Chapter 37 - The Guardian

The sea was deeper than Lydia had expected. She could feel the depth, but it took a moment for her eyes to penetrate the darkness. Aron had been right: there was a forest of seaweed below her. Lydia was close enough to the token to sense its presence without Freddie's mandala. The feeling guided her downwards.

She passed a shoal of silver fish. As a single entity, they twisted away from her in a dazzling curtain of reflected light. Lydia dropped deeper, clutching the anchor across her chest. She could tell it was colder here, though the cold did not affect her. She also knew the pressure was building and was relieved that it did not seem to have any effect on her, either.

The tallest fronds of the underwater forest were not far below her now. She was deep below the surface. She could see well enough, though she knew the others would have struggled — if the pressure had not already killed them. Although the small anchor was giving Lydia her downward speed, Lydia used one arm and her legs to provide some horizontal movement and position herself as directly over the token as she could. She would not know precisely where it was until she searched. She could not do that until she reached the seabed.

Lydia descended into the forest. Leathery fronds slapped against her as she rushed by. She was travelling more slowly now, but still fast enough that it was difficult to evade the entangling seaweed. A little over to one side, she sensed a gap, like a track through the forest. Falling, swimming and weaving through the giant weeds, she reached the open avenue. She passed a huge eel as she sank. It opened its mouth, showing lines of needle-like teeth. Lydia was gone before it could pursue her. She was relieved it did not give chase. With her powers, a three-metre eel was no threat. But she wanted to avoid using spells, if possible. After the lightning assault which had followed Sophie's use of magic, she was keen not to draw the Watcher's attention. She supposed he was the one hounding them. It did not matter who it was; the Watcher was a useful name to use.

Lydia was nearing the seabed. Below her, in the avenue, was a litter of rounded boulders. It was not the soft, sandy floor she had hoped for. Lydia twisted around so that the anchor would hit the rocks first. She felt, rather than heard, the clunk as it struck the rock. She made out a pile of smooth stones nearby. It would take ballast to keep her on the seafloor. The anchor was too unwieldy to carry with her. She could tuck some cobbles into her costume — that would look weird — enough to keep her down but allowing her to look for the token.

The stones were not only unflattering in her costume, but they had an unfortunate tendency to move about. It was a disconcerting experience. They kept creeping downwards, giving her lumps in the worst possible way. But her hands were free. Now she needed to find the token.

It was cold, of course, but that did not affect her. Yet she found it difficult to move. It was not just the presence of the stones. Even her fingers were inflexible and clumsy. Her knees and other joints ached and felt stiff. It was like having the flu, or perhaps being old would feel like this.

"Shut up and get on with the job," she told herself. "Maybe it is the cold. Reach out and find this token. Let's just hope it's not right in the middle of the seaweed forest. I can do without the extra pressure of searching through…" Pressure! That's what was making her ache. "Right," she thought, "get on with it."

Reaching out with her mind, she felt drawn further along the avenue. She followed the feeling, glad that the rocks now rubbing against her skin were smooth. As she passed along the avenue, the sensation drew her more to the right, into the maze of seaweed trunks. The trunks were little more than the thickness of a sapling, but they were close together. Each plant had at the lower end what looked like a broad, multi-fingered hand. Each of these grasped one of the large round boulders, anchoring the weed in place on the seabed.

Lydia pushed her way between the trunks. They were smooth and rubbery and seemed to quiver when she touched them. She could feel the token was closer now, but the direction was less distinct. She would have to search by hand and eye. Although unsure what she was looking for, Lydia expected to find the token in some type of shellfish: an oyster or clam. Presumably it would be large, if the pearl token was to be of the same scale as the geode they had found in the caves. If it was an ordinary size of pearl, that would be much harder to find in these conditions. Her arms and legs ached with exertion and with the pressure, making searching harder still.

Here and there between the seaweed trunks she could see lights moving, wandering around. They were small lanternfish, searching for plankton to eat in this undersea forest. Prawns, or something similar, searched for food on the rocks. They swam and crawled between the fingers of the root-like holdfasts, which seemed to grip the anchor boulders. This was a kind of forest, Lydia thought, with its own trees and animals and fish flying around like birds.

Then Lydia realised that something she had taken to be another boulder was moving. It rose and fell. On closer inspection, it was opening and closing. It was a huge clam. She had to round a few trunks to arrive at the open side of the enormous shell. With so little light in the first place, the inside of the clam was difficult to see into. She realised the clam had a feathery membrane of skin, like a filter, over the opening. The clam never exposed its inside through the opening.

She concentrated hard, working against a rising headache from the pains in her joints and her fatigue. Her mind penetrated the shell. Inside, she could feel a smooth, round object the size of a man's fist. It must be the token. Then she noticed all the other sea creatures had left.

She could just make out one or two flashes of light further off between the trunks as the lanternfish weaved a path away from her. She reached out with her senses. Something gigantic was approaching. It was crashing through the seaweed trunks, searching for something, or for someone. Rather than fear, Lydia felt indignation. This was a forest. Every bit as much a forest as the Forbidden Forest where she had met Madoc, the centaur who had… called her the Queen of the Forests! No wonder she was indignant: this was her domain.

Now she caught her first glimpse of the creature. Its head was like that of a dragon, but broader. It had no wings, but its body had a crest-like fin running along its back and long tail, like an eel. It had scaled skin, like a snake. She froze as it passed almost directly over her. She willed it to stay on its course away from her. For a moment, it seemed it would. Then it folded its body back on itself and swam back towards her.

She needed the token. She needed to return to the boat. Could this creature follow her to the surface? She did not know, but she knew it was looking for her. She would need to use her magic, and who knew what else that might bring? Inherent magic — that was what she needed. She was inherently the queen here. Could her forest and its creatures help her? She called out to the forest with her mind, calling on it and its denizens to help. The fronds responded, forming a barrier between her and the monster.

She turned to find the clam again, but felt a disturbance behind her. Turning, she saw a cloud of shredded brown seaweed stems. The snout of the beast was visible through the shreds. Lydia needed to hide. A shark swam past, followed by several more. They were heading towards the sea monster. The queen's subjects were responding to her call. Lydia turned and swam away as quickly as her aching limbs allowed.

She found a gap between some of the seaweed anchor boulders. She slipped inside and concealed herself as well as she could. Crabs scuttled over her. She flinched but realised the crabs were helping to hide her. The colossal form of the sea monster snaked through the forest only three or four metres above her. She now grasped the scale of the beast. As it swam, it seemed to go on and on. Once, she had seen the skeleton of a whale on a visit to a museum with her uncle. She had also seen reconstructions of dinosaurs. She had swum many times with a giant squid at Hogwarts. This creature was bigger than any of these.

As the tip of its tail passed, Lydia clambered from her hiding place. She imagined the crabs piling on top of each other in the shape of her body. They did so, making a decoy to distract the gargantuan sea monster. Lydia headed back to the clam.

She had to search the area again to find the clam, scrambling among the boulders. There it was! She glanced around, half-expecting the monster to be right behind her. She could sense it in the distance. It was turning, looking for her. It hovered for a moment, undecided. Then it darted towards where she had hidden.

She felt something move under her hand. She had still been leaning on the giant clam. The shell was opening — wider than before. The fleshy filter parted, revealing the pearl. She grabbed it with one hand, sensing a commotion behind her.

Lydia reached inside her costume and pulled out the rocks, dropping them. She rose more quickly with each stone she discarded. Looking down, she could see a swirling and thrashing among the seaweed forest. There was a large clearing now where the crabs had made their decoy. In the clearing, the monster was being harried by the sharks. The creature dwarfed the team of sharks. They were like wasps attacking a bull. Above the commotion, the seaweed trees were rising, torn, and no longer tethered to the sea-floor. Lydia rose faster.

Lydia breached the surface like a leaping salmon. She was a few metres from the boat. She held the pearl token aloft for a second of triumph, then swam towards her friends.

"Who's taking this bloody thing?" she called out.

Christie stepped forward. "They've volunteered me. Sorry, hate to leave, but there it is."

"Bye!" Lydia called. "Catch!"

She tossed the pearl up to Christie, who caught it. Christie was gone. Dean stood in her place, blinking. He wobbled and grabbed Jimmy's arm to steady himself.

"Hey!" Dean called. "Where'd you find a boat?"

"Dean!" several voices chorused.

Jimmy reached down and grabbed Lydia's outstretched hand, hauling her up into the boat. The Companions split themselves between welcoming Dean back and congratulating Lydia. For Oddy, the split was hardest.

"Hello, Dean. Thanks, everyone," Lydia said. "Aron, get us out of here!"

The sails raised at a gesture from the ferryman.

"Sit!" Lydia commanded the others.

They sat. The boat moved off, wavelets slapping against the bows. The students continued to clap Dean on the shoulders and welcome him back. Oddy left the others and went to join Lydia, who was sitting by Aron.

"What are we running from, Faye?" Oddy asked.

"From the description Lydia has been relating to me, something best avoided," Aron said. "Have you ever heard of a leviathan?"

Oddy swore. Lydia had never heard Oddy swear before. She supposed he would know swear words: everyone else used them. But hearing such a bad word from Oddy made her realise the danger they were in, as much as seeing the creature — the leviathan — had.

"You must prepare yourself for using your magic, Lydia," Oddy was saying.

"I don't want the Watcher bearing down on us, Odysseus," she explained.

Oddy put his hand on hers. It was warm. She could feel the warmth. Lydia did not just sense the warmth; she felt it. It warmed her icy hand.

"Faye," Oddy said. "This is a leviathan. We can't fight it with swords and machetes. We can't fight it with High Magic. It's hard to see how the Watcher could make this worse! We need you… even more than we already did."

"Don't worry, Odysseus," Lydia said. "The Watcher can definitely make things worse, however bad they are."

"I do not believe she is mistaken in this, Master Odysseus," Aron said, his gaze flicking down from the sails to Oddy's face. "The Watcher is one you should avoid."

"What the hell can we do?" Lydia said in despair.

Oddy gave her a pained look. Aron smiled.

"You can continue your reign. Call on your subjects, your soldiers, your friends in the forest," Aron replied. "As soon as you can."

The boat lurched. Someone, it sounded like Shona, cried out a warning.

Lydia craned her neck to look outside into the water. There were waves surrounding them. Something was circling around them. The leviathan had followed her. Lydia knew she needed reinforcements. She dug deep down in her mind, summoning her strength and her regal demeanour. What should she say? What instructions should she give? What orders should she issue?

Help! Help me! She thought as loudly as she could.

The leviathan reared its head out of the water and turned its black eyes towards Lydia. Had it heard her silent scream? Or was its malevolent stare just general enmity towards the thief of the token?

The leviathan opened its mouth, baring a multitude of sabre-like teeth. Something rose from the sea beside the beast's head and wrapped around its jaws. The leviathan thrashed its immense tail, sending a plume of water into the air, which crashed down on the boat and its occupants. The vessel tossed back and forth, threatening to throw them into the sea. When Lydia looked again, several tentacles encased the leviathan's head in their grip. It reared up, lifting the body of a giant squid from the water. The squid was colossal, but dwarfed by the leviathan. It was an unequal struggle for the squid. Lydia thought of her friend, Gerty, and felt a rush of pity for the squid. This was Lydia's fault. She had ordered her subjects to their deaths. What kind of monstrous queen did that make her?

More tentacles wrapped around the leviathan's neck. Then more; more; another set. Within the minute, the leviathan was being borne down by the weight of a squadron of giant squid. Tentacles gripped and beaks snapped. In their passion, the squid changed colour from second to second. Different hues rippled like confusing rainbows across their bodies, even along their tentacles. The leviathan turned its head downwards and, with a drenching flick of its tail, fled back into the depths where it belonged.

A cheer rose from the Companions. Even Aron joined in. The boat was still bucking, and they clung on, but the worst seemed to be over. Despite the plumes and waves and curtains of water thrown at them, the boat avoided being swamped. Lydia was thankful, once again, for inherent magic.

Lydia was about to speak when a tentacle curled over the side nearest her and hovered over her hand. She stroked the tentacle and it caressed her fingers. Lydia peered down into the water. An enormous eye with a square pupil gave her a compassionate look.

"Gerty? Is that you?" an astounded Lydia whispered.

The squid looked at her a moment longer, then slipped beneath the surface, leaving no ripple.