"I would have to agree with my wife." Silus said. "This expedition, everything about it, sounds preposterous."
"Ah, but you have yet to see our unique ship." Dunsany said. "Did you know that it can actually sail under water?"
"For that matter I too have yet to see this ship." Father Maylan said. "In fact, we just have the words of yourself and Kelos regarding the pedigree of the Llothriall."
"It better be as good as you say," Ioannis said. "For every day that we sit here talking about plans and theorising we are losing money."
"If you're going to sail away from all these problems, then you better have something that is nothing short of spectacular." Katya said.
"In that case - and to forestall further argument - I suggest that we all make a visit to the Llothriall." Dunsany said. "Katya, can I persuade you to come along?"
Katya's gaze still burned with anger, but eventually she nodded and it was she who was the first to follow him as they left the house.
Querilous Fitch looked up from his notes as they brought the prisoner into the room. This time the thing did not fight against its restraints as it was bound into the chair. Its head lolled against its chest and the pitch black of its eyes had faded to a dark, milky grey.
"Good God! How much sedative did you give it?" Fitch asked one of the warders.
"Not enough. Bloody thing near tore off Mitchell's arm when we went to fetch it. Took three of us to hold it down while we administered the needlereed. Ask me, the creature should be in chains twenty-four seven."
"Yes, well it's a good thing that the treatment of the prisoner isn't down to you then is it? I don't think that you realise the importance of the Chadassa to the Anointed Lord. You may go now, if I need you I'll call."
The guards left the room and Querilous turned up the lamps before wheeling his tray of instruments to the side of the restraining chair.
After its outburst of a few days earlier the creature had been stubbornly uncommunicative. However, in that time - and through his various techniques and manipulations - Querilous had learnt a great deal.
The Chadassa male currently in his custody was hundreds of years old and one of a race of many, although it was nowhere near as populous as that of the humans who dominated Twilight. The creature's natural habitat was the sea, though it could survive on land for short periods, which went some way to explaining why the Chadassa's attack on Turnitia a few months previously had been brief.
Through Querilous's sorcery he had managed to open a psychic link between the creature and its brethren beneath the waves. Now his questioning could touch not just on the knowledge of their prisoner but the knowledge of all the Chadassa. All without them being able to detect the human mind amongst them.
Sometimes, Querilous thought, I am quite quite brilliant.
He extracted a small measure of fluid from a vial and injected it into the creature with a needlereed.
Slowly, its eyes began to darken and its head rose from its chest. Querilous doused the creature with salt-water as it regained consciousness. Crouching before it he then looked for any sign of recognition, but the thing stared at him just as blankly as before.
"Oh, you can remain as coy as you like, but you'll find it very difficult to escape my touch this time."
Fitch pulled the creature's head back and tightened a strap around it. He checked that the restraint was secure before running his hands over the dark, scaled scalp. Where he had cut the spines from the creature's skull they had started to grow back and as Querilous filed down the stubs, the thing in the chair let out a low growl.
"Ah, it makes a sound! Good to know that you're still with us. Now, just relax, this won't take long at all."
Querilous's fingers sank through the scalp of the creature and into its mind. He felt it try to fight back but, this time, the Chadassa was no match for Fitch. Hearing the repetitions of an ancient mantra in his mind, Querilous pushed through the creature's resistance and suddenly he was surrounded by the whispers of its brethren as the psychic barriers fell away.
... all burned... He comes... half-breed... half-breed... lost... final cycle... Brood...
Words and images crowded Querilous's mind but in the storm of sensory information he recognised a familiar phrase.
"The half-breed, what is that?"
Again the creature tried to push against his questioning. It tried to reach out to its brethren, warn them that there was an alien mind amongst them but Querilous tightened his grip and the creature howled in pain.
"I think that you'll find challenging my talents is a bad idea. Do it again and I'll boil your brain in your skull. Now, let's try again. What, or who, is the half-breed?"
Querilous could feel a ripple run through the collective minds now open to him and an image began to form. He recognised Nürn immediately. How could he forget that shabby little coastal town where he had once holidayed with his mother? There was a fishing boat approaching the harbour and the image swam to focus on the man leading the craft to shore.
Half-breed.
"Him? That man is the half-breed that is so important to you?"
Half-breed. Lost.
"Lost? How? Show me."
Again, the image in his mind began to swim and this time the sounds of screaming and the roar of fire accompanied it.
Nürn was awash with the Chadassa as they smashed apart the town, eviscerating anybody who got in the way. By the docks Querilous could see the 'half-breed' surrounded by more of the fish demons. A woman was standing near to him and the ancient creature with the staff that he had seen before in the prisoner's thoughts loomed over the fisherman. Suddenly there was an explosion of magical energy and the ancient one was flying across the harbour as a boat rushed towards the shore. At its helm was a face Querilous recognised very well.
"Kelos!"
Querilous watched as Kelos rescued the fisherman and the woman before turning the boat away from the shore. Soon they were cutting across the waves with a supernatural swiftness.
Half-breed! Lost!
Querilous was buzzing with excitement now. He had found a lead to one of their ship thieves and, if his reckoning was correct, he thought he knew where Kelos's rescue boat had been heading.
LOST!
Suddenly there was an immense screech of psychic noise and Querilous's hands jolted as his flesh began to burn. He tried to pull away from the voices and images that crowded his mind but the maelstrom of sensations held him in its grip. He could feel the creature in the chair thrashing against its restraints and there was a peculiar smell. It reminded him of the sea but there was also an odour of burning to it. Querilous suddenly found himself blind and he gritted his teeth as he forced his mind against the barrier that had been thrown up against it.
Suddenly he was free, and he reeled across the interrogation room, he palms throbbing with pain.
Once his surroundings had stopped spinning Querilous looked down at his hands. They were blistered and peeling, as though they had been plunged into a pot of boiling water. The odour that he had smelt earlier was stronger now and he realised that it was coming from the prisoner.
Looking over at the thing in the chair he could see steam rising from its skull.
Querilous cautiously approached and was appalled to see two gaping holes in the Chadassa's head where he had hurriedly torn his hands free.
Querilous may have found a lead to their fugitives, he considered, but how was he going to tell Makennon that he had killed one of their most valuable prisoners?
Chapter Seven
Silus marvelled at the beauty of the Sarcre archipelago as they glided over the crystal blue water. He had never seen the sea so calm. The formation of the islands here broke apart the angry water that surrounded Sarcre, channelling it into the clear cool channels that separated the islands. Silus looked over the side of the boat and could see all the way to the seabed. The water glittered with life. If he and Katya lived here, he considered, they could make a very comfortable living. He wou
ldn't even need a net; he could just reach over the side of the boat and pick the fish from the sea.
At the oars Dunsany sweated in a heat that was even more intense than it had been that morning. The rest of them sat crowded into the boat; Emuel looking forlornly into the distance as though searching for a lost love, Jacquinto and his compatriots steadily drinking from hip flasks, Father Maylan beaming a smile as though he were rather enjoying every moment, Kelos looking eagerly ahead to the approaching island and Katya, sitting with her arms folded, her look a warning to anyone on whom it happened to settle.
The quietly smoking cone of a volcano dominated the small island towards which they were heading and Silus watched its approach with some concern.
"I don't suppose that there's any risk of that thing blowing its top is there?" He said.
"Oh, you mean Maladrak's Cauldron?" Kelos said. "Well, of course there's a risk but it hasn't erupted in living memory. So I wouldn't worry too much."
"Well that's reassuring," Katya said.
As they drew closer Silus recognised the regularly shaped standing stones that ringed the island a short distance from the shore. He'd noticed similar monoliths surrounding several of the other islands in the archipelago, though he'd never seen any of them up-close before.
Dunsany took the oars out of their loops as they drifted to a halt on the pebbles of the beach, while Kelos leapt out to secure the boat.
As Silus stepped ashore he could hear a strange low buzzing, as though a vast colony of bees were somewhere nearby. He turned to look at the rest of the crew but none of them seemed to have noticed anything out of place.
"Can you hear that?" He asked Katya.
"What am I listening for?"
"I don't know. It's sort of a weird buzzing."
"I don't hear it."
Trying to shake his head clear Silus followed the rest of the crew. As he drew closer to the standing stones, a pressure began to build up behind his eyes and a sharp pain gripped his head. Feeling nauseous and dizzy, he reached for Katya's hand.
"Silus, what's wrong?"
Ahead of him the stones swam as though in a heat haze. Gentle whispers filled his head and the monoliths began to glow.
"Silus?"
He staggered past the line of stones and fell to his knees, splattering the ground with vomit. Silus took deep breaths and, slowly, his head began to clear. He looked back and the stones stood silent, the air around them untroubled.
"What happened?" Katya said, kneeling beside him.
"I don't know. The stones, they filled my head with this awful noise."
"Are you alright old chap?" Dunsany offered his hand and helped Silus to his feet.
"I'm fine, I think. Those stones, what are they for?"
"No one knows," Kelos said, joining them. "But from what I have noted of the markings they probably held some religious significance for the early islanders. The minerals from which these rocks are carved are fascinating. I haven't seen anything like them elsewhere. They may even be unique to Sarcre. Why do you ask?"
"I seem to have an adverse reaction to them. Or maybe it's just the heat?"
Kelos looked at him with some concern, before Dunsany linked his arm in his and marched with his friend towards the volcano.
"Onwards team," Dunsany said.
"Where exactly is this ship of yours anchored?" Jacquinto said. "This is a pretty small island and I can't see this mighty vessel that you've been enthusing about."
"Ah, but the Llothriall isn't anchored at this island." Dunsany said, leading them to the foot of the volcano, where a cave opened up in the dark rock.
"Come on Dunsany, this is ridiculous!" Silus said. "You're leading us on some sort of merry chase now."
"Actually, this is the right way to the Llothriall." Kelos said. "It may seem strange but you'll understand the reasoning behind it soon."
"He's quite the showman," said Father Maylan. "Dunsany, I don't suppose you've ever considered the priesthood have you? I'm sure that a man with a flair for the dramatic such as yourself would fit right in."
"Funnily enough," Dunsany said. "It's not a vocation that I have ever considered," and he led them into the side of the volcano.
As the darkness closed around them Kelos summoned a light to his palm. It burned with a steady glow that revealed their surroundings perfectly.
They had to stoop as the roof of the cave angled down, but the tunnel soon widened as it turned sharply to the right and descended. There was a powerful smell of sulphur and steam rose from fissures in the walls, coating them in moisture and making their clothes cling clammily to their limbs. Silus felt for Katya's hand and gave it a reassuring squeeze as they followed the crew. He was wondering how much more of the stifling heat they could take when the tunnel levelled out and the temperature dropped.
The stone that surrounded them now gave off a pleasant coolness and the smell of the sea permeated the passage. The crash and susurrus of waves echoed around them and Silus wondered what kind of harbour they were being led to, so far beneath the ground.
It was hard to measure the passage of time as they walked along the tunnel, but Silus thought that at least half an hour had passed before Kelos extinguished his light. It took Silus a moment to understand where the new source of illumination was coming from, but then he noticed that the dark rock of the walls had given way to pale stone and it was through this that a soft marine glow filtered into the passage. Ahead of them the light increased and, as they continued, Silus was no longer looking at the walls, he was looking through them.
Dunsany and Kelos glanced back at the crew expectantly, trying to gauge their reactions to this new marvel.
"We're underwater. How are we underwater?" Katya said.
"Incredible isn't it?" Dunsany said. "And, I must add, completely safe."
"I confess that it's making me rather dizzy." Father Maylan said.
The rock of the tunnel walls was now completely transparent and Silus fought a nauseous feeling of vertigo as he stood, staring at the ocean that surrounded them. The seabed lay twenty feet below their boots and the surface was twice that distance above, shafts of brilliant sunlight cutting through the churn of the waves. Deep blue water flanked them on both sides as far as the eye could see and Silus gazed into the depths in wonder. Shoals of beautiful fish - the likes of which he had never seen- played through the tall fronds of emerald weeds. A fish the size of a dinner plate, covered in scintillant diamond markings, swam close alongside and Silus put his hand to the wall that separated them. The piscine eye followed the movement of his fingers for a moment before the creature darted away. Along the seabed below scuttled crustaceans the size and shape of large boulders, their bulk somehow supported on dozens of spindly legs. Eyes dotted the craggy surfaces of their shells at seemingly random points and long, many-jointed arms reached into narrow crevices in rocks to retrieve lime green worms, which they fed into dark openings in their chitinous sides.
"Believe it or not," Dunsany said. "There are yet more wonders to behold. Not far now and you will see the Llothriall herself."
Silus and the rest of the crew stared at Dunsany for a while, looks of wonder obvious on all their faces. Silus gazed back at the view of the ocean for a moment, reluctant to leave behind the breathtaking panorama, but then he followed. After a short while, the dark rock of the tunnel returned and they started to ascend.
The thunder of breakers greeted them as they stepped out of the tunnel and onto a pebble beach. They blinked in the intense sunlight for a few moments before the scene in front of them resolved itself. Sheer cliff faces flanked them on two sides, covered in screeching gulls and heavy with the stink of guano, while in front of them churned the angry sea. Silus could just see across it to the northern tip of the Sarcre archipelago. The water that separated the northernmost province of Twilight from where they now stood was wine dark and violent.
"And this," Dunsany said. "Is why Makennon's lot will find it impossible to discover our hiding p
lace. No regular ship can cross that stretch without being destroyed. For the Llothriall though, the angry churn out there is nothing."
Dunsany led them through a narrow gap in the cliffs and Silus saw that the centre of the island opened out into a wide, deep lagoon. In this natural harbour sat the most beautiful ship he had ever seen.
Dunsany led them to a launch and, with the aid of this, they boarded the Llothriall.
The two fugitives from the Faith had clearly done a great deal of work since hiding the ship and it seemed to be stocked with all that they would need for a substantial voyage. On deck everything gleamed and not just with newness, some of the shine that emanated from the wood was due to the magic that gave the Llothriall its power. Silus looked up at the masts that towered above him and wondered at the strength of the sails that were furled there. He had a difficult enough time on his own small fishing vessel fighting the wind with a bit of canvas. Silus dreaded to think how the vast sheets above them would fair against the fierce winds on the Twilight seas. Surely they would be torn from the masts within seconds of being unfurled?
"Have you noticed the sheen on the material?" Kelos said, following his gaze.
"Sheen? No."
"Well the silk that makes up those sails came from the X'cotl."
"And what are the X'cotl?" Katya said.
"A sort of giant spider. They're said to exist in our reality only some of the time."
"So you guys must have a lot in common."
Kelos chuckled. "Hoist by my own petard. You mock Katya, but I just know that you're warming to the charms of this beauty of the sea."
And the Llothriall was both charming and beautiful. Below the main deck the ship was opulently attired. Each cabin was comfortably equipped and Silus reckoned that the sleeping quarters would be more than adequate for a high ranking officer in the Vos navy, never mind the ragtag band of thieves and renegades currently on board. There was also a vast dining room, a well equipped and impressively stocked galley, a hold big enough to contain the largest of treasures and an array of gleaming canons, well oiled and with a ready supply of ammunition.
The Call of Kerberos Page 6
