The Case of the Tentacle Terror

by Liam O'Donnell

  Keep the staff safe, Fizz Marlow. I have some pirates to catch.

  Without his staff and the power of the conduits, Hilsa’s words had no effect on the meglohydra. Stitch’s howls did nothing to loosen Pequod’s grip on him. On the ground, the sight of the captain and wizard dangling in the air sent panic rushing through the kobold pirates. Chaos gripped their fur and sent them fleeing Howler’s Bay like slagrats fleeing a flood. The kobolds weren’t the only ones leaving town.

  Realizing the battle was lost, the SlurpCo security guards dropped their batons and fled. They ran past the Fishers Hollow goblins and retreating kobolds, desperate to get back to their ship waiting on the other side of the island. From the top of one of the shipping containers, a tiny voice rang out.

  “Get back here, you cowards! SlurpCo’s products must be saved!”

  Mirella Ballaworth buzzed in angry circles above the shipping container. Her guards ignored their boss’s commands and continued to flee the harbor. Mirella watched them go with growing despair. Then she noticed me watching from the ground, and despair turned to anger.

  “This is all your fault, Fizz Marlow!” she hissed. “You will pay for crossing SlurpCo!”

  Mirella swooped down on me like a rock fired from a slingshot. She might have been smaller than my backpack, but I knew she could pound me into a goblin pancake. I stood frozen to the spot. I managed to get Hilsa’s staff in front of me, but without a crash course in becoming a wizard, I knew it would be about as useful as a bag of wet cookies. The blaze fairy zoomed closer, her little fists clenched. A second before impact, a dark square flew out from the top of the shipping container. It landed on Mirella’s back, wrapped around her wings and brought her crashing to the ground.

  A ponytailed head poked out from the top of the container. “Did I get her?”

  “Tank!” I shouted. “Nice shot.”

  Tank climbed down from the shipping container. She rushed to where Mirella lay, fighting frantically to free herself from the blanket Tank had tossed. “Help me, or she’ll wriggle free.”

  As we wrapped up the struggling fairy, I spotted the familiar SlurpCo logo on the blanket.

  Tank grinned. “Who knew their electric tail-warming blanket could be a fairy catcher too?”

  The last of Stitch’s pirates fled to their ships, and the streets of Howler’s Bay filled with something I never thought I’d see: goblins dancing in the light.

  Pequod’s tentacles wrapped around me in a damp hug.

  It wasn’t as gross as it sounds. In fact, I’d never been happier to be in the clutches of a deadly meglohydra the size of a battle-bot stadium. Two tentacles over, Tank and Aleetha were also held in Pequod’s grip. They were both smiling as much as I was. Pequod’s other passengers weren’t so happy. Stitch, Hilsa and Mirella were each wrapped tightly in Pequod’s tentacles. They continued to struggle against the meglohydra’s grip, refusing to admit their ship-stealing, mind-controlling, money-making scheme was finished for good.

  “Are you monsters ready to travel?” Gwena called from the water’s edge.

  The goblin had ditched her dark robes for her regular fishing clothes. Gwena was no longer Hilsa’s conduit, but she wasn’t a simple fisher-goblin anymore either. In her hand she held the shell-encrusted staff formerly owned by Hilsa. After her father and brother recovered, Gwena had learned from them the truth about her family’s special powers. They had the rare ability to combine magic and technology with powerful effects. It had been in their family for many generations. Her father had tried to keep their abilities a secret and live a normal life, but Hilsa had other ideas. When he learned of their powers, Hilsa came to Hook Island and teamed up with Captain Stitch. Together they captured the goblins to use their unique powers to fuel their own greed. Although Gwena’s father and brother had no interest in pursuing their strange abilities, Gwena was hungry to learn more.

  One of Pequod’s remaining tentacles reached down to the shore and scooped up Gwena. She waved goodbye to her family and the goblins of Fishers Hollow, who had gathered on the beach to say farewell.

  “Are you sure they’re expecting us?” Tank asked from her tentacle.

  They will be there. Pequod’s words sounded in our minds. I was able to send them a message and tell them of our arrival.

  “How is that possible?” Tank asked. “I thought the equipment in the lighthouse couldn’t send signals into Rockfall Mountain.”

  My mind is much more powerful than some jumble of wires in a tower. Pequod’s words bubbled in what I guessed was laughter, then became more serious. Gwena, I am ready when you are.

  Gwena, still held tightly in Pequod’s tentacle, raised the shell staff over her head and spoke words of magic. I’d seen Hilsa do the same thing only the day before, but this time I wasn’t filled with fear. Gwena drew on her power and the power of the staff to activate the density-inverters. The discs began to glow just as they had when the meglohydra made the Wave Dancer vanish. Now it was our chance to disappear.

  In an instant, the waters of Fishers Hollow were gone. In their place appeared another body of water I’d thought I’d never see again.

  The crowd on the pier cheered when we appeared. A few days earlier they would have run away at the sight of a meglohydra in their harbor. But now they welcomed us like heroes, which we totally were. Pequod’s message had warned Officer Hordish and the Slick City Police Department that we’d be returning with the ship-stealing culprits in tow, or, rather, tentacle. The ogre must have spread the word, because it looked like half of Slick City, including all the media, had turned up to welcome us home.

  The cheering grew louder when Pequod lowered us onto the pier. The meglohydra seemed to be enjoying the attention. He delighted the crowd by waving his massive tentacles in the air and splashing them in the water, creating large waves. Hordish’s officers had no time for fun. They immediately grabbed Stitch, Hilsa and Mirella. As they led the culprits away to waiting police cars, Detective Hordish stepped out from the crowd and stomped over to us.

  “I don’t know how you did it,” Hordish grumbled, “but it looks like you runts saved Slick City.”

  “Again,” I added. “We saved Slick City again.”

  Hordish looked at me like I was bug that needed to be stomped. “Don’t get cocky, kid.” His glare quickly collapsed and a grin crossed his warty face. “But you’re not wrong. Good work again, detectives.”

  The ogre turned and marched back to where his officers were struggling to push a buzzing Mirella Ballaworth into the back of a police car.

  Tank’s ears had jolted upright. “Did he just call us detectives?”

  “He certainly did,” Aleetha said. “I think the old grump is warming up to us.”

  A rail-thin lava elf stepped from the crowd. His red robes marked him as a wizard from the Shadow Tower.

  “Aleetha Cinderwisp,” the wizard said. “Have you brought the new student the meglohydra spoke of?”

  “Professor Phandon!” Aleetha immediately stood at attention. She pulled Gwena closer to stand at her side. “This is Gwena. She wishes to learn the arcane arts. I think you will be very impressed by what she can do.”

  Gwena bowed her head to the wizard. Professor Phandon looked the young goblin over as if she were something he’d found under his fingernails.

  “We have never admitted a goblin to the Shadow Tower,” he grunted. “But if she can harness the power of magic and technology, she is welcome.”

  Gwena’s eyes lit up. “Thank you, professor.”

  Professor Phandon looked at the cheering monsters around him and smirked. “You may travel with Aleetha to the Shadow Tower when you are finished your celebrations.”

  The wizard stepped back and vanished before our eyes.

  “How did he do that?” Tank gasped.

  Aleetha rolled her eyes. “Do you really have to ask, Tank?”

  Two monsters pushed through the crowd, and my heart did a backflip.

  LIAM O’DONNELL is an auth
or and educator who has created over forty books and graphic novels for young readers, including the Max Finder Mystery, Graphic Guide Adventures, West Meadows Detectives series. He was born in Northern Ireland and came to Canada when he was five years old. He studied media at Ryerson University and has worked on film sets in Canada, Ireland and the United Kingdom. Liam lives in London, Ontario. For more information, visit liamodonnell.com or follow him on Twitter @liamodonnell.

  MIKE DEAS is an author/illustrator of graphic novels, including Dalen and Gole and the Graphic Guide Adventure series. While he grew up with a love of illustrative storytelling, Capilano College’s Commercial Animation Program helped Mike fine-tune his drawing skills and imagination. Mike and his wife, Nancy, live on Salt Spring Island, British Columbia. For more information, visit deasillustration.com or follow him on Twitter @deasillos.