The Prince of Mist (Niebla 1)

Then came a deafening roar and Max saw a gigantic wall of water rising behind the stern of the Orpheus and approaching the ship at great speed. In a matter of seconds the impact of the gigantic wave threw the ship against the cliff face and the prow smashed into the rocks, causing a violent shock wave along the length of the hull. The mast with its navigation lights collapsed over the side of the ship, its tip plunging into the water only metres away from Max.

Max scrambled towards it, then grabbed hold and rested a moment to get his breath back. When he looked up, he saw that the fallen mast had provided him with a kind of ladder up to the deck of the ship. Before a new wave could tear it away, Max began to climb, unaware that, leaning on the starboard rail, a motionless figure was waiting for him.

*

As the force of the water swept Roland through the flooded bilge, the boy protected his face with his arms against the blows dealt him by his passage through the shipwreck. He allowed himself to be carried along by the current until a sudden surge flung him against a wall, where he managed to grab hold of a small metal ladder leading to the upper part of the ship.

Roland climbed the narrow steps, then passed through a hatch into the dark vault that housed the ruined engines of the Orpheus. He stepped over the broken machinery, reaching the passage that led up to the deck. Once there, he rushed along the corridor lined by cabins until he came to the bridge. It was a strange feeling for Roland, recognising every corner of the room and all the objects he had seen so often when he went diving. From this vantage point, Roland had a good view over the whole front deck of the Orpheus: the waves rushing over it and foaming along the platform of the bridge. Suddenly, Roland felt a tremendous force propelling the Orpheus forward and he watched in astonishment as the cliff seemed to rise up from the shadows just beyond the ship’s prow. They were going to hit the rocks.

Roland hurriedly grabbed hold of the helm, but his feet slipped on the film of seaweed covering the floor. He stumbled and collided with the old radio, then his whole body felt the tremendous shock as the hull crashed against the cliff face. Once the worst was over, he stood up and heard a sound close by, a human voice amid the roar of the storm. The sound came again and Roland recognised it: it was Alicia screaming for help somewhere in the ship.

*

The ten metres Max had to climb up the mast to the deck of the Orpheus felt more like a hundred. The wood had practically rotted away and was so splintered that when he finally reached the gunwale his arms and legs were covered in small stinging cuts. He decided it was better not to stop and examine his wounds and stretched out a hand to grasp the metal rail.

Once he’d got a good grip, he launched himself over it and fell onto the deck. A dark shadow passed before him and Max looked up, hoping to see Roland. It was Cain. The magician opened his cloak to show Max a silver object hanging on the end of a chain. The boy recognised the watch he’d lost in Jacob Fleischmann’s tomb.

‘Were you looking for this?’ asked Cain, kneeling next to the boy and dangling the watch in front of him.

‘Where’s Jacob?’ Max demanded, ignoring the mocking expression on Cain’s face, which resembled a wax mask.

‘That’s the question of the day,’ replied the magician, ‘and you’re going to help me answer it.’

Cain closed his hand around the watch and Max heard the crunch of metal. When the magician opened his palm again, all that remained of his father’s present was an unrecognisable tangle of squashed cogs and screws.

‘Time, dear Max, doesn’t exist; it’s an illusion. Even your friend Copernicus would have guessed the truth if he’d had precisely that – time. Ironic, isn’t it?’

Max was busy calculating whether or not it was possible to jump overboard and escape from the magician, but Cain’s white glove closed round his neck before he could take another breath.

‘What are you going to do with me?’ Max groaned.

‘What would you do with yourself if you were in my place?’

Max felt Cain’s lethal grip cut off his breathing and the blood to his head.

‘It’s a good question, isn’t it?’

The magician let go of Max, dropping him onto the deck. The impact of the rusty metal clouded Max’s vision momentarily and he was overwhelmed by sudden nausea.

‘Why are you pursuing Jacob?’ Max stammered, trying to gain time for Roland.

‘Business is business, Max; I carried out my part of the deal.’

‘But what can the life of one child mean to you?’ Max pleaded. ‘You’ve already had your revenge by killing Dr Fleischmann, haven’t you?’

Cain’s face lit up, as if Max had just asked him the very question he’d been waiting to hear since the start of their conversation.

‘When a debt is not settled, it gathers interest. But that does not cancel the original debt. That is my rule,’ hissed the magician. ‘And it’s what I feed on – Jacob’s life and the lives of others like him. Do you know how many years I’ve been roaming around the world, Max? Do you know how many names I’ve had?’

Max shook his head, giving thanks for every second the magician lost by talking to him.

‘Tell me,’ he replied in a tiny voice, feigning admiration.

Cain smiled triumphantly. At that moment the thing Max had feared, happened. Through the noise of the storm came the sound of Roland’s voice, calling Alicia’s name. Max and the magician looked at one another; they had both heard it. The smile left Cain’s face and was immediately replaced by the expression of a bloodthirsty predator.

‘Very clever,’ he whispered.

Max gulped, preparing for the worst.