“Why?” Ling asked.
“To summon the goddess. To beseech her to teach him her secrets. He gave her everything he had—his wealth, his possessions, Alma’s stunning jewels, even his precious talisman, a flawless emerald given to him by Eveksion, the god of healing. I saw that emerald. It was beyond compare, a gift from a god, yet Orfeo destroyed it. It was said he ground it up and stirred it into the wine he gave to those he sacrificed. To tempt Morsa. Its powers made them healthy and strong, you see, and that’s how she liked her victims.”
“Lady Thalia, did you say sacrificed?” Serafina asked, feeling sick at the very thought. She remembered the bloodstain on Morsa’s altar. And the bloodsong. The voices she and Ling had heard—they were voices of human beings whose lives had been offered to the dark goddess.
“Yes, I did. He started with sailors and travelers,” Thalia said. “Those without families in Atlantis, those who wouldn’t be missed. Then he came for us. He came at night. No one knew he was doing it until it was too late. Until he was so powerful, no one could stop him.”
“But how could he have had such powers without his emerald?” Ling asked.
Thalia laughed. “Morsa gave him another talisman ten times more powerful—a flawless black pearl. It was her symbol, a mockery of the white pearls Horok used to hold souls. Morsa’s pearl held souls, too—the souls of those sacrificed to her. Orfeo gave her death, and in return she gave him her forbidden knowledge. It made him so powerful that he created Abbadon and declared he would use the monster to march on the underworld and take Alma back.”
Sera’s pulse was racing. She and Ling had just learned why Orfeo had created Abbadon. Even the Iele had not known that. The vitrina had also told them what one of the talismans was.
“Lady Thalia,” she asked excitedly, “did you ever see any of the other mages’ talismans?”
“Oh, yes,” said Thalia. “I saw all of them.”
“Can you tell us what they were?” Sera asked.
But Thalia didn’t reply. She was holding up a necklace and frowning at it.
Sera panicked. She knew how vitrina were—quite a few of them had lived in her own looking glass—and she knew they had short attention spans for any topic that wasn’t them. If Thalia grew bored with the conversation, she might simply drift deeper into the mirror. Sera didn’t want to have to dive in after her and risk coming across Rorrim Drol again.
“That necklace is gorgeous. It’ll bring out the golden flecks in your lovely eyes,” Sera quickly said, hoping to ply Thalia with more compliments.
Thalia gave her a preening smile. “Yes, it will. You’re so right, you know. About the necklace and my eyes.”
“I imagine the talismans were beautiful, too. You would recognize beauty, of course, being so beautiful yourself,” said Sera, desperate to keep her talking.
“Oh, they were!” Thalia said. “Merrow’s was called the Pétra tou Néria—Neria’s Stone. Merrow once saved the life of Neria’s youngest son, Kyr, you see. He’d taken the form of a seal pup and was attacked by a shark. She was wading in the waves at the time and saw the attack. She snatched him from the water and carried him to safety. Neria was so grateful, she bestowed a magnificent blue diamond on her. It was shaped like a teardrop. I saw it. It was dazzling. As was Navi’s talisman, a moonstone.”
“What did that look like?” Ling asked.
“It was silvery blue and about the size of an albatross’s egg. It glowed from within like the moon.”
“Just like your complexion, Lady Thalia,” Sera said.
She couldn’t believe their luck. Thalia knew what the talismans were—every one of them. Now all Sera had to do was listen to conchs on Merrow’s Progress, and she’d find out where they were. With so much information, they’d be way ahead of Traho.
“What was Sycorax’s talisman?” Ling asked.
But Thalia didn’t answer. She was no longer looking at the mermaids. She was looking past them, her eyes filled with terror.
“Go! Get out of here! Hurry!” she hissed.
The mermaids turned around. In the doorway stood six creatures. They were tall and humanlike, with strong limbs, humped backs, and thick necks. Their bodies were covered with scales like those of a komodo dragon. Red eyes stared out from under thick, bony brows. Tusks curved down from either side of their noses, the better to spear their prey. Black lips parted to reveal rows of sharp, spiky teeth.
“Dinnertime,” Ling said grimly. “And we’re on the menu.”
“THE MIRROR, LING,” Serafina said quietly. “We’ve got to swim into Thalia’s mirror.”
Ling nodded but didn’t answer. She couldn’t. She was singing a spell the Iele had taught them, an ap? piatr?. An Opafago rushed forward, hit the water wall Ling had created? and roared. The others started to batter against it with their large clawed hands.
“Come on!” Serafina shouted.