Once again they all gathered in the living room. Coral took a deep breath. She didn’t like making speeches, but this felt different.

‘Hello, everyone. I … I just wanted to say thank you, actually. Thank you for being my friends. Thank you for…’ she swallowed, ‘…for helping me start to feel happy again. You’re like my other family now. A wild, fun, crazy sea family, who I could never have even dreamed of, but I could never have asked for anything more wonderful. So, from the bottom of my heart, thank you.

‘I want to share with you a song my dad used to sing to me. It was his favourite hymn. He was from Wales and would sing it in Welsh. It’s called Calon Lân, which means Pure Heart, and I’d like to sing it for you, in the language of my father.’

Coral closed her eyes. She let the memory of her father singing to her wash through her mind, and let the song flow from her heart.

Nid wy’n gofyn bywyd moethus,

Aur y byd na’i berlau mân.

Gofyn wyf am galon hapus

Calon onest, calon lân.

Calon lân yn llawn daioni

Tecach yw na’r lili dlos

Dim ond calon lân all ganu

Canu’r dydd a chanu’r nos.

A pure heart full of goodness

Is fairer than the pretty lily,

None but a pure heart can sing,

Sing in the day and sing in the night.’

Coral’s sweet voice, filled with love for her parents and friends, flowed through the entire house. It reached the kitchen. Stealth’s eyes narrowed. His great wings shuddered.

‘What is THAT?’ he snarled, swooping through the room. Although the door was tightly shut, Coral’s sweet voice was filling the kitchen.

None but a pure heart can sing,

Sing in the day and sing in the night.

The ghastly gathering braced themselves. Rocky and Edge began cackling uncontrollably, knowing that Stealth was about to explode in fury, although they were finding it difficult not to sway to the music.

‘THIS. WAS. NOT. PART. OF. THE. PLAN!’ Stealth blasted, whirling his venomous tail as he spun around the kitchen.

Stealth could not bear it. This girl was finding happiness, when she should be pulled into darkness. Well, she would not escape. He had not escaped desolation, and neither would she.

‘We attack NOW! Urchin Army! Are you ready for battle?’

Millions of poisonous spikes bristled in anticipation.

‘Squadron Stonefish! Ready?’

Hundreds of pairs of eyes blinked blackly from the floor.

‘Then let the battle begin! Destroy them all – but remember, Coral must be mine!’