by Janis Mackay
The shadowy form of the eel slithered on, over more and more heaps of broken stones until it slinked to a stop. By now they had entered the dark heart of the ruin, which Tarkin would probably call the epicentre! An eerie atmosphere pervaded this place, which was dominated by a tower of rubble. At the foot of the hideous tower, skulls lay embedded in grey sand. Above Fin’s head one plastic bottle spun spookily as though caught up in a never-ending whirlpool.
The ghost of the conger had vanished. Fin twisted around, scanning the morbid place for the remains of the great white shark and for a key. Faced with the ruins of a mighty palace the attempt to find a tiny key felt hopeless. To pull back the rubble and search under every fallen stone would take for ever – and his so-called guide seemed to have gone.
Wish I’d never agreed to do his killing. The dry groan jabbed into Fin’s brain. Wish I’d never been born. Here we are – oh how the mighty fall. Like me, the monster king has no rest. Like me he’s still around.
Magnus Fin recoiled, terrified. His foot struck a slumped rock. Instantly he jolted forward and spun round. What did the ghostly eel mean, still around?
Like me he can’t let go. Me, I hold on to the awful memories. Him, he holds on to the vain hope that still, somehow, he could be king of the land. What a fool!
Where? Fin found courage. He twisted round slowly in the water. He had fought with the monster king before, and he had won. Now, if he understood the ghostly eel, he was going to have to fight with the monster king again – except this time it would be with his ghost. Where is he?
Oh, you can’t see him. He’s not even a shadow like me. But he’s here alright, clinging on. To find the key you’ll have to get past him.
Magnus Fin clenched his fists and grasped his moonstone for courage. If he had to, he would! He kicked back his heels, glided forward and began to circle the great tower of rubble. From out of the corner of his eye he saw the shadow of the eel slither off. Fin swam slower now, sensing the presence of the monster ghost. The murky water trembled. A stone dislodged from the great tower and tumbled in slow motion down, down to the terrible depths.
Where are you? Fin shouted. Come out and show yourself. It’s all over, sad ghost. It’s time for King Neptune to rule the seas with wisdom once more.
Another stone tumbled, this one rolling in Fin’s direction, as though pushed by an invisible hand. Fin darted aside. Something was there, he was sure.
It’s time to give up. The sea has suffered enough, do you hear me? You have to let go. Your terrible reign is over; you have to understand that.
At that moment the trembling water stilled. Fin, hoping his words had convinced the monster ghost, swam faster now. He was filled with the courage of his moon-stone. There was no time to lose. Would he find the key, glinting and golden, behind this mound of rubble? Magnus Fin pulled back a stone from the heap.
At that very moment the still water thrashed out in a frenzy. Fin was flung back as a solid wall of water crashed over him.
Chapter 25
A stone hurtled through the water. Fin ducked, just in time to feel the force of that stone skim his head.
Where are you? Fin shouted, twisting round. He grabbed a stone from the mound of rubble to shield his face.
The water ahead of him grew darker. Suddenly a spray of bones shot from that darkness. With his stone shield Magnus Fin batted them off. A gasping, choking moan spread through the water. The invading voice seemed to wind round his throat. At the same moment Magnus Fin felt a cold pressure clamp against his arms. The moaning, invisible force shook him. It prised the stone shield from him. Wrenched from his grip the stone fell away, bouncing off in slow motion.
Magnus Fin grasped at the muscular force that was now pinning his arms down. Though there was nothing to see save furious swirling water, something sinister had a hold of him, and it squeezed him with a vice-like grip.
Though the monster ghost was strong and invisible, Magnus Fin had his own human-selkie strength. It pulsed from his heart; it flowed in his blood. He sunk his fingers into the great weight that held him and he pushed. With every ounce of strength he pushed. Astonished, he felt the cold thing slipping away.
It’s time to let go, Fin cried, thrusting the quivering weight off him.
Fin’s victory was short lived. The sea lashed back, pushing down on his throat. Fighting for breath Fin grabbed at the ghostly force and tried to drive it off. The water pounded him as the ghostly pressure wound tighter and tighter.
An unbearable haunted sigh slithered into his ears. Magnus Fin struggled to block it out but it threatened to drive him mad. In desperation he imagined he could hear Aquella’s song, reaching out to him from the land.
With one almighty surge of strength he sunk his fingers into the cold mass and grappled. He heard Aquella sing. He wrestled with the monster ghost. He pushed and he pushed. All the time her song grew louder. Fin felt the ghost weaken. The churning sea grew limp. Pulsing life rushed back into his body. Magnus Fin hurled the thing off, but this time was ready for its return.
It’s over, Fin shouted. This broken palace, this game – it’s over. The sea was never yours in the first place. And the treasure is not yours. Let the one who knows how to rule the seas rule them. You’ve done enough harm. You don’t have to live like…
Fin felt a punch in his back. He swung round. He felt a punch in his stomach. Then in amazement watched as the swirling water in front of him took shape. From the churning murk a huge fish seemed to materialise. It had scales, red glinting scales. It was as big as a man, as slippery as an eel and had no eyes. It was like no fish Fin had ever seen. He reached out with both hands to seize the monstrous fish. The writhing creature squirmed in his hands. Like a mad thing it twisted but Fin held tight. Magnus Fin was strong. He wrestled with the fish, squeezing it tight, till it shrunk. Horrified Fin watched the fish grow smaller and smaller, then slither free, only to return a moment later. But not as a fish.
A dark whirlpool spun. From it long spidery legs emerged. What looked like a Japanese warrior crab lashed out at him and tore a gash in Fin’s wetsuit. What was happening? Was this the same invisible force that had threatened to suffocate him?
Fin thrashed out through the water. He kicked. He punched, but the hideous warrior crab, like a boxer, danced and hopped about, first in front then behind, taunting him with its many legs. It scratched him with its sharp pincers.
Wincing, Fin retreated. How could he fight a warrior crab? He scooped up a stone from the rubble and hurled it, smashing two of its legs. The creature toppled forward. Fin fell upon it and tore at its other legs, but in his hands the hard legs turned to grey jelly. The jelly turned to tentacles. Now he was wrestling with a writhing squid.
The jelly tentacles thrashed out, slapping across Magnus Fin’s face. It stung, but gone were the killer metallic tentacles the awful creature had had in life. For this was a form Magnus Fin recognised. He had forced the monster ghost to take the shadowy shape of the mutated giant octopus it had been in life.
Fin clung on, pulling at the jelly-like legs. But where Fin only had two arms the ghost had many tentacles. Fin tried to grab two at once, but they squirmed through his fingers like mush.
Fin wrestled, pushing and punching into the blob. The clammy substance stuck to his face, threatening to suffocate him. He shoved it off, but instantly felt the cold tentacles wrap round his legs. He yanked them off and dug his elbow hard into the sticky mass, sending the ghost-creature lurching backwards.
In the next second the grey, repulsive bulk surged forward. The sea churned. The phantom bloated. It was hard to tell what was water, what was ghost. Fin sharpened his eye-lights then pounced on the shuddering blob. Though no more than thrashing jelly, the fiend wasn’t defeated yet. Fin shook it. He squeezed and crushed it. Strength he didn’t know he possessed burned in him. Under his hands he felt the slime grow limp. He was winning. He was sure of that.
It’s over, Fin shouted. It’s time to finally let go, do you hear
me?
With a colossal shove he pushed the creature off him. As the glue-like form oozed away Fin felt something hard scrape across his hand. Fin grabbed at it. It was a claw, clenched and hard as metal. Then his probing hand brushed over something else. Something soft. Something dark.
With both hands Fin grabbed at the clenched claw and shook it. What was it holding? Whatever it was, the spectre of the monster king was clutching on to it with every last ounce of ghostly strength.
Fin pulled at the claw. He felt it judder. The sea sloshed about them, but Fin strove to force the claw apart. All the sea ghost’s power went into grasping hold of this soft, dark thing. But what was it? Fin felt it brush over his hand again. Whatever it was felt strangely familiar.
The monster ghost groaned and its claw thrashed the water, hurling Magnus Fin backwards. He crashed back against a shark’s skull and watched, horrified, as the ghost reformed all of its grey ghostly tentacles and lashed them through the dank water like whips. But its one claw still clutched the dark thing.
Fin dived forward, wrapped his arms around a frenzied tentacle and hung on tight. As the monster ghost thrashed him downwards, to smash him against rocks, Fin dived free and grasped the clutching claw.
Magnus Fin wouldn’t be shaken off again. The creature was raving mad now. Incensed, it pulsed and convulsed, hurling debris everywhere. Rubble, like missiles, careered towards Fin. He ducked but clung on, plunging his nails into the claw. To give him strength, he imagined Aquella singing. It drowned out the awful sighing. Her song grew louder. Fin forced the claw open. Hope leapt in him as he felt the creature grow limp. The ghost was beaten; he knew it.
Wrenching the claw apart Magnus Fin tugged at the thing it had so desperately clung on to. He gasped. It was fur, and not just any fur. The ghost was clinging to a seal skin.
Feeling the softness of the fur, his heart raced. Could it be? Could it possibly be? The fur felt warm and thick and good. Fin elbowed away the remnants of the quivering creature. Its strength was spent. Carefully Magnus Fin tugged at the fur till finally it slipped free from the awful claw. Hope burned in him. Could this possibly be Aquella’s seal skin?
Magnus Fin pressed the dark pelt to him, and at the same moment he felt the sea ghost tremble and withdraw.
You can go now, Fin shouted. There’s nothing to cling on to any more. You can be something better, something wiser.
The water shuddered. The grey jelly-like ghost shrunk, and shrunk. The sea quivered then grew still. Magnus Fin stared in astonishment as the ghost took the shape of a small bright blue fish. The awful sighing was gone. The terrible greed, Fin knew, was gone.
Magnus Fin, pressing the seal skin to his chest, looked in wonder as the small creature flicked its tail and swam off. It had been released. Somehow Fin understood, it would harm no more.
With a lump in his throat he pressed the dark fur to his face and breathed it in. He couldn’t believe it! He had found Aquella’s seal skin! By some magic, the seal skin was whole again, not torn to shreds as Aquella believed. It was perfect.
Well done. You fought well. You won.
Fin swung round. The shadowy conger eel swam towards him.
I have not been released as he has. But perhaps my turn will come. Now I can show you the broken throne. Come.
Yes, we have to hurry, said Fin. I can feel the current changing. Neptune’s brewing another storm. Quick, show me where to find the key.
Chapter 26
Magnus Fin squeezed Aquella’s seal skin inside his wetsuit and glided through the murk. He felt exhausted after the ghostly wrestle but also exhilarated after the victory. But this was no time for glory. The task was not yet complete. The precious Seudan waited in the unopened kist in the cave. The key was not yet found. Fin slowed down as the ghost of the conger eel swayed back and forth in front of yet another heap of rubble.
Where have you brought me? Fin called to it. Is this where the banqueting hall was?
Yes. Under this rubble. Under these fallen walls and pillars. But you’ll never find your key, came the mournful voice, and I am useless. Insubstantial spectre that I am.
Fin kicked back his heels and approached the pile of rubble. Nothing in this ruin resembled the mighty glittering palace that had once stood on the ocean floor. Fin circled the heap of stones. Are you sure?
It doesn’t look like it, I know. But this was the banqueting hall. Trust me.
Fin gazed for a moment at the sad ghost. I trust you, he said, then reached out and grabbed at loose stones.
The stones were heavy and to dislodge just one took great effort. Fin groaned. There were perhaps five thousand stones piled up. How would he ever find the key? Aquella had said the great white shark guarded the monster’s keys, and the great white shark had been crushed in the banqueting hall moments before the whole palace came crashing down. So Magnus Fin was going to have to pull back all these stones until he got to the bottom. It seemed impossible!
He managed to push back ten, twenty, thirty, forty stones. Already his arms were aching. It had been easier to wrestle with the ghost of the monster king. He dislodged another, then another – but thousands still remained. Magnus Fin kept going. Some stones were small, others were huge. He struggled with an enormous stone, scraped his fingers, broke his nails. Finally he succeeded in toppling the mighty stone then sank back, resting his aching limbs as he watched the stone tumble through the water. It rolled and bounced. He watched it veer off into the gloom, then gaped in amazement as several silvery glittering shapes came gliding out of that same gloom and swam towards him.
That’s him!
Yeah, pal, you’re the greatest!
The champ!
Anything we can do for you, bro. Just give us the nod. Cos we just cruising.
Just loafing.
Just killing time.
Magnus Fin couldn’t believe it. It was the fish gang he had met on his last mission, but what a change.
H-h-hi, he stammered. How are you all doing? You – you look great!
We are great! Thanks to you, buddy, thanks to you.
Fin couldn’t believe the transformation. What had happened to the ugly, ragged, skinny bunch of fish? The fish that now surrounded him, staring at him with their round glittering eyes were fat and healthy looking. Sure, they still had a few rusting hooks hanging from their lips, trailing strands of seaweed and whatever else they had picked up along the way, but there was a shine to their eyes and they looked happy.
Fin glanced at the shadow of the conger eel that was now slinking around the base of the rubble heap. Did you have something to do with this? he asked.
Thought you could do with a bit of help, the ghost of the conger said, sounding, Fin was sure, slightly less depressed than usual.
Relieved, Fin grinned and turned back to the fish gang, who, he realised, couldn’t see the slinking shadow of the conger.
We’re doing fine, as you can see. Thanks to the feasts you give us, bro. You are the best.
The champ.
The greatest.
Before they repeated their praise Fin interrupted, Glad you like crusts of old bread.
Like? They all sang. Like? Man, we love, we adore, we esteem!
Fin was impressed with their vocabulary. Not only were their bodies healthier, their conversation was too!
That’s great. Mum was throwing it out for the birds, so I thought, you know, might as well chuck it in the sea and feed you.
The fish nodded eagerly. They gazed at Magnus Fin as though he was a god. And Fin gazed at them and their glinting fishing hooks. Then he looked at the mound of rubble, then back at the fish gang.
You might wonder what I’m doing here, Fin said, smiling.
No, bro, we just got the idea to come cruising in this mean-looking place.
Man it’s bad.
It’s evil, bro.
Yeah, it’s the pits. We just found ourselves drifting this way. No reason, no…
Look, interrupted Fin, King Neptune ne
eds helps – quickly. Me too. If you could help, I’d be really grateful. There’s a key buried in there. I’ll tell you the whole story later. Just trust me on this one. The great white shark had a set of keys, and he got trapped under the throne when the palace collapsed. Fin pointed to the heap of rubble. Maybe you’d be able to squirm in amongst this junk, find the bones and hook the keys up with one of your hooks?
The fish gang nodded eagerly and swam closer to their hero. They would do anything for this human who stood at the water’s edge throwing them food.
Sure thing, bro.
Love to.
Can’t wait.
Just say the word.
Nothing we like better than a dangerous adventure.
Lead us on, said Spike, the broken-toothed gang leader. We’re right in front of you!
The shadowy form of the conger eel slunk around the base of the rubble and nodded its spectral head at a particular stone. Fin sunk down to this stone and poked his fingers under it, trying to make a tiny hole for the fish to squirm through. I think the shark went this way, he said.
The fish gang gazed at the chink amongst the pile of bones, skulls and broken stones. Even Spike, who had been in more scrapes than he could remember, drew back and twitched.
Not pretty, he said.
Pretty ugly, said another.
Yeah, I know, but we don’t have long. Fin was anxious now that the fish gang might change their minds and swim off. Listen, guys, I can already feel the current picking up. Neptune’s going to make another storm. We have to act fast. The fish gang had stopped eagerly nodding. You still want to help?
Spike nodded, the sign for his gang to nod too. Key, eh? he asked, staring at the tiny gap Fin had made between a huge stone and a bone.
Aye, that’s right. A key. King Neptune’s key.
Five festering hooks hung from Spike’s mouth. They had pained him for so long but at last it seemed they would serve him. This tough fish that had got away so many times was ready to help the great King Neptune. He nodded solemnly. Consider it done, he said proudly.
