Deep Blue (Waterfire Saga, #1)(80)

“I daresay this Traho knows how to cast a velo. Most military mermen know how to speed their troops. Into the mirror with you. Hurry.”

“Let’s go in together,” Neela said. “There’s strength in numbers.”

“No, you mustn’t travel together. We cannot afford for all five of you to be taken,” Vr?ja said.

There was a pounding, sudden and loud. Traho was on the other side of the door.

Serafina knew it was iron, and impervious to magic. He was trying to batter it down.

“Take these,” Vr?ja said. She dug in her satchel, pulled out vials of liquid, and handed them around. “It’s Moses potion, from the Moses sole in the Red Sea. Sharks hate it. Maybe death riders do, too. Here are some quartz pebbles charmed with transparensea spells. And some ink bombs. They are crude, but effective. They’ve gotten me out of more scrapes than I care to remember.”

Vr?ja dug once more, pulled out a handful of dead beetles, and gave some to each mermaid. “I had hoped to teach you the secrets of mirror travel, but there’s no time. As soon as you’re in the silver, rattle these beetles. There are silverfish in the mirror—large, fast creatures who love to eat them. One will come to you. Tell it where you need to go and it will take you. Hopefully you’ll be out of Rorrim’s realm before he knows you were in. Neela, you first.”

“But Baba Vr?ja, I’m not ready for this!” she said, pocketing her beetles.

The battering grew louder.

“Go, child!” Vr?ja said.

“How will we contact each other?” Neela asked.

“A convoca. The mirror. A pelican, if you must.”

Sera threw her arms around Neela and hugged her good-bye. “Don’t be scared, Neels,” she said. “Nothing, and no one, is more invincible than you.”

Becca was next, then Ava with Baby, then Ling. Sera felt as if each was taking a piece of her heart with them. The iron door groaned under the pounding of Traho’s troops. She could hear their voices coming from the other side. A hinge came loose with a wrenching screech.

“It’s your turn, Sera. Go now,” Vr?ja said. She held her close and kissed her. “I may not see you again. Not in this life.”

“No, Baba Vr?ja, don’t say that, please.”

“Godspeed, child. The hopes of all the waters of the world lie with you now. Find the talismans. Kill the monster. Before the dream dies and the nightmare rises.”

Another hinge gave way. The door crashed into the room.

“Go!” Vr?ja cried.

Serafina leapt into the mirror and the liquid silver closed around her. She looked back, with tears in her eyes, in time to see death riders flood into the Incantarium. In time to see Traho break the circle.

In time to see Vr?ja pick up a rock and smash the mirror.