Call of Kerberos: Twilight of Kerberos, The - Jonathan Oliver Page 0,52

wasn't entirely lost on Belck. Yet Silus was not human, not entirely. It was Chadassa blood that ran in his veins and it was his seed that would produce the new breed; the Land Walkers who would devastate Twilight.

Even through the thick stone doors of the temple, Belck could hear the song of his people, their voices raised in the complex tonalities of ancient song to welcome the arrival of their God.

As the last verse of the song faded away, Belck gestured with his hands and the doors of the temple swung slowly open.

As the congregation turned to watch him Belck realised that they were all relying on his guidance, his judgement for the days ahead. After all, he was the avatar of their God. The enormity of the task before him cowed Belck for a moment, but as he took to the pulpit and signalled his acknowledgment to the elders seated to either side he tried not to show his fear.

Raising his arms he allowed the hope of his people to strengthen him.

"He is the Great Ocean and he has come amongst us!"

"He is the endless sea." The congregation replied.

"He heralds the time of the Great Flood."

"And we will swim together, in eternity."

"Brothers and sisters we will indeed swim together for the Great Flood will soon be at hand. The half-breed will join in communion with our Queen and together they will give rise to the Land Walkers. This new breed of Chadassa will stride across Twilight, slaying all in their path and when they reach the mountains at the edge of the world they will tear open the very earth. Then the Great Ocean will pour its dark waters into the exposed heart of this world and unleash the power of the Flood! All reality will be bathed in the waters of the Great Ocean and the Chadassa's empire will know no ends."

For all the certainties contained in his proclamations Belck was somewhat dismayed that he still felt an edge of doubt. It was the same doubt he had felt at the summoning ceremony, when the dark face of their God had been revealed to them. In fact, he realised, it was a doubt that had been with him for a very long time.

Belck had studied the ancient texts. He had listened to the council of the elders and born witness to their testimony concerning the work of their God amongst them. But when they had started to talk about the purpose of the Great Ocean and His plans for the Chadassa, Belck had begun to feel a flaw begin to work its way through his faith.

After all, who were they to say what the Great Ocean's purpose really was?

In all the times that Belck had communed with the God he had sensed nothing to link him to that consciousness, nothing that said to him: 'I have created you for a greater purpose and for a greater glory.'

There was only that dark, terrible presence. Older than Belck could ever imagine, and unknowable.

Those who had led the Chadassa before Belck had accepted the presence of the Great Ocean without question. They praised him and expected nothing in return. They had spent their lives preaching from the ancient texts just as they had been set down and prophesying the time of the Great Flood, which they had known would happen long after they died. And so, they had never had to come face to face with the reality of the God himself. They had never had to stare into that dark and pitted surface and wonder what the realisation of the prophesies would bring.

But Belck let none of this doubt taint his proclamations.

"He is the Great Ocean. Brothers and Sisters, gaze upon the face of your God."

Above them the ceiling of the temple rippled, as though they were looking up at the surface of a vast pool. And then, they were staring into the face of Kerberos. Yet the azure disk was marred by a dark tumour and, as the Chadassa realised that this black sphere was the face of their God, they raised their voices in song.

As Belck joined his congregation, he wondered if any of them actually really knew what the Great Flood was. Whether any of them could say that they truly knew what the plans of their God meant for them.

Belck couldn't.

And that scared him more than anything.

Ever since Kelos had shown Silus how to open his mind to the creatures of the sea, he had