The Demon Collector

by Jon Mayhew

  Sokket still glared down but something silver flashed above his head. Edgy gave a cry as Sokket brought the axe down on Edgy’s rope. He heard a distant, wooden thunk and felt his rope slacken. But he had already started on the arc of rope towards the net.

  With a yell of defiance he released the useless coil that spiralled below him into the roaring sea and threw his body forward, stretching and grappling for the net. For a moment he felt weightless, blown by the wind like so much sea foam. Then the net struck him in the stomach. He had made it. For a second he lay, blinking up at the dark blue sky, desperately trying to get his breath back.

  ‘No!’ screamed Sokket, the axe still in his hand. He had clambered on to the bowsprit and now lay on top of it as he slid himself along towards Edgy. ‘It’s not fair. You escaped the demon in the picture and the stone crusher. Even when I drop the rigging on you, some imbecile saves your skin. But you have to die!’

  Edgy groaned and rolled on to his front, dragging himself along the net as Sokket leaned down, making futile swings with the axe.

  ‘Don’t hurt me, Mr Sokket,’ Edgy gasped as he slipped and struggled along the net. ‘I dunno what I done but you don’t wanna kill me!’

  ‘I don’t want to kill you, poor child.’ Sokket’s face was twisted with torment. ‘But believe me, it’s best for all of us if you’re dead.’ He slipped off the pole and fell into the netting, rolling on to his back.

  Clinging to the rope sapped Edgy’s strength. He glanced down at the water rushing past them below as the ship forged ahead through the waves. Water soaked him to his skin and cold gnawed at his bones. He squeezed himself into the very corner of the net where it was lashed to the bowsprit. Sokket clambered towards him like some great grey, spindly spider on a web, axe in one hand, his eyes mad and staring.

  ‘But why, Mr Sokket? It don’t make sense,’ Edgy panted. A crowd had gathered at the bow of the ship. Silky McFarland and some other sailors had begun to shin their way along the bowsprit to Edgy’s rescue.

  ‘Hold on, lad,’ cried McFarland, oblivious to the spray from the bow of the ship.

  ‘Nothing makes sense any more, Edgy Taylor,’ Sokket gasped as he dragged himself across the net. ‘But I’ll not rest until you’re safe at the bottom of the sea.’

  He threw himself forward, raising the axe. Instinctively, Edgy raised his feet, catching Sokket square in the chest and heaving him backwards and sideways. For a split second, Sokket teetered on the edge of the net, standing full height, staring at Edgy in disbelief.

  ‘All you had to do was die,’ Sokket wailed. ‘Too much to hope for, I suppose . . .’ Then with a scream he tumbled down, disappearing in the foam and spray that snapped and hissed around the sharp bow of the ship.

  Edgy lay, panting for breath, fingers locked around the knots in the net. He stared down at the dark waves, slowly letting McFarland loosen his grip on the ropes and drag him back along the net.

  ‘Steady now,’ murmured a voice as Edgy felt himself being passed from hand to hand up to the deck level. His clothes felt heavy and wet. His body ached with the cold and his teeth began to chatter.

  ‘Easy, lad, you’re safe now,’ McFarland said, planting him on his feet.

  Edgy staggered a little and grabbed the nearest shoulder for support. Janus and Lord Mauldeth stood next to Captain Boyd, surrounded by sailors. Frost whitened their beards and hats.

  ‘Edgy! Are you all right? What happened? What did Sokket say to you? Why did he try to kill you?’ Janus asked, grabbing Edgy by the shoulders.

  ‘I d-don’t know, Mr Janus,’ Edgy stuttered. He felt numb. Sokket’s wild stare kept flashing into his mind – and the image of him tumbling into the sea. ‘He said I’d be better off dead, at the bottom of the sea.’

  ‘Madness,’ Captain Boyd said, his normally red face pale and drawn. ‘A terrible tragedy. But clearly Mr Sokket was unhinged. My men will put a boat out and search but I doubt very much if he survived. It wasn’t your fault, Edgy. Now get the boy below – he’s freezing to death!’

  ‘Thank you, sir,’ Edgy said through chattering teeth.

  The cold gnawed at his aching joints and muscles now and his hands stung with rope burn. Hands dragged at his wet clothing, pulling it away as it stiffened and froze. Edgy’s vision began to fade. Someone pulled him back and put a bottle to his lips. Brandy scorched his throat, making his eyes water. He coughed and retched, shaking.

  ‘Edgy!’ Janus cried. ‘For God’s sake, man, get him to his cabin. He’s no use dead.’

  ‘Don’t go all blue on us, lad,’ said a rough voice.

  A hand slapped his cheek, bringing him to as McFarland dragged him down the steps into the pulsing warmth of the ship.

  The night passed miserably for Edgy. Sokket’s grey, staring face haunted his broken dreams. His hands ached and burned. He curled himself tightly into a ball on his bed, wrapping himself in blankets, shivering. The ship heaved and rolled and the engines beat time as they circled the area, searching for Sokket. Bells rang and men called to each other but there was no cry of success.

  Edgy drifted in and out of sleep, tormented by questions. Why would Sokket want to kill me? What had he meant when he’d said it would be best for all of us if I were dead? I wish Henry, Sally and Spin were here. His head throbbed along with the engine, until he fell into a twisting dream in which the furnaces of the ship burned in his chest and pistons hammered inside him, threatening to burst out.

  The cabin door crashed open, making Edgy sit up, tangled in blankets, his bedclothes clinging to him. Janus stood staring down on him. Edgy’s mouth felt dry and tasted bitter.

  Lord Mauldeth appeared behind Janus. ‘You’ve been sick, Edgy. Delirious for the last twenty-four hours. How do you feel?’

  ‘Stiff, your lordship,’ Edgy groaned, swinging his legs out of bed. Pain lanced through his temples and he held his head in his hands, but gradually it subsided. ‘A little better, I think –’

  ‘Never mind that,’ Janus interrupted. His eyes gleamed with excitement. ‘We think we’ve found it.’

  ‘Found what, sir?’ Edgy screwed his face up and stretched his aching body.

  ‘The cave of Moloch, of course,’ Janus said, frowning a little as if Edgy should have guessed straight away. ‘The coastline matches the map on the skull and our charts!’

  Edgy dressed, groaning at every bend of his knee or elbow. The angry imprint of the ropes he had grabbed to stop himself falling still tingled across the palms of his hands but he was surprised at how strong he felt.

  ‘That’s it, that’s it,’ Janus murmured, hopping from one foot to the other as he waited for Edgy.

  ‘Give him a chance, Envry,’ Mauldeth snapped. He looked pale, worry etched into every line on his face. ‘Don’t know why you’re so eager to show the boy anyway. There’s nothing but ice.’

  The cold wind slapped Edgy in the face as he emerged on deck behind Janus. Edgy gasped at the scene. The ship’s engines beat a gentle tattoo, idling in a bay of black water. Mountains of ice surrounded them, illuminating the dark polar night.

  ‘It’s beautiful,’ Edgy whispered, staring at the blues and greens of the ice where it thinned near the water’s edge.

  ‘So, sir,’ Captain Boyd said, startling Edgy, ‘we’re at the destination you directed us to. I presume you’ll want to get to shore to begin your investigations as soon as possible.’

  ‘No, no, captain,’ Janus said, smirking like a child with a secret. ‘We’ll wait a couple of days, if it’s all the same to you.’

  Some of the crew had gathered round and a murmur of surprise rippled through them. A few unhappy frowns too, Edgy thought. Why do we have to wait? Doesn’t Janus know where the cave is?

  ‘Can I ask why, sir?’ Boyd said, his eyebrows arched in surprise.

  ‘If my research is correct, then we should see a remarkable, erm, volcanic phenomenon in the bay.’ Janus scanned the growing crowd of seamen that surrounded him.

  Edgy frowned. What’s
he on about?

  ‘What kind of phenom . . . phen . . . What kind of thing?’ a voice called from the assembled men.

  ‘Volcano?’ muttered another. ‘I remember one o’ them in the South Seas. Smoke an’ fire. Damn near sank our ship.’

  ‘I trust that we aren’t in any danger, Mr Janus,’ Boyd said, gripping the lapel of his coat and frowning.

  ‘No, no,’ Janus beamed. ‘No danger. But if my calcu­lations are correct, then a small island of ice will rise up out of the sea at this point tomorrow, on February the fourteenth.’

  ‘Island of ice?’ said one of the seamen. ‘Rise up? How’s that possible?’

  ‘Gentlemen,’ Mauldeth called out. Edgy could see the fear spreading among them like a fever. ‘The pheno­menon you will see is perfectly natural –’

  ‘Yes,’ Janus butted in, still smiling genially. ‘It happens, I believe, every thirteen years.’

  ‘Thirteen?’ cried a voice from the back of the scrum. Muttering and whispered conversation broke out.

  ‘Envry, you aren’t helping,’ hissed Mauldeth through gritted teeth.

  Silky McFarland squeezed his way through the men until he stood in front of Janus and Mauldeth. ‘Not meanin’ any disrespect,’ he said, bowing his head, a slight smile playing about his lips, ‘but me an’ the men thought that it was seals an’ the like you were after.’

  ‘Thank you, McFarland,’ Boyd said. ‘Mr Janus, I suggest you come below and discuss this with me so that I can reassure the men.’ He turned to the crew. ‘Gentlemen, I will not put a single life at risk needlessly. I will get to the bottom of this but for now, go about your duties.’

  Janus and Mauldeth followed Boyd down to the cabins, leaving Edgy on the poop deck. He watched the men drift away, glancing over their shoulders and muttering. Last to leave was McFarland, who gave Edgy a grin. But there was no trace of genuine humour on his face and no warmth in his eyes.

  ‘O, what a mountain is yon,’ she said.

  ‘All so dreary wi’ frost and snow?’

  ‘O, yon is the mountain of hell,’ he cried,

  ‘Where you and I will go.’

  ‘The Demon Lover’, traditional folk ballad

  Chapter Thirty-One

  The Ice Mountain

  Edgy stood at the stern of the ship, listening to the hollow lap of the waves against the hull. The engines lay silent and the anchors had been dropped. He watched the men working the capstan. It reminded Edgy of a huge cotton bobbin with holes in it to put thick planks of wood in. The men pushed against the planks, turning the bobbin and unwinding the chain. Usually, the men sang songs to keep them in time as they pushed. Some of the songs were rude and made Edgy snigger. But this time, they just grunted in time as they pushed on the capstan. Ice coated everything, making the men slip, stumble and curse.

  ‘There’s no doubt, Edgy,’ Mauldeth murmured, appearing beside him. ‘The men aren’t happy. If only Envry hadn’t spouted off about the island.’

  ‘I ’ave to say, sir,’ Edgy said, ‘it was news to me.’

  ‘Me too,’ Mauldeth replied, raising his eyebrows. ‘He only told me after we met with Captain Boyd. According to legend, Satan hid Moloch’s body on an island of ice and submerged it in the frozen waters. But every thirteen years, it rises from the sea.’

  ‘On February the fourteenth,’ Edgy murmured. ‘My birthday . . .’ Or so Salomé had said. Their first encounter seemed years ago now.

  ‘Good Lord,’ Mauldeth said, staring closely at Edgy. ‘A strange coincidence.’

  ‘I don’t know, your lordship.’ Edgy shook his head. He thought about Salomé. The way she wove her plans – a slipshod job here, a drunkard’s bad decision there, all coinciding at the right moment to complete her schemes. And she’d made a point of telling him that date was his birthday. ‘Is there any such thing as coincidence when demons are involved?’

  ‘Good point, Edgy, but it’s beyond me what your part in all this is,’ Mauldeth replied.

  ‘Why did Satan make the island rise every thirteen years?’ Edgy wondered aloud. ‘Why not just sink it for ever?’

  ‘It’s a game to them,’ Mauldeth spat. ‘Little clues and rumours, teasing mortals and fellow demons alike. Leading them on.’

  Edgy nodded. Nothing’s simple. He had thought Mauldeth was stuck-up and pompous, and had hated him. Yet he’d shown more concern for Edgy in the last few days than Janus had.

  Mauldeth stared out into the darkness. The icebergs all around reflected the moonlight, giving his face a bluish tinge. ‘He’s still my little brother, you know,’ Mauldeth said quietly. ‘We’ve always been competitive. Even as children we would fight for Mama’s affection and Papa’s approval.’

  Edgy nodded and stared at the sea. Happy families. Not all families are happy. Maybe I’m better off alone.

  Mauldeth continued, ‘But I always watched over him. God, the number of scrapes I pulled him out of! Always chasing after the next demon to ossify.’

  ‘But I-I thought you . . . killed just as many,’ Edgy stuttered, choking back the words as soon as they had left his lips. It wasn’t his place to criticise Lord Mauldeth.

  Mauldeth shook his head. ‘Most of the demons I killed, I did so to save Envry. When he first became involved with the Royal Society, I joined too to protect him. Once he becomes fixated on a goal, there’s no stopping him.’

  Something splashed in the water, snatching Edgy’s attention away from the conversation. He peered into the blue twilight.

  ‘What is it, Edgy?’ Mauldeth whispered. ‘What can you see?’

  Edgy squinted hard into the dark water. ‘I’m not sure, sir,’ he hissed back. ‘Down there – somethin’ black an’ shiny.’ The water swirled and rippled as something slipped down into the depths. ‘Captain Boyd says it’s just a seal or somethin’.’

  ‘But you think otherwise?’ Mauldeth murmured.

  Edgy nodded. ‘It’s just a feelin’ but it gives me the creeps. An’ anyway, wouldn’t there be loads of seals round ’ere, not just one?’

  Mauldeth shrugged, then turned as Silky McFarland emerged from the shadows. He scowled at Edgy, gave a short nod to Mauldeth and slipped down the steps to the main deck and his shipmates.

  ‘Where in heaven’s name did he appear from?’ Mauldeth said. ‘D’you think he was eavesdropping?’

  ‘Without a doubt, sir,’ Edgy muttered, staring after McFarland, who glanced back as he whispered to a gang of men by the mainmast.

  The tension of the following day drove Edgy down to his cabin. Everywhere he walked in the ship, men stared at him and whispered to each other. Some crossed themselves and turned their backs to him. Fear tightened every jaw. He ate his meals in his cabin, avoiding the others. Up above where the men were muffled against the cold, eyes stared wide and angry over scarves rimed with frost. The perpetual night only served to heighten the feeling of foreboding that gripped the ship’s crew.

  Edgy lay on his bunk and flicked through Everyday Daemonologie. Questions flitted around his mind. His birthday. The island rising. What was their connection? Was it just coincidence? And what was it that prowled beneath them, slipping through the icy water? Edgy looked down at the page.

  Leviathan:

  A colossal beast of the sea, created by Satan to plague seamen. Its many heads, armed with row upon row of razor-sharp teeth, are capable of pulling a fully rigged man-o’-war to pieces and devouring its crew in a matter of minutes.

  He stared at the rough woodcut print on the facing page, at the black body half out of the water. Hundreds of heads on long serpentine necks snapped and tore at a foundering ship. Was that what he’d seen? The necks twisting and writhing under the water?

  He jumped up and ran to the foredeck where Janus, wrapped in furs, sat on a collapsible chair, peering out across the bay through a telescope. Edgy tried to ignore the hard stares as he barged his way up the steps to him.

  ‘Mr Janus,’ he hissed, clasping the book to his chest, his thumb stuffed between
the pages of the book to keep his place. ‘Mr Janus, I –’

  ‘Not now, Edgy,’ Janus said, not removing the telescope from his left eye. ‘I’m expecting something to happen any minute. Don’t worry, young man, you’ll be able to play your part in this adventure soon enough.’

  ‘But, sir, I think I know what it is that I keep seeing in the water,’ Edgy hissed, trying to keep his voice from alerting the sailors, although one or two were frowning over at them even now. ‘Look.’ He thrust the book into Janus’s free hand. He glanced down, eyes widening.

  ‘A Leviathan, eh?’ Janus said out loud.

  Edgy screwed his eyes up in frustration but when he opened them, Janus and every man on deck stood, jaws slack, staring at the boiling water a hundred feet in front of them.

  An icy point peeped out of the water, sending small ripples across the smooth surface. Gradually the waves grew bigger as more and more of the island forced its way out of the sea. The icebergs around them shook and flakes of ice sheared off, making the water more turbulent. Edgy gripped the side as the ship rocked. His ears rang with Janus’s cries of victory. In the background, Boyd barked commands. The engine began to thump and Edgy felt them backwater away from the rising mass.

  ‘Look, Edgy! Look, there.’ Janus gripped Edgy’s wrist, making him wince. Janus pointed with a trembling finger at the island.

  It towered over them now, a huge cone of ice the size of a mountain. Edgy could just make out a narrow flight of carved steps twisting up into the heights of the island.

  And then he flew forward as the whole deck tilted. Janus stumbled and tripped over him. The stern of the ship was rising, caught on the growing island. Barrels and boxes rolled and slid down the deck towards the bow. A seaman came running towards Edgy, unable to stop himself as gravity propelled him towards the sea. With a scream he sailed forward into the water that rushed up the bow of the ship. The bowsprit gave a deafening crack and slack lines swung back towards Edgy and Janus. A loose pulley block whistled past Edgy’s ear as he pressed his cheek to the freezing deck.