creature was this? Sticking out from the jumble of seaweed two arms or tentacles flapped about in the water. Was this a kind of octopus? Fin slipped back into the bearded shadows of the cavern wall.
The thing wriggled itself up from between two white shapes. Fin watched. A small creature with a head of long matted black hair lumbered over the white objects. The thing, Fin now saw in horror, had spindly legs or tentacles. They moved jerkily through the water, studded with limpets and barnacles. Seaweed and slime clung to the creature’s body. Now the wild thing crawled onto one of the white blocks. Once on top, it hunched over and rocked something that looked like a door back and forth, back and forth. Water whooshed in and out, making waves. The banging echoed round the cavern. This was surely the poisoner.
Magnus Fin, hardly able to see anything now with all the churning and frothing, struggled to swim closer against the swell. The creature, who or whatever it was, ceased banging the door for a second, jerked its head up and trembled. Fin darted in between a dark swathe of seaweed.
Fin’s eyes grew wide as plates. Slowly it dawned on him; this was no sunken city, no great undiscovered continent under the sea. He shook his head in amazement. A dump – for fridges, car batteries, freezers and storage tanks full of who knows what; that’s what this was. He’d dropped down into a giant toxicrubbish bin! And snaking round the dump oozed thick, brown liquid.
Fin grasped his moon-stone, trying to find the courage to swim closer and steal a better look at the wild creature in the dump. He crept around the edge of the cavern, keeping close to the hanging fronds. Never had he seen anything like it, not even in a film. The awful monster was banging fridge doors as though it was conducting an underwater orchestra.
Perhaps the creature sensed the presence of something above, for suddenly it stopped banging and jerked its bushy head upwards. Its body twitched. If that was hair on its head it was matted with a tangle of weeds and fishing net. As the bush of hair parted Fin saw the same wild staring green eye that he had seen before. But there were two of them. They flitted here and there, restless and vacant, as though the creature behind those eyes was somewhere far away.
Fin held his breath and slunk back behind a thick clump of algae. He didn’t dare move.
It didn’t take long for the brown stinking sludge to seep into Fin’s eyes. Quickly he rubbed them. They stung. They burned. He tried frantically to pull his goggles back on but it was too late. His torch-lights grew dim.
He let go his grasp of the seaweed and floundered in the water, sinking down level with the mound of tanks and fridges, thrashing his arms in wild circles.
The green-eyed creature was in no doubt now that it had company. It too thrashed its barnacled arms through the water. The dump was a churning froth.
In his panic Fin lashed out, kicked a storage tank and banged his leg. He slumped down beside it, exhausted.
The sea creature leapt over a fridge then hunched down to stare at his visitor.
Silence. The banging ceased. Fin groaned as the searing pain burned into his eyes. He tried to drag himself up. Everything was a blur but he knew the monster was close. He had to get away from this menace. As he struggled to stand up, his knees buckled under him. His eyesight was fading fast.
The wild creature tipped its head to one side, stared at the visitor, then with two filthy hands pushed Fin hard. Fin fell back with the sheer force, and the fear. He crashed against a fridge, lifting it up briefly before it came thundering back down, trapping Fin’s leg underneath it.
The creature clambered back onto a huge freezer. Wildly now it banged the door, churning up the whole cavern.
Magnus Fin tried to free his leg but it was wedged in tight between the rocky ocean floor and the fallen fridge. In a daze he grasped the locket that hung beside the moon-stone
The thing wriggled itself up from between two white shapes. Fin watched. A small creature with a head of long matted black hair lumbered over the white objects. The thing, Fin now saw in horror, had spindly legs or tentacles. They moved jerkily through the water, studded with limpets and barnacles. Seaweed and slime clung to the creature’s body. Now the wild thing crawled onto one of the white blocks. Once on top, it hunched over and rocked something that looked like a door back and forth, back and forth. Water whooshed in and out, making waves. The banging echoed round the cavern. This was surely the poisoner.
Magnus Fin, hardly able to see anything now with all the churning and frothing, struggled to swim closer against the swell. The creature, who or whatever it was, ceased banging the door for a second, jerked its head up and trembled. Fin darted in between a dark swathe of seaweed.
Fin’s eyes grew wide as plates. Slowly it dawned on him; this was no sunken city, no great undiscovered continent under the sea. He shook his head in amazement. A dump – for fridges, car batteries, freezers and storage tanks full of who knows what; that’s what this was. He’d dropped down into a giant toxicrubbish bin! And snaking round the dump oozed thick, brown liquid.
Fin grasped his moon-stone, trying to find the courage to swim closer and steal a better look at the wild creature in the dump. He crept around the edge of the cavern, keeping close to the hanging fronds. Never had he seen anything like it, not even in a film. The awful monster was banging fridge doors as though it was conducting an underwater orchestra.
Perhaps the creature sensed the presence of something above, for suddenly it stopped banging and jerked its bushy head upwards. Its body twitched. If that was hair on its head it was matted with a tangle of weeds and fishing net. As the bush of hair parted Fin saw the same wild staring green eye that he had seen before. But there were two of them. They flitted here and there, restless and vacant, as though the creature behind those eyes was somewhere far away.
Fin held his breath and slunk back behind a thick clump of algae. He didn’t dare move.
It didn’t take long for the brown stinking sludge to seep into Fin’s eyes. Quickly he rubbed them. They stung. They burned. He tried frantically to pull his goggles back on but it was too late. His torch-lights grew dim.
He let go his grasp of the seaweed and floundered in the water, sinking down level with the mound of tanks and fridges, thrashing his arms in wild circles.
The green-eyed creature was in no doubt now that it had company. It too thrashed its barnacled arms through the water. The dump was a churning froth.
In his panic Fin lashed out, kicked a storage tank and banged his leg. He slumped down beside it, exhausted.
The sea creature leapt over a fridge then hunched down to stare at his visitor.
Silence. The banging ceased. Fin groaned as the searing pain burned into his eyes. He tried to drag himself up. Everything was a blur but he knew the monster was close. He had to get away from this menace. As he struggled to stand up, his knees buckled under him. His eyesight was fading fast.
The wild creature tipped its head to one side, stared at the visitor, then with two filthy hands pushed Fin hard. Fin fell back with the sheer force, and the fear. He crashed against a fridge, lifting it up briefly before it came thundering back down, trapping Fin’s leg underneath it.
The creature clambered back onto a huge freezer. Wildly now it banged the door, churning up the whole cavern.
Magnus Fin tried to free his leg but it was wedged in tight between the rocky ocean floor and the fallen fridge. In a daze he grasped the locket that hung beside the moon-stone
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