Waterfire Saga, Book Three: Dark Tide: A Deep Blue Novel (27 page)

S
ERA, HER ELBOWS on the makeshift table in the Black Fins’ command cave, massaged her temples. A stocky merman, Antonio, the camp’s
cook, floated before her. He was furious.

“The goblins are starting trouble.
Again
,” he complained. “They’re angry about the flatworm stew. I’ve been serving it for three days straight. I
don’t have a choice; it’s all we’ve got. At breakfast, one of them said he’d cut my head off and eat
that
if I served stew again. You’ve got to
do
something.”

Sera rued the day she’d agreed to do business with Meerteufel traders. The shipments from Scaghaufen were always late and the quality poor.

“I’ll send out hunting parties, Antonio,” she said. “It will keep the goblins busy, and I’m sure they’ll bag some conger eels. You can cook those.”

Antonio nodded and thanked Sera. After he left, Sera listened to Yazeed detail problems with the plans for the infirmary she wanted built. Then Neela reported that another group of civilians had
arrived that morning—refugees from Miromara—but there was nowhere to put them. A goblin came in to tell her there weren’t enough tables in the mess hall.

The Black Fins had arrived in the Kargjord two weeks ago. The goblin fighters Guldemar had promised had begun to report for duty, too. Soon they would begin military drills, and Sera would have
to oversee them. Children like the mermaid Coco, and the ones who arrived daily with their refugee parents, needed a school to attend. Many needed medical attention. And then there were the
daunting tasks of housing and feeding everyone.

Running a large camp was overwhelming. Before Sera could solve one problem, ten more cropped up. Operating on little food, and even less sleep, she often sent prayers to the twin gods of the
tides, Trykel and Spume, asking them to turn their forces in her favor. She wondered now if they ever would.

As Sera was suggesting to the goblin—his name was Garstig—that perhaps he and his fellow soldiers could
build
some tables, a mermaid appeared in the cave’s entrance,
accompanied by a Black Fin. She looked exhausted. Her clothing was covered in silt. She carried a messenger bag slung over her shoulder. She had short brown hair. Her gray eyes darted warily. Her
hands, clutching the strap of her bag, looked strong and rough.

“Why is she here?” Yaz asked the Black Fin. His eyes traveled to her bag. “Has she been searched?”

“I went through her bag. Patted her down. She doesn’t have any weapons. She says she has to see Sera. Says it’s life-or-death,” the Black Fin replied.

“I have something for her,” the mermaid said. “From Miromara. My name is Daniella. My cousin is Allegra. She’s a farmer from outside Cerulea.”

“Clear the cave,” Sera ordered.

Yaz raised an eyebrow.

“Just do it,” Sera said.

A minute later the only ones left in the cave were Sera, Yazeed, Neela, Sophia, and Daniella.

“Mahdi sent her,” Sera explained to the others. “Her cousin Allegra delivers her farm’s produce to the palace in Cerulea and receives conchs from him. Allegra has family
members in the waters between Miromara and the North Sea. Each one carries the conch part of the way. Daniella was the courier for the last leg of the journey.”

Daniella nodded. “My farm’s just south of Scaghaufen,” she said, pulling a conch from her bag. She handed it to Sera.

“Thank you. You took a huge risk coming here and I’m very grateful,” Sera said. “Please eat something and rest before you return home.”

Daniella nodded and swam out of the cave.

Sera placed the conch on the table, then cast an amplo spell so that everyone could hear the message it contained.

A voice started to speak—a merman’s. He didn’t address anyone by name, nor did he give his. Names were dangerous. They could get someone killed. Sera felt a deep relief upon
hearing the voice—because it meant Mahdi was alive—or at least he had been when he’d made the recording. But she felt fearful, too, because his tone was urgent and his message
grim.

“My suspicions have been confirmed,” he said. “Vallerio
has
been plotting a move—a big one. He’s sent death riders after two of the
talismans—Nyx’s ruby ring and Pyrrha’s gold coin. Soldiers left today—Tidesday—for the Mississippi; more are leaving for Cape Horn tomorrow. Mfeme’s transporting
them in two of his ships. Get your operatives out of there immediately. I’ll send another message as soon as I know more. Stay safe, all of you.”

The message ended. Everyone was silent. Sera, furious, rose and swam around the cave.

“How does my uncle
always
know things he can’t
possibly
know?” she asked. “
No one
knows the locations of the talismans. No one but
us.”

“Correction: no one
knew
the locations but us,” Yaz said.

“Why is Vallerio going to the Mississippi and Cape Horn?” Neela asked. “Why not the Abyss, where Sycorax’s puzzle ball is?”

It was Sophia who voiced the terrible thing they were all thinking. “Maybe he already has the puzzle ball.”

Sera’s heart sank at this possibility. How would they defeat Abbadon without
all
the talismans? And it seemed that Vallerio was about to close in on two more. Mahdi said the death
riders had set off on Tidesday—that was already four days ago. “We’ve got to do a convoca.
Now.
Ava and Becca are in serious danger,” she said, sitting back
down.

“It’s too risky,” Yaz said. “The moon’s waning. The Karg’s bad for casting. Songspells don’t carry properly here because of the iron in the rocks.
Someone could listen in.”

“I don’t have a choice, Yaz,” Sera countered. “They could be swimming straight into a trap.”

Yaz ran a hand through his hair. “Okay,” he finally said. “Give it everything you’ve got.”

Sera, Yaz, Neela, and Sophia all joined hands. Sera found that her convocas were tighter and stronger if she cast them as part of a circle. She sang the words of the songspell.

But nothing happened.

“Come
on
, Ava,” she whispered. “Where
are
you, Becca?”

She cast again but still couldn’t get her friends. On her third try, she got a choppy image.

“Becca!” she shouted.

“Sera, Neela? Is that you?” Becca asked blearily. She’d been asleep.

“Yes!” Sera said. “Hold on…I’m trying to get Ava….”

On her fifth attempt, she succeeded. She was overjoyed to see Ava, but her happiness turned to alarm as she noted how gaunt her friend looked.

“Ava, where are you? Is Baby with you?”

“He’s here,
querida
,” Ava said.

“Good,” Sera said, glad to hear it. That nasty little piranha was Ava’s fierce defender.

“I’m at…off the…” The sound crackled. Ava faded, then came back.

“Listen, I have to be quick,” Sera said. “I just received bad news. Vallerio found out where Nyx’s ring is and Pyrrha’s coin. He sent troops to get them.”

“
What?
How did he find out?” Becca asked.

“I have no idea,” Sera replied. “I
do
know that the death riders left Cerulea several days ago. They’re on board Mfeme’s ships, which means they’re
moving fast.”

“How long until they get to Cape Horn?” Becca asked.

Sera looked at Yaz.

“Five days max,” he said.

“I can beat them,” Becca said.

“Becca, what if you’re wrong? What if they capture you?”

“I can
do
this, Sera. I…”

Becca faded out, then came back.

“Be careful, Becca.
Please
,” Sera begged.

“I will…soon…okay? Signing off.”

And then she was gone. Ava’s image was fading, too.

“Ava, where are you?” Sera asked.

“In the mouth of the Mississippi. I’ve still got a ways to go to reach the Okwa Naholos’ swamp.”

“Not good,” Yaz said. “By my calculations, the death riders will get there in six days themselves, maybe five if they push hard. Get her out of there, Sera.”

“Ava, did you hear Yazeed?” Sera shouted. Ava was blurring.

“No! What did he say?”

“He said you need to get out of there!” Sera yelled.

Ava snorted. “And let Traho get that sick ruby ring? I don’t think so,
gatinha
. It’ll look way better on me than it would on him!”

“Ava, it’s
too risky
!”

“How many days have I got?”

“Six, then you also need time to get out of the swamp.”

Ava shook her head. “
Sixteen?
What are you worried about? That’s plenty of time!”

“Not
sixteen
, Ava!
Six!
” Sera yelled frantically.

“Lost you,
mina
…Don’t worry…can make it…”

The convoca faded. Ava was gone.

“Oh, gods,” Sera said, her voice breaking. “She’s chum.”

Sera was silent for a moment, as she tried to regain control of her emotions. Her mind worked its way back to the question she’d asked before.

“How did Vallerio find out?
How?
Of everyone in this camp, only we know the location of the talismans. I’ve kept it that way on purpose.”

“Maybe somebody cast an ochi on us,” Yaz ventured.

Sera shook her head. “There’s no way. This cave is swept for gândacs every day.”

“According to Mahdi, Baco Goga was seen around the palace,” Yaz reminded her. “You told us so yourself.”

“Yes, but he wasn’t seen
here
,” Sera said.

“He could have turned someone in the camp. That someone may have overheard one of us and reported the info to Baco.”

The mere thought of a spy in their midst sent a shiver through Sera.

Yaz saw it. “Where’s your jacket?” he asked.

“I have no idea. I’ve been looking for it for days,” Sera said distractedly.

Both mermaids had acquired new jackets after using their old ones to bandage Sera’s tail, but it seemed Sera had lost hers. Sophia unbuttoned her jacket now and handed it to Sera.

“I can’t take that, Soph,” Sera said.

“Actually, you can,” Sophia replied. “We can’t afford for you to get sick.”

“Thank you,” Sera said, shrugging into the garment. “I don’t know how Vallerio’s getting his information, but he can’t be allowed to capture Ava and
Becca.”

“How do we stop him?” Neela asked.

Sera had an idea. “We’ve got troops now, so let’s use them,” she said. “We don’t have a super trawler to get our soldiers where they need to go, but we can
cast velo spells. And enlist the help of whales, too. In a battle of goblins against death riders, I’d back the goblins any day.”

“This is a real long shot. You know that, right?” Yazeed said.

Sera laughed wearily. “What
isn’t
a long shot, Yaz? I am. You are. This entire camp is. I’m getting used to making long shots work. We’ve
got
to protect
Ava and Becca,” she said.

As Neela and Sophia started to work out how many goblins should be sent to the Mississippi and Cape Horn, Yaz consulted maps to determine the quickest routes.

Sera started out for the munitions cave. Her troops would need crossbows and arrows and she wanted to see how many of each had arrived.

As she swam, worried for her friends but emboldened by her plans, she met the truth head-on. There was no point in waiting for the fickle gods Trykel and Spume to help her. If she wanted the
tide to turn, she’d have to turn it herself.

“Y
OU LOVE HER, don’t you?” Des asked Astrid, his eyes crinkling as he smiled.

Astrid, watching Elskan charge off after a school of herring, laughed. “I guess so. As much as I
can
love a headstrong, willful, bad-tempered beast.”

“I think that’s
why
you love her. She’s strong, spirited, and does pretty much as she pleases.” He gave Astrid a sidelong glance. “Kind of like someone
else I know.”

Astrid rolled her eyes. She and Des had been traveling together for three days now and they’d developed an easy, teasing way with each other.

And they had plenty to tease about. They’d both almost fallen off when Elskan had bolted out of Ludo’s stable. They’d both been bucked off on several occasions. And Elskan had
nipped each of them countless times. Des was missing a few scales on his backside thanks to the orca.

But Des wasn’t just a joker. He was sober and serious when he needed to be, and an exceedingly capable soldier. He knew how to find food or trap it, how to hide all traces of a campsite,
and how to cast a superfast camo spell. He knew when schools of haddock or cod were approaching and always made sure he and Astrid got off Elskan when they did so the orca could chase down a
meal.

He was sensitive, too. He seemed to know when to give her space to mourn her father. And Astrid did the same for him, allowing him privacy when he became quiet, guessing that he was thinking
about his parents.