Chapter 3 A few days later, we sit in silence in my cosy little basement, we take slow bites of (my favourite food) chocolate cake. Outside, the wind picks up, fog starts to close in and the sea thrashes against the rocks. Inside, I snuggle up in my blanket and Wilbur turns up the electric heater. Unsurprisingly, Wilbur does not sit still for long, he jumps up, “Alright,” he begins “are you ready for more adventures!” I roll my eyes and mumble ” alright then!”

I am soon to find out that the mysterious boy that I have been following around, has gone off investigating without me; apparently, whilst I have been nice and snug, he has been snooping around town. He has found a large trail of scorch marks leading to some caves.

Grabbing my coat and locking the door to my basement, I turn around the see Wilbur is already disappearing in the fog. I race to keep up with Wilbur’s fast feet. We are wasting no time, speeding along the beach, Marram grass scratching my legs as we run past them. “Niki, see?” Wilbur yells above the wind. I squint trying to see what he is pointing at and whisper to myself “Oh I never thought this is what I would be doing today.”

I had not believed Wilbur until now, just gazing at the massive scorch mark made me feel scared. There are serval sets of footprints and scorch marks, there are two distinct sets of footprints, one leading towards the sea and one leading into the dark cave stood before us. I put on my torch and look around. “Come on, let’s go in!” Shouts Wilbur excitedly, I sigh and follow him in. I know we are walking into trouble!

The rain pours. Its totally dark. It smells mouldy and water drips from the roof of the cave. Dagger like crystals glimmer in the torchlight. I trudge on alert and scared, my eyes scan the room looking for any danger. Just as I think we are all alone and start to relax, Wilbur finds something. There is a smaller cave, with a nest made with wet seaweed. In the centre of the nest there is a rather large egg, glowing orange. The flamemander has an egg!

All of a sudden I feel a stab of guilt. “We should not be here,” I whisper. I tug at Wilbur’s arm, turning to make my way out of the cave. But something is blocking our way; its shadow towers over us. There are low growls and the sound of wet feet hitting stone. Suddenly, we get hit by the smell of rotten fish and mould. We both hold our torches like weapons ready to run. The flamemander! Wilbur steps forwards; I leap back.