The Wraiths of Will and Pleasure - By Storm Constantine Page 0,191

the time that she’d detected two groups of Gelaming near them? The thought occurred to Lileem then that Pellaz might have been trying to help them escape. Was this just wishful thinking? If it was, then it would be a big mistake to try and use the little carving to contact him. It would be very stupid to consider that, because a portal to Immanion was open, it might be possible to send out a strong message and ask for his help again.

Don’t do it, she told herself. But already, she had closed her eyes. Her fingers gripped the carving firmly. Even in the midst of this chaos, she found it was possible to focus her thoughts. She imagined them as a pure beam of light shooting up through the centre of the vortex, going beyond space and time, and somehow finding its way to Immanion. She imagined Pellaz sitting upon a great throne in a huge empty chamber. He was like a statue.

‘Pellaz, hear me,’ she cried in her mind. ‘I call to you, Tigron, you who are lord of all Wraeththu. Hear me and come to my aid. We are your children and we in danger. Extend your powerful arm and smite our enemies.’

She realised she was addressing him as if he was a dehar, but if the stories were true, and he was a har who’d risen from the dead, perhaps this was entirely appropriate.

The maddened waters were rising, and the entire world was held in the grip of chaotic elements. All around Lileem, hara were being thrown around the ship. She could hear their cries, distantly. Some crouched low, clinging on to whatever could keep them steady. Others had gone below deck. The shamans were screaming, in rage and helplessness.

‘Pellaz!’ Lileem cried aloud. ‘Hear me and approach! I command you!’

She knew the others couldn’t hear her. She had stepped out of time into a different place, an otherworld realm. She was in a building that looked like a temple, standing before a throne. In it, sat the Tigron and he was a statue, made of golden stone. He was hundreds of feet high and Lileem was so small, like an ant, before him. ‘Help us, Pellaz,’ she said. ‘Help us.’

There was a sound like mountains grinding together and the mighty statue raised one hand. Lileem heard his voice, inside her head. ‘Bring forth darkness to combat the endless light. Call upon the force that is strong in your heart and mind. I see this thing. You have wrenched it from the cauldron of creation.’

Lileem heard an almighty thud, then another. The ground in this strange unearthly temple was shaking. Bits of stone fell down from the ceiling, which was invisible high above. Lileem turned. Something approached. Something huge. She glanced at the statue of the Tigron, but it was motionless. She heard a monstrous hiss and turned again at once.

A monstrous image of Aruhani filled a high doorway behind her. The dehar radiated dark power. He was the most beautiful and terrible thing she had ever imagined. He stamped a foot and the ground shook. He lunged forward and hissed again, and a great red tongue lashed out.

‘Aruhani,’ Lileem said and her voice sounded tiny, like the whirr of an insect’s wing. ‘Help us…’

The dehar paused. When he breathed, plumes of smoke poured from his nostrils. His eyes burned and his braids writhed like Colurastes hair. The sound of his breathing was like the rumbling of a volcano.

‘Please…’ Lileem said inadequately.

Aruhani stamped again and roared. Lileem had to cover her head because chunks of stone rained down from above. She cried out in terror and was thrown back into her own reality.

For some moments, she was confused. The rain of stone had become a rain of icy seawater, equally as bruising. In the brief time she’d been absent in her mind, the situation had worsened. She knew Flick and the others were standing by her, but could not see them. She closed her eyes and let her instincts guide her. Blindly, she groped for Flick’s hand, drawn by the essence of his spirit. Her fingers curled around his and she spoke to him in mind touch. Call upon Aruhani, Flick.

She heard his shocked response. No!

Yes! Bring Mima and Ulaume to us. We must do it together. I know this. Don’t question. Just do it. Trust me!

The moment the four of them joined hands Lileem could see them again. Everything else around them was a frenzied mass