The Case of the Tentacle Terror

by Liam O'Donnell

  The stairs were the last place I wanted to stand. The pounding of kobold footsteps echoed up them. They’d be swarming this room in a matter of seconds. Tank dragged me to the edge of the staircase.

  “No time to argue, little buddy.” In her hand she held a badge of some kind. It was the size of her fist, and she stuck it to my chest. She pushed the badge, and everything around me turned green.

  “What happened to my eyes?” I cried.

  “Nothing.” Tank chuckled. “You’re inside a snorporb. It’s a heliozodic shield that will stop anything from touching you. I designed it as protection for food fights in the school cafeteria.”

  “Very smart,” I said. “You were always an easy target during those battles.”

  “Yeah, well, now you’re the target,” Tank said. “Sorry.”

  The world around me stopped spinning. The green leaves of the island forest came into focus, and the rattling in my brain slowed to a dull thud. I was out of the lighthouse and alive—barely. With fumbling claws I pressed the little badge, and the shield vanished.

  Tank rushed from the lighthouse and helped me to my feet.

  “That was awesome!” she gushed. “You knocked out all the kobolds. A perfect score.”

  “Well done, Fizz,” Aleetha said.

  “You totally saved us,” Gwena added.

  “Thanks. I think.” I wobbled on my feet. When my brain had stopped shaking, I spun to face Tank. “You could have warned me that you were going to toss me down the stairs!”

  My friend grinned. “You wouldn’t have let me, and we’d still be trapped up there. This way was better. Trust me.”

  The sound of barking came through the trees and silenced any argument I could muster.

  “We need to move. This way.” Gwena set off along the edge of the cliff that overlooked the water.

  We followed her to a break in the cliff face. The steep drop became a sandy slope that led to the water’s edge. Gwena descended the slope in wide leaps. Another group of pirates emerged from the woods near the lighthouse. The kobolds sniffed the air and immediately looked in our direction. They charged at us, barking like their fur was on fire.

  “Time to go!” I jumped down the sandy slope after Gwena.

  When we reached the bottom, Gwena was already farther along the beach. She waved to us from the mouth of a cave. Aleetha led the way as we ran through the sand. Once inside the cave, I recognized the beach and huts where Gwena had fed us stew. The goblin crouched just inside the mouth of the cave.

  “Wait here,” she whispered. “There will be more kobolds on the beach.”

  Gwena slipped into the water without making a splash. We watched as she silently swam to the nearest fishing boat. She scrambled onboard and disappeared from view.

  “What is she doing?” Tank asked as loudly as she dared.

  An engine on the fishing boat roared to life. Water churned behind the vessel as it moved toward us.

  “I think she just found us a ride,” Aleetha said.

  Barks erupted on the beach. Angry kobolds ran along the shore, yapping and waving their swords at the escaping boat. A couple of keen pirates ran into the water and splashed after Gwena. But there was little they could do. Gwena had already maneuvered the boat far from the beach and expertly steered it through the water.

  Gwena sat at the back of the vessel, guiding the sputtering motor with one hand. The words Misty Marple were painted on the side of the boat in bright red letters.

  “Get in!” she called when she pulled up alongside us. “I know a spot we can hide out until Stitch’s kobolds get tired of looking for us.”

  We piled into the little boat. Gwena gunned the engine, sending us racing out into the open water. We zoomed past kobolds scrambling down the sandy slope. They howled from the beach as we cut through the water and away from the shore.

  “See you later, suckers!” Tank waved goodbye to the frustrated kobolds.

  Water splashed up from the front of the boat as it pushed through the waves. Gwena squinted against the spray and steered us into deeper water.

  “We’ll circle around to the far side of the island,” she shouted over the engine. “There’s a sheltered cove that should keep us hidden for a little while.”

  Aleetha peered through the mist and frowned. “I think it’s too late for hiding.”

  A rusty grappling hook tied to a rope flew from the deck of the Hound’s Revenge and bit into our fishing boat. The rope was pulled tight, and the sharp tines of the hook locked into our boat.

  Captain Stitch stood on the deck of the Revenge, looking down at us with his one eye.

  “The chase is over, little monsters. You’re Stitch’s prisoners now.”

  Kobold claws pulled me onto the Hound’s Revenge.

  The moment I reached the top of the rope ladder, furry paws grabbed my scales and dumped me alongside my friends at the feet of Captain Stitch.

  “The pests from Rockfall Mountain have returned,” Stitch growled. “I see you survived your little dip in the ocean. You are either all accomplished swimmers or extremely lucky.”

  I wasn’t sure if being zapped by a giant tentacle could be considered lucky, but I kept my mouth shut and let Stitch continue his rant. If the kobold captain was surprised to see us again, he was overjoyed to get his hands on Gwena.

  “Finally, we catch the elusive last goblin from Fishers Hollow. Your brother will be very happy to see you, Gwena. And now perhaps he’ll be a bit more cooperative.”

  Those words sent Gwena lunging at Stitch. Kobold paws pulled her back before she’d even taken a step.

  “You are a feisty one. No wonder we had such a hard time catching you.” The captain waved a dismissive paw at us and walked away. “Secure the prisoners in the brig and set sail for Howler’s Bay.”

  A cheer erupted from the kobolds on the deck at this announcement. Rough paws grabbed at my scales and hauled me to my feet. Aleetha and Tank were treated the same way. A kobold tore off Tank’s tool belt and tossed it aside. It landed on the deck of the ship with a thud before three snarling pirates descended on it and rummaged through the pockets.

  Tank’s eyes welled up with tears. “My belt!”

  We were led down a set of narrow stairs into the bowels of the ship and pushed into a tiny, damp room that smelled of wet rats. Gwena slumped to the ground with her head in her hands. Aleetha sat next to the goblin.

  “It will be okay,” she whispered. “We’ll figure a way out of this mess. Somehow.”

  “It’s not that.” Gwena sniffed. “I haven’t been entirely truthful with you all. I know why Captain Stitch is searching for me. It’s my family.”

  “What about them?” Tank paced the musty room like a trapped dragon.

  Gwena’s eyes had glazed over with exhaustion. “I only know fragments. The night before Stitch took my father away, he explained it to us. My brother and mother listened, but I was too upset that he was leaving to really pay attention. All I remember is it had to do with my dad’s side of the family and magic. We were special, he said. We had gifts other goblins did not have.”

  “Like how only your family could receive the messages from Pequod about the aloo fish?” Aleetha asked.

  Gwena nodded. “Our talents were the reason Stitch chose to take my father away from all the villagers. And then last week Stitch came looking us. He didn’t want my mother, just me and my brother. My brother was caught, but my mother helped me escape before the smoke knocked her out. When Stitch couldn’t find me, he had his pirates take away the rest of the villagers.”

  “It doesn’t make sense,” I said. “Why would Stitch want your family just because you can hear messages from a brainy meglohydra?”

  “I think there’s more to it, Fizz.” A weary smile spread across Gwena’s snout. “We can do other things too.”

  Aleetha’s fiery gaze locked onto Gwena. “What sort of things?”

  Before she could answer, the door flew open and hit the wall with a sound like thu
nder. Two kobolds with mottled fur sauntered in. The first, keys jangling, looked us over. The second kobold watched the door to the brig nervously. They both stepped aside to let a third monster into the room.

  He was taller than the others and carrying a shell-encrusted staff. It was Hilsa, the wave mage. He moved silently toward us, glancing briefly at us before fixing his bulbous eyes on Gwena. She stood to attention under his gaze.

  The door slammed shut and the kobold guard locked us in again. Tank rattled the door, but it would not budge.

  “Why did she leave with that creep?” the troll growled. “She just walked out of here like they were going for ice cream!”

  “Hilsa had her under some kind of command spell,” Aleetha said. “He’s a powerful wizard to be able to cast a spell like that so effortlessly.”

  “We need to get her back.” Now I began to pace the room. “What did she mean, find Pequod? How do you find a meglohydra? And what do you say when you’ve found it?”

  “Before we can worry about that, we need to get out of here.” Tank’s hands went to her waist but stopped when she realized she had no pockets to search. “And we have to get my tool belt back!”

  “One thing at a time,” Aleetha said. “Even if we do escape this room, then what? We’re on a ship crawling with pirates. There’s nowhere to go while we’re on board. Unless you want to go swimming again.”

  “No way,” I said. “I’d like to keep my scales dry from now on.”

  Aleetha pulled her cloak closer around her. “Then let’s bide our time with these pirates and wait for our chance to escape.”

  The ship lurched to one side, making the thick wooden walls creak in protest. Seconds later it tilted in the other direction.

  “I think we’re on the move.” Tank placed a hand on the wall to steady herself.

  The ship continued to slowly rock back and forth, making my pacing wobbly. I moved to the corner of the room, where the floor was somewhat dry, and sat down. The others sat in silence, lost in their own thoughts.

  My mind drifted back to the first time we had met Stitch and Hilsa, on the deck of the Wave Dancer. They had seemed more interested in the cargo containers than in the actual ship. Hilsa had used the density-inverters and magic to make them disappear. I sat up straight. There was something else. Another monster had helped with the spell.

  “Conduit!” I said loud enough to make Tank and Aleetha open their eyes.

  Aleetha rubbed her eyes. “That’s what Hilsa called Gwena before he took her away.”

  “Exactly.” I was on my feet pacing again. “What is a conduit? Is it some magic word wizards use?”

  “If it is, I haven’t heard of it,” Aleetha said.

  “I have.” Tank stretched her arms over her head like she was trying to touch the ceiling. “And so have you, Fizz. You’d remember if you ever listened in science class.”

  “I do listen!” I grumbled. “Sometimes.”

  Tank chuckled. “Then you’d remember that a conduit is a pathway that allows stuff to travel through it. Like a pipe that lets water flow through it. Anything able to carry or transmit something can be a conduit. I use them all the time when I’m building stuff.”

  “Okay, but why call Gwena that?” I said. “Hilsa also called that monster in the black cloak his conduit when he made the steel containers disappear.”

  “I forgot about that monster,” Tank said. “The poor thing didn’t look happy. Not that I could see its face under that robe. But still, it can’t be much fun getting dragged around by a fish-head like Hilsa.”

  “I saw the monster’s tail,” I said. “After Hilsa cast his spell, the monster collapsed, and its tail poked out of the robe. It looked like mine.”

  “You think it was a goblin?” Aleetha asked.

  The door slammed open again, making us all jump. The kobold with the jangling keys and mangy fur sauntered in.

  “On your feet, you lazy layabouts!” he barked. “Captain wants you on deck.”

  We marched out of the room and down the ship’s cramped corridor. As we approached the steep stairs leading to the deck, Aleetha leaned in close to me and whispered, “Remember, just go along with things until we figure a way out of here.”

  Behind us our kobold jailer snarled. “Stop yapping, you two, and get up them stairs!”

  The crew of the Hound’s Revenge cheered at Stitch’s words as we anchored in the harbor.

  “I gave you critters a chance to swim away, but you came back,” the pirate captain growled. “Now you’ll never leave.”

  It felt like a boulder had landed in my gut. Beside me, Tank gulped. Aleetha blinked away tears. The plan was to bide our time and wait for a chance to escape. But as we were led off the ship and into the den of pirates, I doubted that time would ever come.

  Like it or not, Stitch was right. Howler’s Bay was our new home.

  Howler’s Bay smelled like wet fur.

  Our new home was a collection of tumbledown shacks poorly built from pieces of old ships and stolen loot. Kobolds barked from rooftops and howled from windows on that first day we were led from the Hound’s Revenge to Stitch’s mansion overlooking the bay. Calling it a mansion was a stretch. It was really just an old ship that had been dragged to the top of the hill. Stitch called it his mansion, and so the other pirates did as well. In Howler’s Bay, Stitch’s word was law.

  Inside the mansion, the ship’s hull had been hacked open to reveal a series of tunnels dug deep into the hill. When we first arrived, we were led down these tunnels to a large cave crowded with dejected-looking goblins, trolls and even an aging ogre. They didn’t speak much, but we learned they were all travelers who had made the mistake of getting captured at sea by Stitch and his crew. None of the goblins were from Fishers Hollow, and no one knew where the missing villagers might be. Most worrying of all, there was no sign of Gwena.

  Each day we were all led from the cave and put to work. In the evenings we came back, dirty, sore and exhausted. On our third day of captivity, my dreams got seriously weird.

  A wave of cold air gripped my scales. I sat up, half awake. Tank stared down at me. In her hand was my blanket.

  “Sorry, but snatching this was the only way I could wake you up.” She tossed the blanket back to me. “Don’t go back to sleep. Deekin will be prowling through here soon, ready to kick anyone who’s not up and ready to work.”

  “Do I have to? I was having such a nice dream.” I pushed away the dirty blanket and reluctantly got to my feet. “I found my way back home to Fang Harbor.”

  “I dreamed the same thing,” Aleetha said, chuckling. The lava elf rolled up her blanket and pushed it into a corner for safekeeping. “Wishful thinking, I guess.”

  Tank’s eyes narrowed. “Wait a minute. You both had a dream about being in Fang Harbor?”

  Aleetha nodded. “I was wandering the tunnels in here and heard a voice.”

  A chill ran down my scales. “Was it calling you to come?” I asked.

  “Yes,” Aleetha said. “And then I found a door.”

  I gulped. “Did the door have the drawing of Pequod on it?”

  “Yes,” Aleetha said slowly. “And when I stepped through the door, I was in Fang Harbor. You guys were there waiting for me.”

  “That sounds exactly like my dream,” I said.

  Tank chewed nervously on her fingers. “And mine.” Aleetha’s gaze darted between the two of us. “Did we all have the same dream?”

  “I think we did,” I said. “And I think I know who’s responsible.”

  We discussed it over our meager breakfast of stale bread and cold soup.

  Aleetha picked something that could have been fur from her bowl. “You think Pequod, the meglohydra, made us all have the same dream?”

  “How else can you explain it?” I said. “Gwena said he was the one who put the image of the cave drawing into our minds. And that drawing was on the door in each of our dreams.”

  “Okay, but in the dream that door led me righ
t to Fang Harbor,” Tank said. “You think there’s a door around here that will take us back home?”

  “Who knows?” I said. “So far we’ve been teleported by a mind-reading tentacled beast, captured by kobold pirates and nearly eaten by birds with metal hats. Is a magic door any weirder than that stuff?”

  Tank smiled. “You make a good point.”

  “It’s settled.” Aleetha pushed her bowl away from her. “We’ll search for this door with the meglohydra on it and see what lies beyond.”

  “We can do it later today,” I said. “Stitch is having a big feast for some special guests tonight. Most of his muttheads will be too busy gorging themselves to worry about us wandering around.”

  Aleetha got to her feet. “Let’s get to our jobs before some fur-face barks at us for being late.”

  As we left, not even the nasty gruel sloshing in my gut could take the spring from my step. We might be lost, trapped and alone, but for the first time since arriving in Howler’s Bay, we had a plan.

  The smell of baked beetle guts filled my snout.

  Around me, the monsters in Stitch’s kitchen were busy preparing for the pirate captain’s big feast in honor of his special guest. If they knew who his guests were, they didn’t tell a pot-scrubber like me. And it didn’t really matter. Dishwashers weren’t invited to the feast. I’d be called in to clean up after the kobolds had made their mess. While they were stuffing their furry faces, however, I’d be searching for a way home. I was scrubbing the encrusted beetle guts from a dented cooking pot when Chef Gunzik barked at me.

  “You!” The crusty kobold pointed a sharp knife at me. “Go to the storage room and get me a sack of bargle berries. Now!”

  I left the kitchen and walked down the corridor to the storage room. I’d never been sent to fetch anything before, so in a way this was a promotion. My mom would have been proud.