Edwyn rummaged through all the bags he carried, each stuffed full of tools and gadgets. He had to yank out a bottle of Dungwasp repellent, a grappling hook, a jar of plumberry jam, a set of strange rocks that stuck together like magnets, a dagger shaped from a Jawbask tooth, and a pair of fuzzy socks—all before he finally found what he was looking for: Polypop masks. He handed one to each of them.

“Now,” he said, “your assignment today is to find an Oystix, which is a type of mollusk Beast that lives within the reef. Be careful if you try to open them. Almost all Oystixes secrete a goo that explodes when it makes contact with air. My healing Lore is good, but it’s not so good that I can reattach fingers.”

“Ooh—do they have pearls?” Hasu asked.

“Indeed! Occasionally, instead of exploding goo, an Oystix will hold a pearl inside, which is valued at six hundred kritters!”

Cecily bounced with excitement beside Barclay, ready for the hunt. “Do we get to keep the Oystix pearl if we find one?”

“Of course,” Edwyn told them. “And… three… two… begin!”

Cecily, Shazi, Viola, and Yasha all dove into the water, making the rowboat rock so much that Barclay’s satchel went spilling overboard. He watched in dismay as his pouch of kritters, spare set of dry clothes, and his conch shell from Knunx went sinking amid the coral.

Tadg snorted and swam off. Edwyn and Hasu, however, stayed behind to help him collect his belongings.

Barclay tied on the Polypop mask and dove down. Thankfully, the atoll wasn’t very deep, so none of the items sank far. Hasu dug up his kritter pouch from the sand, and Edwyn played tug of war with an anemone for Barclay’s spare trousers. After a minute of searching, Barclay scooped up the conch. It was tangled in a bush of shimmery, silver Gunkwort, and worse—a snail-like Beast had burrowed into it. Barclay shrieked—air bubbles flying from his mouth—as the snail peered up at him with its single beady, black eye. Its whole body, from head to tail, began to glow scarlet like a hot coal.

Barclay shook it out, letting it sink back into the seaweed.

Then he heard a strange whirling noise. Woooosh. He looked around, unsure where it had come from. Apart from Edwyn and Hasu, the others had all swum off in search of an Oystix.

Then he realized it was coming from the conch. Curious, he lifted it up to his ear.

Woooooooooooooosh.

It sounded strongly of rushing water, but in all the weeks since he’d been given the conch, he’d never noticed the noise before. When Barclay broke the surface and dumped the excess water from the shell, he held it to his ear again. Only, this time, it was silent.

Hasu watched him quizzically.