Call of Kerberos: Twilight of Kerberos, The - Jonathan Oliver Page 0,113

reached out. His hands went to Zac and held him. There was a deep rumble of thunder and, above them, a sheet of blinding light suddenly washed across Kerberos. It was almost as though the planet had blinked.

As the echoes of the thunder died away the sound of a child crying filled the temple. Katya looked over at her son to see a pure azure light pouring from his pupils. The flesh that had bound him to the body of the monster melted away and Silus lifted him free from the hideous caul.

"Silus, what are you doing?" said the Great Ocean.

Silus ignored it and placed his son in Katya's hands. As he did so the light went out of Zac's eyes, to be replaced by the deep blue gaze she had first fallen in love with. This time when the child cried, it was with an entirely human voice.

"Silus, you are my son. We are the Great Ocean," The dark god said, doubt now tingeing its voice.

"No, you are the Great Ocean, I am something else. We were both born of Kerberos, yet you choose to seed this place with your own taint. A taint that I carry within me only to deliver back to you a thousand-fold."

Silus gripped the monster's skull and let the dark water of the Great Ocean pour back out of him. With it, though, came an energy more ancient, more powerful - that of Kerberos itself.

Silus maintained his grip as the creature dropped to its knees and he didn't let go even when it began to burn. Soon there were only ashes on the temple floor where the Great Ocean had stood.

Bestion's chanting came to an end and he opened his eyes.

"What happened? I heard the voice of the Allfather."

But Silus didn't say anything. Instead he went to Katya and Zac, knelt and put his arms around them.

Listening to his son cry, Silus thought that it was one of the most beautiful sounds he had ever heard.

Soon the Isle of the Allfather was awash with great buzzing clouds of flies as the Chadassa's bodies rotted. A nauseating stench washed over the island and made it difficult to venture anywhere other than the temple. When the supplies on the Llothriall ran low it was clear it was time to leave.

"Where are we going to go without the power of the stone?" Silus said. "The waters may be calm around the isle, but out there are currents that will rip apart the ship in seconds."

It seemed to him that they had escaped one disaster only to head into the jaws of another.

"There are a chain of smaller islands not far from here," Bestion said. "We could head over there."

"And what then?"

"I hadn't thought much further than that if I'm honest."

"Where's your sense of adventure?" Dunsany said. "The ship can hold her own for a while I'm sure. We don't need magic all the time after all." Kelos looked up at him and smiled. "Besides, if it gets too rough on board Silus can always swim alongside. Maybe he could call the creatures of the deep to our aid."

So, with the sales billowing they left the Isle of the Allfather behind. As they turned hard to starboard the sun was just coming out of Kerberos's shadow. There was nothing to mar the azure sphere now, the Great Ocean had vanished.

Silus held Katya tight as the shore moved out of sight over the horizon. In her arms Zac stirred sleepily. Silus wondered how much Zac had inherited from his father and, more, he wondered how much his time in the grip of the dark god would have tainted him.

Silus swore that as his son grew up, he would teach him to fight.

THE END

Jonathan Oliver

Jonathan Oliver is the Editor-in-Chief of Abaddon and Solaris. He has had stories published on both sides of the Atlantic in various publications, along with a handful of articles. He used to dabble in stand-up comedy before coming to the realisation that writing may be far less gruelling. He lives in Abingdon with his wife Alison and their cat Fudge. The Call of Kerberos is his first novel.

Acknowledgments

Firstly, thanks must go to Alison, my wife, who had to sit through many an evening of me pounding at the keyboard, swearing at the computer and being wracked with self-doubt as the novel took shape. Your patience is amazing and I love you with all my heart.

A massive thank you must also go to Rebecca Levene, my editor