Merryfin’s Scary Spin
The Watcher in the Ice Caverns
A North Peak Halloween Special
North Peak was known for warm lights, joyful laughter, and the brightest Christmas magic in the world.
But far beneath its frozen mountains were places where lanterns refused to glow, shadows moved without owners, and strange voices whispered from inside the ice.
This Halloween, we return to the most frightening part of Merryfin Sparkshoe’s journey.
The part that began with a fading spark.
Twelve days before Christmas, the magic of North Peak began to disappear.
Grumwald Flakesnare was known to wander far from North Peak during his long, solitary walks. On one of those walks, he had gone where Santa had warned every elf not to go.
Inside the forbidden Ice Caverns.
Grumwald returned with the ancient Frostmire Orb and buried it beneath the reindeer stable. The Orb fed on joyful Christmas magic, weakening Santa’s reindeer, darkening the village, and draining the golden spark inside Merryfin Sparkshoe.
If Merryfin’s spark went out, the reindeer would never fly.
Christmas would fall from the sky.
There was only one way to stop it.
Merryfin and his team had to return the Frostmire Orb to the enormous ice pedestal beneath the Crystal Pillar, deep inside the Ice Caverns.
They knew the route to the caverns.
They had traveled as far as the entrance before.
But none of them had ever gone inside.
Santa had always forbidden it.
The Ice Caverns were ancient, unstable, and filled with dangers even Santa did not completely understand.
Twinkletips Nutbuttons carried an old map of the cavern tunnels and a small enchanted lantern.
Jollywhip Jinglecrest carried the Frostmire Orb using a long pair of enchanted carrying tongs. Their curved ends clamped tightly around the Orb, allowing him to hold it several feet away from his body.
Even from that distance, the Orb’s cold crawled along the tongs toward his hands.
Purple shadows churned beneath its glassy surface.
“Whatever happens, don’t touch it,” Jollywhip warned.
Pebblemint Tumbleblossom studied the Orb from a safe distance.
“I wasn’t planning to,” he said. “It looks like an angry snowstorm trapped inside a fishbowl.”
The Orb pulsed.
Pebblemint quickly moved behind Twinkletips.
“And now the fishbowl is looking at me.”
Merryfin tried to laugh, but his spark flickered painfully beneath his coat.
Snowblossom Mirthwhistle slipped her arm around him. “Lean on me.”
“I can walk,” Merryfin insisted.
“I know,” she answered. “But you don’t have to do it alone.”
Merryfin and Snowblossom led the way from North Peak.
Several steps behind them, Jollywhip carried the Frostmire Orb at arm’s length. Twinkletips and Pebblemint followed behind him, occasionally hurrying forward whenever Merryfin needed their help.
The deeper they traveled into the frozen wilderness, the quieter everything became.
No sleigh bells.
No reindeer calls.
No warm village lights.
Only their boots crunching through the snow and the faint scrape of Jollywhip’s tongs whenever the Frostmire Orb became too heavy for him to hold steady.
They crossed the Frosted Forest and followed the familiar path toward the Ice Caverns.
Then the ground cracked.
A black line raced across the ice directly in front of Merryfin.
“Stop!” Twinkletips cried from behind them.
The frozen path split open.
A section of ice collapsed into a dark crevice so deep that they never heard it strike the bottom.
A blast of freezing air rose from the opening.
Pebblemint leaned forward and looked down.
“I would like to officially request a floor.”
Twinkletips pulled him away from the edge. “Request denied.”
Jollywhip carefully carried the Frostmire Orb across first. Snowblossom crossed next, then turned and reached back for Merryfin.
The opening was too wide for Merryfin to cross without help.
Twinkletips and Pebblemint hurried forward.
Twinkletips supported Merryfin from behind while Pebblemint grabbed the back of his coat.
“I’ve got you, Merry!”
“You’re supposed to push me forward,” Merryfin said.
“I am. I’m also making sure that if I fall, I have someone to fall with.”
Merryfin stepped across.
The remaining ice groaned beneath him.
Snowblossom pulled while Twinkletips and Pebblemint pushed. Merryfin reached solid ground just as another piece of the path broke away behind his boot.
Twinkletips and Pebblemint fell behind again as Merryfin and Snowblossom continued toward the cavern entrance.
At last, the Ice Caverns appeared.
The opening looked exactly as they remembered it.
Tall.
Dark.
Silent.
Yet tonight, it seemed less like an entrance and more like an enormous frozen mouth waiting to swallow them.
The team stopped.
They had reached this place before.
They had stood outside it.
They had wondered what lay beyond the darkness.
But Santa’s warning had always been clear.
Never enter the Ice Caverns.
Merryfin stared into the opening.
His spark fluttered.
“We don’t have another choice,” he said.
Snowblossom remained beside him. “Then we go together.”
Merryfin and Snowblossom entered first.
Jollywhip followed, carrying the Orb with the long tongs. Twinkletips unfolded the old cavern map and raised her enchanted lantern. Pebblemint stayed close beside her.
The entrance remained open behind them, its pale light slowly becoming smaller as they traveled deeper.
Somewhere far ahead, hidden behind layers of ancient ice, something felt the Frostmire Orb returning.
Something that remembered its magic.
Something that had waited inside the caverns for a very long time.
Jollywhip adjusted his grip on the tongs.
The Orb trembled between their curved ends.
“Did it do that before?” Snowblossom asked.
“No,” Jollywhip whispered.
Pebblemint backed away.
“I liked it better when it was only staring at me.”
Twinkletips held the lantern over her map. Thin silver lines marked twisting tunnels, narrow ledges, and enormous underground chambers.
“The first passage should be ahead,” she said. “But some of these lines look as though they’ve moved.”
Pebblemint stared at the map.
“Maps should not move.”
A low rumble rolled through the cavern.
The ground shook beneath their boots.
Along the walls, giant Frostbite Crystals began to twist. Their jagged points turned like enormous frozen claws.
They did not block the entrance.
Instead, they stretched across the tunnel ahead.
One crystal swung downward.
“Move!” Merryfin shouted.
The team raced beneath it.
Jollywhip struggled to keep the Orb away from his body as it swung between the tongs. Twinkletips folded the map and hurried beside him, steadying one handle whenever the Orb pulled too far to one side.
Merryfin and Snowblossom remained several steps ahead.
The enormous crystal struck the ground between the two groups.
Ice exploded across the tunnel.
“Merryfin!” Twinkletips cried.
“We’re alright!” Snowblossom called through the drifting frost.
A second rumble shook the cavern.
Cracks streaked across the ceiling.
Pebblemint looked up.
“Oh, good,” he gasped. “Now the ceiling hates us too.”
“Faster!” Twinkletips shouted.
Ice began to fall.
A spear-shaped shard struck the ground beside Jollywhip and shattered into glittering pieces. The blast knocked him sideways, but he refused to release the tongs.
Another slab crashed behind Pebblemint.
He screamed and ran faster.
“I take it back! This is not a cavern! This is an enormous frozen trap!”
A shadow passed over Merryfin.
Snowblossom looked up.
A heavy sheet of ice was falling directly toward them.
“Move!”
She shoved Merryfin forward.
They dove as the ice crashed behind them, sending a freezing blast through the tunnel.
Merryfin landed hard.
His spark sputtered.
For one frightening second, its golden glow nearly disappeared.
Jollywhip, Twinkletips, and Pebblemint caught up with them.
Then a whisper drifted through the cavern.
“Small…”
Merryfin slowly raised his head.
“Did anyone hear that?”
“Hear what?” Snowblossom asked.
Twinkletips raised her lantern.
A shape moved inside the cavern wall.
Not across the ice.
Inside it.
Merryfin saw something long and dark sliding beneath the frozen surface. It paused as if it knew he was watching.
Then it disappeared.
Twinkletips unfolded the map again.
“The next tunnel should lead to a narrow passage,” she said. “After that, there’s a larger chamber.”
“Does the map say anything about shadows living inside the walls?” Pebblemint asked.
“No.”
“I think it needs updating.”
Merryfin and Snowblossom continued ahead. Jollywhip followed with the Orb while Twinkletips and Pebblemint remained several steps behind, studying the map beneath the lantern’s glow.
The tunnel narrowed until the floor became a thin ledge above a bottomless opening.
Jollywhip carefully moved closer to the front. The Orb’s purple glow revealed the enormous drop beneath them.
Pebblemint looked down.
“I have changed my mind,” he whispered. “I no longer want one floor. I want two floors.”
Merryfin placed one foot on the ledge.
His leg shook.
Snowblossom moved in front of him and took both his hands.
Twinkletips and Pebblemint hurried forward again.
Twinkletips supported Merryfin from behind while Pebblemint held tightly to his coat.
“Don’t look down,” Snowblossom told him.
“I won’t.”
A sharp crack sounded beneath Merryfin’s boot.
The ice broke.
Merryfin slipped over the edge.
Snowblossom caught his arms.
Twinkletips grabbed his belt.
Pebblemint wrapped both arms around Merryfin’s leg.
For one terrifying moment, Merryfin hung above the darkness.
“I’ve got his leg!” Pebblemint shouted.
“Pull him up!” Twinkletips cried.
“I’m trying! His boot is surprisingly heavy!”
The ledge cracked again.
Together, they dragged Merryfin onto solid ice seconds before the edge collapsed.
Jollywhip stood several steps behind them, still holding the Orb away from his body.
The Frostmire Orb began to whisper.
“Bring…”
“It…”
“Closer…”
Jollywhip tightened his grip on the tongs.
“No.”
The Orb shook violently.
Frost rushed along the metal toward his hands. Jollywhip winced, but he refused to drop it.
Something slammed into the ice beneath him.
The entire ledge lurched.
“Jollywhip!” Merryfin shouted.
Jollywhip jumped as the ice collapsed behind him. He landed on the other side, rolled onto his shoulder, and raised the tongs just in time to keep the Orb from touching the ground.
Pebblemint released a shaky breath.
“Excellent jump. Terrible vacation.”
They continued until Twinkletips stopped beneath a frozen archway.
She studied the map.
“The Whispering Cavern should be on the other side.”
Pebblemint stared through the arch.
“Can we skip it?”
“No.”
“Can we rename it the Quiet and Friendly Cavern?”
“No.”
“It was worth asking.”
Merryfin and Snowblossom stepped through the arch first.
Jollywhip followed with the Orb.
Twinkletips entered next, holding the map in one hand and raising the enchanted lantern with the other. Pebblemint stayed close behind her.
Darkness swallowed them.
It was not ordinary darkness.
It erased the lantern’s glow.
It smothered the purple light of the Frostmire Orb.
It even seemed to swallow the sound of their breathing.
Pebblemint reached through the darkness and found Twinkletips’ sleeve.
“This is too much dark,” he whispered. “Someone needs to turn some of it off.”
Then the darkness answered.
“Go back…”
“Turn around…”
“Leave now…”
The whispers circled them.
One spoke beside Snowblossom.
Another rose from beneath Jollywhip’s feet.
But the cruelest voice leaned close to Merryfin.
“You are weak…”
Merryfin spun around.
Nothing was there.
“Your spark is fading…”
In his mind, Merryfin saw an empty Christmas sky.
Santa’s sleigh sat motionless.
The reindeer stood without magic.
Children waited at their windows, watching for something that would never come.
“You will fail Christmas.”
Merryfin’s knees buckled.
Snowblossom caught him.
“No,” she said. “Don’t listen.”
Twinkletips and Pebblemint rushed forward from behind.
The voice moved closer.
“You cannot save anything…”
Pebblemint stepped in front of Merryfin, although his knees were shaking.
“He saved the last cinnamon bun for me yesterday,” Pebblemint shouted into the darkness. “That was extremely heroic!”
The cavern became silent.
Pebblemint swallowed.
“And if you’re going to keep whispering, could you at least say something encouraging?”
A blast of frost swept through the cavern.
It struck their legs and knocked everyone to the ground.
The tongs crashed against the ice.
The Frostmire Orb swung dangerously close to Jollywhip’s chest.
Twinkletips grabbed one handle and helped him force it away.
Behind them, something scraped along the cavern wall.
Snowblossom helped Merryfin stand.
“Your spark is still there,” she told him. “I can feel it.”
She took his hand.
A small golden light appeared between their fingers.
The darkness pulled away.
Merryfin’s spark grew brighter.
Its light spread across the cavern walls.
For the briefest moment, they saw it.
A towering shape hidden beneath the ice.
A creature formed from frozen mist and living shadow.
Its outline stretched across the wall. Long strands of darkness curled around it like reaching arms.
Then the creature moved.
A high tendril of ice and shadow snapped over their heads.
“Down!” Merryfin shouted.
They dropped as the tendril struck the cavern wall. Ice burst outward.
A second tendril swept low across the floor.
Pebblemint jumped over it.
“I would like everyone to notice that I jumped without being told!”
The creature rushed through the ice toward them.
Merryfin raised Snowblossom’s hand.
His golden spark flared.
The creature recoiled into the frozen wall.
Twinkletips’ lantern flickered back to life.
She snatched up the map and found the final passage.
“There!” she shouted. “Follow Merryfin!”
Merryfin and Snowblossom ran ahead.
Jollywhip followed with the Orb.
Twinkletips and Pebblemint fell several steps behind as they hurried through the shifting tunnel.
The creature followed from inside the ice.
Cracks chased their boots.
Icicles rained from the ceiling.
A frost wave roared along the tunnel and coated the floor behind them.
The cavern was no longer merely testing them.
Something inside it wanted the Frostmire Orb.
And it wanted Merryfin’s spark.
The tunnel split open ahead.
A wide gap separated them from the final passage.
Merryfin and Snowblossom reached it first.
Jollywhip stopped several steps behind them with the Orb.
Twinkletips and Pebblemint caught up seconds later.
Jollywhip carefully carried the Orb across. Twinkletips followed and helped steady the tongs from the opposite side.
Snowblossom jumped next.
Merryfin approached the edge.
He could barely stand.
Snowblossom reached across the opening.
Twinkletips and Pebblemint remained behind him, ready to help.
“Come on, Merry,” Snowblossom said. “I’ve got you.”
A whisper rose from the darkness below.
“Jump…”
Pebblemint shook his head.
“Never take jumping advice from a hole.”
The creature slammed against the ice behind them.
The entire ledge cracked.
“Merryfin, now!” Twinkletips cried.
Merryfin jumped.
Snowblossom caught his hands. Jollywhip braced her from behind while Twinkletips and Pebblemint pushed Merryfin forward.
The creature struck again.
The ledge collapsed beneath Twinkletips and Pebblemint.
Pebblemint leaped with a frightened squeal. Twinkletips caught him by the collar while Jollywhip grabbed her arm.
Together, they pulled everyone onto solid ground.
The broken ledge disappeared into the darkness.
Merryfin and Snowblossom hurried into the final chamber.
Jollywhip followed with the Orb.
Twinkletips and Pebblemint came in behind him.
Soft blue light filled the enormous cavern.
In its center stood the Crystal Pillar, a towering spire of pure ice that shimmered like the Northern Lights.
At its base stood the ice pedestal.
The team stopped.
The pedestal was enormous.
It towered high above Merryfin, rising like a narrow frozen tower. Its glassy sides spiraled upward toward a platform far beyond his reach.
Pebblemint leaned backward and stared toward its top.
“It’s enormous!” he exclaimed. “That isn’t a pedestal. That’s an ice skyscraper!”
Jollywhip slowly carried the Frostmire Orb toward it.
The tongs trembled in his hands.
“Almost there,” Snowblossom whispered.
Jollywhip tried to lift the Orb toward the top of the pedestal.
Even with his arms fully extended, he could not raise it high enough.
“It’s too tall,” he said.
Merryfin stepped beside him and gripped the handles of the tongs.
Snowblossom braced Merryfin from behind.
Together, Merryfin and Jollywhip tried to lift the Orb.
Frost spread down the tongs.
Merryfin’s spark sputtered once.
Then twice.
For one horrifying heartbeat, it went completely dark.
The cavern floor cracked beneath him.
Snowblossom screamed.
The Crystal Pillar trembled.
The Frostmire Orb pulsed wildly between the tongs.
Merryfin fell to his knees.
“If I stop now…” he gasped, “Christmas fails.”
Then the creature’s whispers stopped.
The falling ice became still.
Everyone froze.
From the tunnel behind them came a different sound.
Footsteps.
Slow.
Heavy.
Coming closer.
A shadow stretched across the frozen floor.
Pebblemint moved closer to Merryfin.
For once, he had no joke.
His voice was barely more than a whisper.
“That’s the creature coming, isn’t it?”
No one answered.
The footsteps continued toward them.
And Merryfin Sparkshoe was about to discover who—or what—had followed them into the heart of the Ice Caverns.
To find out what happens next, read The Magic of Merryfin Sparkshoe™.