The room was thick with smoke and conspiracy. Heavy black curtains shut out the daylight and the men sitting around the table, whispering, looked up nervously every time someone passed by in the street outside.
When a rapping came at the door they fell into an immediate silence. Dunsany put his hand on the heavy bolt and his eye to the spyhole.
"It's okay. It's just Kelos."
A collective sigh of relief was breathed as the bedraggled looking mage was let into the house.
"Gods, the humidity of this place is insufferable!"
"Just wait till you see the thunderstorms they get here," Dunsany chuckled. "You'll think that Kerberos itself is being torn apart. Come, sit down. You look like a man in need of a drink."
"You're not wrong," said Kelos helping himself to a glass of flummox. "This constant back and forth between Sarcre and Nurn is beginning to age me, I'm telling you."
"How did the recruitment drive go today?"
"Not well. He's still not biting."
"And you're still getting this 'feeling' about him?"
"Oh yes, our boy is unusual alright. I don't know whether it's a latent magical ability or something else, but Silus certainly has talent. You should see how he handles a boat."
"Come on Kelos, there's surely nothing magical to that."
"But with Silus it's as if he has a sixth sense when it comes to the sea. Even if it takes three more weeks of persuasion I still think it's going to be worth having him on our crew. Speaking of recruiting I see that you've been doing some yourself."
"Ah yes, I'd forgotten that you had yet to meet our new colleagues."
"Let me be the first to say, Kelos, that it is an honour to be working with a mage of such power." The man who rose from his seat to thrust a bejewelled hand at Kelos staggered slightly, as though he had been on the flummox for quite some time. Kelos was bemused to be referred to as 'powerful' but also somewhat flattered. He had, after all, recently defeated a Shadowmage.
"The gentleman with the jewels is Father Maylan, an old friend of mine." Dunsany said.
" Father Maylan? Father?"
"Relax Kelos, Maylan has little affection for the faith he purportedly represents."
"Indeed," said Maylan, sitting back down and eyeing the contents of the flummox bottle. "I'm the Faith's token priest on Sarcre. Their only priest in fact. The church has very little real interest in the islands, but they can't be seen to be lax, so they 'converted' me and set me up as their Eminence here. Once a year I have to go to Scholten to maintain face, but it's all just a show. Not that Makennon knows that of course."
"I met Maylan back when I was plying the trade route between here and Allantia. In those days he was head Diviner of the Many Paths." Dunsany said.
"And to most of the locals I still am. But the crossed circle of the Faith is my mask now."
"No offence Maylan but do we really need a priest on board?" Kelos said.
"Actually, you'll find that Father Maylan has already proven himself invaluable. It was through him that I was introduced to the three gentlemen you see on your right."
The three gentlemen in question had the look of men who spent much of their time being blasted by the elements. Sun tanned to the point of burnt, with large, scarred and calloused hands, it was clear that they all shared the same profession. They squinted at Kelos through the smoke from thin, mean cheroots. He noticed that the same tattoo was inked upon the back of each of their left hands.
"Prison tattoos," Maylan said. "My friends here have spent time at the pleasure of Vos due to the nature of their export and import business."
"They're smugglers?" Kelos said.
"We prefer free traders," said the man in the middle of the group. "I'm Jacquinto. The man on my right is Ignacio, my brother, and on my left is Ioannis."
"They bring me a certain spice that is essential to divination." Maylan said.
"That and it gets you high as a woodrene." Ioannis grinned.
"The important thing is that they know how to handle themselves at sea." Dunsany said.
"Three smugglers and a priest." Kelos poured himself a glass of flummox. "Okay Dunsany, I'm sure you know what you're doing. Just give me a little more time with Silus."
"Excellent! Then we're most of the way there." Dunsany rose to his feet. "Gentlemen, charge your glasses. I propose a toast. To adventure and new horizons!"
Dunsany's grin fell as a thin, reedy voice came at them out of a dark corner of the room.
"They will walk beneath the waves and no man shall halt their march. Already their god stirs and from the dark night of infinity he shall come."
Jacquinto and his comrades were on their feet, blades in hands. Dunsany was just in time to stop the downward swing of Ioannis's attack.
"No!" The knife skittered across the room and Ioannis turned an angry glare on Dunsany. "No. It's okay. This is Emuel. He's with us."
"My Gods Dunsany, what is he?" Father Maylan said, eyeing the tattoos and elvish script that covered almost every inch of the eunuch.
"Emuel is the ship's eunuch. It is his song that empowers the Llothriall."
"Dunsany, something's not right," Kelos said. "Look at his eyes."
Now that Emuel was fully revealed by the lamplight they could all see that his eyes were a deep violet. Kelos leaned in to take a closer look. Peering into the eunuch's eyes was like looking into the heart of a storm. Threads of energy sparked from his pupils and played across his eyelids.
"The Great Flood is coming."
"Kelos, snap him out of it!" Dunsany shouted.
Kelos gripped Emuel's arms and was shocked by how cold he felt. Ignoring his babble for a moment he felt for a way to break through the glamour. Looking deep into Emuel's eyes he spoke words of power, but they had no effect whatsoever and the magic that had taken him was starting to fill Kelos's head, making his skull ache.
"Nurn will fall. The half-breed will be theirs."
Kelos abandoned his attempt at magical defence and made to slap Emuel, but before the blow could connect the light faded from the eunuch's eyes and he dropped to the floor.
Kelos felt for a pulse. "He's alright. It seems to have left him now."
"What the hell was that about?" Ioannis said, retrieving his knife.
"It looked like possession to me." Kelos said.
"He said that Nurn will fall." Dunsany said, helping Kelos move Emuel to a chair. "Isn't that where Silus lives?
"Yes," Kelos said. "It is."
Silus had been thinking about his meeting with Kelos at The Necromancer's Barge all day and, that night, the strange man had even found his way into his Silus's dreams.
He had dreamt that Kelos had led him down to the harbour where a magnificent vessel was berthed. The ship shimmered with the light of Kerberos, the great azure orb seeming to lend its glow to every part of the vessel.
And then Silus was aboard and they were leaving the shore behind, though the prow of the ship pointed not towards the horizon, but towards Kerberos itself.
Soon they were flying above an endless sea of clouds and Silus leaned hard against the rail, trying to peer into the depth of Kerberos, only for a hard shove to send him spinning into the storm.
Katya had shaken him awake. "Silus, Silus stop it, you're screaming. What's the matter?"
After he had towelled the sweat from his body and calmed down, Silus told Katya about his meeting with Kelos. She had laughed over the implausibility of the venture that the man had proposed and, as the soft light of dawn crept into their room, Silus had to admit that it did now all seem somewhat fanciful.
Nevertheless, later that day, Silus stopped in at The Necromancer's Barge to see if the man had put in a reappearance. But there was just the usual crowd; drinkers coming in off night shifts or workers fortifying themselves for the day ahead.
Silus had stood in the Ocean Lily for a while then, reluctant to cast off into the fierce wind, knowing that today's catch would probably be worse than the last and that he and Katya would be eating seacrake again for supper. But the sea was a part of him, just as it had been a part of his father and his father before that. There would be hard times and bad days, but that was true of anything and when he and Katya's son or daughter came into the world, Silus wanted to have a trade that he could pass on.
The song of the waves, the gulls wheeling above, the whisper of the wind were all calling to him and so Silus played out the rope, swung the boom and faced the sea once more.
The Ocean Lily protested against every pitch and yawl and twice Silus swore as the rope cut too quickly through his hands. The sails screeched with the force of the wind on them and he feared that the fabric would tear, leaving him unable to return to shore.
Eventually, though, he found the edge of the squall and the boat glided out onto calmer waters. He checked his nets and then made to drop anchor.
As soon as the weight left his hands and plunged into the water he knew that something was wrong. Silus had no time to react, however, as he was pitched over the side, his right foot having become caught up in the rapidly uncoiling rope.
He managed to resist the urge to gasp as the cold water hit him and he followed the anchor into the depths.
Silus could see nothing but a stream of bubbles and debris as he fought against the pull of the rope. There was a sudden tug and he found himself arcing over a rock surface. He struggled to grab handholds, trying to bring a halt to his descent, but succeeded only in scraping his face and palms. The sting of the saltwater in his wounds was immediate and he came to a stop, suspended upside down beneath the overhang of a rock shelf.
The worst thing that he could do, he realised, was panic but, even so, he felt a very real fear begin to buzz through his nerves as he struggled with the knot at his ankle. Taking a knife from his belt he jabbed at the tangle of rope but all he succeeded in doing was cutting his fingers and losing the blade to the sea.
Silus knew that he had only seconds before his oxygen-starved body forced him to take a breath and he drowned. But as he fought with his entanglement he began to realise that his chest wasn't burning with the need for air and, strangely, his vision was crystal clear. Down here, in the shadow of the rock shelf little light penetrated, but Silus could see everything with a startling clarity.
It was then that he looked round and saw that he was in even greater danger than he had first realised.
Their clawed feet dug into the seabed as they strode towards where he hung, kicking up clouds of sand. Silus estimated that there were at least twenty of them. At their head marched one more gnarled and misshapen than the rest, holding a staff half again as tall as itself, a scarlet gem burning malevolently at its tip. The creatures stood as tall as a man and were covered in scales that looked as though they could stop the sharpest of arrows. Great black eyes bulged from either side of narrow heads filled with hundreds of needle-like teeth. From the small of their backs to the top of their skulls ran a line of barbed spines that flexed with the movements of the current, as though they aided the creatures in sensing their environment.
Silus knew that even if he could sustain his held breath, when the monsters reached him he would be finished. His heart broke as he realised that he'd never see Katya again and that he'd never be a father to their unborn child. Closing his eyes he sent up a prayer to Kerberos, calling on his ancestors to either accept him with open arms or send their aid. When he opened his eyes again the creatures were moving below him and Silus braced himself for a slash from those wicked talons.
But the creatures continued to march on as though they hadn't seen him at all, and soon the last had passed beneath him.
And now fear really did begin to take hold because, watching the retreating backs of the creatures, Silus realised where they were heading.
They were marching towards Nurn.
Silus's fingers scrabbled again at the knot that ensnared his ankle. His lungs really were beginning to burn now and a lethargic weakness spread through his hands.
Suddenly his vision was obscured as shoal of brilliant and multi-coloured slivers of light engulfed him. Gemfish, he realised as they swirled around him, tickling him with flickers of their tails. Perhaps these were the emissaries of Kerberos, who were to escort him to his resting place amongst the clouds.
His stomach lurched as he dropped several feet. Silus realised then that he could move his ankle. He was free, the gemfish had chewed through the rope that had bound him.
His vision started to blur as he kicked for the surface and when he finally broke through the waves, the breath that he took seemed like it would go on forever.
Even though he wanted to do nothing more than lie on the deck of his boat and breathe in the fresh, cool air he knew that he had to alert Nurn to the danger that was heading their way.
Silus pulled up the rest of the anchor rope and set the boom. As the sails took the wind he just hoped that the Ocean Lily would prove to be quicker than the things that marched along the seabed below.
In the small barracks five of the Nurn guard were rolling woodrene bones. Already they had played six rounds of cards — in which one of them had lost almost a week's pay — and many more games of dice. This was the way it went most nights.
"You know what? I think that was my last throw," said Officer Stinton. "Besides, it's probably time that I went on patrol."
"And I think that it's probably time that you sat back down and gave me all your money." Officer Tolley said, leaning back in his chair and giving his friend a condescending smile. "Come on Stinton, don't be such a pussy just because you lost a couple of pieces."
"Yeah, we'll give you a chance to win it all back, honest." Officer Bardsley said, his gold tooth catching the light of the lamp as he smiled
"To be fair to Officer Stinton," said Officer Springer. "We do have a job to do."
"Yeah, and that job is to take Stinton's money and then go and get pissed." Office Mooney grinned, looking at the wealth that he had gathered that evening.
"Really, I'd love to be a further part of your games, but Nurn is not going to police itself."
As Officer Stinton left the barracks he could see someone running towards him. It was the fisherman, Silus, and he looked to be in some distress. Stinton made sure that his sword was secure and then went to meet the citizen.
"Ring the alarm bell now." Silus said as he struggled to regain his breath. "Summon every volunteer you can. We're under attack."
"Silus, calm down. Attack from whom?"
"From the sea. They're coming from the sea."
"Who are coming from the sea?"
But Officer Stinton's question went unanswered as Silus ran for home, and he was no closer to understanding whom their assailants were when they burst from the waves.
The alarm bell was ringing and, as Silus rushed Katya from their home, they could see a plume of smoke rising above the harbour.
The first body that they came across was Officer Springer's. He knelt on the cobbles as though in an act of penitence, his head on the ground turned at an angle that shouldn't have been possible. A shard of vertebrae protruded from the back of his neck. From the cracked stones of the road beneath him it looked like he'd fallen from a great height. It was almost as though he'd been thrown.
Silus knelt beside the fallen guard and prised the sword from his stiff fingers, passing the weapon to Katya before unsheathing his own blade.
"We may have to fight," Silus said. "There may be no other way to protect our child. We'll try and make it to the Ocean Lily and get to Vosburg. We'll make sure that you're safe there and then we'll get help."
Katya nodded and kept a tight grip on Silus's hand as they ran towards the harbour.
The clash of weapons and the cries of the injured — both human and inhuman — were clearer now. Flames had started to spread to more of the buildings and, as Katya pulled Silus to a halt, they saw the roof of The Necromancer's Barge cave in. Someone flailed out of the building, a human torch that screamed so shrilly it could have been either a man or a woman. The blazing figure got only a few feet from the tavern before it keeled over in the street and was still.
A hideous form emerged through the smoke shrouding the end of the street. Katya cried out as it put one huge, clawed foot on the skull of the burning corpse. The noise that echoed off the walls with a sharp, yet wet, report as it stamped down was not something they would ever forget.
"Stay close to me!" Silus shouted, raising his sword as the creature advanced.
His first blow skittered across the beast's scales, deflected by tough hide. As he moved in again, Katya swung her own blade at its ankles, but the creature stepped out of the arc of her attack and raked its claws across her face. Had she been a step closer Katya would have been blinded. Instead four wet, red lines opened up on her cheek.
On seeing his wife's injuries anger boiled up in Silus. With a yell he put all of his strength behind his next attack. He could see himself in the pitch-black orbs of the thing's eyes as he leaned in close, the tip of his blade catching in a gap between scales. For a second Silus thought that the flesh there was too tough to penetrate, but then there was a sound like lobster claws cracking and the creature howled in pain. But before he could withdraw his blade, Silus's head was caught in the creature's claws and he went over with it as it fell.
They landed heavily in the street, Silus sprawled across its body. Hot, sour breath blasted into his face as the creature increased its grip and began to speak.
The words were guttural, harsh and not in a language that he understood. Silus fought to pull away but the pressure on his skull increased. The pain that arced between his ears was worse than anything he had ever experienced and he let out a keening wail, not quite believing that such a sound could be coming from him. The darkness that crowded his vision streamed from the creature's eyes and into his. The thing's words were clearer now and, just before Katya plunged her sword into its left eye socket, two broke through Silus's darkening consciousness.
"Half-breed."
The creature's arms fell away, releasing Silus's head. Katya helped him to his feet and he staggered a little, almost losing his balance as he pulled his sword free of the corpse.
"Are you okay?" He said, seeing the blood running down Katya's face.
"For now, but if we stay here we'll die."
"I'm sure that the Nurn guard will have at least started to drive them back." But he wasn't, especially not when he remembered how Officer Springer had been kneeling in the road. "I love you Katya. We'll get through this. Come on, we don't have far to go."
It was hard to see what was going on as they emerged into the open space before the harbour. The smoke was so thick in places that it obscured the fighting and the glare from the flames made it difficult to make out much more than the gleam of steel and the shine of wet scales. Three of the Nurn guard were squaring up against one of the creatures beside a nearby warehouse. Silus saw the short work that was made of the men — their blood arcing high up the planks of the building — and prayed that the creature didn't turn their way.
It didn't. Instead it cocked its head to one side as though it were listening to something and then loped off into the smoke.
Silus pushed Katya to the ground as the whoosh of a blade cutting through the air came perilously close. But no attacker barrelled from the smoke and he saw only a confusion of shadows as they got to their feet.
One of the shadows stumbled into Katya and Silus was just in time to block the sword that swung towards his wife. Officer Stinton glared hatred at him before he realised that what he was seeing was not one of the demons from the sea.
Silus gently lowered Stinton's blade with the flat of his palm. "Easy. Easy. We're comrades not enemies."
The guard was covered in blood but most of it was not his own. The only wound that he seemed to have sustained was a long ragged gash on his left thigh. In his eyes, however, was a look that had gone beyond battle rage and into something that Silus didn't think the guard would ever recover from. He knew that look well. His uncle was a veteran of the last war between Vos and Pontaine and he had that self-same stare.
"Officer Stinton, we need to get to the Ocean Lily." Silus said. "There's no way that Nurn can hold out against these things. If we can get to Vosburg we can come back with reinforcements."
Officer Stinton didn't seem to be listening, unable to take his eyes off Katya. "I almost killed you."
"Samuel, it's fine." Katya put a hand on his shoulder. "You didn't know. But we need you now. All three of us."
The guard looked at the mound of her belly and, seeming to realise what a fragile position Katya was in, came back to them a little.
And then there was a sudden stench and the sound of scale on stone as four sea demons stepped out of the smoke to surround them.
Running at the creature nearest to Katya, Officer Stinton swung his sword, connecting with the thing's side and carving a gash that ran with oily, black blood.
The creature staggered into one of its comrades, but its reach was long and it tore into Stinton's sword arm. Despite his wounds the guard retaliating with a cry, hacking at the creature again and again until its guts were coiling down around its legs. Finally the pain overcame him and he dropped his weapon.
Katya stepped forward to finish the beast that had attacked Officer Stinton, ducking as it made a grab for her, driving her blade up into its throat.
Silus shot her a warning glance to stay out of reach as he took down another of the creatures. He was surprised at the ease with which it fell and he wondered why the guards hadn't had more success against the sea demons. As he squared up against another of them it seemed almost reluctant to strike, instead backing towards its brethren.
They showed no such reluctance when it came to Officer Stinton.
He tried to reach for his sword, but was stopped when a taloned fist punched deep into his sternum. He was dead before he hit the ground. Katya cried out and swung at the creature but overbalanced with her attack, and soon the thing stood looking down at her.
Silus was too slow to prevent his wife from being grabbed and now the fight was on a different footing. The two remaining creatures watched him, unblinking, making no move to finish what they had started. Around them the sounds of battle had stopped. The smoke was beginning to clear as a strong wind came in off the sea, revealing the smouldering ruins of buildings and corpses.
"Let her go!" Silus yelled. "I know that you can understand me, one of you spoke to me. I'm telling you to let her go!"
The sound of a staff tapping out a regular rhythm approached them as another of the sea demons stepped into view.
Though this one was larger than its brethren it was stooped, its hide was tarnished and encrusted in places with barnacles and other molluscs. One of its eyes was a milky white and scars criss-crossed its chest as though it had faced battle many times.
The creature approached Silus, laid a finger on his chest and regarded him intently with its one good eye.
"What are you?" Silus said.
"We are the Chadassa." The creature said. Its voice reminded Silus of the sea breaking on shingle. "I am Belck."
The thing gestured for Katya to be brought forward and crouched down before her, running its hands over her belly, making strange crooning noises at the back of its throat. Some of the molluscs clinging to its hide opened up at the sound of its pleasure. Katya tried to draw away from Belck's touch, but she stopped struggling when her arm was forced further up her back by the Chadassa restraining her.
Silus rushed Belck then, burning with the desire to cleave the creature's head from its body, but one gesture from Belck's hand halted the fisherman and another sent the sword tumbling from his grip.
As the aged sea demon straightened and turned to Silus, Katya spat at it. "You touch me like that again and I'll break your neck! Nobody but my husband touches me like that."
"This man is far more than just your husband. Our blood runs in his veins."
"Silus is nothing like you freaks. Trust me, when Vos finds out about your little invasion you're going to wish that you had never left the sea."
"Ah, but with the help of Silus we shall soon leave the sea behind anyway. All of Twilight shall be ours, and then shall come the time of the Great Flood."
"Listen," Silus said. "I don't know what you're talking about and I'm not about to help you. I've no idea who you think I am."
"No, you really don't do you? Allow me to offer an explanation."
Belck stepped in close to Silus. The light of Kerberos faded from the creature's eye as he watched, the darkness intensifying until it was all he could see.
And then Silus was looking back at Nurn, but it was not the place he knew. The church of the Final Faith did not dominate the town square here and the old stone forts that dotted the coast no longer looked so old. What had once been crumbling, lichen encrusted brick now looked almost newly laid.
Silus found himself standing by the rock pools not far from the harbour. In front of him a woman was collecting mussels. He called out to her but she didn't turn round.
Having filled her pail she turned to leave and, as she did, she failed to spot the thing curled within the deepest of the pools.
It rose up to meet her as her shadow fell over it.
The woman screamed and staggered back, dropping her pail as the creature forced her into the sea,
Silus didn't move but his point of view changed and he found himself following the Chadassa and the woman down beneath the waves.
She struggled in the creature's grip, thrashing like a caught fish, but the thing didn't let go. It swam with her into a dark gash in the seabed, before surfacing from a pool in the centre of a vast cave.
The woman was carried through an echoing darkness, illuminated by the glow of thousands of tiny thread-like worms which writhed over the cavern walls. Soon she stopped struggling and lay limply in the creature's arms. Her eyes spoke of the turmoil within, but she made no sound as the creature laid her on a bed of seaweed and cuttlefish bones.
The Chadassa tore the remains of the woman's clothes away and then unfolded itself and embraced her like an octopus cloaks its prey.
And now Silus saw her crawling from the sea, sobbing and naked. Blood trickled down her thighs.
And now he was watching her lying on a bed and he could feel her thoughts as she screamed and sweated, the nuns surrounding and fussing over her urging her to keep pushing. But she didn't want to push and she prayed for death rather than the chance to see whatever foul progeny would emerge from within her.
When the nun handed her the struggling, mewling thing, however, she didn't hesitate to hold it to her breast, overwhelmed with relief that this tiny creature was a he rather than an it. Silus sensed her fierce resolve as she swore to raise the child as her own, in defiance of that which had been done to her by the creature.
Silus blinked and he stood before Belck once more.
"Your ancestor," said Belck. "That child was your great great great grandfather. Our blood has been running in your veins for all these generations. Only now, however, has the line grown strong. You are special, Silus. You belong with us."
"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."