Song of the Sea Witch Read online

  Normally, the protection could be seen as a magical light between the two arches made of giant statues shaped like women. But now there was no light.

  “What happened to the gate?” Adora asked.

  “Queen Calypsa wants it open so that her guests from the Horde may be welcomed,” the guard replied.

  “You mean the Horde is on its way here?” Adora asked, alarmed. “When are they supposed to arrive?”

  “Any day now,” the guard answered. “Hordak received his invitation the same day that Queen Angella received hers.”

  Adora, Glimmer, and Bow looked at one another with wide eyes, and seemed to silently agree to remain calm.

  “I don’t understand why anybody would leave their doors open to the Horde,” Glimmer said. “When I meet this Queen Calypsa, I’m gonna—”

  They had reached the throne room doors. The guards swung them open.

  “Queen Calypsa awaits,” they said.

  The three friends cautiously stepped into the throne room. Waterfalls cascaded down from the ceiling, next to murals covered with strange symbols—the language of the First Ones of Etheria.

  “Come, representatives of Bright Moon!” Queen Calypsa demanded.

  She sat on Mermista’s throne, wearing a crown of pearls atop the green hair piled high on her head. She had pale green skin, and fins sprouted from both sides of her neck. Her gown looked as if it was made of shimmering green fish scales.

  Mermista stood next to her. She rolled her eyes when she saw Adora, Bow, and Glimmer.

  “Wow, this is embarrassing,” she said.

  “Mermista! You’re all right!” Glimmer cried.

  “Well, not exactly,” Mermista replied. “This fish lady came, and she kind of tricked me, and I should probably warn you—”

  “Silence!” Queen Calypsa shrieked, and she pointed at Mermista. A green ring glittered on the queen’s finger.

  Mermista’s own hand flew to her mouth, covering it. At the same time, Adora noticed a strange amulet around Mermista’s neck. The green stone glowed with an eerie light.

  “Mermista, is she controlling you somehow?” Adora asked. She turned to the queen. “Whatever you’re doing, you stop that right now!”

  Adora drew her sword. Bow notched an arrow into his bow. Glimmer teleported to Mermista, putting her body between her friend and the queen.

  Queen Calypsa smiled calmly. She opened her mouth and began to sing. The song sounded beautiful and piercing at the same time.

  “Sleep, sleep,

  Surrender to the deep …”

  Adora raised her sword over her head.

  “For the honor of—” she began.

  Then everything went black.

  Catra paced back and forth across the metal floor of the force captains’ barracks. Her pointed ears twitched, her long tail swung from side to side, and her eyes—one blue and one yellow—gleamed with anger.

  “I can’t believe I put you in charge once, just once, and you blew it!” she was saying. “I mean, I can understand Kyle, Rogelio, and Lonnie failing. But I had faith in you, Scorpia! And you failed!”

  Scorpia, who towered above Catra, was an impressive soldier with a poisonous tail and two massive, powerful pincers instead of hands. But she looked frightened of her commander.

  “I was ready to put my life on the line to defend that fortress, Catra,” Scorpia said. “And I did. I took on She-Ra all by myself. But we were outnumbered.”

  Catra stopped and began counting on her sharp-clawed fingers. “It was you, Kyle, Rogelio, and Lonnie against Adora, Glimmer, Bow, Mermista, Frosta, and Perfuma. You weren’t that outnumbered.”

  “Well, Kyle doesn’t really count, does he?” Scorpia asked, mentioning the weakest member of the squad. “And Adora transforms into She-Ra, so she’s technically two people. So that would bring the count to …”

  “That’s not the point!” Catra cried. “I trusted you! And I’m not sure if I can trust you again.”

  “You can absolutely trust me!” Scorpia promised. “There is nobody more loyal to you in the whole Fright Zone than I am! We’re besties! Buds! I’m the number two to your number one. I’m the night to your day. I’m the—”

  “Okay, I get it!” Catra said impatiently. “You might not be perfect, but you’re all I’ve got right now. So I guess I’m stuck with you.”

  Scorpia threw her arms around Catra and squeezed her. “There’s nobody else I’d rather be stuck with, Catra!”

  Catra scowled and wriggled out of her grasp. “I didn’t ask you here for a hug fest. You’re here because we’re going on another mission.”

  Scorpia’s eyes widened. “A mission? Me and you?”

  “And a troop of soldiers,” Catra replied. “Apparently, there’s a new queen in Salineas, and she wants an audience with the Horde.”

  “And Hordak is sending us? That’s awesome,” Scorpia said. “What exactly does she want?”

  “The queen isn’t sure whether she will align with the Horde or with the princesses,” Catra replied. “She wants to meet with us and decide.”

  “I don’t know if you know this, but I have excellent negotiating skills,” Scorpia said. “Just the other day I solved an argument between Kyle and Rogelio over who should get the bottom bunk.”

  “Oh yeah? How’d you do that?” Catra asked.

  Scorpia clicked her pincers. “I cut the bunk bed in half so they both had the bottom,” she answered. “Pretty clever, huh?”

  “Well, we won’t need negotiating skills for this,” Catra said. “Because we’re not going to negotiate.”

  Scorpia frowned. “We’re not?”

  Catra tapped a screen on the wall, and a blueprint of Salineas popped up.

  “This new queen—Queen Calypsa—is leaving the Sea Gate open for us,” Catra said, pointing. “That’s why we’re bringing soldiers with us. We’ll sail in, take over Salineas, and get rid of the queen. It’ll be as easy as taking field rations from Kyle.”

  Scorpia nodded. “That’s smart thinking, Catra,” she said. “Just one thing. If the queen asked for a meeting with the princesses, too, then won’t She-Ra be there?”

  Catra knew what Scorpia was getting at. Hordak had warned Catra to stop trying to go after Adora, and to concentrate on the missions he gave her. But this time, she could do both at once.

  Catra smiled. “If Adora is there, that will be a bonus,” she said. “First, we’ll take Salineas for Lord Hordak. Then we’ll make sure Adora and her friends don’t stand in our way ever again.”

  Scorpia put an arm around Catra.

  “And I’ll be with you every step of the way!” she promised.

  Catra frowned. Then she nodded to Scorpia. “Come on,” she said. “We’re going to Salineas!”

  “Adora? Adora, are you all right?”

  Adora slowly opened her eyes to see Glimmer leaning over her, concern on her face. Her whole body felt weird, almost as if it was floating. Sitting up, she realized why. She, Glimmer, and Bow were in some type of bubble, floating in the air in a room with walls that looked like coral. Adora had the feeling they were no longer in Mermista’s palace.

  “Wh-what happened?” she asked, and then she instinctively reached for her sword. “And where is my sword?”

  “You have been relieved of your sword, as your friends have been relieved of their weapons.”

  Adora looked down. Queen Calypsa stood beneath the bubble, with Mermista close by.

  “Sorry, guys, I tried to warn you,” Mermista said.

  I’m slipping, Adora scolded herself. Once again, I’ve been blindsided. And I’ve lost my sword!

  Her confidence was shaken, but she knew that she shouldn’t reveal that to the queen. She glared at Calypsa. “Your song. It did something to us. It put us to sleep.”

  “I think she’s a sorceress,” Glimmer said. Behind Calypsa, Mermista slowly nodded.

  “A sorceress who has some kind of spell on Mermista,” Adora guessed, and Mermista nodded again, w
ithout Calypsa seeing her.

  Bow frowned. “Wait a second. I thought you asked us here because you wanted to talk about joining forces with Etheria! Why are we in this magical bubble thing?”

  Queen Calypsa laughed.

  “Queen Angella is so trusting!” she said. “She sent her own daughter into danger without a thought. I have no intention of joining forces with Etheria. In fact, I want to destroy the princesses!”

  “Why? What did we ever do to you?” Glimmer asked.

  Calypsa’s expression darkened. “Are you really so ignorant in the crimes of your people, Princess? You destroyed my kingdom, and now I will join forces with Lord Hordak and destroy you. I invited you here just so I could capture you. You will be an excellent bargaining tool in my negotiations with the Horde.”

  “The Horde doesn’t like to negotiate,” Adora told her. “Let us out of here. You’re going to need help defending Salineas when they get here.”

  “When I tell them I have the princess of Bright Moon and the great She-Ra as hostages, they will negotiate, not attack,” the queen said confidently.

  “We’re underwater,” Mermista burst out. “This place is like a maze. The only way out is—”

  “Silence!” Queen Calypsa cried, and just like in the throne room, Mermista’s hand flew to her mouth.

  “Mmmmmffff!” Mermista complained.

  “I will not stand by and let you help your friends,” Queen Calypsa said. “Although there is no help for them as long as they are trapped inside my magical bubble. Now come!”

  She turned and marched off. Mermista followed her, walking stiffly, as though her legs were moving on their own. Mermista caught Adora’s eyes as she passed, and her gaze dropped to the stone floor below them.

  She’s trying to tell me something, Adora realized. But what?

  “That Queen Calypsa might have some powerful magic,” she said out loud. “But she’s not very smart if she thinks she can make a deal with the Horde. They’ll take over Salineas and come find us, and leave her with nothing.”

  “She’s also delusional,” Glimmer added. “I don’t know what she’s talking about, but the princesses have never destroyed anyone’s kingdom!”

  “We need to get out of here, find our weapons, and save Mermista before the Horde gets here,” Bow said. He bounced up and down on the magic bubble. “This thing is strong!”

  “It’s magical,” Glimmer reminded him. “But so are my sparkles. Stand back!”

  Bow and Adora backed away from Glimmer. The princess closed her eyes and thrust out her arms. Bam! A burst of sparkles exploded from her fingertips. The bubble burst, and the three friends tumbled to the floor. Unhurt, they quickly got to their feet.

  “You’re right, Adora,” Glimmer said. “That queen isn’t smart. She had no idea my sparkles could get us out of that bubble.”

  Then she looked up. “I could try to teleport us out of here, but I’m not sure where we are—or where we’d end up.”

  “Mermista said that this place is a maze,” Adora said. “And then she looked down at the floor. I think she was trying to tell me something.”

  They all looked down.

  “Look!” Bow cried, pointing. “There’s a sparkly thing down there.”

  Adora followed his gaze and picked up something flat, shiny, green, and no bigger than her fingernail.

  “That looks like one of the scales on the queen’s dress,” Glimmer remarked.

  “There’s another one down there!” Bow added, pointing to the hallway that Mermista and the queen had just entered.

  “I think it’s some kind of trail,” Adora guessed. “Let’s follow it!”

  She quickly took in her surroundings as they headed down the hallway. Mermista had said this place was underwater. It should have been dark, but the pink walls of coral glowed with a soft, magical light. They found a sparkling green scale about every ten feet, and followed the trail through a labyrinth of twisting, turning, narrow halls. In some spots, colorful fish and plants had been painted on the pink walls.

  “It’s actually really beautiful in here,” Glimmer remarked as they walked. “But I’m starting to feel like we’re never going to get out!”

  Adora, leading the group, looked for another scale but didn’t see one. She continued down the hall—nothing. Then the hall forked into two directions.

  “The trail has ended,” she announced. “We’re on our own.”

  “We can’t be far from the exit,” Bow guessed. “Let’s try this way first.”

  He jogged down the right branch of the fork, and Adora and Glimmer followed. They made a right turn, and the tunnel opened up into a room. They entered and saw that the room was empty—and had ten open doors leading to ten more tunnels.

  “Really?!” Adora said. “We don’t have time to play ‘guess the tunnel.’ We need a strategy.”

  Glimmer frowned. “Like what?”

  “I’m not sure,” Adora said. “But there must be some logical way to do this. Like, we should make our own trail, and when we come to a dead end, we can follow it back to where we last started.”

  “Or we could just follow that sound,” Bow said.

  “What sound?” Adora asked, but as she spoke the words, she heard singing.

  “Oh no! Is Calypsa back?” Glimmer asked.

  They cautiously moved forward, and the singing became louder. Adora grinned. She knew that voice well.

  “I’m stuck in a bubble, it’s true, it’s true!

  Do you like bubbles? I once did, too!

  I used to ride on the waves through the deepest blue,

  But now I’m stuck here without you …”

  “Sea Hawk!” Adora cried.

  Adora, Glimmer, and Bow raced toward the sound of their friend’s voice. They turned left, and then right, and then left … and then they came to a giant magic bubble with a man inside who looked every inch a sea captain with his jaunty mustache, red bandanna, and gold-trimmed blue jacket.

  “Blustering barnacles! Is this a vision I see? A hallucination brought on by days of loneliness in this magical prison?” Sea Hawk asked.

  “No, it’s really us!” Bow said.

  “We were trying to escape from here when we heard your voice,” Glimmer explained.

  “Escape? Were you not trapped in a bubble, too? How, then, did you escape?” Sea Hawk asked.

  Glimmer’s purple eyes twinkled. “It just takes a second. Hang on.”

  She pointed at the bubble. Bam! It exploded in a shower of sparkles, and Sea Hawk tumbled to the floor. He jumped up, put his hand on his hip, and struck a jaunty pose.

  “Thank you, Sprinkles! Your marvelous sparkles have prevailed, and now I can partake in the sweet taste of freedom!” he cried, pumping his fist in the air. Then he deflated. “Mermista! We must save her! I fear she has suffered a horrible fate.”

  “She’s alive,” Adora informed him. “But that Queen Calypsa is controlling her somehow.”

  Sea Hawk nodded. “Yes, through the amulet.”

  “I knew it!” Glimmer said. “It has something to do with that green stone around Mermista’s neck, right?”

  “The queen wears a green ring that allows her to control the amulet, and with the amulet, she controls Mermista’s movements,” Sea Hawk explained. “Mermista can talk if Calypsa lets her, but she cannot escape. And that’s not all. If Calypsa says the right words, the amulet will turn Mermista into a puddle of water in an instant!”

  Glimmer gasped. “That’s horrible!”

  “Wait, how did Calypsa get the amulet on Mermista in the first place?” Bow asked.

  “I fear that I am to blame,” Sea Hawk said. “But I will tell you my tale as we walk. The exit is not far, and I know the way.”

  Sea Hawk continued his story as they traveled through the halls. “Several days ago, I was sailing the seas on my new ship, the finest ship to ever sail the seas. A strong wind blew my hair, and the sun shone overhead, smiling on my journey, for even the weather is my fr
iend! Then I heard a song—a strange and beautiful song that compelled me to sail in its direction. I did, and then the song changed, and though I struggled with all my mighty might, I fell asleep.”

  “Calypsa put us to sleep, too!” Bow said.

  Sea Hawk nodded. “When I awoke, I found myself trapped in a bubble. I did not know where I was,” he went on. “Then that green, fiendish woman appeared, with my Mermista. She tricked Mermista and told her that I was in trouble. My dear, sweet Mermista came to save me! But Calypsa sang her song again, and she slipped the amulet onto Mermista’s neck. When we awoke, she explained the amulet’s terrifying powers.”

  “And she left you down here, and brought Mermista back to the palace at Salineas,” Glimmer deduced.

  Sea Hawk nodded. “I have been so worried, wondering what has happened to her!” he said. “Now we must make this right turn, and we are almost there.”

  “How do you know the way out, if you woke up in the bubble?” Adora wondered.

  “Calypsa and Mermista returned several times to give me rations,” Sea Hawk explained. “I listened carefully to the pattern of their footsteps. We are almost there.”

  They walked past an open room, and Adora peered in. On the wall, there was a huge map of an underwater kingdom, and bubbles floating in the room held different objects: a mermaid doll, a necklace of sea stones, a jewel-studded goblet …

  Adora stopped. “What’s all this?”

  “This must be what is left of Calypsa’s old kingdom, the one that was destroyed,” Sea Hawk guessed. “When I was in the bubble, she told me a harrowing tale of how the princesses attacked the kingdom of Corala with their armies of laser cannons.”

  “Princesses don’t use laser cannons,” Glimmer said.

  Adora looked thoughtful. “Corala?” she repeated. “The battle of Corala was talked about in all our cadet history classes. It was one of Lord Hordak’s great triumphs.”