Song of the Sea Witch Read online

  CONTENTS

  TITLE PAGE

  THE WORLD OF ETHERIA

  ADORA

  SHE-RA

  THE HORDE

  THE REBELLION

  CHAPTER 1: A MYSTERIOUS MESSAGE

  CHAPTER 2: A SURPRISE IN SALINEAS

  CHAPTER 3: CATRA’S PLAN

  CHAPTER 4: CAPTURED!

  CHAPTER 5: THE STORY OF THE SEA SORCERESS

  CHAPTER 6: MONSTER TROUBLE

  CHAPTER 7: THE SOUND OF VICTORY

  CHAPTER 8: WHAT DID WE FORGET … ?

  CHAPTER 9: HEY, ADORA!

  CHAPTER 10: TRUST

  ABOUT THE AUTHOR

  TEASER

  COPYRIGHT

  On a planet called Etheria, two forces battle for control.

  The Horde, with its skillfully trained soldiers and advanced technology, has one goal: to conquer all of Etheria in the name of Hordak.

  The other force, the Rebellion, is made up of princesses from across the planet. A series of heartbreaking defeats left the alliance broken for years—until one fateful day, a hero rose among them and reunited them once more.

  Adora, a Horde soldier, discovered the sword that transforms her into She-Ra, the hero whose destiny was written by the First Ones a thousand years ago. With She-Ra leading the princesses, the alliance delivered a crushing defeat to the Horde at the battle of Bright Moon.

  But Lord Hordak, the leader of the Horde, has no plans to give up. With the help of a fallen princess, he is creating newer, better weapons and technology. He will not stop until the princesses are defeated once and for all.

  As their story unfolds, meet Adora and some of the characters who will determine the fate of Etheria …

  Raised by the Horde, Adora believed she was doing good. But when she finds a mythical sword that unlocks her power as She-Ra, Adora is driven to fight for Etheria as a leader of the Rebellion.

  ABILITIES: Adora is a clever problem solver, a fast and athletic soldier, and a brave fighter.

  When Adora raises the sword and pledges to fight “for the honor of Grayskull,” she is transformed into the mythical warrior princess She-Ra. Adora retains her personality and sense of self, but she’s taller and stronger—and has much better hair.

  POWERS: Super-strength, shapeshifting sword, limited healing powers, connection to the ancient First Ones of Etheria

  Catra and Adora were both orphans and were best friends growing up in the Horde. Catra is a prankster with a villainous streak that she is forced to explore once Adora discovers the sword.

  ABILITIES: She’s cunning and fast, with catlike reflexes.

  Even though she is a force captain in the Horde, Scorpia has a good heart. But she’s eager to please her superiors, especially Catra, and that makes her a fierce opponent.

  POWERS: She has a poisonous scorpion tail and above-average strength.

  The evil leader of the Horde is bent on world domination. The Horde recruits rarely see him, as he prefers to plot from the depths of his lab.

  ABILITY: He has a brilliant technological mind.

  The princess of Bright Moon is driven to find her own path and is an enthusiastic leader of the Rebellion. She has inherited magical powers from her mother, but her magic is limited, which can make her feel insecure at times.

  POWERS: Teleportation, energy blasts, sparkle powers

  Glimmer’s best friend is a good guy who values loyalty and honor above everything else. He will do anything for his friends—and even complete strangers.

  ABILITIES: He’s an expert archer and a whiz with technology.

  She is Glimmer’s mother and the immortal queen of Bright Moon. After the tragic death of her husband at the hands of the Horde, she is overprotective of her daughter.

  POWER: Flight

  The princess of Salineas is brutally honest, but she sometimes keeps her real feelings hidden so that no one will see her soft side. She is a powerful ally to the Rebellion.

  POWERS: She can control water and transform her legs into a mermaid’s tail.

  This pirate loves to sing sea shanties and tell stories bragging of his ocean adventures. He began as a friend to Mermista, but soon became a valuable member of the team to save Etheria.

  Ability: His confidence is his greatest asset.

  “The Rebellion is unstoppable!” Glimmer was saying. “Taking that fortress from the Horde was an impressive exercise in teamwork!”

  In a shower of purple sparkles, she teleported from her nest-like bed near the ceiling of her bedroom and materialized next to Adora. Her mouth in a determined line, Adora practiced fencing moves with her sword while Glimmer talked.

  “Perfuma created that giant Plant Golem that swatted away the Horde soldiers on foot,” Glimmer went on. “Frosta pummeled those Horde bots with her ice fists! Mermista combined her waves with Bow’s electric arrows to fry the Horde’s laser cannons. It was amazing!”

  “Definitely,” Adora agreed, thrusting at an invisible enemy.

  “And after Bow stopped that Kyle kid with one of his net arrows, I saved Bow from being blasted by that lizard guy,” Glimmer said.

  Bow was sitting cross-legged on the floor at a low table in a corner of the room.

  “Yeah, thanks for that,” Bow said, keeping his eyes on the tiny wooden figure he was painting.

  Glimmer turned back to Adora. “And Adora, you—”

  “—let Scorpia knock my sword out of my hands after I transformed into She-Ra,” Adora replied. “If you hadn’t distracted her, I might be—”

  “But that’s exactly what teamwork is all about!” Glimmer pointed out. “When one of us is in trouble, another one of us is right there to back them up.”

  Adora nodded. “I know. But a team is only as strong as its weakest member. And I’ve got to work on my sword skills.” She spun in a circle, holding her sword out in front of her.

  Bow looked up. “You’re not saying you’re a weak link, are you?” he asked. “Because you’re the only one of us who can transform into an eight-foot-tall superstrong warrior with amazing powers.”

  “Powers that are no good without the skill to back them up,” Adora said.

  Her life before she had become She-Ra seemed like an eternity ago, but it was really only a few months. It all began when she discovered the sword in the Whispering Woods. The sword was linked to her, somehow, and when she held it over her head and said, “For the honor of Grayskull!” she transformed into She-Ra, Princess of Power.

  She’d had to quickly decide whether she wanted to stay with the Horde, the fighting force from the Fright Zone dedicated to defeating the princesses of Etheria—or use her new powers to join the princesses and stop the Horde.

  She chose the princesses, turning her back on her best friend, Catra, a force captain in the Horde. That began a chain reaction that resulted in a huge fight, the battle of Bright Moon. The princesses won that battle, but Catra wasn’t giving up. Every day there was a new battle to fight.

  I have to be stronger, better, faster, Adora told herself. We have to defeat the Horde and save Etheria once and for all!

  Glimmer touched the end of Adora’s sword and gently lowered it.

  “You’re being too hard on yourself, Adora,” she said. “The Rebellion is going to win this fight. After our last battle, I’m more confident than ever. I can’t wait for our next strategy session.”

  “I wish the other princesses hadn’t gone back to their kingdoms,” Bow said. “I just can’t seem to get the details right on their battle figures.”

  “Let me see,” Glimmer said, and she teleported over to him.

  Bow had created what he called a “war table” so that they could plot out battle strategies using pieces that represented the members of the
Rebellion and their opponents. He’d started out by carving and painting figures of himself, Glimmer, and She-Ra, but now the other princesses wanted their own.

  The original figures stood in the center of the board: She-Ra with her flowing mane of golden hair, Glimmer with her pink-and-purple hair and blue cape, and Bow grasping a tiny bow and arrow.

  Circling them were the other finished figures. Perfuma, with her long, pale hair and pink-and-green gown. Frosta, shorter than all the rest, with her fur-trimmed jacket and blue hair. Spinnerella’s purple leotard and tights matched her long, purple hair, and Netossa’s figure had a sweep of white hair over one side of her face.

  In his hand, Bow held a battle figure wearing a gold-and-turquoise outfit.

  “I can’t get the shade of Mermista’s hair just right,” Bow complained.

  “It should be a little more blue, less green,” Glimmer offered.

  Bow nodded. “You’re right!” He dipped his paintbrush into a little jar of blue paint.

  “Actually, can you finish that later?” Glimmer asked him. “Mom is expecting us to give her a report on the battle at the fortress.”

  Bow stuck out his tongue as he concentrated on painting, adding blue strokes to Mermista’s hair. “Almost got it … perfect!” he announced.

  “Yeah, that’s good,” Glimmer agreed. “You’ve managed to capture that ‘I don’t care’ look on her face just right.”

  Adora tucked her sword into her belt. “Mermista does care,” she remarked. “She just doesn’t want anyone to know that she does.”

  It had taken a little while for Adora to understand the princess from Salineas. Mermista was brutally honest and acted as if nothing or nobody impressed her. But she had quickly proven that she cared about a lot of things, including saving Etheria and protecting her friends. The Rebellion wouldn’t be the same without her.

  “Well, I’m sure she’s going to have a problem with her battle figure,” Bow said. “But I tried my best.” He put the figure down on the war table.

  “Are we ready?” Glimmer asked. “Mom’s waiting.”

  “Sure, let’s go,” Adora said.

  The three friends left Glimmer’s room and walked through the gleaming marble halls of Bright Moon Castle. They passed a line of guards, majestic in their flowing robes and face masks. They headed down a staircase to the throne room of Queen Angella—Glimmer’s mom.

  The queen’s large, pale pink wings shimmered— they mesmerized Adora every time she saw them. Queen Angella’s long hair, the same shades of pink and purple as Glimmer’s, cascaded down her shoulders.

  “Glimmer, Adora, Bow, it’s good to see you,” she said in her warm, friendly voice. “Now, tell me—what happened at the fortress?”

  “It was awesome!” Glimmer began, but before she could say any more, a Bright Moon guard marched into the room.

  “Announcing a messenger from the kingdom of Salineas!”

  Adora and her friends turned. A man with long, blue hair wearing a turquoise uniform walked in. He bowed to Queen Angella.

  “Queen Angella of Bright Moon, I bring a message from Queen Calypsa of Salineas.”

  “Queen Calypsa? Don’t you mean Princess Mermista?” Glimmer asked.

  The messenger shook his head. “Her Majesty Calypsa is the new queen of Salineas. She has not decided whether Salineas will continue to support the Rebellion or will give their allegiance to the Horde.”

  Queen Angella’s eyes narrowed. “Who is this Calypsa, and what claim does she have on Salineas?”

  “And what about Mermista? Is she okay?” Adora asked.

  “All questions will be answered once you meet with Queen Calypsa in Salineas,” the messenger replied.

  Adora stepped in front of him and put her hand on her sword. “Sorry, but I need an answer now. Is Mermista all right?”

  “She is alive, but …” The messenger nervously looked away. “I can say no more.”

  Adora took a step closer to him. “I think you can.”

  Queen Angella stood up. “Adora, please back down,” she said. “We must not blame the messenger. I will go to Salineas and find out what is happening.”

  “No, Mom, let us go,” Glimmer said. “Mermista is our friend. Something weird is happening in Salineas, and we have to help her!”

  Her mother considered this. “I understand,” she said. “You have a connection to Mermista. You, Adora, and Bow shall go.”

  “I was supposed to … Calypsa asked for the queen of Bright Moon,” the messenger stammered.

  Now it was Glimmer’s turn to get in his face. “What? The princess of Bright Moon isn’t good enough?”

  “I—I’m sure that will be fine,” the messenger said, and he hurried out of the throne room.

  “There is no time to waste!” Adora said. “We’ve got to get to Salineas and save Mermista!”

  A riot of noise streamed out of the tavern in the coastal town of Seaworthy. Accordions played, pirates sang, and tough customers argued, joked, and laughed.

  “Sea Hawk must be in here somewhere,” Adora said as she entered with Glimmer and Bow. The sea captain was a friend of Mermista’s—and a big help to the Rebellion.

  “I’m sure he’ll take us right to Mermista on his ship when he hears what we’ve got to say,” Glimmer remarked.

  “Does he still have a ship, or did he set fire to the last one?” Bow asked. “I’ve lost track.”

  “I’m sure he’ll know how to get one,” Adora replied.

  They approached the tavern’s server—a muscled woman with purple skin and a shock of short, white hair.

  “Is Sea Hawk here?” Adora asked.

  “Hasn’t been around here for days,” the server grunted in reply.

  Bow gasped. “Days? Do you have any idea what happened to him?” he asked.

  The woman shrugged and turned away from them.

  “I have a bad feeling about this,” Glimmer said, frowning. “First Mermista, and now Sea Hawk.”

  “Sea Hawk might just be on one of his adventures,” Adora said. “But you could be right. Now it’s even more important than ever that we get to Salineas right away. We need to get to the bottom of this. We’ll just have to find another boat.”

  “Did you say you needed a boat?”

  Adora turned to see a woman wearing a crisp blue uniform a shade darker than her eyes.

  “They call me Liana,” she said. “I couldn’t help but overhear—I can take you to Salineas.”

  “Awesome!” Adora said. “What’s your price? Do you want me to arm wrestle you, and if I win, we get a free ride?”

  “That’s … not necessary. I’m going that way, anyway,” Liana explained. “You’re welcome to come with me.”

  “Thank you, Liana,” Glimmer said, and they followed her out of the tavern.

  “What kind of a name is Liana for a sea captain?” Bow whispered to Glimmer and Adora as they walked. “I thought all captains had names like Sea Hawk, or Shark Slayer, or Wave Rider!”

  “I don’t think it matters,” Glimmer answered. “Besides, it seems like she knows what she’s talking about.”

  Liana led them to a sturdy-looking ship. It wasn’t big, but it would be large enough for all of them.

  “Help me weigh the anchor and hoist the sails, and we’ll be on our way,” Liana said.

  Adora, Glimmer, and Bow got to work with the no-nonsense captain. They grabbed the arms of the capstan, a rotating post on the deck that was attached to the anchor with chains. Once they raised the anchor, they helped her unleash the sails.

  “Um, shouldn’t you be singing sea shanties while we do this?” Bow asked.

  “No,” Liana replied.

  “Oh. Well, Sea Hawk always sings sea shanties,” Bow said. “So I thought …”

  “Nope,” Liana said. “Can’t stand them. I’d rather listen to the wind and the birds.”

  Without another word, their captain set sail. There was a pleasant breeze and a calm ocean as they sailed to Salineas,
but the three friends each churned with worry as they made their way to Mermista’s island kingdom. What was going on there?

  After a few hours, Salineas appeared on the horizon: a city of pale purple coral structures adorned with seashells rising from purple stone. Mermista’s palace towered above them all, with spiraling turrets that kissed the bright blue sky.

  Liana steered the boat into the harbor.

  “Thanks, Liana,” Bow said. “Are you going to go set your boat on fire now?”

  Liana frowned. “Why would I do that?”

  Bow sighed. “Never mind,” he said. “I guess I just miss Sea Hawk. I hope he’s okay.”

  “If he’s in trouble, we’ll figure it out,” Adora said.

  They said goodbye to Liana and walked onto the shore, where two Salinean guards waited for them. Adora marched up to them.

  “You have to tell us what is going on!” she demanded. “Who is this Queen Calypsa? And what happened to Mermista?”

  The two guards exchanged glances.

  “We cannot say,” one of them replied.

  The other one looked around nervously. “In our hearts, we still serve the princess,” he said. “But we must obey Queen Calypsa now.”

  “But why?” Glimmer asked.

  “If we tell you, Mermista’s life will be in danger,” he answered. “Now come, let us bring you to the queen.”

  For a split second, Adora thought about using force to make the guards tell her what was going on. She’d learned how to do that while training in the Horde. But she didn’t want to hurt them, and if they were telling the truth, it was best to play along until she, Glimmer, and Bow saw for themselves what had happened to Mermista.

  They walked toward the palace. The people of Salineas shuffled through the streets, their heads down. One little girl looked up at Adora as she passed, giving her a hopeful glance.

  What is everyone so afraid of? Adora wondered.

  As they got closer to the palace, Adora saw the Salineas Sea Gate rising behind it. Connected to Mermista’s runestone, the Pearl, the gate was a magical barrier that protected Salineas—and the ocean passage to Bright Moon—from the Fright Zone, the land of the Horde.