“Uncomfortable as it was, we are always in danger of attack in the skies so the Leviathan was about the best way to hide you and get you here to some sort of sanctuary. There is a lot we need to keep you safe from,” explained Hiss. “There is the danger of other Quetzalcóatls trying to grab you. And the Leviathan is big and tough enough to keep you hidden from some … other very dangerous threats.”
“Why?” asked Finn over the sound of the tide grinding on stone. “Gantrua is gone. I stopped him. Me and Emmie did.”
Sulawan took the rock from his mouth, worn almost to a stub. He decided there was a little more chewing in it. “Yeah, well, when you grabbed Gantrua you let loose something far worse.”
Cornelius whimpered, shook his heads; his ears whipped around.
Finn looked to Hiss. “I don’t understand. I thought with him gone, things would be better here.”
“They were,” said Hiss. “For a time.”
“But when you rip the head off a Hydra,” said Sulawan, “you shouldn’t be surprised when two more grow back.”
“Don’t talk to me like I’m new to this,” argued Finn. “I’ve stared down the throats of a Hydra.”
“It’s a metaphor, kid,” said Sulawan, amused by his spirit. “And you might want to turn down the attitude a little. My friend over there doesn’t react too well to attitude.”
The hidden Legend remained in the shadows of the rock, eyes yellow, silent. It bothered Finn, although he was distracted by Beag the Sprite at his leg, staring up, delight glued on to his face.
“So, why bring me here?” Finn asked.
“To answer a question,” Hiss said. “Is Gantrua still alive?”
Finn considered this. They’d gone to all this trouble, and that was the question?
“Yes,” he answered. “Sort of. He was desiccated.”
A shudder ran through everyone. Finn sensed it even from the Legend in the shadows. Even the sea seemed to smack at the broken ground extra loudly.
“Where is he kept, kid?” asked Sulawan.
“In my house, I suppose. My old house. An assistant called Lucien took it from us.”
“So if you had to, you could get Gantrua back?” asked Hiss. Cornelius moaned a touch, shook the muscles beneath his sleek but weathered coat.
Finn was stunned by the idea of returning the Fomorian, had to replay the sentence in his head to make sure he’d heard it correctly. Once again a shadow passed overhead, darkness crossing Finn’s face and jolting him back into reality.
“Who would want to bring Gantrua back?” he asked.
No one answered.
“You want to bring Gantrua back?”
“Not really, kid,” said Sulawan, stubby rock crunching between his chipped teeth.
“But we have no choice,” said Hiss. “When he left this world, he left us a gift in case he ended up trapped in the Promised World. A sort of … insurance policy. To wreak devastation in the Infested Side.”
“What did he leave?” Finn asked.
A Quetzalcóatl swung from the clouds, circled and shot out across the sea. They followed its path.
“It looks like we will be able to show you,” said Hiss.
With a whine, Cornelius stood and followed a narrow curve around the edge of the mountain, with Hiss swinging gently behind. Sulawan pushed up behind Finn, glaring at him with his one eye to encourage him to follow. Beag was scampering across too. Finn couldn’t quite see where the other, silent Legend had got to.
He almost tripped on the broken tools that scattered the entire beach.
“This island was once rich with crystals, and the mines were here for many years,” said Hiss sadly. “So many spent their lives here and gave their lives here. They hacked and hammered at this island in search of opportunities to open a way to the Promised World. Piece by piece, strike by strike, over so many years, so many lives, until most of the island itself was lost beneath the ocean.”
Finn walked carefully after the Orthrus. A new serpent appeared above them, where the mountain met cloud, and dived straight towards a point about one hundred metres out to sea. Finn could see that out there the ocean was bubbling, foaming.
“Out there in the depths are many bones, long covered over by the encroaching water,” continued Hiss. “But it turns out that Gantrua found a way to rouse the dead, wherever they lie in this world.”
“You call us Legends, kid,” said Sulawan, “but we have Legends in our world. And when they become real, they’re far scarier than anything you humans can imagine.”
Cornelius moaned, pitiful. They stopped and peered out at the frothing sea. Finn wasn’t sure what exactly he was looking at.
“Wherever there are dead, this creature finds life,” said Hiss. “And in this place, there are dead everywhere.”
“He left a creature to ravage this world, and there is only one way to stop it,” said Sulawan.
“A charm,” said Beag, flat nose twitching.
“He took it with him,” explained Hiss. “To Darkmouth. You see, he was wearing it. When he crossed over. When you desiccated him. We need that charm. Which means we need Gantrua too.”
One of the Quetzalcóatls stopped circling, shot back towards where they stood on the beach. Hiss straightened, gripped in a psychic link with the creature, just as Finn had seen before.
“It is happening,” said Hiss, in a droning voice that sounded as if it came from someone else.
“What’s happening?” asked Finn.
Hiss stared ahead. “The dead are rising.”
The waves came at the shore in spiteful bursts, lifting themselves only to smash down hard. But even the waves seemed to avoid the circle of boiling water out in the depths.
“That thing forming in the deep is what they call Gashadokuro, or just the Bone Creature,” Hiss continued. “Millions of the tiniest of organisms come together, binding the bones so that the Gashadokuro rises and rampages anywhere in this world where there are bones to build from. The only way to stop it for good is with the emerald charm Gantrua carried with him to your world. He knew we would have to rescue him if we ever wanted to defeat the terrible creature he left behind.”
Finn watched the spitting sea, which was becoming more active by the second.
“Shouldn’t we … um … move?” he said.
“Don’t worry,” said Sulawan. “The sea is deep and the Bone Creature not so tall. Yet. We have time. But it is growing ever stronger. If you don’t find us Gantrua and his charm, then it will not be stopped until we are all dead and our bones joined with it.”
The circle of water was widening, darkening. Beag the Sprite hid behind Sulawan’s thick legs. For the first time Finn noticed the mysterious fourth Legend was still with them, but again pressed into the shadows of the rock wall. He couldn’t seem to see its shape, only its yellow eyes.
“Maybe we should g-get out of here,” stammered Beag. “You know, just in case.”
Finn looked at the Orthrus to see if Cornelius and Hiss were as fearful. Hiss appeared to be whispering something calming in Cornelius’s ear.
From the depths, the sound grew. It also appeared to be coming closer.
“The Gashadokuro has grown bigger with every visit, but has never reached this island,” said Sulawan. “We should be safe here.”
With an explosion of spray, something massive punched upwards, forcing a shock wave across the water. It frightened Finn enough that he stumbled back, lost his footing on the uneven ground and fell towards the cutting debris.
Sulawan grabbed him by the arm, held him as he dangled awkwardly, his view of the creature obscured by falling water and black seaweed. But he could make out a yellowed concoction of bones among the dark surf, a ghastly frame forming a makeshift skull with cavernous eye sockets hit by waves.
Sulawan jolted Finn back away from the sea. “That thing’s bigger than before,” he said to Hiss.
The Bone Creature started to push forward, forcing itself through the high waves.
“It shouldn’t be able to get to us,” said Hiss.
“Yet it is getting to us,” said Beag, jittery now and backing away behind the retreating Sulawan.
Where the sea grew shallower, the Bone Creature was slowly emerging now, its skull clearing the water, followed by shoulders made up of many layers of bones. It was accompanied by the sound of scraping through the earth, its feet crunching across the seabed. The shale and broken tools at Finn’s feet shifted.
“It is much bigger than before,” Hiss said to the other Legends. “We should—”
A great bone hand reached out from the sea.
“Run!” said Beag, leaping on to Sulawan’s shoulder.
Before Finn could take two steps, Sulawan swept him up under one armpit and began to stride hard along the uncertain ground.
Behind them a hand smashed down on the shore, a thump of splintering bones that fell like shrapnel around those fleeing.
The serpents dived from above, attacked the Bone Creature, but Finn couldn’t see if they were having any effect on it.
“Finn, we need to say goodbye now,” Hiss said. “Sulawan will explain your mission.”
Before Finn could ask anything else, the Legends broke off in different directions, Sulawan running with Finn under his arm.
The bone fist cracked the beach between them. Being shaken around half upside down, Finn made out only the blur of bone hitting rock, and the way the scattered splinters immediately swept back together and returned to the Bone Creature’s hand as it lifted it free, ready for another attack.
Sulawan pounded across the shore, Finn held solidly and helplessly in the crater of his armpit – his nose millimetres from being worn away to a nub on the rock wall.
Beag was clinging on to Sulawan’s shoulder with apparent ease despite the sharp turns and juddering speed.
They reached the part of the beach where Finn had first arrived on the island, the pathway running up to the cliff he’d almost fallen off. Sulawan slowed, and peering around his forearm Finn could see only glimpses of the Bone Creature swinging wildly at circling, dive-bombing serpents.
“Let go,” Finn just about managed to say.
Sulawan let go, dropping Finn on to stony ground.
“I didn’t mean let go like that,” said Finn, winded.
Sulawan grunted.
Above them, more serpents were appearing through the clouds to pour towards the creature.
“Call him,” Cyclops said to Beag.
The tiny Legend stuck two fingers in his mouth and whistled so loudly that shrill, piercing sound still rang in Finn’s ears after he had stopped.
Above them, a serpent reappeared with the Orthrus in its jaws, taking Cornelius and Hiss to safety.
The mountain shook with the sound of battle.
“OK, kid, this is where you go home,” said Sulawan. “Next time I see you, you’ll have Gantrua in your pocket.”
“I can’t do that,” Finn told him. “That would be crazy.”
Leaning down and thrusting his single eye in Finn’s face, Sulawan snarled. “I hear old Cornelius and Hiss saved your life once. And your father’s. Maybe you should think about that before going all selfish on us.”
There was a stirring in the water, a blackness moving through the waves towards them.
“So, let’s say I decide to grab Gantrua,” asked Finn hurriedly. “What then? I just reanimate him, tell him it’s all been a big mistake, ask him for a charm and hope he doesn’t pull my head off?”
“You call us,” said Cyclops, and handed him a tube, a little longer than Finn’s open hand, and made of some kind of thick shell, ridged and lumpy on the outside but smooth inside its rim.
“In here are three of the crystals we smuggled out of this mine over the years and kept out of Gantrua’s hands. You push the end of this Gatemaker, a crystal will poke out the other end. It’ll be enough to punch a gateway open for a brief few seconds. We’ll know you’re ready then.”
Finn took the thing, felt a squirming within the thick shell.
“The crystals are attached to living scaldgrubs,” said Beag, “so they can survive the trip to your world.”
He saw the disgust on Finn’s face.
“Don’t worry, they’re only baby scaldgrubs,” said Sulawan. “Just don’t go putting your finger in there. They nibble.”
“I can’t steal Gantrua,” said Finn.
“You will. For some reason Hiss thinks you can be trusted with this job,” said Sulawan.
“Sulawan doesn’t trust anyone,” said Beag, smiling.
The noise from the other side of the cliff was of pure havoc, of serpents screeching, of the Bone Creature attacking.
“This is a crazy plan, you do realise that?” Finn said over the encroaching noise.
Sulawan thought about that. “Yeah,” he decided. “It is.”
The dark shadow in the sea rose, pushing up a humped film of water and creating a wave that raced away either side of it.
“One last question before you go,” said Sulawan. “Why have you humans been trying to open gateways into our world?”
Finn shook his head. “I didn’t. We haven’t been.”
“Well, someone has,” said Sulawan. “Someone on your side.”
Then Finn remembered what he’d seen at the cliff back home. The assistants. That’s what they must have been doing with the crystals, he realised. Trying to open gateways.
“Actually …” he said. “I think I know who that might be.” But it was madness. Why would they do that? Why would they deliberately try to open gateways to the Infested Side, in a town that had always tried desperately to protect against that very thing?
“Well, here’s some free advice. They’d better stop,” said Sulawan. “If they keep trying to punch a hole to our world, some day they’re going to open one they won’t be able to close.”
“He needs to get into the Leviathan now,” Beag said, watching the advancing form breaking through the churning waters.
“Back into that mouth?” asked Finn, aghast at the idea of being thrust into the slobbering jaws of a sea monster. “I can’t.”
“Would you prefer to be unconscious?” asked Beag. From somewhere, he had produced a needle of bone – a long serpent’s tooth perhaps. A glint of liquid dripped from the end of it.
“No!” screamed Finn.
Sulawan grabbed him, held his arms down. “The Leviathan will take you away from here. It’s quicker than the Bone Creature. Hopefully.”
Finn felt helpless in Sulawan’s grip. “You’re not putting me to sleep again,” he yelled over the racket.
They put him to sleep again.
Finn’s last memory was of the world tumbling as the jaws of a Leviathan rose from the ocean depths to swallow him.
Finn woke on a stone beach, while being pecked at by a seagull.
It ate a touch of the dust that surrounded him, immediately regretted it, gagged as it flew away.
Shocked, Finn jumped to his feet, saw the outline of his body in dust on the shingle. The sea lapped at his feet, washed the dust away. He slapped the rest of it from himself, felt his head to make sure his mind was still there and briefly wondered if he had been in a dream.
But that smell couldn’t be imagined. He stank very badly – the stench of the Infested Side. Of sweat. Of the breath of a belching sea monster. He briefly considered jumping in the water to be free of it, and only then realised it was raining. Heavy drops, but already easing off.
The dust was also evidence that he had been on the Infested Side. He remembered one other thing, patted around his pocket until he found the shell tube attached to his leg. This was the Gatemaker, the way back to the Infested Side when he wanted it. Scaldgrubs squirmed inside. Finn’s stomach squirmed with them.
The task they’d given him was a crazy one. Should he do it? He reckoned he could pull it off. After all he’d done before, everything he’d been through, he thought he’d find a way. Somehow. He just wasn’t sure he
should.
Finn started to move on up the beach, the loose shingle giving way beneath his feet, adding to his general exhaustion. He reached the grass between the beach and the road just as, from further up the coastline, he saw the arrival of three assistants. They must have been alerted by the brief flickering of the gateway that had released him back home.
He hid out of sight, crouched behind a wall as they passed. And once they were gone, he darted low across the road to an alleyway to start back to the house he still refused to call home.
“Where have you been all day, Finn?” said Emmie, appearing around a turn behind him. “I’ve been looking everywhere for you. And Lucien was acting very weird, and he’s talking about kicking you out if there’s any more trouble, and me too, and what on Earth is that smell?” She wrinkled her nose in disgust.
Finn didn’t quite know where to start.
The hours in the mouth of the Leviathan. The boiling sea. The mountain. Cornelius and Hiss. The Legends. The destruction. The attack. The kind-of-Cyclops. The Gatemaker hidden in his sopping jacket.
Being asked to steal Gantrua.
Any of these on their own was enough to have him banished from Darkmouth for good. And Emmie too.
“I just went for a big walk to clear my head but fell into the sea,” he told her. “Seaweed. Crabs. Fish heads, and all that.”
She looked at the back pocket of his trousers, saw a shell sticking from it, and seemed stuck between suspicion and trust.
“Fish heads?” she asked.
“And all that.”
He walked on, the lie burning in his throat.
Finn sat over his bowl of Chocky-Flakes, spoon halfway to his mouth, the crazy request from the Infested Side running around his brain like a hamster on a wheel, and watched the business of the household. He surveyed the boxes of ornaments, clothes, books, stuff brought from their old home, still scattered about the small house. Two families living together, neither really wanting to believe they’d need to stay here for ever.
“Please think about Smoofyland some more,” Clara said to Finn. “Slotterton isn’t that far away, really. And it’s better than sitting around here. We haven’t been anywhere in so long.”
Hero Rising Page 4