Call of Kerberos: Twilight of Kerberos, The - Jonathan Oliver Page 0,104

see several Calma working on sealing a crack in the structure's side, a stream of bubbles steadily rising from the fissure.

He stepped through the entrance membrane to find himself ankle deep in water.

"Dunsany!"

There was no reply. The only sound was the steady trickle of the sea as it poured into the dome. Ahead of him the water was tinted with swirls of blood, washing from the entrance to a room. Kelos felt his stomach tighten as he splashed towards the doorway, but inside the room there was no sign of Dunsany, only five Calma corpses lying neatly side by side. Each room he passed held more corpses and he was beginning to lose all hope of ever finding his friend when he heard the splash of footsteps from up ahead.

"Dunsany?"

Dunsany was pale and his long hair was plastered wetly to his scalp. When he looked up at Kelos it seemed he didn't recognise him for a moment, but then a smile crept into his features.

"Kelos? You know, all through my dreams you were there. Every step of the way, even to the edge of death. But you led me away from that dark vale and here I am. Though I can't quite remember where here is."

Kelos wanted nothing so much as to hold Dunsany, but as he approached his friend there was a bang and a crack zigzagged up the wall of the dome. Beads of moisture began to leak through.

He held out the spare underwater suit he had brought from the Llothriall.

"I hope that you're not too weak to swim."

The drip had become a trickle by the time Dunsany suited up and the dome had begun to sing as more cracks raced across its surface.

"Thank you for coming for me, old friend," Dunsany said before sealing the suit's hood.

And then, as the dome came down around them, their arms found each other.

Katya stood in the Calma ship, watching Silus help with the rescue operation outside, feeling as though she were losing him all over again.

This man who flitted through the water as quickly as the Calma - more quickly in fact - and who breathed the sea as easily as air, surely this man wasn't her husband? In fact, he was barely human. Katya still loved him, but the part she loved was the fisherman from N眉rn, not the strange creature he had become.

If Zac had lived would he have grown into this, she wondered. Would father and son have spent their time together exploring the world beneath the waves, returning to her with treasures from ancient wrecks and tales of mermaids, sunken cities and forgotten islands; things she could never experience, never share?

The thought of Zac sent a new shard of grief through her. Katya tried to hold it in, only for it to erupt as a high-pitched sob. The Calma looked up from where they worked, but made no move to offer comfort or sympathy. A few even stood staring at her, as though wondering what she would do next. In her embarrassment, Katya tried to hide her grief, but it was too big to contain.

When Silus stepped back onto the ship, naked and dripping, he went to her but she pushed him away.

"Katya, what is it? What have I done?"

But she couldn't tell him, couldn't explain to Silus why she was so repelled by his touch.

This was what it came down to. This was the place to which all of Dunsany's visions of adventure and discovery had led them; a ship full of disparate refugees arguing about the best way to fight a losing battle.

Dunsany thought that the fanatics of the Faith looked the most lost. Not only had they discovered that their holy mission had been for naught, but now they found themselves having to incorporate the existence of the Calma and the theology of the Moratians into their blinkered world view. Dunsany watched Bestion calmly explaining about the Allfather to Spalding, who was becoming increasingly agitated by the dissonance between their beliefs.

The Calma, of course, must be feeling the most acute sense of loss, though it was hard to read the creatures. The few that stood with them on deck silently looked out at their diminished fleet.

"Do you think I should say something before our friends from the Faith start executing heretics?" Kelos said.

"I think that may be a good idea."

"People, your attention please." Nobody was listening, so Kelos lit up the deck with a spell that made them turn and stare. "Thank you.