Call of Kerberos: Twilight of Kerberos, The - Jonathan Oliver Page 0,69

For my act of creation I was banished beyond the void, where not even the stars shine, by the being you call Kerberos. But in my absence my children had begun to put a great plan into action.

The Chadassa reasoned that just as their bodies' inadequacies were as a result of the adaptation of the Calma physique, then these same inadequacies could be remedied by taking on more of the physical attributes of the humans. They resolved to breed a new race of Chadassa.

They choose a human female - your ancestor, Silus - and in her they planted the seed of what was to come. Her child was born with Chadassa blood in his veins, but it was weak. And so, the Chadassa waited and observed. Through each generation of your ancestors the thread strengthened until, in you, we finally saw evidence of its burgeoning powers.

It is with your seed that the Land Walkers will be born and my children will take Twilight. Already they have pulled me out of exile through the power of their will and soon everything you know will become the one Great Ocean. The time of the Great Flood will be upon us all. All reality will be flooded with my dark waters until there will be only the Chadassa.

Silus found himself back on the surface of the dark moon, the three facsimiles standing before him.

The thing that looked like Katya reached out and took his shoulder.

The Great Ocean will bring about the end of death. The end of wars and suffering.

It would be the end of everything. Zac would never grow up to experience the joys of living. Silus would never grow into his dotage alongside Katya, would never see the seed of the family they had planted bloom and flourish. If this thing had reckoned that it would persuade Silus to side with the Chadassa, then it had failed. The blood of those creatures may run in his veins but it was his humanity that would overcome it.

"You already know my answer. I will never join with you."

But you really have no choice Silus. I didn't bring you here just to share my vision with you. I brought you here as a diversion while the Chadassa finally caught up. It's already too late, there is nothing that you can do.

The Great Ocean let him go.

As Silus began to tumble back towards Twilight, his prayer was that he would be in time to save Katya and Zac.

There was an intense darkness for a moment, but then Silus opened his eyes and saw Bestion standing over him, his arm on his shoulder and a look of alarm on his face.

Around them the temple shook, fragments of stone beginning to crumble from the walls.

The door at the far end of the room burst open and an acolyte hurried in.

"Brother Bestion come quickly, something is destroying Morat!"

Chapter Eighteen

It took Silus a moment to realise that what was happening was not a part of his vision. The floor below him really was swaying like the deck of a storm-tossed ship and the masonry that was beginning to break away from the ceiling really would crush him unless he moved now. In the end Bestion made the decision for him, dragging Silus to his feet before hurrying him out of the room.

In the cloisters the walls shook and the sound of breaking stone was almost deafening. When they stumbled out of the temple and into the courtyard they could see that the city was shaking itself apart.

People were fleeing from their homes as they fell around them, some having no choice but to scramble from windows to drop to the street two stories or more below. Not all of them managed to drag themselves to safety before they were buried beneath falling stone.

A strong wind blew down towards them from the upper levels of the city, bringing with it a foul stench.

A panicked tide of acolytes and priests flowed around Silus and Bestion. Most chose to head to the upper levels of Morat, fleeing towards the docks, but some went running down the terraces to the lower levels; throwing frightened glances behind them while trying to dodge the detritus that rained down around them.

"We must get to the docks." Bestion shouted. "The only safety will be out on the water."

Silus's first thought, however, was to the safety of Katya and Zack. They were still at the palace and, if the rubble from the collapsed buildings continued to tumble into