Page 23 of Cursed By Seas and Darkness

“Come on. Her cave is around her somewhere.”

Kaga and I swam around the volcano, searching for the cave opening. It had to be here, but we couldn’t find any paths on the ground. Finally, we found a small slit in the cave, big enough for a merperson to swim through, but not much bigger than that.

We floated together in front of the slit, the darkness inside ominous. Unconsciously, I reached for Kaga’s hand. Holding tight, I slowly swam inside, holding my breath. Who knew what lurked in this cave? Sure, this sea witch was rumored to be friendly, but rumors could be wrong.

Shadows danced along the walls, cast from the red glow coming from deep within the cave. We swam farther along, trying to navigate the tunnels. Neither of us could tell if we were going the right way, and simply chose the way based on instinct.

At one crossroads, Kaga tapped me on the shoulder and pointed to the left. This hall was different from the others; bioluminescent creatures clung to the ceilings and wall, changing the light to a soft blue and green.

I nodded to him and we swam through it. All along the walls, the glow of sea life illuminated intricate carvings along the stone. I saw depictions of the same stories I’d just told Kaga.

I tugged him closer to the wall, showing him, and he grinned delightedly at me. A strange emotion sat in my chest when I saw his smile, and I shoved it away. We had a task to do.

The hallway ended and opened up to a circular room. At the far end, across from where we floated, was a stone door. Gathering my courage, I swam to it and knocked, hoping the sea witch was inside and could hear it.

The door opened, scraping against the cave floor. I looked at Kaga with a grimace, and he nodded at me encouragingly. Instead of waiting for me, though, this time he swam ahead, pulling me along with him.

Inside, a strange purple glow came from a cauldron in the center of the room, just like the other sea witch’s cave. It was the only light in the room. We glanced around, studying the place. “Hello?” I asked. “Is anyone here?”

Suddenly, a face appeared above the purple glow. I jerked back and stared. “Yes?” said a sweet voice, a complete contrast to the creepy glow.

“I’m Allura?” I said, wondering what was going on. “The sea witch cursed Kaga and took his voice. We were wondering if you could fix it?”

The face sighed and then the room lit up. My mouth dropped open when I saw how cozy it was; the complete opposite of the other cave. Instead of a prison, there was a sofa. Paintings lined the walls, as well as vases full of flowers. She even had a bookshelf full of real books.

I gaped at the books. “How did you get those down here?”

The sea witch swam into full view. She flung her dark brown hair behind her and smiled at her collection. “Magic.”

“Obviously,” I muttered under my breath. She grinned, flipping her magnificent tail back and forth, heading toward the shelves. She put her hands on her hips, scanning the books.

While she couldn’t see me, I stared at her tail. It was a brilliant gold color, the edges of the scales lined with a deep blue. I’d never seen a tail like hers and I studied at it until she turned around. I whipped my head to the side, pretending that I hadn’t been creepily checking out her tail.

“My sister can be quite… enthusiastic with her curses,” she said, her sweet voice wrapping around us. Her face brightened, her bright blue eyes lighting up. “Oh, my name is Coraline, by the way. Nice to meet you two.”

Kaga inclined his head, and I held up my free hand, the other still gripped tightly in Kaga’s. Coraline dragged a podium from against the wall, setting it in front of the cauldron. She placed the book gently on top, then stared at us. Her eyes glinted in the light, and for the first time, fear snaked its way through me. Was this really the best idea? Had I been right about her being a good witch?

“Now, let’s see what we’re working with.” Bright tendrils of ink floated toward us, and we backed away toward the wall as the door slammed shut.

Chapter 18

Igripped Kaga’s hand so hard I knew I was cutting off the blood supply to his fingers. The tendrils wrapped around us as Coraline began chanting.

Panic crawled through me as it brought up memories of what happened the last time I was anchored by tendrils. A tear pricked my eye and Coraline whipped her head up, still chanting. Instead of malice in them that I expected, they were full of compassion and sympathy.

The tendril around my shoulder squeezed gently, in a strange hug, and my breathing evened out.

Eventually, the tendrils disappeared, and Coraline shut her book. “Hmm.” She tapped her chin. “My sister put one hell of a curse on you. To even attempt breaking it, I’m going to need a few ingredients.”

“Anything,” I said desperately.

Coraline floated toward me and put a hand on my cheek. “Oh dearie, don’t just agree to anything without knowing the terms first.”

I clenched my fist and stared at her. “Fine then. What are the terms?”

She laughed, a bright tinkling sound, but instead of causing fear, like her sister’s, it warmed me. “I didn’t mean now. For the future.”

“If I don’t get his voice back, I won’t have a future.” It was close to the truth; it would destroy any progress between our parents. Our species. Not to mention my parents would shove me in a cave until I was thirty.

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