"We're here."

"Is it awake?"

"I hope not."

"What if we don't find him?"

"Don't be so negative, Emily."

"But what if?" Whispered Emily quietly. Thelma had told them they had reached the main cavern, but there was no sign of Roger, a Kraken or a portal to Nowhere Land.

It was pitch black. The three children could only see from the thin, watery beams of light shining from the torches on their helmets. The only sound came from the occasional drop of water falling from the roof of the cavern into the dark, shallow puddles below.

Their feet sloshed through the water gently as they wandered around the enormous cathedral-like cave. It was Finn who found the Kraken. He beckoned to the others. A huge wall of thick, olive-coloured flesh loomed in front of them. It heaved up and down with the steady throb of the Kraken's breathing and was laden with a sickly layer of slime.

"It's asleep."

Blue was shaking with fear. The Kraken's body was the size of her house. She shone her head-torch upwards to see it had no eyes. It was just a huge bulbous mass of flesh; spanning its thick tentacles across the entire length of the cavern.

"The eyes are on the end of the tentacles." Whispered Emily hoarsely. She was reliving the memory of the Kraken dragging Roger into the darkness.

"I just found that out." Murmured Finn. He was staring directly at a tentacle lying still just a few metres away from them. Blue stepped back in alarm. It was like an enormous, hideous one-eyed snake. The bulbous eye on the tip of the tentacle was closed, but Blue could see the eyeball twitching under the thick eyelid.

"Our only hope." Whispered Thelma. "Is to sneak past it and find the portal without waking it up. If we disturb it, we have no chance."

"What about Roger?" Finn asked. Emily gulped. She hadn't realised how huge the Kraken actually was. "Guys!" Whispered Blue urgently. "Come here now!" She pointed at a tentacle that was coiled up tightly.

"I bet you anything." Murmured Blue. "That Roger is in there. The Kraken is holding onto him." "Well." Replied Thelma. "If he is, then we need to get him out as soon as possible." Blue considered this for a moment as something stirred in her brain.

"You all those scary teleporting movies?" She said. "Well I saw one once where a portal closed on a dragon's head... and it got chopped off. Do you think if we close the portal on a tentacle or on a big bit of the Kraken it would work?"

"Are these movies simulations of real life?" Asked Finn, making Blue realise that movies probably weren't a thing in Pepperland. "Umm..." She replied. "Kind of."

"It's worth a shot." Said Thelma. "But it means we have to find the portal first." "I have a question." Said Emily quietly. "How are we meant to get the portal to the Submarine?"

"It's a portable portal."

"Oh, okay."

The three children crept silently through the dark cavern, careful not to touch the sleeping Kraken. They kept their eyes peeled for a sign of the portal.

Suddenly, Finn gasped before giving an exasperated sigh. "Damn that stupid thing." He pointed at a space to his left. He had found the portal, but it would be extremely difficult to get to.

Emily and Blue went over and soon saw what the problem was. The purple, swirling, square-shaped portal was practically enveloped in Kraken tentacles.

Finn sighed. Slowly, he began to creep forwards. "What the hell are you doing?" Whispered Blue, panicking. He turned around and simply held a finger to his lips. The two girls stood silently, holding their breath as Finn crept through the tightly packed tentacles. If he do much as touched one, the Kraken would wake up.

Suddenly Finn stopped, turned and shrugged his shoulders at the watching girls. He shuffled to the side and pointed at a tiny gap between two tentacles. There was no way someone as tall as him would fit; and it was the only way to get to the portal. He despairingly made his way back to the group, head hanging.

"It's not your fault you're so tall." Blue comforted, before glancing at the Kraken. "I'll do it. I'll get the portal." Before the others could say anything, she stepped over the first tentacle and navigated her way towards her goal. When she reached the gap that Finn was too tall to get through, she ducked down and squeezed through it. A small blob of slime brushed onto her metal armour as she skimmed it. "Careful." She whispered, as she advanced on the portal. She saw that the square-shaped hole in space and time was suspended between four small cubes, each big enough to fit in her palm.

She heard Thelma whispering loudly. "Take off your helmet!" Blue was confused but did as she was told. "Look inside! Grab the cubes!" Blue peered inside her helmet and saw there were four metal cubes identical to the ones on the portal built into little cubical gaps. She gently shook the helmet until the cubes fell into her hand.

"Replace the portal cubes!" Thelma whispered urgently. Blue stared at the beautiful portal. The four portal-cubes were arranged in a square formation on the floor, the portal spanning between them. Gingerly, she picked up one of ye portal-cubes and held it tightly, quickly replacing it with one of her fake metal ones.

She smiled at the way holding the cube up made the portal an irregular quadrilateral shape. She methodically replaced each portal-cube with a metal one until she was clutching a tiny portal in her hand. Steadily, she made her way back to Finn and Emily.

"I've got the p..." she started, waving the portal-cubes above her head, but a thin tentacle had wound itself around her legs. She tripped over it and landed on top of another tentacle, groaning.

To their horror, the Kraken began to stir, letting out a rumbling moaning sound. The eyes on the tentacles shot open, glaring menacingly at the trio. Blue leapt up, drew her sword, and backed away slowly.

Finn and Emily copied her. They stood back to back in a tightly packed triangle, waving their weapons at the advancing tentacles. One of them lunged towards Emily. She gasped and brought her sword down, embedding it into the glowing green eye. It squealed and writhed before dropping pathetically to the floor.

"Run!" Shouted Thelma as Finn managed to escape out of a gap in the tentacles. Blue and Emily pursued him, running desperately. They reached the coil of tentacles that was holding Roger. "Don't slay it." Thelma ordered sternly. "Blue, put the portal over it." The coiled tentacle unravelled slightly to hiss at them, before lunging towards Blue.

She threw two of the portal-cubes to Finn, who held them up to open the portal. Just as the tentacle reached her, Blue stepped to the side so quickly the tentacle couldn't change direction. Instead of hitting her, it charged though the portal. Finn and Blue closed it abruptly. There was a disgusting squelch as the tentacle was cut clean in half, sending green Kraken blood flying everywhere.

Emily was the first to run over to the limp remains of the coiled tentacle. She began to slash at it with her sword, desperately trying to find Roger.

Blue and Finn joined in; and after a few frantic seconds of scrabbling they uncovered his limp body.

Emily gasped in horror. Was he dead!? She held her head against his mouth to check for breathing. There was a faint breath still there. She shook her brother desperately, shouting at him to wake up. He coughed gently and groaned, sitting up slightly before vomiting all over his sister.

"Oh my God, Roger." Said Finn as he pulled him into a brotherly embrace. Roger moaned in reply, blinking and looking around him. All he could see was Finn's blurred face... and he felt so weak...

He collapsed onto Finn, exhausted. Thelma sighed exasperatedly. "Well then. We'd better help him." Blue shook Roger gently to wake him up. Gingerly, he put an arm around her shoulders and another around Finn's.

Finn glanced behind them to see the Kraken reaching out more thick tentacles towards them. "Let's go!" He said; and the four children ran towards the exit of the cave.