this gods-forsaken place and now he was going to be forced to mate with the Chadassa's queen.
Silus looked at the creatures that had crowded their way into his cell, still singing that seductive, yet horrific, song. Desperately hoping for an ally, he looked for Belck amongst the throng.
"Belck, tell your people what the Great Ocean really desires for them, for all of us. Tell them Belck, you must have realised the truth, I saw it in you."
"Belck is not here," the creature standing over Silus said. "He too will be preparing for the ceremony."
Silus held his body rigid as the Chadassa tried to drag him from the cell. He wasn't going to make this easy for them and twice his captors dropped him. As he was manhandled down the corridor, the screaming from the neighbouring cell started up again, this time with more vigour as though to protest at the song being taken away.
Silus and the Chadassa choir descended the spirals of the prison tower until, passing through a membrane, they entered the water. Again, Silus's first instinct was to fight against the sea that filled his lungs, but soon he was breathing easily.
They passed through chambers carpeted with seaweed and lit by the glow of strange minerals until they came to a wide tunnel, sloping down into darkness, seemingly cutting through the bedrock of the ocean floor. A cold current rushed over them. Ahead, Silus could hear more voices raised in song and, as the two choirs neared one another they reached a complex harmony that was so exquisite it brought tears to his eyes.
The two groups of Chadassa emerged on either side of a large chamber and formed a circle around Silus as he was shoved into the centre of the room.
The cavern was warmed by the heat that was rising from a hole in the centre of the room. Silus looked down and, within, he could see the writhing forms of hundreds of fluorescent thread-like worms.
The choir fell silent and the Chadassa who had spoken to Silus in his cell stepped forward.
"To prepare yourself for the Queen, you must first be cleansed."
Silus looked at the creatures that surrounded him. There was nothing that he could do but obey.
Silus stepped towards the hole in the floor and a strong current suddenly grabbed him and pulled him down. As he was dragged into the warm darkness, the fluorescent worms shivered over his body before burrowing in through his pores, the pain like a thousand needles suddenly piercing his flesh. Soon, however, a great sense of calm and wellbeing overtook him and he found himself falling into a vast cavern, lit by the gelatinous forms that moved slowly across the floor. The worms that had entered his body left him then, erupting from his flesh in brilliant threads of coloured lightning. As the last of them swam out of sight, Silus realised that he felt better than he had in a long time, purified, even.
He came to rest on the carpet of glowing creatures that undulated across the cavern floor. They supported him on a bed of tentacles while passing him slowly across their bodies. Silus glided towards an archway at the far end of the room. Where the gelatinous creatures touched him his very flesh felt energised, buzzing with a new life and power. Silus wanted to stay down here forever, wanted this state of bliss to never end. He was surrounded by light and gentle caresses and soon all memory of his previous travails were erased.
His state of euphoria was shattered as he saw three Chadassa females hovering in the archway at the far end of the hall.
Though they were as fearsome in aspect as any of their brethren that Silus had met, their approach was gentle and considered. Instead of rushing in and grabbing him as he had expected, they beckoned to Silus to follow them.
Beyond the archway the water was cooler, the light softer.
Silus looked for the Chadassa females but they were nowhere to be seen.
There was a touch then, a palm gently stroking the back of his head and Silus turned only to catch the briefest glimpse of something swimming swiftly away. He moved deeper into the room and then there was another touch. Fingers lightly grazing his nipples, sending an inadvertent shiver of pleasure down to his groin.
Again Silus turned. Again, the merest hint of a shape.
Before he could proceed there was another touch and then another.
Another.
Lips briefly against his own.
A tongue.
The sensation of