Impossible Creatures

Christopher takes the griffin home, but his grandfather is not shocked by the fantastical sight. As Frank tends to the creature’s wounds, he explains that the family is part of a line of guardians who safeguard the “waybetween”: the place where the nonmagical world meets the magical Archipelago islands. Frank gives his grandson a map of the islands and a bestiary—a book that the guardians of the waybetween use to keep track of the different types of animals in the Archipelago. Christopher’s mother was a guardian, and like Christopher, she had a strange affinity for wild creatures. Frank’s father is aware of the family history; however, he has forbidden Frank from telling Christopher about his heritage and has also cut off contact with Frank to prevent Christopher from learning who the Aureates really are.

Frank tells Christopher that the waybetween cannot be charted and should only rarely be opened, as this boundary protects the mythical beasts that live in the Archipelago. While people believe that creatures like dragons and unicorns are mere myths, Frank explains that they are real. However, they have died out in the nonmagical world because humanity has hunted them nearly to extinction. The Archipelago was born from an apple of the Glimourie Tree—the first tree in the world, which is imbued with magic (glimourie) that permeates the Archipelago and sustains the magical world and its creatures. Frank had thought that griffins were extinct until he saw the one that Christopher is now holding. He also knows that something is wrong with the Archipelago; creatures are disappearing, along with the glimourie, and this unusual opening of the waybetween indicates that some disaster is imminent. Now, Frank needs to gather up the creatures that escaped the waybetween and take them back to the magical world.

Frank leaves to gather the stray magical creatures and take them back to the lake. He leaves strict instructions forbidding Christopher from leaving the house because there will be dangerous creatures in the area. However, Christopher soon goes outside because the griffin destroys the house and scratches at him. When he returns to the lake, the kludde—a dog-like creature with flames for ears—begins stalking him. He and the griffin hide. The creature almost overtakes him, but Mal emerges from the lake just in time and tells Christopher to throw mud on the creature’s flaming ears to kill it. Together, the two kill the kludde. The griffin (Gelifen) jumps into Mal’s arms. Mal learns that Frank is the guardian of the waybetween, but she chooses to ask Christopher for help instead.

Mal asks Christopher to return to the Archipelago and help her escape the murderer who is chasing her. She also wants Christopher’s help to find out what is causing the destruction of the Archipelago. Christopher is wary. He knows that his grandfather will not know where he has gone, and he also knows his overprotective father will be in agony over his disappearance. Despite these worries, Christopher feels a sense of excitement at seeing the Archipelago and wants to help Mal, who seems to be a little younger than he is. He agrees to go with her, and they dive beneath the lake to swim to the bit of phosphorescence that marks the opening to the Archipelago.

As they arrive at the river that runs beyond the wall beside Leonor’s house, Christopher sees phoenixes flying overhead. Mal explains that they can’t stay in the river because vicious water creatures called lavellans will eat them. The only way to escape is to climb over the wall and go past the house to get to the forest on the other side. Mal also wants to know if Leonor is alive but is afraid that Kavil may still be there. The two decide that Mal will act as bait to draw Kavil out so that they can check on Leonor. Mal ascertains that Leonor is dead, but Kavil is still at the house and sees her. When he attacks Mal, Christopher defends her. Kavil cuts Christopher’s arm, but Christopher manages to knock the man out with a chair. The children tie Kavil up with some fraying rope. Mal then grabs Leonor’s stash of money, and the two leave.

Mal and Christopher run to a field that is near the house, certain that the murderer will soon escape his ropes and come for them. Their fears are borne out when he pursues them, gaining ground. They encounter a group of unicorns that cluster eagerly around Christopher, as all animals tend to do. When Kavil gets closer, the unicorns graciously allow the two children to ride on their backs. The unicorns run until they reach the edge of a cliff, which hangs over the sea. With nowhere else to go as Kavil approaches, the children and Gelifen jump into the sea, hoping to land on the Neverfear, a ship that floats below them. They successfully land on the ship.

The captain of the Neverfear is Fidens Nighthand, who is angry that the children have dropped in on him. They tell him their story, but he only believes them because Mal’s description of the murderer matches the description of some unsavory men he knows, including one man named Adam Kavil, who is distinguished by a mole on his face. Mal begs Nighthand to help her, invoking the name of the Immortal—an eternal figure who holds all the memories of humanity in the Archipelago. Hearing this plea, he is persuaded to let the children stay the night on the ship. Nighthand’s crew includes a first mate named Warren and a ratatoska (a talking, squirrel-like creature) named Ratwin. Ratwin serves as the ship’s navigator. Christopher dreams that night that his anguished, anxious father is looking for him.

The next day, Nighthand quizzes the children in more detail about their plans. Despite himself, he is interested in their plight because he feels a strange, irresistible energy around Mal. Nighthand asks Christopher how and why he is involved with Mal’s troubles, and Christopher says that he and Mal are two unlikely friends. The narrator explains that Christopher will never find a friendship as rare as Mal’s ever again but that once will be enough. The children plan to go to the Azurial Senate, which is also known as the Flying Senate because it moves from island to island to try different cases. This governmental body enacts laws and makes important decisions that affect everyone. Nighthand is skeptical of the plan because he knows that children like Mal and outlanders like Christopher are not likely to get a hearing. However, the strange connection he feels to Mal compels him to transport them to the next meeting point for the Flying Senate. Because he is a smuggler who avoids attention, this is the limit of the help he offers.

The children make their way to the Flying Senate and are followed by al-mirajes (hare-like creatures) that leave a sprouted grass trail behind them. The sight of these and other magical creatures astonishes Christopher. The Senate comes into session, and its 12 members refuse entrance to Christopher and Mal because they are children. The two sneak into the chamber and spy on the proceedings. Irian Guinne, a marine scientist, testifies before the Senate that sea creatures are dying in droves, while others are migrating to places they should not go. She begs the senators to provide funding so that she and others can more fully monitor the environmental crisis and determine its causes.

The senators are arrogant, change-resistant bureaucrats who do nothing with speed, so they only offer to take the matter under advisement and deliberate over the next six months to decide what needs to be done. Irian tells them that in six months, it will be too late to do anything. She pleads with them further, but they order the guards to arrest her for disrupting the court. The guards also discover the children and arrest them. Things seem hopeless until Nighthand arrives to save them all. As a show of strength, he slices through a lamppost with a glamry blade (an instrument capable of cutting through anything), distracting the guards. The children and Irian escape.

Nighthand takes the children and Irian to his favorite drinking hole to strategize a new plan. The children learn that Nighthand is a Berserker, a warrior who cannot feel fear. It has always been the job of the Berserker to guard the Immortal, but there has been no Immortal for 100 years. The Immortal was born from the world’s first apple, which grew from the Glimourie Tree, the source of all magic (which is also called glimourie). The apple’s soul was reborn into many animals over time until it was eventually reborn as a human woman. The Immortal is vitally important to the Archipelago because she remembers everything that has ever happened; she is therefore the living repository for the memory of all humanity. She advises scientists and senators, prevents wrongdoing, and encourages good fortune for humanity. There are even legends about her in Christopher’s world.

Mal decides that they will go to see the sphinxes, creatures that are known for their great knowledge. Mal hopes to discover what is happening to the glimourie. Sphinxes do occasionally eat the visitors to their mountain island, so this is a dangerous proposition. The meeting abruptly ends when the murderer shows up at the door of the inn. Nighthand identifies him as Adam Kavil and tells the children to run from this evil man.