast. Raising it high above my head, I called my subjects to me.
The skeletons had no choice but to obey their true ruler, and ignoring Seraphina and Coraline, came to stand behind me. From the cave, I heard the voices of my merpeople.
Out of the cave, swam my people—the living ones—gathering behind me. My mother and father came to float beside me.
Kaga’s floating body caught my eye, and I gasped, swimming to him, forgetting the sisters. I examined his head, and there was a gash in it, still leaking blood. He didn’t look like he was breathing. “Thalos, get over here!”
He rushed over, immediately forming an air funnel to Kaga’s mouth. His chest still didn’t move, and I called my magic, healing his head. Even as the wound stitched together, he remained motionless.
“It doesn’t matter if you have your paltry power,” Seraphina said, drawing my attention back to her. “Together, we are unstoppable with the pearl.”
Coraline snapped her fingers, and her bubbling cauldron appeared before us all. The sickly purple goo inside spilled out. She started muttering while Seraphina waved the pearl above the mixture.
It spilled out of the cauldron, slowly crawling over the ocean floor toward us. “Allura,” cried my mother.
“I know, Mother.” And I did. I’d been in endless lessons for years now. It was time to prove my knowledge. I pointed my pearl at the substance, sensing its poisonous intent. “Mother, create the waves to slow it down.”
Immediately, she obeyed. Waves smashed against the goo, pushing it back toward the sisters. While that was going on, I directed the skeleton subjects to surround the witches. Seraphina grasped the pearl harder, then spun a torrent of water around. It pushed the skeletons back, but they were relentless. The mages kept sending streams of water toward them, hardened with magic. Seraphina kept using torrents to block them as well.
Good, it would drain her for a bit.
Coraline continued muttering over the cauldron. I summoned my power and pointed the pearl at her mouth. A thin line of light came out of it, heading straight for her throat. It wrapped around her neck, then a tendril slipped inside her mouth. She screamed as the light stole her voice, drawing it out of her just as Seraphina had taken Kaga’s.
The cauldron stopped bubbling, and Seraphine whipped around. “Sister, no!”
Desperately, she started muttering over the cauldron. Coraline grasped at her neck. Faster, I drew her voice to me. I sent it up through the ocean, past the surface and into the human realms. It would lay dormant now.
Coraline opened her mouth in a silent scream. I turned my pearl to Seraphina, intent on using the same trick. She was ready for me though, and threw up a shield of ink. We were getting close. I could see the desperation in her eyes as she battled skeletons and mages.
“Light through darkness,” I whispered to myself. Another thin tendril of light came out of the pearl, wrapping itself against the ink. It covered the ink inch by inch, until suddenly, a flash of bright light. Seraphina’s shield shattered, and she fell backward.
The water mages threw streams of bubbles at the witches, and Coraline threw up another shield, protecting herself and Seraphina. The mages continued their onslaught, and the new shield couldn’t withstand it. It burst.
Quickly, I used the pearl to enhance my magic, lowering the temperature of the water in the spot where the sisters stood. It froze them both in place, their lips turning blue. Seraphina still had the moonflower pearl, though, and the water around them was already warming up.
Undeterred, I froze them again. Seraphina grasped Coraline’s hand and the water warmed. I tried again, asking the mages for help. The skeletons tilted the cauldron over, the purple goo now spilling toward the sisters.
I froze them once again, and used waves to make the glob hit their tails. As soon as it touched their tails, the scales melted and turned to slime. Seraphina screamed, trying to focus her power on the goo. I raised my hand again, freezing the water, and the goo, around them.
