A roiling, thunderous cheer went up from the fighters. They lifted their spears and swords, and threw their helmets into the water. The cheer carried on, long and loud, for minute after minute, until Sera raised her hands for silence.
“A great evil threatened our world!” she shouted, her voice ringing out. “Because of you, that evil is no more. Mer, goblin, sea creatures, and even the humans fought together and died together for this victory. Because of your bravery and your strength, Orfeo and Abbadon have been defeated. Because of your love for the seas and the freshwaters, their creatures have been saved from destruction. You have my gratitude, my respect, and my love. We will care for our wounded, and our dead, and then, we will care for one another. Always and forever, from this day on. Miromara, Matali, Ondalina, Atlantica, Qin, and the Freshwaters, together with our goblin allies, the troll clans, and sea creatures great and small, the Praedatori and the Wave Warriors, will never forget how greed and the hunger for power nearly destroyed our world. I promise you, on my life, that I will work with leaders from all realms to ensure peace and harmony between us. Our future, and the future of our home, depends on it.”
Cheers rose once again. Fighters hugged one another, and then returned to the difficult tasks of tending the injured and collecting the bodies. As they did, Ceto Rorqual and humpbacks swam overhead. They dipped down in the water and started butting their great heads into the walls of the Carceron. The old stones creaked and groaned before giving way and crashing to the seafloor.
“It’s over,” Garstig said. “At last.”
“Almost, but not quite,” Sera said.
She turned to Ava, but Ava answered her question before Sera could ask it.
“Yes, he’s coming,” she said. “I can feel him.”
A moment later, a majestic coelacanth, his long gray body mottled with splotches of silver, swam into the clearing. A hushed, reverent silence fell over the group. Everyone bowed his or her head.
The giant fish regarded them all, then, in a voice as ancient as time itself, said, “You summoned me, Astrid Kolfinnsdottir. Where is the soul you wish to commend?”
“We have many souls to commend, great Horok,” Astrid replied. “Stolen souls who’ve longed for centuries to find refuge with you.”
“I will receive them,” Horok said.
Astrid and Neela picked up the four pouches of pearls, then swam to Horok. They placed the pouches on the seafloor before him and opened them. The pearls were glowing softly.
Horok gently took them all into his broad mouth. No matter how many disappeared into his jaws, his mouth never filled. There was room for them all.
“They’re happy now,” Ava whispered.
“There’s one more,” Astrid said.
Horok nodded. “This one has refused me for centuries, but it is finally his time to make the journey.”
Astrid swam to where Orfeo’s corpse lay. She put out the waterfire she’d cast and bent down to the body. Taking great care not to touch the black pearl, she took the leather string from around Orfeo’s neck, then carried it to Horok. Holding one end of the string, she let the pearl slide off the other. Horok caught it as it fell, then readied himself to leave.
“Horok, wait….” Astrid said.
The coelacanth stopped. He turned back to her.
“Kolfinn…I—I didn’t have the time…” Astrid said, with tears in her eyes.
Sera joined her. “My mother and father…” she said, her voice breaking. “I never got to say good-bye. I never got to tell them—”
“They know, children,” Horok said. He turned his gaze to Becca. “Abigail and Matthew know, too. Only the body dies. Love lives on.”
And then, with a slow swish of his powerful tail, he swam away.
“Abigail and Matthew?” Ling asked, taking Becca’s hand. “Your parents?”
Becca nodded. Ava put an arm around her. Astrid joined them, taking Becca’s hand. Sera put an arm around Astrid. Neela took Sera’s hand and looped her arm around Ava. They were bloodied and scarred, but the circle of their sisterhood was unbroken.
“Orfeo got what he wanted in the end,” Astrid said, as they all watched Horok disappear. “He’ll finally be reunited with his beloved Alma.”
Sera wanted to thank her friends, to tell them what they meant to her, and how much she loved them, but her heart was so full of emotion, she couldn’t speak. Instead, she took a deep breath and began to sing.
How can I tell you, mages’ daughters,
My bloodbound sisters of the water,
Noble, brave, true as the seas,
Exactly what you mean to me?
Remember when it all began?
The call insistent, waves on sand
Summoned in a night’s dark dream,
By one who wasn’t what she seemed.
Fierce in aspect, kind of heart,
She showed us Orfeo’s dark art:
A monster made of fear and rage,
Now buried in an icy cage.
She told us one would set it free,
Then made a bold, impassioned plea:
Fight this evil, save the waters,
Work together, mages’ daughters.
Become as one, then save the seas?
Both seemed impossible to me.
Be brave, said she. Be smart, be swift,
But with this burden came a gift: