"Wow," Katya said. "Do you bring all your girlfriends here?"
"Believe it or not you're the first."
"What, the first girlfriend?" Katya smiled. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't tease. Anyway, you owe me one you know."
"What for?"
"For saving your life."
"Oh, I see. I owe you one what?"
"One of these."
Katya kissed him. She tasted of the sea and when Silus pulled away from the kiss he could see Kerberos reflected in her eyes.
"Do you ever wonder what it's like, up there?" Silus said, looking up at the azure planet.
"Well I don't suppose that we'll find out until we pass on and join our ancestors there. I do hope that you're not in any hurry."
"But what if we could go to Kerberos before that? I sometimes think that it's one vast ocean. You could sail forever on its azure seas. The marine creatures would be unlike anything you've ever seen and, beneath the waves, would be vast and ancient cities."
"You certainly can't take the sea out of the boy can you?"
"I'm from a long line of fishermen. Not very exciting really.
"The other night I dreamed that I was swimming down a great hall. It was dark, but on the walls I could see paintings of strange creatures. They stood on two legs and were covered in dark scales. Sharp spines ran up their backs to the top of their heads. Each finger ended in a wicked looking talon. And then I was at the end of the hall before a set of enormous doors. I reached up to open them and my hands were just like theirs." Silus's focused on Katya again, wrapping his arms around her. "Anyway, it was just a dream. Silly really."
"As long as you're not about to abduct me and take me to your underwater lair."
"Ah, well. Wouldn't you say that's sort of what this place is?"
That had been almost four years ago and Silus was still dreaming of Kerberos
In The Necromancer's Barge his stories and dreams were well known and when Silus came off the Ocean Lily he'd often share a tale or two over an ale or three.
That morning the seas had been calmer than usual but the catch hadn't improved and Silus was beginning to worry that if the fishing didn't pick up soon he was going to be out of a job. The drink was starting to take the edge off but he didn't want to get too deep into his cups, Katya would need a hand with some of the chores and he still had nets to mend. One more for the road, however, would do no harm.
Silus signalled to the landlord but another hand arrested his.
"Let me get this one friend."
The man sitting beside him was dressed in simple garb and appeared to be little older than Silus. He could remember having seen him in the tavern a couple of times before but didn't think that he was a local.
"Thank you. I'm sorry but I didn't catch your name. I'm Silus by the way."
"Yes, I know. Kelos." They shook hands. "I saw you out on the water. Can't be easy for you with conditions being what they are."
"It hasn't been easy, but it's not the sea that worries me so much as the lack of fish."
"You handle that boat of yours beautifully."
"Thank you. The Ocean Lily has been in my family a long time." The landlord placed two tumblers of liquor before them and Silus thanked Kelos again before knocking his back. "Haven't I seen you in here before?"
"A few times. I'm just passing through really."
"A trader?"
"I think that entrepreneur is a more fitting description."
They sat in silence for a while then. Beside themselves there were few customers in The Necromancer's Barge. There was a group of elderly men playing a game with woodrene bones and a stout woman busy with her knitting, a scrawny dog snoring at her feet. Despite the quietness of the bar, Kelos still looked nervously about before speaking again.
"Actually, I'm putting together an expedition and we're in need of strong, reliable men like yourself, who can handle themselves at sea."
"We?"
"My colleague and I. We are in possession of a unique vessel."
"And where is this expedition bound?"
"Beyond Twilight."
"Impossible. You won't get more than five miles off the peninsula before your ship is smashed to pieces. There's not a vessel on Twilight that could make it through the Storm Wall."
"As I said, we are in possession of a unique vessel."
Silus suddenly went cold as he realised who he may be speaking to. "You're Final Faith."
"Used to be."
In some ways this was even worse and it was now Silus's turn to look around nervously.
"Listen. Thanks but no thanks. You may think that Nurn is a small town and that we're comfortably far from Scholten, but even here you don't know who may be listening. There's no question of me joining your expedition. I have a pregnant wife at home and a livelihood to consider. You said that you were passing through Nurn? Well if I were you I'd continue to pass through, because any day now Makennon's Swords are going to catch up with you and I'd rather you were far away from my town when that day comes."
"Trust me, Makennon hasn't the first clue where to find us." Kelos took out a map and laid it on the bar. It showed the peninsula and was heavily annotated. "What do you think lies beyond these rough seas Silus?"
"I really don't know."
"But you want to, I can tell. They all know your stories here, those dreams of other places. What about making those dreams a reality? I know that you have a wife with child, but she'd be well looked after and you'd be paid handsomely for your time. Do you really want it to be Makennon who discovers new lands, only to bring them in line under the banner of her faith? If there's something out there to be discovered wouldn't you rather that it was people like ourselves doing the discovering, not those with a vested interest in spreading the 'word'?"
As a child Silus had often played with maps, adding in his own details, drawing in new islands, whole continents peopled with his imagination. His father had told him tales of the Old Races and their mastery of the sea and Silus had wondered why humans hadn't achieved the same heights of naval prowess. They were the ones who ruled now after all, long since those strange beings had perished. Why couldn't they dominate and harness their world in the same way? Silus had been fishing and exploring the same stretch of coast ever since he was old enough to handle a boat and he often yearned to strike out far from shore and try his hand against the stormy waters beyond the horizon. He remembered that first time with Katya and how they had lain in each other's arms, looking up at Kerberos, imagining beyond Twilight, wanting to explore together.
"Look, I hardly know you." Silus said, folding the map and handing it back to Kelos. "Really, the dream is compelling but I'm sure it's just that. A dream."
"From what I've seen of you out on the water and what the good people of Nurn have already told me regarding your character, it would be a great shame if I couldn't tempt you to join us. However, the decision must not be forced. No doubt I shall see you around."
Silus watched Kelos walk away. The dog at the knitting woman's feet woke briefly to watch him go before returning to its snoring. The men playing the bones paused before the next throw. Then the ribs were rattling across the table once more as the door closed.
Chapter Three
Querilous Fitch looked up as the prisoner was brought into the room. There was little natural light this deep in Scholten cathedral but what scant amount there was — funnelled by sun traps and mirrors — was more than enough to reveal the obscene form of the creature. Fitch grimaced at the smell and brought a pomander to his nose. The monster didn't even acknowledge his presence as it was chained in place.