Syren
Chapter 46 The Silver Snake

They sat among the rocks just above Spit Fyre, watching one warrior after another wade out of the sea. Beetle looked at his timepiece.
"They're coming out twelve a minute," he said. "That's the same rate as they came out of the hold. So, if there really are four thousand jinn in there, like Grub says, it's going to take them...um...just over five and a half hours."
"Beetle, you really are like Jillie Djinn," Jenna teased.
"No, I'm not," Beetle protested. "She would have figured it out to a tenth of a second."
"Bet you could do that too."
Septimus got to his feet. "Well, at least that gives me enough time to Seal the Ice Tunnel," he said. "And this time I'm going to get it right."
"Sep - don't go back there," Beetle said. "Send Jim Knee to do it."
"Jim Knee?"
"He's your jinnee - that's his job: to do dangerous stuff for you."
Septimus looked at Jim Knee. The long, lanky jinnee was lying in the sand, clutching his precious hat to his chest like a soggy teddy bear. He was fast asleep. Septimus shook his head. "Beetle, he's hopeless. He'd probably fall asleep on the way. Or he'd wait until they were all in the tunnel and then Seal it. We can't risk anything going wrong. I have to do it."
"Then we're coming with you," said Jenna. She looked at the others. "Right?"
"Yep," said Beetle and Wolf Boy.
"Sorry," said Lucy, "I can't come. I promised to do something else. And so did Wolf Boy."
Everyone, including Wolf Boy, looked puzzled.
"Like what?" said Jenna incredulously. "Go to a party or something?"
"Very funny. Not. Wolf Boy and I" - Lucy gave Wolf Boy a meaningful stare - "we promised to help Mr. Miarr get his Light back to the lighthouse. Those horrible Crowes over there - " Lucy waved her arm at the Cerys. "They tried to kill him before, and if they see him on top of that rock thingy with the Light, they'll do it again."
"You mean there's someone up there with that weird light?" asked Jenna, shielding her eyes and looking toward the Pinnacle.
"Of course there is," said Lucy, as though it were obvious. "Mr. Miarr is the lighthouse keeper. And we promised to take him and his Light back to the lighthouse - didn't we?" She looked at Wolf Boy.
"Yeah," he admitted. "We did."
"We have to do it now, before anything bad happens." Lucy stared at everyone, daring them to contradict her. No one did.
"But how?" asked Wolf Boy.
"Easy," said Lucy. "We'll borrow Jim Knee - Septimus doesn't want him. He can be a turtle again."
It was okay with Septimus. It was not okay with Jim Knee. However, okay or not, in a matter of minutes, there was a giant turtle in the water awaiting Lucy's instructions. Jenna, Septimus and Beetle watched the turtle swim out toward Star Island, taking a wide detour around the Cerys. It swam surprisingly steadily, with Lucy and Wolf Boy sitting comfortably above the water.
"You don't mess with Lucy Gringe," said Beetle admiringly. "Even if you're a jinnee."
On the beach, the number of warriors was steadily growing. Tertius Fume was forming the emerging jinn into a long line that folded back on itself. It reminded Septimus of the anchor rope that Nicko had once made him lay out on deck when they had taken a boat to the Port. The rope had zigzagged up and down the deck like a snake, so that when the anchor was finally ready to go, it would drop into the water with no knots or hindrance.
"Flaking the anchor," Nicko had called it. Nicko's pickiness about the rope had annoyed Septimus at the time, but when they had to throw the anchor overboard in a hurry, he had seen why it was so important. And now he realized that that was what Tertius Fume was doing. He was preparing the jinn to move quickly, easily and without confusion, while keeping a large number of them in a small area. And, Septimus suddenly realized, the ghost did not have to wait until they were all off the Cerys.
"I gotta go," he said. "Now."
"We've got to go, you mean," said Jenna.
"No, Jen."
"Yes, Sep."
"No. Jen, this is dangerous stuff. If...if anything goes wrong, I want you to tell Marcia what happened. I don't think Nik quite understands it. But you do - and Marcia will listen to you."
"So...is Beetle going with you, then?"
Septimus looked at Beetle. "Beetle?" he asked.
"Yep. I'm coming," he said.
Jenna was quiet for a moment. "It's because I'm a girl, isn't it?" she said.
"What is?"
"You don't want me to come with you because I'm a girl. It's this stupid Young Army stuff you've been doing. All boys together."
"It's not that, Jen."
"So what is it then?"
"It's...well, it's because you're the Princess - because you're going to be the Queen. You're important, Jen. Marcia can get another Apprentice, but the Castle can't get another Queen."
"Oh, Sep," said Jenna.
"I'd really like you to go back to Milo and Nik. You'll be safer there."
"Back to Milo?"
"And Nik."
Jenna sighed. "All right, Sep. I'm not going to argue." She got to her feet and hugged Septimus hard. "Be careful. I'll see you soon. Okay?"
"Okay, Jen."
"Bye, Beetle."
Suddenly Beetle wanted to give Jenna something - something to remember him by, just in case. He took off his precious Admiral's jacket and gave it to her. "For you."
"Beetle, I can't. You love this jacket."
"Please."
"Oh, Beetle. I'll take care of it until you come back."
"Yeah."
Jenna hugged Beetle too - much to his amazement - then she put the jacket on, scrambled up the rocks and set off toward the rocky spit at the end of the island. She did not look back.
Beetle watched her go.
"Beetle," said Septimus, breaking into his thoughts.
"Er, yes?"
"You do remember your UnSeen?"
Beetle looked uncertain. "I think so."
"Good. I'll do the same one, so we can see each other. We'll do it now, okay?
One...two...three."
Together Septimus and Beetle - with a little prompting - whispered the UnSeen chant and, after a few false starts, the telltale signs of fuzziness began to appear around Beetle as he slowly - very slowly - disappeared. They set off along the open ground above the sand dunes, heading for the hill that would take them up to the Peepe. As they jogged along they heard Tertius Fume bark, "Forward!"
From within their UnSeens, Septimus and Beetle looked at each other.
"We're going to have to move fast," said Septimus.
"Yep."
They ran, leaping over the rocky ground. Suddenly, no more than a hundred feet in front of them, Tertius Fume came striding out of one of the many paths that led up from the beach. Septimus and Beetle stopped dead. Behind the ghost came the first warrior jinnee, with silver wings shining on its black helmet, the ancient armor dark against the green grass, and - this sent a shiver down Septimus's spine - was a sharp, stubby sword replacing its right hand, a shield replacing the left. Behind the warrior came another, then another and another. Twelve swordsmen followed by twelve axmen, followed by twelve bowmen, all marching with a mechanical precision in time with Tertius Fume, following the ghost as he progressed across the grass with the strange motion that ghosts have, his feet not always connecting with the ground.
To avoid the jinn Septimus decided to head for the side of the hill near the sea, on the far side of the island. It was tough going - a steep climb with loose shale and no pathway. They climbed fast and drew ahead of Tertius Fume and the jinn, who were winding their way up Syrah's snaking path. At the top of the hill, at the edge of the trees, Septimus and Beetle stopped a moment to catch their breath.
"Ouch," puffed Beetle, who had a stitch. "Better not stop...gotta get there...before they do."
Septimus shook his head and handed Beetle his water bottle. "Safer to go in...with'em," he said.
"With them?" Beetle passed the bottle back.
Septimus took a long gulp of water. "That way the Syren probably won't notice us."
Beetle raised his eyebrows. He hoped Septimus knew what he was doing. "Look at them, Sep. What a sight."
The jinn were pouring down the side of the Cerys and disappearing below the sparkling green water. In a river of glittering wavelets, they emerged from the sea and joined the line, moving through the sand dunes, across the rocky spit, and up the hill like a silver snake.
"Yep. They'd be quite something to have on your side," said Septimus.
"Creepy though," said Beetle, "the way they have no hands."
To the sound of the first warrior jinn crashing through branches, Septimus and Beetle set off. They skirted the edge of the copse, which was thinner on this side of the hill, and, as they reached the open cliff top, they saw Tertius Fume and the first warriors emerge from the trees and head toward the Peepe, their marching feet sending vibrations through the hollow ground.
"Hurry," said Septimus. "We must be at the front."
They hurtled across the grass, Septimus praying that if the Syren was looking out of the Peepe, she would be too busy watching the oncoming jinn to notice the disturbance caused by two UnSeens, one of which was not as UnSeen as it could be. The enormity of what they had to do only hit Septimus as they came close to the warrior jinn. They were huge and frighteningly mechanical. Their blank stares were inhuman and their arms - a mixture of swords, spears, maces, daggers and bows - deadly. The thought of the Castle being overrun with them made Septimus shudder.
He caught Beetle's eye and saw his thoughts echoed in Beetle's expression. With a double thumbs-up, they slipped inside the Peepe just ahead of Tertius Fume. Syrah was waiting. Her milk-white eyes briefly looked through Septimus until Syrah - with some force - twisted her head away and moved forward to greet Tertius Fume. Septimus grabbed hold of Beetle's hand and together they ran to the brightly lit hole in the middle of the floor - and jumped.
They landed in the feathers, waded across to the archway and hauled themselves out. As they hurtled along the white passageway past the Lookout, from the stairs deep within the cliff they heard the rhythmic tread of boots on rock.
The warrior jinn were on their way.