encircled his body and squeezed hard.
He could feel the great heartbeat of his opponent close against him, echoing through his own body. It was an almost relaxing, reassuring sound but, still, he squeezed with all his might until that beating slowed and then stopped.
He let his tentacles drop away and watched as his dead brethren sank out of sight.
He had killed four of his own kind but it wasn't enough.
The anger still boiled within him -
- and he lashed out.
There was a scream and someone called his name. But that wasn't his name, was it?
"Silus, help!"
A tight band encircled his waist and he struggled against it before realising where he was.
The creature maintained its hold on Silus as it lifted Katya from the deck of the Llothriall. Ignacio and Jacquinto, leaning hard against the rail, tried to make a grab for her, but succeeded only in snatching the shoe from her right foot.
"Katya, try not to struggle." Silus shouted.
As the creature drew her close, Katya reached out and - for just a second - their fingertips touched.
"Silus, what's happening?" Katya called.
"This creature is being controlled by the Chadassa. They sent it after us. If I can - "
Out of the corner of his eye Silus noticed Ignacio knocking an arrow to a bow.
"No, don't hurt it, otherwise you'll get us both killed!"
It seemed that the wind was strong enough to carry his voice, as Ignacio lowered his weapon.
The creature brought Katya closer then, more tentacles coming to bear as it examined her. One explored the mound of her belly and Silus prayed for the leviathan to be gentle.
"I'm going to try to break through the Chadassa's control, Katya. Stay as calm as you can."
Silus looked into the creature's eyes again and he could sense the taint that lay over its will, like a diseased caul. He moved beyond this and called to the creature in friendship and in peace. He spoke to it of the lightless depths, the abundance of life that moved through the canyons and of the comfort and companionship of its brethren. Silus could feel how the creature yearned for these things and he focused this desire through his will, until it was keen and strong. Then he broke through the mental restrains that the Chadassa had put in place.
There was a rumbling sound from the leviathan and its grip on Silus suddenly relaxed.
He landed on damp grey flesh and grabbed hold of the ridge of bone that rose from the creature's back. Then, as the creature rose up in preparation to dive, Silus's feet went out from under him. Only his urgent mental calls prevented both he and Katya from being drowned.
The creature settled back down, expelling a jet of water from its spout along with a great sigh.
Silus stroked its flank as he spoke and soon Katya was lowered to stand beside him.
Holding his wife close, Silus spoke again and the leviathan slowly carried them back to the Llothriall, all the time filling Silus with waves of joy in thanks for its newfound freedom.
Chapter Fourteen
After the creature had guided he and Katya back to the Llothriall, Silus spent some time communicating with it. The creature responded to him with peace and gratitude, thankful that it was finally free of the Chadassa yoke. But, before it could go and join its brethren in the depths of the deep-sea trenches, Silus requested a favour.
They needed to find land, and soon. Without Emuel, without the full power of the stone that was the heart of the Llothriall, they were stranded. It would only be a matter of time before the Chadassa launched another attack and Katya was getting dangerously close to her full term. And so, Silus, asked the leviathan to guide them to land.
For a while the creature hadn't responded and Silus contemplated the possibility that there just wasn't any land nearby; that they'd ride the seas until they died of thirst or starvation. Years from now, they'd wash up on some Allantian shore, an unusual ship manned by a crew of skeletons. Perhaps somebody would even write a sea shanty about the mystery of the sepulchral travellers.
But then the creature replied and Silus breathed a sigh of relief.
The crew's enthusiasm and gratitude, however, were tempered by their friend's recent death and when Silus tried to persuade the two remaining smugglers to help harness the creature to the ship, Ignacio refused. After all, this thing had killed his friend. But Silus reminded him that it was the