Free The Curse of the Ice Serpent by Jon Mayhew Page A

Nautilus downward.
    The turtle gave another shriek. It sounded louder – as if it were gaining on them. Dakkar peered out – it looked larger, closer.
    The darkness of the water closed in around them as they plunged deeper.
    ‘We have to keep quiet,’ Borys said, his voice low. ‘Sound travels in water and I believe that our big friend’s keepers, the Qalupalik, have very keen senses!’
    Once more the planks of the Nautilus groaned with the pressure of the water. Dakkar felt a tightness around his chest and each breath seemed to pant from his body as if squeezed out.
    Rocky pillars appeared out of the gloom. Georgia steered towards them and settled the Nautilus between them, shutting the engine down. Slowly the sub sank to the gritty seabed, hitting the ground with a thump that echoed dully through the whole craft.
    They all waited in the cabin. Sweat dripped down Dakkar’s forehead and neck as he peered out into the silty water. The heat was stifling. A huge shadow drifted above them. Dakkar pointed upward to tell the others. Georgia held her hand to her mouth.
    Dakkar could hear the blood pulsing in his neck and his breath rasping in his lungs. The sea pressed in on the Nautilus ’s timbers, making her creak. Every noise brought a wince from Dakkar. His jaw ached from gritting his teeth and he longed to scream out and send the Nautilus rushing to the surface.
    The light from the surface above them darkened again.
    The monster is circling , Dakkar thought. It’s searching for us like some kind of bloodhound!
    The silence pressed in on them. The air became stale and Dakkar’s head pounded.
    We can’t wait much longer , he thought.
    ‘What if we fire a couple of Sea Arrows,’ he whispered, ‘to create a distraction?’
    ‘Good idea,’ Georgia hissed back. ‘If it kicks up enough mud, we can slip away unnoticed.’
    ‘We could use sepia bombs too,’ Dakkar said. ‘To add to the confusion.’
    In addition to the Sea Arrows, the Nautilus could fire globes of squid ink into the sea. These created a thick and slightly acidic fog through which the sub might be able to escape. Signalling Borys to go to the stern of the boat where the sepia bombs were kept, Dakkar climbed down the ladder and crept towards the cabin that housed the Sea Arrows. He eased the explosive missiles out of their box and slid them into the firing chambers which nestled in the walls on either side of the sub.
    ‘Dakkar?’ Georgia’s voice from the speaking tube made him jump. ‘Are you ready?’
    ‘Yes!’ Dakkar hissed back. ‘Keep quiet, will you?’
    ‘No need for that now,’ she replied. ‘It’s seen us and it’s coming our way. Get ready!’

CHAPTER FOURTEEN
    A FROZEN WORLD
    Dakkar felt the Nautilus lift as Georgia blew some of the ballast water from the hull. He stabbed his thumb into the firing button and then into the second one. Two missiles sprang from the front of the sub. Dakkar waited and after a count of eight was rewarded with the dull thump of an explosion, followed closely by another.
    He could tell that the Nautilus was travelling backward and he hurried up the passage and climbed the ladder back to the tower.
    A thick fog of sepia and mud blotted out the view from inside the tower. Georgia had spun the Nautilus around and slammed her to Full Ahead . The shrieks of the turtle seemed more distant now.
    ‘The Sea Arrows have deafened it,’ Borys said, smiling grimly. ‘I think we might have given it the slip.’
    ‘Let’s get to the surface,’ Dakkar said. ‘I need fresh air.’ He felt sick and his head thumped.
    Slowly, they rose through the murk, glad of the weak daylight that shone at the surface of the sea. They broke the waves and Dakkar gave a sigh of relief as he felt the sub pitch and roll.
    They all clambered up the tower, eager to get their lungs full of clean air. Dakkar gasped at the sharpness of the cold that hit him as he threw open the hatch. He blinked, trying to adjust to the sudden bright