Rogue Wave (Waterfire Saga #2)(52)

Basra smiled. “It is, yes,” she said. “Just like you.”





KORA, ARMS CROSSED over her chest, smiled broadly at the carnage before her.

If she was tired after her three-league race with Hagarla, she didn’t show it. She and her group had led the dragons to the prison. As soon as Hagarla had spotted the sea whips, she’d stopped chasing the mermaids, who were hard to catch, and attacked the jellyfish instead.

She and the other Razormouths were in a feeding frenzy now. The sea whips were fighting back, lashing out with their powerful tentacles, but the dragons barely felt the stings through their thick scales. The prison guards tried to make the sea whips hold their formation, but it was no use; the sea whips broke rank and the guards abandoned their posts. As they fled, Nadifa and four other Askari shot through what was remained of the fence and shepherded the terrified prisoners into the barracks.

“Now comes the hard part,” Kora said.

“Right,” Neela said. “The hard part. Because it’s all been a piece of spongecake so far.”

“Khaali, Leylo, and Ceto are in position and waiting for us just north of here,” said Kora. “Basra, wait until I’ve drawn off the dragons, then you, Neela, and Ikraan join Nadifa and help her get the prisoners out. The rest of you, divide up the treasure and get ready to swim.”

Naasir dumped out the bag of loot he’d taken from Hagarla’s cave. As Kora and several Askari picked up the shiny objects, the dragons finished what had become an out-and-out slaughter of the sea whips. The water was clouded with blood, gore, and wriggling tentacles.

“Let’s move,” said Kora, pointing at the barracks.

A handful of dragons was moving toward the buildings. One had already landed on a rooftop and was pounding it with her long spiked tail.

Neela watched as Kora and her team readied themselves.

“On your mark…” Kora said.

The Askari waited, heads down, looking as if they were about to swim the race of their lives. “…get set…”

Heads snapped up, bodies tensed, tails coiled.

“…go!”

The warriors exploded off the seafloor, thrusting themselves up into the water. They whooped and called as they swam, making a commotion that no one could ignore. Hearing it, the dragons turned toward them.

“Hey, Halitosis!” Kora shouted at Hagarla in Draca. “Look what we’ve got!” She held up a jewel-studded goblet. “We took it from your cave!”

Neela understood what Kora was saying. It was the bloodbind again; it had to be. She’d never studied a word of Draca in her life.

The other Askari, whooping and laughing, held up their plunder. “We took the dragon treasure! We took the dragon treasure!” they sang.

“Your cave is empty! The treasure is ours, Hagbutt!” Kora shouted.

Hagarla’s eyes widened. She roared loudly, insane with fury. Kora and her group tore off through the water, and the dragons followed—forgetting about the prisoners.

Basra signaled for her group to swim into the prison. They descended on the barracks, shouting that the sea dragons were gone, coaxing the prisoners to follow them to safety.

The prisoners were thin and weak. Parents were clutching their children to them as they swam, crying with joy at being reunited. The Askari moved them all along, kindly but firmly. If the dragons suddenly came back, they’d all be bait.

When they were a good distance north of the prison, Basra nervously said, “Where are Khaali and Leylo and the Rorquals?”

Ikraan, listening hard, pointed. “Over there! I hear Ceto!” she replied. “This way! Come on!” she called to the column of prisoners.

Neela looked where Ikraan was pointing. She saw Khaali and Leylo and behind them, suspended in the water, what looked like several floating mountains. Two dozen humpbacked whales waited for them. When the whales saw Basra and the freed mer, they divided themselves into two lines, with a wide space between them.

“Hail, Ceto, honored leader of the Clan Rorqual!” Basra called out in Whalish, bowing to the largest humpback. “Malkia Kora sends her greetings and her deepest gratitude to you and your kin!”

Ceto dipped his magnificent head. “Greetings must wait, Askara. Get your people within. Make haste!”

Basra and the others led the freed prisoners into the whale-made enclosure while Ceto and the other humpbacks began to sing. Their song was beautiful, but they were not singing to delight their listeners. Whalesong, mysterious and powerful, had strong magic. The humpbacks were casting a protective songspell over the prisoners, putting up a sonic force field around them.

As soon as all the freed merpeople were positioned between the whales, Ceto took his place at the front, and another whale took hers at the back. Two more swam above and below the mer. At Ceto’s signal, they set off in formation. Khaali and Leylo, whaleriders, sat upon the two humpbacks flanking Ceto, scouting the waters for any sign of dragons.

They had smooth swimming, and encountered no dragons—until they were one league east of Nzuri Bonde.

“Trouble ahead!” Leylo shouted.

Seconds later, Hagarla, and six other dragons appeared. Hagarla’s ears were flat against her skull. Her tail lashed the water around her into a froth. She was looking for a fight.

“Leave, Hagarla. You are greatly outnumbered,” Ceto warned, in Draca.