The Sea Witch (The Era of Villains Book 1)
Page 21
Serena slammed her fist against the barrier, and a golden light sprung up around her hand and dissipated outwards. “Triton, you bastard! You can’t do that! You can’t!” Angry tears stung her eyes. Her heart raced so fast in her chest she felt nauseous. She slammed her whole body against the barrier, snarling like an animal. Her tentacles smacked against the invisible wall with a nasty slurping noise as the suckers latched on. “I HATE YOU! I HATE YOU, YOU BASTARD! YOU CAN’T TAKE MY DAUGHTERS!”
Triton plucked the still sleeping Cordelia from her basket and rubbed his beard against her face. Her eyes opened, and she shoved her little hand into his beard. He tossed the basket aside and turned away from Serena and towards Athena.
Serena slammed herself against the barrier again and again, bloodying her nose and her lip, bruising her arms and her new tentacles. She screamed incoherent words and curses, oblivious to the pain. She did not stop until Hazel and Casius gently pulled her away, whispering softly to her.
“We must go to Arcanus,” said Hazel. Her face was scared and uncertain, and she turned to Moira—still looking for comfort in a place where it simply did not exist. “Right, Mother?”
“Oh, my tail,” Moira moaned, her hands cupping her face as she stared down at herself. “My beautiful, beautiful tail.”
— — —
Triton felt as though he had not slept in weeks. There was a pressure on his chest and he could hardly breathe. But still, he swam up to the top of the tallest spire of the palace and raised the Trident above his head. Golden mist poured out of it like a fountain and spread across Adamar. Merfolk and sea creatures alike looked at it in wonder as it swirled around them. They breathed it in through gills and noses, and for a moment, their eyes went still and clear as glass. When they blinked, the mist was gone, and they all went back to mourning their dear, beloved Queen Athena who had just today been slain by pirates. They mourned for Triton, who had loved her so dearly, and for her six daughters, who would have to grow up without her.
— — —
Not far from the city of Adamar, there was a mostly barren patch of sea floor where small underwater volcanoes stuck out of the ground like jagged, black teeth and spouted jets of hot bubbles up towards the surface. In the midst of this wasteland was a large, black cave formed from volcanic rock. The opening danced with strange, purple light. Rumors about this cave spread throughout Adamar. It was said three cecaelia witches with extraordinary powers lived there, and they could grant you your heart’s deepest, darkest desire if only you could pay their price. It was said that the eldest witch, the one with the strange tattoos that some merfolk swore could move, wore a beautiful crystal tiara on her head just behind her ugly tiara of tentacles, and many wondered if perhaps she had been royalty in some far off and forgotten city. But, according to rumor, she was not the most powerful of the three. The witch with the rich brown hair and deep, haunted, dark eyes was the leader, the most powerful, but she was also said to be the most volatile. The eldest crooned with a sultry smile, the youngest simpered in the corner, but the middle one sneered as though each client, with their petty wishes and eager eyes, disgusted her. Her laugh was a cackle that sent chills up a merperson’s spine. But still, more and more merfolk began to flock to her, to whisper about her.
What the merfolk of Adamar did not know was that the sea witch kept a close eye on them, gazing into her stone cauldron most of the day. Inside the cauldron was a window into Adamar. Most of the time, one or more of the princesses could be seen shimmering like a mirage in the cauldron’s depths. But sometimes, the window spread out over the city.
In the bowels of the cave, Serena floated above her cauldron as the window zipped across Adamar like a gull flying over the surface. Whispered voices spilled from it, and they whispered her name.
“The sea witch, Serena, did it for me.”
“Have you heard about Serena?”
“Serena’s her name. You should go see her. She can help.”
The cave echoed with the sinister sound of Serena’s laughter, high and slightly deranged, cracked by hate.
“Make them forget me, will you?” she said, though no one was near to hear her. “Soon, everyone in Adamar will know my name.”
The End
Want to know when my next book will be released? Make sure to sign up for my Newsletter! You can also follow my page on Facebook!
The Era of Villains Series
Book 1 : The Sea Witch
Book 2 : The Queen of Hearts