"You're lying." Katya said.
"No, and Silus knows that I am not."
Silus did indeed feel that what Belck had shown him was true.
"Come with us Silus."
Silus looked at Katya and saw something like despair in her eyes.
There was a thunderous bang and the air itself seemed to tear as Belck was sent tumbling across the ground. The Chadassa that had been restraining Katya roared in pain, flames erupting from its eye sockets as it cooked from within.
Silus looked round for the source of the conflagration and was stunned to see Kelos standing at the prow of a small boat, shrouded with arcane energy as it rushed towards the shore. Another burst of that energy erupted from Kelos's palm, hurtling into one of the Chadassa as it flung itself at the mage.
The creature turned into a fine mist before it could even reach him.
"Get in!" Kelos yelled.
Silus grabbed Katya's hand and they ran.
Behind them, Belck was raising himself to his feet. The gem at the tip of his staff began to glow as he brought it to bear and, at the same time, the ancient creature emitted a sound that made Silus's skull ache.
A line of fire tore through the air towards them, the intense heat from the attack singeing the hair on the backs of their heads as they tumbled into the boat. Once they were safely on board the boom swung of its own accord and the sails met the wind, pulling them quickly away from the shore.
Silus turned to see Belck watching and, even from this distance, he could see the reflection of the flames in the creature's one good eye as the town burned.
The prow of the boat was pointed towards the Sarcre Islands, and Kelos sped them across the water on channels of magic that left a glittering wake.
"Silus help me."
It was Katya. She was bent over, intense pain etched onto her face. Blood dotted the deck below her.
"Silus, I think I'm losing our child."
Chapter Six
Katya awoke. Looking at the clock in the corner of the room she saw that it had only just gone eight in the morning, yet it was hot enough to be midday. She felt as though she had drifted through these last three days on Sarcre. Nightmares had painted the gaps between the moments of lucidity with lurid visions of sea creatures and screaming infants. Cradling her belly she was relieved to feel the curve of her flesh unchanged. When a kick responded to her touch she began to cry.
There was a knock on the door and Silus entered. Three days growth of stubble darkened his already swarthy features and his eyes spoke of a severe lack of sleep. For all that he still managed to show Katya a look of pure love. He kissed her and put a hand on her forehead.
"No fever it would seem. How are you feeling?"
"Better. I think we're okay now."
"Kelos and Father Maylan are mostly to thank for that. Do you feel well enough to join us for breakfast?"
"I think so."
Supported by Silus, Katya descended to the parlour. The men gathered around the table - variously eating, arguing and leafing through documents - were mostly unfamiliar to her, though she recognised Kelos as he helped Silus guide her to a chair.
"Why thank you gentlemen, you're awful kind to a cripple such as myself."
Kelos blushed. "I didn't for a moment mean to suggest... Why, I've seen you fight!"
"Sit down, I was joking. I can't thank you enough for all you've done for me. And I apologise for not recognizing you other gentlemen. The last time we met I was in a bit of a state."
Dunsany introduced Katya to the crew, each met her nod with a smile or a raised hand of greeting. Only Emuel didn't respond. He hadn't spoken to any of them since his vision. This was something that suited the men gathered around the table just fine. Their only hope was that when it came time to leave Sarcre, Emuel would rediscover his voice.
"Without you, Kelos, we would be dead." Silus said. "But now that Katya has recovered I think that it is time we thought about going home. Nürn will need our help to rebuild."
"I'm afraid that you'll find Nürn is beyond your help. I returned there myself just yesterday and it would seem that after you fled the creatures took their anger out on the rest of the town."
"Oh gods!" Katya's grief was sudden and bitter and made the room swim. She leaned into Silus and he put his arm around her. "What were those things?"
"I'm not sure," Kelos said, "but there were reports of similar creatures launching an attack on the Turnitia docks last month. There the devastation was on a much smaller scale however."
"And Nürn," Silus said. "What have they done to our town?" Kelos's grave look told him everything he needed to know. "
Everyone
?"
Kelos nodded. "As far as I could see."
Silus and Katya no longer had any family in Nürn. Silus's parents were both dead and Katya's mother lived on her own in Allantia. A severe and bitter split in the family meant that they hadn't spoken in years. However, the loss of their friends and colleagues in Nürn had utterly stunned them and, for a while, they stared at each other in incomprehension, until Silus's anger boiled over.
"But... What the hells
for
? Why did those things attack us?"
"I don't understand it myself, but when I rescued you it appeared that the creatures had come for you specifically."
"The thing with the staff called me 'half-breed.'"
Emuel let out a gasp at that and everybody turned to look at him. Though they were braced for a return of the eunuch's visions, none came.
"Yes, we have heard that term quite recently in fact." Father Maylan said, nervously eyeing Emuel.
"That tattooed retard practically gave us all a heart attack screaming about it." Jacquinto said.
"He does have a name!" Kelos snapped.
Jacquinto sneered but otherwise held his tongue.
"Have you any idea what the creature may have meant by 'half-breed'?" Kelos turned his attention back to Silus.
"It was just evil." Katya said. "Just a creature. It didn't make any sense."
"The thing showed me a vision. But it may mean nothing. It may just have been leading me along." Silus said.
"Even so," Dunsany said, "it was something important to them."
As Silus explained what the thing that called itself Belck had revealed to him, Katya looked at her husband in bemused horror. For the creature to have thought that Silus was one of them was just beyond ridiculous.
"I must say that it does seem unlikely." Kelos said. "For a start you display none of the traits of these Chadassa."
"Half man, half fish!" Ioannis laughed. "One tattooed maniac, a renegade priest, two ex-members of the Faith, a pregnant lady and us. Yup, this is far more entertaining than sneaking in crates of booze by dusk."
"Sorry, but you seem to be presuming that we're part of the crew." Silus said.
"As Kelos has already pointed out, Katya will be well looked after here on Sarcre and you will be paid handsomely for your time." Dunsany said. "Besides, it is likely that the first expedition will only be for about four weeks. After all, we don't know that there
is
anything beyond Twilight."
"Apart from sea demons." Kelos said.
"Dunsany, have you ever been married?" Katya said. She felt an anger that was threatening to unleash itself on the people surrounding her, but as she spoke to the sailor, her voice was calm and level.
"The sea is my mistress." Dunsany said.
"Your right hand is your mistress." Ignacio said and Ioannis slapped the table as he roared with laughter.
"You men are clearly a bunch of cretins!" Katya shouted. "What you are proposing is not going to be some jolly boy's outing, it is going to be your deaths. Firstly you have the Final Faith on your tail and, secondly, even if you do manage to make it beyond Twilight those sea demons are going to tear you apart."
"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.