Moonfin (23 page)

“I was able to heal the sea turtle.”

“Yes,” flittered Rhizoo, “the Protectors are given the gift in order to serve those in their charge.”

Xili suddenly noticed a seal tangled in vines on the seafloor. Lizzy watched as she broke away to pull him free. He frolicked around her in gratitude while she petted and hugged him affectionately, then he nuzzled her hair with his snout and swam away cheerfully.

“Eerrm—I know this is a great deal to take in, but you chose to leave us to save the sea dragon, Moonfin,” Cheroo said in a crisp, officious tone, looking into her eyes to see if his words had any effect on her. “It was the only way. I have only known of a few—those who left the Glimmruyn to become human—in thousands of years.”

Lizzy was speechless. Part of her knew this was all true. But her whole twelve-year-old world seemed to be exploding at that moment, and she didn't know what to do or how to think.

“Th-that's … wh-what the turtle-shark from the cavern m-meant … when he said … ‘you are here and not here at the same time,'” she faltered.

“Yes, you are human and Glimmruyn all at once. A child of two realms: water and air,” said Xili kindly, returning from her task.

“I can breathe underwater without the conch now.” She looked down at her hands. They still looked like the same hands to her … maybe a little sparkly or something, but still hers.

“Yes, yes!” said Rhizoo most tremulously.

“But what about my mom and dad?” Lizzy looked up at Xili, imploring, reeling from confusion.

“They discovered you alone on the beach when you were just two years old in human age.”

“They found me
wandering
all by myself?”

“You chose them, mhmhmhmmh. You made us promise to put you up on the beach when they were taking a stroll one evening. They adopted you when no one claimed you as their own.”

Lizzy pondered her words.

“I am a
Glimmruyn?
That's why I changed in the water when I chased that shark?”

“When you made the decision to be brave, it set your change in motion—more changes will come,” Xili answered.

“But … why haven't I ever heard of this ‘Glimmruyn'—like in school?”

“Have you ever read books about the fairy world?”

“Of course. We all grow up on those stories.”

“The name given to us is the Sprite from those stories. It means
spiritus
or ‘breath.' But Glimmruyn was from before that time.
Glimm
means ‘light,' and
ruyn
means ‘song.' But it is the same.”

“Lightsong …” Lizzy breathed.

Xili smiled at hearing her say it.

“Yes, it is as you say.”

It was getting late, and Lizzy was starting to worry about leaving Kai and Jeff alone on the beach. “I must go,” she said anxiously, turning away from them, desperately wanting only to get back onto dry land and to what she knew was
normal
. Rhizoo and Cheroo swam off. Xili followed closely behind Lizzy.

Walking out of the ocean with ease, she stood facing Xili, who took her watery-person form.

“Can I do that—you know, be a watery, drippy person like that?” she croaked into the cool night air.

“I am not sure. When you took human form, some things were lost as Glimmruyn, and some things were gained as a human. Once you step from the water, you take on flesh as was permissible. We are not even sure it is permanent.”

“Not permanent …
great
.”

Lizzy wiggled her toes in the cool, supple sand. Roaming the water realms and breathing in the air realms were so very different, but she could feel the two were connected inside of her. She started to understand why finding this Moonfin was so important for the safety of both worlds—

“Oh Xili! I almost forgot to tell you—Krell made a clone of Moonfin. We saw it in this creepy place called the Quarantine Room inside the aquarium. It's the most frightful creature and so full of rage!” she cried in one long, shuddering breath.

“Then both mankind and seakind are in great danger.”

“And I haven't set Moonfin free.” She gave Xili a withering look. “I have failed my mission, if it is as you say. I don't even know where she is.”

“Ah! That is why the map was placed upon you. It was the best way for it not to get lost.”

Lizzy glanced down at her right hand and back up at Xili with understanding, then she dropped to the ocean's verge, dipping her fingers into the wet foam. The markings appeared as a ring around her thumb like they always did when water touched her skin—a series of several small ovals and symbols.

Xili explained, “You see, the large streak is Otter Island. The six smaller dots are the islands surrounding it. This upside-down ‘V' is a volcano in the center of the island, and not far from that is a symbol on the end, shaped like a star. That is Frog Mountain. We have heard reports that she is being held within that mountain somewhere.”

Then it happened again: a chicken hijacked Lizzy's lips.

“Umm—I have no idea how to get to the star on this map from here. And how do I set her free? I don't have a key or anything. And did I mention I am a scaredy-cat….” she rambled on, trying to talk herself out of the inevitable.

Xili smiled patiently and waited for Lizzy to finish her rant, somehow knowing none of this would be easy. “That is for you to discover and why you have feet to walk upon!” she gently reminded.

Lizzy breathed out a feeble “okay,” trembling from head to foot.

“Be brave, little one, we can only tell you what we know. There is an underground sea, and the only way of escape is by a door that is covered with bars so strong, they are unbreakable. Moonfin is there. We believe she has escaped from there in the past, so Krell has her chained up as well. We know no more.”

Lizzy sighed resignedly. “Why can't you or Iddo set her free?”

Xili looked distressed. “No one has heard from him—we are trying to keep hope. Finding a way in on land is the
only way
. We have not been able to determine the entrance to the cave from the sea realms, or a way to lift the gate.”

“I don't see how Krell could hold such a creature, if she's as powerful as you say.”

“It is true. She is shrewd and has the strength of a hundred whales. It was not an easy task for Dr. Krell to trap her, and it will not be easy to set her free. But we must try, Lizzy,” she said earnestly. “If we do not, he will fill the oceans with her kind, and I shudder to think of what will happen to all the rest who live here!”

Xili's voice softly faded and she began to descend into the ocean.

“Find the lair Dr. Krell works from on this island, and you will find the way to set her free.”

“Yeah, well—that's if we don't get swallowed up by a purple jello pit again. Do you know anything about those? We became trapped in one for twenty-four hours—we'd still be there except, somehow, water flooded in and we floated out.”

Xili looked up into the dense forest, and in one last breath, whispered, “Be careful, Lizzy, this island is not as it seems.”

Then she melted into the glistering sea.

Lizzy trotted up the beach to Jeff and Kai, who were busy munching on apples picked from Sugar's orchard.

“Look what survived the goo-pit! We washed them in the ocean and they taste great,” said Kai, tossing a shiny piece of fruit her way.

Lizzy suddenly missed Sugar's home cooking. “Thanks—and great job keeping the fire going.” She plopped down next to the warm flames.

“Any news?”

“
Uhhh
…” Lizzy waffled, not sure how much she should say about it. Perhaps it would be least painful to blurt it out—

“Remember what I said about
not
going near Moonfin? It seems this birthmark on my thumb is a map that leads right to her.” She paused to let that soak in.

The apple in Kai's mouth dropped to the sand.

“
What
? And how did that get there?” Kai spouted, alarmed by this piece of news. She had seen the marks before when Lizzy's hand was wet, but never thought for a moment they were a map!

Lizzy told them all about Tevu and Xili, and the dolphins, and everything they said about finding Moonfin in Frog Mountain—but left the part out about her being a Glimmruyn.
That's enough shock for one day
, she thought, sucking her lips into her head.

Jeff and Kai eyed her suspiciously and knew she was leaving something out, but were too tired to ask more questions.

Jeff burrowed himself in the sand.

“It'll be daylight soon—let's catch some Zs.” The part about finding Moonfin no longer bothered him—if they could stop Krell, so much the better. Besides, they were beyond grounded for leaving the mainland without permission. What was one more day?

Squishing their packs under their heads, they drifted off into a proper Dreamland, except Lizzy, who couldn't get the words “not as it seems” out of her weary mind. The smoke pleasantly wafted around them as they each quietly pondered the jello pit they had been trapped in for one whole day. They all liked the dreams very nicely, but now felt a little uncomfortable about the idea of getting
all
they wanted in life so easily, and, in the deepest part of their hearts, knew that they would give up those dreams, if only to gain the one thing they each really wanted. But no one said this out loud to the others.

The bear stayed hidden in the forest and watched all that had happened, waiting until the children fell asleep before climbing to his sleeping spot in the branches of a tree. He decided to stay near Lizzy … although he still didn't know why.

Chapter 16
THE TICKLING BLADE

J
eff didn't relish the idea of crawling down the gullet of a toad. “I eat
them
, they don't eat
me
,” he said firmly. “Let's get the food chain in the right order.”

“Not a
real
frog. It's a lava stack formed by the violent forces of magma, pushing out of the cracked earth,” said Lizzy dramatically, adding sound effects to embellish her geologic rendition of volcanoes, “and oozing into the cooling waters, layer upon layer and—”

Kai yawned extra loudly.

“I thought it was an ordinary pile of rocks.”

“That's what I
said
, weren't you listening?”

“Never heard of it,” said Jeff. “That's a funny name for a mountain, anyway.” He popped open a small silver can of sardines and began slurping down two at a time. Kai and Lizzy wrinkled their noses at him.

“Yuck, Jeff, your dead little fish stink!” gagged Lizzy. She rifled through her pack for a granola bar.

Jeff placed two more sardines in his mouth, letting the fins hang off his lips like vampire teeth just to annoy her. “I heard about it once from one of the fishermen at Bubba's … it was old Bill Walden,” he said, fin-fangs flapping.

“No wonder. He doesn't exactly get his facts straight,” said Kai, working at combing back her purple-goo coated hair. “Ugh, I have jello bed-head,” she said, wincing.

“Me too. That stuff is better than the hair wax I use,” said Jeff, the jello goo having formed even sharper spikes along his already pointy scalp.

“Yeah, you could bottle it up and sell it for ten buckaroos at the Curl & Dye,” Kai joked.

Jeff went still as neon dollar signs flashed before his eyes.

“That's ridiculous, Kane,” he said.
And
brilliant
! Why didn't he think of that? There was a mint to be made from the vain teenagers of Blowing Prawn. He began to run the numbers through his entrepreneurial head.

Kai gave up on her grooming and joined Lizzy in a breakfast of granola and sour gummy worms. “You know what people say about crazy Bill. He went out to sea one night with three of his friends, and he was the only one who came back alive.”

“I heard something capsized their small boat. His friends drowned, but he was found clinging to a buoy mumbling gibberish,” recounted Lizzy grimly.

“But that wasn't anywhere close to Otter Island. They found him off the mainland somewhere near the lighthouse,” said Jeff.
Hmm
, he thought,
if I run a hose from the mainland, I could suck the purple goop out of the pits … no, too messy.

“Anyway,” continued Lizzy, “one time he was spouting his crazy mumbo-jumbo and Frog Mountain came out. He said, ‘Lava black, lava cold—'”

“‘—a frog's mouth in mountain old.' I remember that too,” said Kai, finishing the riddle.

Maybe I can use the old cannery plant and haul it in by boat
…
no, too expensive
…

“Jeff! What are you thinking about?”

“Eureka! I'll use buckets and helicopters!” he blurted out loud. Oh,
oops
. He smiled sheepishly.

They stared at him blankly.

“Give it a rest, boy wonder,” said Kai warningly.