“CAPTAIN K WAS COMMANDER of the warship Leviathan during the later years of Queen Victoria’s reign,” says Dr Thalassi. “He was patrolling the Far North when he discovered a floating island of rock and ice that didn’t appear on any chart. Through his telescope he spied a vast, glittering cavern in the island. Under the glow of the aurora borealis, Captain K ordered a boat to be lowered into the sea, and had himself rowed over, through the wind and snow, to explore.
“As the boat entered the cavern, there came a terrible sound – a screeching, wailing roar that filled the seamen with dread. They wanted to turn back.
“‘Since when have sailors been scared of the wind?’ said Captain K, and he ordered them to row on.
“The cavern led to the heart of the island. There they found a great, stinking mound of seaweed, bones and shipwreck stuff. At the top of the mound was an eerie red glow. Again the men asked to turn back, but again the captain called them cowards. He stepped out onto the seaweed mound himself, and began to climb.”
“Brave,” I say. “But I think he should have listened to his men.”
Dr Thalassi shrugs. “Maybe so. Anyway, when he reached the top of the mound, he found that it wasn’t a mound at all but a gigantic nest. For, resting in a little dip on the summit, Captain K found a large red crystal egg, glowing with its own internal light.”
“How can it be an egg if it’s made of crystal?” I say.
“Do you want me to tell the story?” says the doc. “Or answer all your questions?”
I zip my mouth shut with an okey-doke grin.
“Captain K had never seen anything like this strange egg, yet it seemed oddly familiar, like something from a story, half forgotten. He picked up the egg and gasped at the warmth of it. It seemed to vibrate with creative promise, as if all it was waiting for was something to realize its magical potential. Or someone. In the captain’s wondering mind, a thousand voices seemed to whisper as one: I can make your dreams come true.
“Captain K shook his head. He didn’t have time for magical voices and fairy-tale nonsense. On the other hand, a glowing red crystal the size of an ostrich egg? Why, that would certainly make a fine trophy for his mantelpiece back home. So he tucked the pretty thing in the crook of his arm. He hardly heard the terrible, shrieking roar that sounded again as he slid back down to the boat and ordered his men to row for the ship.
“It was only later, as dawn broke and Leviathan was steaming southwards, away from the strange floating island, that the captain remembered the legend of the malamander. He had grown up in the town of Eerie, you see, and had spent many a sleepless childhood night trying not to think about the terrible monster in the old tales.
“‘Didn’t that lay a glowing red egg too?’ he muttered to himself. ‘In the stories? And wasn’t there something about the egg having the power to grant wishes?’
“And although Captain K didn’t believe in magic and nonsense, he ordered the ship’s speed to be increased, just in case.
“It was that night that the monster attacked. The men weren’t prepared. Many lives were lost defending Leviathan against the creature, which bristled with fins and quivering spines and terrified all who saw it. Bullets sparked off its scales, leaving scarcely a mark, and its claws could rend iron. By dawn, the men had driven it off, but the sun rose over a ship in a terrible state.
“The next night, the men were better prepared, and armed to the teeth. They fought bravely and in good formation, and again the creature was driven off, but again the cost was cripplingly high. As the sun rose on the aftermath, the mighty battleship was listing in the water, and the loss of men was appalling.
“‘It comes for its egg!’ the surviving sailors cried to the captain. ‘For the love of grog, give it back its egg!’
“Captain K, alone in his cabin, had come to the same conclusion. He brought the egg out of its hiding place and wondered if he should throw it in the sea. After all, good men were dying so that he could keep it. But the egg dazzled him with its beauty, and it had begun to thrill him with its strange promise. There was no way he could give up such a wondrous thing.
“‘So what if the malamander is real after all?’ said the captain to himself, gazing into the magical light of the creature’s egg. ‘It’s still just a dumb animal, while I’m a man, and commander of one of the most powerful vessels in the fleet.’
“The thousand-fold voice whispered in his mind again: I can make your dreams come true. I can grant your heart’s desire.
“‘My wish right now is to survive this,’ said the captain, almost without thinking. ‘I don’t want to be killed like a rat in a barrel by this fiendish creature.’ Then he added, because he suddenly realized it was his heart’s desire, ‘I want to live for ever.’
“Then you shall, said the voice. For as long as you can keep the egg. But if you lose it, your wish shall become your curse.
“‘Fight harder!’ the captain roared to his men. ‘Prepare yourselves! Defend the ship at all costs!’
“The third night brought the strongest attack yet. The captain and the remains of his crew barricaded themselves on the bridge and fought to hold the malamander back. The captain himself received many injuries, but a strange thing happened: a sea mist that came out of nowhere surrounded Captain K and his wounds closed up as soon as they opened, his injuries healed. The exhaustion of battle left him time and again, and he knew that the egg, tucked safely in the pocket of his greatcoat, was indeed granting him his wish. He knew that he would survive the fight, that he would live for ever.
“But that’s more than could be said for his crew. By the time the dawn came and the monster had once again withdrawn, barely a handful remained. The Leviathan, which was billowing smoke and listing even further in the water, was directed at war speed towards Eerie-on-Sea, its engines hot and rumbling as the men burned everything in sight to create steam. The malamander was an Eerie legend, the captain reasoned, and maybe – just maybe – if they could lead it home, the monster would leave them alone.”
Dr Thalassi pauses, and looks thoughtfully into the paraffin lamp.
“And…?” says Vi after a moment, pulling her coat closer. “Don’t stop now. Did it leave them alone?”
The doctor lowers his brow. “They approached the town the following day, at dusk, steaming at a reckless rate. Far from leaving them alone, the monster attacked the moment the sun went down. With the last of his men stationed in the engine room – ordered to keep course for Eerie-on-Sea – Captain K went out onto the deck to face the malamander alone.”
“That’s bonkers!” I say.
“Indeed,” says the doc. “Very bonkers. But the captain was drunk with power. He had the magical egg, after all, and knew he would live for ever as long as he possessed it. He felt invincible. And according to legend, the malamander, though tough as steel, was not invincible. It had one weakness. It could be killed. At least, that’s what the stories said. Captain K thought that with the magic on his side he would find that weakness and finish the beast off for good.”
“Only that’s not what happened,” says Vi.
Dr Thalassi shakes his head. “Whether it was some treachery in the magic, or some miscalculation on the part of the captain, this was to be his last stand. As he faced up to the monster on the heaving deck, wreathed in the strange sea mist, clutching the egg like a weapon, the creature darted forward and delivered a bite. A good, hard bite, which injected stinging venom. The bite hurt, but the real terror wasn’t in the pain, it was in the cold numbness that froze the captain’s limbs. He lost the ability to move down one side of his body, and fell. In horror, Captain K could only watch as the malamander bent over him and, with a single snap of its jaws, tore his right hand – the hand that held the malamander egg – clean off and swallowed it whole.”
“So he lost it,” I say, after a pause to let the gory details sink in. “The egg. But doesn’t that mean the wish would become a curse?”
“I’m glad you were paying attention, Herbie,” says the doc with a nod. “The malamander, having devoured its magical egg once again, slipped into the sea with a final roar and was gone. The ship ran aground, of course, and the last of the crew abandoned the wreck. As for the captain, with the magic gone, all the wounds he had received during the battle returned. He was found on the deck by some brave souls from Eerie: a ruin of a man, ranting and raving and waving the stump where his hand used to be, vowing revenge against the malamander.
In the days that followed, he had something grafted onto his arm in place of the lost hand, something he could use as a weapon. And they say he spent the rest of his days hunting for the monster that had destroyed him.”
I look at Vi, and she looks at me.
“The something,” I say, with a slightly wobbly voice. “The something he had grafted on instead of a hand… I, er, I don’t suppose the book says anything about what that something might have been?”
“It does, as it happens,” says Dr Thalassi. “It was a boathook.”
