The Tunnels Below

by Nadine Wild-Palmer

  “What now?” said Doltha, clearly distressed.

  Cecilia walked up to the door and turned the handle. It opened, just like that.

  Adriene howled with laughter.

  “Shhhhh, Adriene! You’ll attract too much attention. Now let’s scram!” said Doltha.

  “Nice one, Cecilia,” said Adriene, taking up the lead.

  Through the door the tunnel before them was lit with an intense red light, and everyone was silent as they slipped quietly along it. The only sound was the padded footfall of the group running softly through the dust. Adriene the wily wolf-face put his hand up to his ear and they paused as he listened, peering into the dark ahead.

  There was a shushing from behind and they fell silent as Rory returned, ushering them to move on.

  They travelled along that tunnel for about fifteen minutes at a steady pace, stopping whenever the tunnel turned a corner or went up an incline. At the end, they came to a bright-red NO ENTRY sign. The message was glaringly clear.

  “This is it,” said Jestyna. “There’s no turning back now! Move away…” Jestyna flicked her spear out ready to break the door down, when Cecilia interrupted.

  “Just a sec. It’s worked for us so far…” she said.

  Cecilia turned the handle and the door came open. They all smiled with relief—before they were overcome by the light of a truly dazzling spectacle.

  26

  Electric Heart

  It was true, Mr Sparks was a living thing: a ginormous jellyfish. There he was in all his glory, pulsating in a huge tank in the middle of the room. He was housed in a glass dome about the size of the top of St Paul’s Cathedral. Suspended in the tank he was unable to move much, not the way jellyfish normally do, because his tentacles were being used to generate light, feeding through a system of tubes travelling out and away from the tank.

  “Wow,” whispered Owen as he gazed at the pulsating form of Mr Sparks. The Divers all gathered to stand alongside Doltha and they stared up into the tank at the magnificent Mr Sparks like a group of young children at the edge of a fairground at night. They were spellbound.

  Finally someone spoke. “Come on, guys! We had better get to work before someone finds us. We’ve got no time to lose!”

  Doltha approached the tank and pressed her hands up against it and began trying to communicate to Mr Sparks about what was going to happen. Rory told Cecilia and Adriene to position themselves each at one of three big red buttons located around the parameters of Mr Sparks’ tank, while Jestyna helped Owen climb to the top of the dome.

  A flock of inky figures flooded through the open door and began to raise the alarm, cawing loudly into the generator room.

  It was not long before they were surrounded. Cecilia checked to see if the rest of the Divers had taken up their positions. Owen was already inside the tank with Mr Sparks, making his way to the bottom of it to remove the stopper once the buttons had been pressed. Jestyna let out a caterwauling screech and Adriene howled as he might on a full moon. Rory was being attacked by a large crow-face; he thrust his body up and snapped at its leg, giving him just enough time to slam his fist down on his button.

  Cecilia waited, she wasn’t sure when to press hers; she looked over to Adriene as he continued howling and screeching—he had been wounded by Helen the raven-face but it was hard to tell how badly. He gnashed his jaws and bared his teeth but she was unrelenting, diving at him from above until he managed to grasp her tail feather and knock her off balance, at which point he smashed his hand down on his button with a thump.

  Cecilia could see that Mr Sparks was already being sucked downwards to where Owen had removed the stopper. Cecilia knew what she had to do. She drew her hand up, just managing to dodge an overhead attack from an incoming Corvus. Just as she brought it down towards the button, her hand was caught in Hunter’s powerful grip. She looked up at him fearfully and he let out a whine as he drew his own hand up and slammed it down on the release button. She smiled at him briefly and ran around to see if anyone else needed her help.

  The light began to fade quickly. The chaos stopped as a loud sucking sound reverberated around the generator room. Rory scaled the tank and swam after Owen and Mr Sparks. Some of Mr Sparks’ tentacles tore as he was suctioned out of the tank, down the plughole and into the tube. The room went very dark apart from the dying light of the remaining tentacles and a few remaining bioluminescent particles. Cecilia looked at Hunter; he looked down at her with that sad expression and said in a low voice, “The door is still open. Get behind me.”

  Cecilia could just make out Doltha and a few other Divers being lined up against the tank and strung together. She had no choice but to leave and move forwards through the dark and out of the generator room.

  Hunter led her quietly to the door and bade her to leave, when she saw two round eyes flashing beyond it. It was Jestyna—she’d got away too. “Cecilia, take my tail. We need to get out of here.”

  “I have to find Kuffi and my friends.”

  “I know. Follow me and hold my tail tight. I’ll get you to the Nest.” And with that Cecilia grabbed Jestyna’s tail and they set off into the dark.

  27

  Walking on Egg Cells

  Cecilia and Jestyna didn’t have to travel far to get to the Nest. It was connected to the generator room by a passage of trees on the edge of the Black Forest. She could see a towering structure up ahead and she didn’t like the look of it one bit.

  The tower was dark and eerie like the ones in fairy tales that characters get trapped in. And Cecilia could see now that that was exactly what the Nest was made for. Cecilia noticed a tiny light pass by her in the darkness they had created by releasing Mr Sparks. It was a firefly—there were lots of them dotted about that were coming from a broken lamp not far off. A fire was being tended to in front of the Nest.

  Cecilia knelt down and put her hand in something warm and sticky.

  “Yuck, what is that?”

  “Droppings, from the surveillance crows,” said Jestyna. “Look in the egg cells,” she said. “Can you can see your friends? I fear we may need to get closer.”

  The two of them crept through the darkness, getting a little closer, close enough for Cecilia to see what the Nest really looked like even in the dim light.

  It was a huge, lofty tower of egg-shaped containers, each of which acted as a cell to keep its captive imprisoned. They were stacked one on top of another and held in place with wire and cables woven together. Jestyna and Cecilia crouched down trying to work out what to do next when Hunter came over and sniffed them out. Jestyna’s back arched and she was about to hiss, but Cecilia grabbed her hand and said, “It’s OK, he’s on our side. He pressed one of the release buttons to set Mr Sparks free earlier. He helped us out.” Jestyna backed down but she was still suspicious. Hunter stood in front of them and gestured for them to hide behind him as bit by bit they inched closer.

  Once they were within earshot, Cecilia could see the forms and faces trapped in the transparent egg cells. The Nest was a sad place. Sorrow clung in the air all around it, and the lights around them flickered on and off from time to time like the charge from a dying circuit. Cecilia heard an irritatingly sharp, high-pitched whistle. Hunter’s ears pricked up and he stood frozen to attention. And then came the voice:

  “Thank you, Hunter. I’ll take it from here.”

  “Cecilia!” screeched Jestyna as she was wrenched away by the scruff of her neck. Hunter bowed his head in shame and dragged himself over to stand beside Jacques d’Or, who patted him on the head. “There’s a good boy, now.”

  Cecilia was beside herself, “Hunter? Jestyna, I’m…”

  “…Sorry?” said Jacques d’Or. “You’d better be.” He was livid, his eyes burning red. “I honestly didn’t think you could make things any worse than you already had but now look!” Rage shook his whole body.

  “Canines can prove to be such loyal friends, obedient and submissive as well as fearfully strong. They’re quite dangerous if
not controlled to some degree. Don’t you think, Cecilia? Corvus!” Jacques d’Or shouted into the dark spaces above the tower. Two crow-faces flew down like shadows. One of them was the beautiful Aubrey. He handed Jacques d’Or a collar, which he fixed to Hunter’s neck and then chained it to the wall of the Nest.

  “That will be all, thank you. I’ll deal with this little girl and her so-called friends!”

  Slowly descending on a pulley was a small wire cage; inside sat Lady-Bird, her wings in tatters and her face hidden.

  “You didn’t really think that you’d outsmart me did you, silly little girl! I’d be wary competing with an opponent I knew so very little about if I were you. Tah-da!” Jacques d’Or sang, gesturing towards an egg shape being rolled along the ground. Cecilia could see Luke inside it.

  “Bring him here so she can get a good look at her friend,” said Jacques d’Or. “He’ll make a splendid addition to my Nest, don’t you think?”

  Luke banged on the wall of the egg cell he was trapped inside, but Cecilia couldn’t hear a word he was saying.

  “So you recognise this guy?” Jacques d’Or continued. “But… what about this one?”

  A second egg cell was rolled out before her and brought to a standstill next to Luke’s. Kuffi sat inside it; he pressed his furry hand up to the casing as if to say hello.

  “Your old buddy pal, Koof!” Jacques d’Or barked the words. “It looks like you’ve scored a hat trick. And just to top it off… can we reveal the bonus prize?” he screamed, clapping his wings together.

  A figure was dragged in along the dirt and plonked down at Cecilia’s feet. She didn’t recognise her at first, so many of her feathers had been plucked out.

  “Do you know who this is? It’s the one and only Madame Midnight! A little extra something just for me! Well, isn’t this fun?” Jacques d’Or mused. “No?” He narrowed his eyes. “Do you know what, Cecilia?”

  Cecilia shook her head. She could not find the words.

  “This is all your fault!” he went on, and at that the Corvus Community let out a searing caw, cackling through the wide open space, sweeping into the air and whooping.

  Cecilia stood, petrified and broken.

  “He’s a bit bedraggled, isn’t he? Your old pal Kuffi has refused to eat or drink anything—he believes we will poison him! Now, would I do such a thing?”

  Cecilia felt the familiar sensation of her skin crawling as he spoke.

  “But don’t worry, Cecilia, the show’s not over yet! Next,” he cawed. “Nothing like a bit of light entertainment! Bring on the menagerie!”

  A few of the Divers were brought in. They had been tied up together. Cecilia lost all hope… almost. She counted them up quickly, scanning the group with her eyes. There were two missing—no, one, as she saw Owen was being dragged in from the Black Forest. But Rory, the shark-face, he must’ve got away, and when was the last time she saw Gaia? She couldn’t remember; maybe she hadn’t come at all. Cecilia remembered that Doltha had the elemental sphere and she prayed they wouldn’t find it. That was not something any of them wanted Jacques d’Or to get his beak around.

  “Search them,” commanded Jacques d’Or. Just as they began patting down the Divers, there was a commotion high in the rafters of the Nest.

  “Something’s coming through the walls, boss!” shouted a voice from way up.

  “What?” replied Jacques d’Or.

  “Something is digging its way through into the roof, sir,” another voice called out. “It’s the truth, I swear!”

  Jacques d’Or looked around at his surrounding Corvus members. Helen was walking over with Marvin and Julius; they all looked furious.

  “There’s something coming through… RIGHT NOW, sir!” Hysteria was breaking out above.

  “Helen, go up and see what all the commotion is!” said Jacques d’Or.

  “Yes, sir, at once.” She bent low and hopped forward once, then twice and took to the air. A few moments later she returned with Rory in her clutches and flung him together with the rest of them.

  “I thought something fishy was going on!” said Marvin. Julius patted him on the back and they both burst into fits of laughter.

  “The one that got away. Well done! I do love a good scavenger hunt!” Jacques d’Or was in his element. Helen scouted along the line, picking the Divers out in no particular order, and Julius and Marvin finished patting them down. Helen looked annoyed.

  “Empty-handed, boss, apart from their weapons, of course,” she said, jabbing her fellow Corvus in the side with one of the spears they had confiscated.

  Cecilia looked at Doltha; the look on her face told her that everything was going to be OK.

  Doltha almost smiled and Jacques d’Or noticed.

  “I saw that, flipper. For that you can go first.”

  “What are you going to do to them?” stammered Cecilia, as more of the Corvus Community gathered out of the darkness.

  A ruckus broke out from one of the egg cells at the top of the tower. The prisoners had started drumming on their egg cells furiously. There was a loud cracking sound and Helen pointed out a beam of light coming through the wall where Rory had passed.

  “Look!” Helen shouted at Jacques d’Or. “Where’s that light coming from?”

  Members of the Corvus turned their gaze upwards to see what was happening. A shaft of pure golden light was seeping through a hole high in the cave and shining directly onto the prisoners in the upper egg cells. The light was so strong that the egg cell had begun to crack!

  “What on earth is that? Where is it coming from? Aubrey!” shouted Jacques d’Or.

  Aubrey leapt out of the shadows into the air but instead of blocking out the light, he began scratching at the hole, moving great clumps of dirt with his beak and hands; bits of the surface of the wall fell away and more light began to fill the caves, revealing scores of black figures high on their perches. One of them seized Aubrey and brought him tumbling down.

  “What has got into you, boy!” screeched Jacques d’Or. Countless members of the Corvus Community took to the air and began flapping about the cave in a fluster, trying to black out the light to stop the egg cells from cracking.

  Cecilia watched for Jacques d’Or as he ascended towards the bright light, becoming almost invisible, turning away from it, shading his eyes to see. He was utterly blinded; it was like watching someone lose a super power. The Nest was a hive of commotion. Cecilia ran over to Kuffi amid the chaos and pushed his egg cell across the floor and shoved it hard into the tower. It made a cracking sound but didn’t break. She looked at him through the cell.

  “Stay there, I’ll be back,” she said.

  The Divers were already trying to get loose. Cecilia ran over and found one of the discarded spears, and handed it to Jestyna, who began cutting the others free.

  “I need you to break Luke and Kuffi out too,” Cecilia shouted against the noise.

  Jestyna ran and threw her spear with all her might at the egg cell holding Kuffi and it shattered into a thousand pieces. Then she did the same for Luke.

  The Corvus Community were frantic. They didn’t know whether to block out the light or to seize the prisoners. Cecilia ran to the base of the tower where Hunter was chained. She looked at him and he did not respond. She began to pull at his collar and she managed to tug it off, but still he did nothing.

  “Come on, Hunter!” she screamed into the cacophony of cawing. The message to break out of the egg cells spread up and along the tower like wildfire and soon everyone was gnawing, pecking, scratching and thumping their egg cells all at once. More and more light flooded the space as the members of the Corvus Community pecked at the prisoners, trying to stop them from fleeing.

  Jestyna let out a piercing screech and Adriene followed suit, howling high into the rafters, and the remaining members of the Corvus Community that were still on the ground took to the air, petrified. Jacques d’Or was bewildered: he flew out of the streaming light and snatched Cecilia from behind in his a
rms and took to the air. The Corvus flocked towards the light. It was a pandemonium of Corvus and colours. Jacques d’Or struggled through the fray, higher and higher, Cecilia in his clutches, nearing the highest point of the Nest. Cecilia snatched at his waistcoat pocket, clinging on for dear life as she felt him release his grip and just let her go. She scrambled to grab hold of Jacques d’Or, and when she grasped his whistle the connecting chain snapped off, sending her plummeting towards the ground. As she gathered speed, the air passed through the whistle and she caught a glimpse of Hunter running from his spot below to catch her. Cecilia’s body landed on him with such a force that he fell to the ground.

  Jacques d’Or raged towards them in a wild fury and Cecilia blew hard on the whistle. Hunter snatched at Jacques d’Or’s legs and pulled him out of the air.

  “Hunter!” Jacques d’Or screeched. But Hunter gave him no time to speak, bounding off into the Black Forest, dragging Jacques d’Or behind him by the wing, which was locked in his jaw.

  Cecilia lay stunned on the ground as the chaos around her began to fade to nothing.

  28

  Quite a Tumble

  When Cecilia woke up, she was battered and bruised but surrounded by many friendly faces gathered around her bed. The room was warm and cosy and she knew instantly that she was back safe in Jasper’s cubby. As she stirred she saw Kuffi and jumped into his arms.

  “Kuffi!” she cried. “You’re all right!”

  “I’m fine, little thing. Barely a scratch on me!” he said gently, his whiskers tickling her cheeks.

  Kuffi ushered the faces out as soon as Cecilia began to ask questions.

  “Where’s Luke? Is he OK?”

  Kuffi sat on the edge of the bed and began to speak.

  “It worked, Cecilia. You brought back the elemental sphere, freed Mr Sparks who has been returned to his home and is happily lighting the lake.” Cecilia looked around; it was much brighter.