Wrath of Kerberos (29 page)

“Beyond how impossible it would be, you mean?”

“Well, we can’t stay here for much longer. Have you seen Shalim? If he’s sent down again, he won’t come back up.”

“You talk as though this is a temporary situation, Katya. As if there’s any hope at all.”

For a moment Katya didn’t know what to say. Here was a man who had been full of a lust for adventure, who had never hesitated to throw himself into the most perilous of situations; and now he had been reduced by slavery to little more than a shell.

“I don’t know about escape, Katya, but I’d do anything to have Kelos back.”

When Dunsany’s shoulders began to hitch, she took the tray of rocks from him before he could drop it on his feet. She held him and was shocked by how frail he felt, as though he had aged decades in just a matter of days.

“I’m sure that wherever Kelos is, he’s thinking the same thing,” Katya said. “Trust me, we’ll get out of this. You’ve got to have faith.”

“Like Ignacio and his friends, you mean?”

Katya looked over to where their former crewmate was breaking rocks. The crew he sweated with all wore a scrap of rag tied to their upper right arm, upon which was painted the crossed circle: the symbol of the Final Faith. It hadn’t taken Ignacio long to start preaching to his fellow slaves and, with Bestion’s help, he had soon amassed a regular congregation. The elves didn’t seem at all alarmed by this burgeoning faith. Katya supposed that with their minds on Kerberos and the rewards He would give to them in the hereafter, the members of this new cult were less likely to foment rebellion. Indeed, gauging from the way the elves allowed them to gather in prayer every time they broke for lunch, they were actively encouraging the belief.

“I think that what we’re witness to here,” Dunsany said, “is the beginnings of the Final Faith itself; the earliest church.”

“Who’d have thought that Ignacio would become a vital part of church history? If only his brother could see him now.”

“You two!” One of the elves had noticed their conversation and was heading their way. Katya saw the diamond-studded tips of the flail at his belt, and her back flinched at the memory of their touch. She fell to her task after warning Dunsany, with a glare, to go back to his.

“We’ve already had enough trouble from you.” Katya didn’t look up. “What were you discussing with your friend?”

“Nothing.”

“Nothing...?”

“Nothing,
sir
.”

“You may be more evolved than your fellow humans, but you all bleed the same.”

“No, please.”

The elf uncoiled the flail, the barbs catching the light. From the corner of her eye, Katya could see Dunsany running towards them, a rock in his raised fist.

Before he
or
the elf could strike, the ground trembled and a smoke stack exploded, showering the workers with hot brick shrapnel and sending a plume of black smoke high into the air. The wheels at the head of the pit began to spin wildly as the cage that had been about to descend suddenly dropped. Katya saw an elf pulling on the emergency brake, but it broke off in his hands; above him, the iron wheels screeched in protest, sparks showering from them as they spun out of control. Even when there was no more rope to play out they continuing spinning, and from somewhere far beneath their feet came a deep hollow
thump
as the cage hit bottom. Katya closed her eyes, but the image of broken bodies pulverised among sharp rocks and iron wreckage would not fade.

The elves looked about them, seemingly searching for someone to blame. To the man with the flail, it appeared to be all too clear who was the perpetrator of this chaos.

Before she knew what she had done, Katya had taken a rock from the tray in front of her and thrown it with all her strength. The elf dropped, his eyes rolling back in his head. A thin trickle of blood snaked from his nose and his heels kicked against the dirt.

Katya had never intended to be the instigator of a rebellion – had never even thought herself capable of taking another person’s life – but her one act of violence ignited the spark of hatred that had simmered for so long within the slaves, and soon rocks were being hefted and pick-axes raised.

Before the battle for human liberty could be joined, however, the granite cliff that loomed over the mine exploded, and the dwarven horde poured forth from the rift.

C
HAPTER
T
WENTY

“F
ASCINATING,
” K
ELDREN SAID,
as Silus swam through the waters of the flooded room. “And it is Chadassa blood that runs through his veins, giving him these abilities?”

Even through the murk of the dirty sea water, and the barrier of thick glass, Kelos could see the pained expression on his friend’s face, and it made him want to defy Keldren. But if he refused to help the wizard in his studies, he’d be more than likely shipped off to one of the human slave camps, there to die an anonymous death amongst the suffering masses. Here, he could at least try to alleviate his friend’s suffering.

“Kelos? I asked you a question.”

“What? Yes... sorry. Silus does indeed have a link with the Chadassa, but he’s no monster.”

“Ah, yes. Well, that bring us to the next part of our experiment, doesn’t it?”

“Please, Keldren. Is this really necessary?”

“How do you think all those great works of mine got written, Kelos? How do you think I managed to be so precise in my observations? Theorising is all very well, but no substitute for experimentation and observation. Now, let us see what happens when I do this...”

Keldren moved his hands and, even before the sorcerer began to intone the words, Kelos recognised the elemental spell he was weaving. The hairs at the back of his neck prickled; he could taste the sharp tang of ozone.

Keldren flung out his hands and a bright shockwave burst through the water of the flooded room.

Blinking away the purple blotches that crowded his vision, Kelos saw Silus floating, perfectly still, bobbing face-down in the centre of the water tank, blood misting from his mouth.

“Gods, you’ve killed him! Keldren, what have you done?”

“Don’t worry. I’m certain he’s not been harmed.”

“Really?”

When Silus opened his eyes, Kelos let out the breath he had been holding; the pupils were pure obsidian, and he shuddered as he realised what was about to happen.

Silus’s transformation was as rapid as it had been when the dragon’s blood had drenched him; the water darkened as the Chadassa form came to the fore, everything that was human sloughing away.

“Oh, but that’s just...
beautiful
,” Keldren breathed.

He pushed his face up against the glass, entranced by what Silus had become.

“Just imagine an army of these: aquatic warriors. The dwarf navy wouldn’t stand a chance.”

“Keldren, I really wouldn’t stand that close.”

“What? Nonsense, we’re perfectly safe.”

The glass shook as Silus drove himself against it, his claws making a horrendous screeching sound as they scrabbled against the other side.

“Not to worry,” said Keldren, giggling nervously. “That glass is inches thick.”

With a
bang
, a hairline crack jumped across the glass, beads of water slowly forming along its path.

“Vent the tank, Keldren.” For a moment the wizard was transfixed by the gaze of the Chadassa hybrid, the wall of the tank creaking ominously as water pooled at his feet. “
Now!
”

Keldren shook himself and leapt for the metal wheel protruding from the wall. For a moment it looked as if it would refuse to turn, until Kelos added his own strength. The heavy iron floodgates on the far side of the tank opened and the water sluiced out; the metal grille covering the mouth of the tunnel prevented Silus from being flushed out into the sea.

When the last of the water had drained away, the glass wall of the tank finally gave way in a cascade of fist-sized diamonds. In the blink of an eye, Kelos threw a magical shield around himself and Keldren.

Silus writhed on the floor, tangled in a skein of seaweed, dragging air into his lungs as his flesh slowly changed hue; claws withdrawing, eyes clouding momentarily as the black sheen of the Chadassa left them. Kelos kept up the shield for a moment longer, until he was sure that the monster within his friend had finally retreated.

“You have my thanks, Kelos,” Keldren said, brushing himself down. He walked over to where Silus lay. “He’s unconscious. I’ll allow you to tidy up in here, then if you can join me in my study, we can proceed with our next experiment.”

“But–” And Keldren was gone, leaving Kelos staring across the devastated room to where his friend lay.

“I’m sorry,” he said, bringing Silus round and helping him to sit up. “Really, I am.”

“We have to get out of here,” Silus croaked.

“I’m trying to moderate the effects of Keldren’s experimentation. Trying to make him see that what he is doing is wrong. If any of the elves can be won over, then it is surely he. At least he has given me a freedom of sorts.”

Silus merely stared blankly at his friend, until Kelos was forced to look away.

“Can you stand?”

“Just about.”

Kelos helped Silus to his feet and lead him out into the corridor.

“We can run, Kelos,” Silus said. “We can get out of here, find Katya, Zac and the others and go. You can perform the spell and send us all home. Take us away from all this.”

“I really can’t,” Kelos said, keeping his voice low for fear of Keldren overhearing them. “For a start, this place is impregnable. Keldren only trusts me with the keys to certain rooms, and the maze of tunnels is so confusing that I couldn’t possibly begin to imagine the way out, even if I could get past the main doors. And I can’t just magic us all home again. The spell that sent us here required a vast amount of raw magic; without something as powerful as the blood of a dragon, I will never be able to repeat it.”

Kelos unlocked a door and ushered Silus into the sparsely furnished room beyond. When he saw the look of despair on his friend’s face, as he took in the straw-stuffed mattress and the jug of briny water that sat on the stone floor, his heart sank.

“Give me time, Silus. I’ll think of a way out.”

He locked the door before his friend could say anything, only too aware of how empty his promises had started to sound.

K
ELDREN LOOKED UP
from the book in his lap as Kelos entered.

“Ah, good. I trust our subject has been secured?”

“If you mean did I put Silus back in his prison, then yes.”

“Come now, there’s no need to be like that. Just think of all the good work you are doing, adding to the sum of our knowledge, helping to make the elven empire great.”

“And the rest of my friends, the ones who were sent to the camps? How are they helping make your civilisation great? How does their suffering contribute to the glory of your people?”

“Would you care for some brandy?” Keldren said, uncorking a bottle.

“No, I would not care for some brandy.”

“You’re quite right, of course. We have work to do. We can imbibe later. For now, we have our next subject to attend to; fascinating to think of a human wielding elven magic. But, anyway... lead the way, Kelos. Lead the way.”