Call of Kerberos: Twilight of Kerberos, The - Jonathan Oliver Page 0,43
other ruroth around him stopped then and a tense stillness pervaded the corral. Belck could see the creature's pulse increase as a great vein throbbed in its temple.
And then, it raised its head and let loose a long, ululating cry. Around it, its brethren responded with their own calls and the leviathan rose quickly to the surface far above, buoyed by the song of its kin.
Belck was caught up in its wake and he rode the current until the ruroth was lost from sight, marvelling all the while in its raw animal power and the fact that such a thing was in their control.
Chapter Thirteen
Emuel's fever finally broke, but without his song to empower it the magic of the gem waned and the stormy waters began to take hold of the Llothriall.
Dunsany rushed to the main deck to cut the rope that still moored them to the tower, fearing that a sudden wave could dash them against the stone. Once he slashed the tether the ship drifted into the centre of the ring of towers and Dunsany watched as the jagged stone peaks swayed threateningly around them. But then the Llothriall was beyond the towers and caught up by a current that bore it quickly away.
Dunsany staggered below before he was thrown from the deck by the next strong surge.
In the galley Maylan was throwing up as he tried to steady himself against a wall. When he looked up Dunsany could see that his features were ashen.
"Gods Dunsany, what are we going to do?" The priest managed to say, before another spasm gripped him and his shoulders heaved.
"I don't know. Where are the others?"
"Emuel is still in his bunk, but the rest of them are in the day room."
As Dunsany made his way up the corridor the ship gave a sudden lurch and there was the sound of plates smashing in the galley, followed by Maylan's cries of pain and then retching as his sea-sickness gripped him once more.
The lamps suspended from the day room ceiling were swaying wildly as Dunsany entered, throwing shadows spinning around the room. Waves crashed against the ship with a sound like the beating of a vast drum and spray exploded across the windows.
"We're fucked." Ioannis said as Dunsany managed to hold down a chair long enough to sit on it.
"Now, let's not panic quite yet." He said.
"Well, what do you suggest we do?" Silus hissed. "Without Emuel we can't empower the stone and without the power of the stone this ship's no better than a ragged merchant barque trading out of Allantia."
"Actually, that's not quite true." Kelos said. "As you know, the Llothriall has remarkable healing abilities. Despite the rough ride we are currently having, the hull is unlikely to be breached."
"Yeah, but one of us is. How many days of being thrown around in here do you think we can cope with? Have you seen Maylan? He already looks not long for this world and I don't think that the rest of us are going to fair much better."
As if to illustrate Silus's point one of the lamps suddenly snapped from the ceiling and caught Ignacio's head a glancing blow, before shattering on the boards. Dunsany rushed to stamp out the flames as Ignacio dabbed at the blood now trickling from his scalp.
"Are you alright?" Kelos said.
"I think so. I've suffered heavier blows to the head, believe it or not."
"I believe." Dunsany muttered under his breath.
"Look, Kelos," Katya said. "Is there really no way to restore Emuel's abilities?"
"When the tattoo on Emuel's chest was burnt away it broke the flow of the songlines that cover his body. With the design broken his song will now have no effect on the gem and I'm afraid that I just don't know enough about elven runes to restore the design. "However, there may be another type of magic that can help us here."
"Which is?" Silus said.
"Silus, we were determined to get you on this voyage for a reason. Not only because we needed another man to help crew the ship, but also because of the extraordinary talents that you possess."
Silus remembered his vision in the bone strewn chamber of the underwater citadel, and the feeling of pure joy as that distant battle had raged around him.
"When I observed you in Nürn," Kelos continued, "I remember being taken aback by the way you handled that fishing boat of yours."
"There's no secret to that. There have been fishermen in my family going back generations."