“What?”
“Wake up. It’s time to move on.”
We come out of the cave, and stare up the sheer face of the mountain. It’s just as forbidding, but now there’s a challenge in it, too.
“Morlader must have found the passage.”
“Yes,” Faro agrees.
“But then why didn’t he wait for us?”
Faro shrugs. His eyes are dark and grim. “You think all the Mer are one family, Sapphire. But it’s not as simple as that. Sometimes we… we test one another.”
“You mean Morlader’s testing us to see if we can find the way?”
“Not Morlader alone,” says Faro. “He’s been sent, and told what to do. And I think I know who sent him. Come, little sister, we have to take this path.”
He points around the shoulder of the rock face. We edge along it, keeping close to the rock without ever touching it. Faro takes my hand and steers us both onwards with barely a flicker of his powerful tail. The rock is no longer barren. Weed clings to it, and in crevices there are limpets crusting its smoothness. Long trails of weed catch at my feet. It’s a dark, smooth green, like bottle-glass. It hangs from the rock in swaying curtains, so thick that we can’t see through them.
“The entrance is here somewhere,” says Faro. He lets go of my hand, pushes aside the curtain of weed, and vanishes.
“Faro!”
“Come on, Sapphire, it’s this way.”
His voice sounds muffled and hollow. Where is he? Gingerly, I touch the weed. I’ll have to push my way through it, and I don’t want to. It’s like going into a trap.
The weed sways like an animal being stroked. Suddenly the fog that hides the human world when I’m in Ingo clears for a moment, and I see Sadie standing in a patch of sunlight. Sadie! Thoughts of her flood my mind. Her warm smooth coat, her brown eyes, the way she scans my face to work out what I’m saying. Dear Sadie. My hand falls to my side. What am I doing here? Her eyes plead with me to come home. Why am I pushing my way through a slimy curtain of weed?
“Sapphire!”
Faro sounds farther away now, and impatient. He’s going on. He’s not waiting for me. I can’t get left behind here on my own – but I can’t go in. Rocks and icy shadows and cold unfriendly water press in on me. Get out of here, a voice says in my brain. Get out now, while you still can.
Suddenly I hear another sound. It’s very faint, but as soon as I hear it a prickle of terror races over my skin.
Clack. Clack. Clack.
I’m imagining it; of course I am. But Faro’s not here to help me now. Don’t look back, Sapphire. Don’t risk being trapped by that beautiful face and that lethal claw.
Clack. Clack. Clack.
It’s coming closer. Frantically I scrabble at the curtain of weed, trying to find an opening. The weed resists, then suddenly it parts and I fall through it.
It’s dark in here, a shadowy greenish murk. I blink, and slowly my eyes adjust. There’s Faro, about a hundred metres ahead. The rock face curves inward at the bottom, and the weed hangs down, creating a secret space.
“Quick, Sapphire! Here!”
I swim forward, and see a narrow hole in the rock. It must be the opening of the passage Faro wants us to go through. It’s just wide enough for our bodies, but we won’t be able to swim. We’ll have to use our hands to pull ourselves through. But it’s so narrow – what if we get stuck?
“Hurry!” says Faro in an urgent whisper. “They’ll scout up and down the weed, searching for us. They’re stupid, so they probably won’t find us. But you can never be sure. Come on. I’ll go first.”
“But, Faro—”
“It’s the only way. Come on. They can’t come into the tunnel because their claws get jammed.”
His eyes are bright in the gloom as he squeezes my hand. “It takes us to the Assembly chamber. I know it does. Trust me, Sapphire.”
He swims down to the hole and grips both sides with his hands. With a sinuous, supple movement he squeezes his body in, and disappears.
It’s all right for you, I think angrily. You’ve done this before. And besides, you’re Mer.
My heart is beating fast again. I’m frightened but I push the fear down. In a place like this it’s not safe to show weakness. That creature with the claw can’t get into the passage; Faro said it couldn’t—
Clack. Clack. Clack.
Am I really hearing it?
Stop it, Sapphire. Don’t think about the claw.
Faro’s tail has vanished. I’ve got to follow him.
I swim down to the tunnel entrance and scull the water as I try to peer inside. It’s very narrow. I can only just fit in. There’s hardly any light at all. My fingers look ghostly.
Do it, Sapphire. You’ve got to go in.
I reach for the entrance of the tunnel. My hair floats around my face, blinding me for a second. What if my hair gets caught and I’m trapped?
I shut my mind, swim down, feel for the sides of the tunnel, and haul myself in.
I can’t see anything. My body blocks out the light behind, and Faro must be blocking the light ahead.
“Faro?” I whisper. I don’t dare call out. Anything might be listening. A conger eel would love to coil itself away here, and wait for its prey. Maybe there’s a labyrinth of tunnels leading away from this one. Tunnels full of hidden creatures. Octopuses, giant squid, crabs and eels—
“Faro!”
I’m not making a sound. I’m trying to reach Faro with my mind. Where is he?
Hurry up, Sapphire. Human toes are a rare treat for conger eels down here.
He’s heard my thoughts. I’ve never been so glad to be teased in my life. Somehow Faro turns the conger eels into cartoon creatures. But under the teasing, I sense that Faro’s afraid too. Not of eels or octopuses, but of something deeper. Something formless, shadowy. A flicker of his fear brushes over my mind and I shudder.
I’m not going to let fear win. I’m going to fight back, like Faro.
Those conger eels don’t care about toes, they’re after your tail,
