"How do I know that you're not spinning me lies?"
"Tell her Spalding, you've seen the Calma."
For a moment he thought that the fanatic wasn't going to say anything — was perhaps mute — but after staring at Kelos as though he were going to kill him, he leaned over the bowl and said, "It's true. The Chadassa are not here. There are… other creatures."
"Makennon — Anointed One — we can use the Llothriall to fight the Chadassa," Kelos said. "After all, wasn't that what the ship was intended for all along, to be a holy weapon? And we have some of your most fanatical followers to fight beside us."
Katherine Makennon's head turned to one side and Kelos could hear her speaking to someone out of view. After a moment she turned back to them.
"When you have defeated the remaining Chadassa forces you will return the Llothriall to us."
"Like f — " Kelos caught himself in time. "Of course Anointed Lord. We shall return directly to Turnitia once the battle is won. We shall, of course, be treated with leniency?"
"Goodbye Kelos."
The image in the bowl dissolved.
They were going to need a bigger boat, Kelos considered, as he ushered the remaining Final Faith fanatics on board the Llothriall. At this rate, if they picked up any more refugees they would have to sleep three to a bunk. He had no idea what they were going to do with them once the battle was over. Makennnon had demanded that he return the Llothriall to Turnitia, but Kelos had absolutely no intention of doing so. He had only warned her of the impending assault by the Land Walkers because he had dreaded the consequences otherwise.
As they descended in the Llothriall to the Calma city the last of the fires were dying out. Kelos almost wished that the shroud of smoke had remained, because now that he could see the extent of the devastation he realised what little hope they had against the Chadassa. All but a handful of the glass domes had been shattered — though Kelos's horror was somewhat alleviated when he saw that the dome Dunsany had been recuperating in still stood — while the rest of the city seemed to have melted into the seabed. Within the soot stained ruins he could just make out the few surviving Calma, pulling the dead and dying from the rubble. Silus was out there already, doing what he could to help. Kelos would have offered his own assistance but, as he pulled on an underwater exploration suit, he had thoughts for only one man.
Dunsany.
Once out of the ship he headed for the glass dome. There Kelos could see several Calma working on sealing a crack in the structure's side, a stream of bubbles steadily rising from the fissure.
He stepped through the entrance membrane to find himself ankle deep in water.
"Dunsany!"
There was no reply. The only sound was the steady trickle of the sea as it poured into the dome. Ahead of him the water was tinted with swirls of blood, washing from the entrance to a room. Kelos felt his stomach tighten as he splashed towards the doorway, but inside the room there was no sign of Dunsany, only five Calma corpses lying neatly side by side. Each room he passed held more corpses and he was beginning to lose all hope of ever finding his friend when he heard the splash of footsteps from up ahead.
"Dunsany?"
Dunsany was pale and his long hair was plastered wetly to his scalp. When he looked up at Kelos it seemed he didn't recognise him for a moment, but then a smile crept into his features.
"Kelos? You know, all through my dreams you were there. Every step of the way, even to the edge of death. But you led me away from that dark vale and here I am. Though I can't quite remember where here is."
Kelos wanted nothing so much as to hold Dunsany, but as he approached his friend there was a bang and a crack zigzagged up the wall of the dome. Beads of moisture began to leak through.
He held out the spare underwater suit he had brought from the Llothriall.
"I hope that you're not too weak to swim."
The drip had become a trickle by the time Dunsany suited up and the dome had begun to sing as more cracks raced across its surface.
"Thank you for coming for me, old friend," Dunsany said before sealing the suit's hood.
And then, as the dome came down around them, their arms found each other.
Katya stood in the Calma ship, watching Silus help with the rescue operation outside, feeling as though she were losing him all over again.
This man who flitted through the water as quickly as the Calma — more quickly in fact — and who breathed the sea as easily as air, surely this man wasn't her husband? In fact, he was barely human. Katya still loved him, but the part she loved was the fisherman from Nurn, not the strange creature he had become.
If Zac had lived would he have grown into this, she wondered. Would father and son have spent their time together exploring the world beneath the waves, returning to her with treasures from ancient wrecks and tales of mermaids, sunken cities and forgotten islands; things she could never experience, never share?
The thought of Zac sent a new shard of grief through her. Katya tried to hold it in, only for it to erupt as a high-pitched sob. The Calma looked up from where they worked, but made no move to offer comfort or sympathy. A few even stood staring at her, as though wondering what she would do next. In her embarrassment, Katya tried to hide her grief, but it was too big to contain.
When Silus stepped back onto the ship, naked and dripping, he went to her but she pushed him away.
"Katya, what is it? What have I done?"
But she couldn't tell him, couldn't explain to Silus why she was so repelled by his touch.
This was what it came down to. This was the place to which all of Dunsany's visions of adventure and discovery had led them; a ship full of disparate refugees arguing about the best way to fight a losing battle.
Dunsany thought that the fanatics of the Faith looked the most lost. Not only had they discovered that their holy mission had been for naught, but now they found themselves having to incorporate the existence of the Calma and the theology of the Moratians into their blinkered world view. Dunsany watched Bestion calmly explaining about the Allfather to Spalding, who was becoming increasingly agitated by the dissonance between their beliefs.
The Calma, of course, must be feeling the most acute sense of loss, though it was hard to read the creatures. The few that stood with them on deck silently looked out at their diminished fleet.
"Do you think I should say something before our friends from the Faith start executing heretics?" Kelos said.
"I think that may be a good idea."
"People, your attention please." Nobody was listening, so Kelos lit up the deck with a spell that made them turn and stare. "Thank you. Now, I understand that this isn't where we want to be, but we owe it to ourselves not to run."
"We should consider it a great honour to give our lives in the service of the Lord of All," Spalding said.
"Thank you for your thoughts brother, but I'm hoping that won't be necessary. No, this is something we can win. Already we have weakened the Chadassa and all but defeated the Land Walkers. We can do this."
"To die will be glorious."
"Yes, thank you again brother. It may be best if you didn't keep reminding us of that."
"I'm sorry Kelos, but we can't win this." It was one of the Calma. Kelos thought that it was Seras, the creature who had helped Dunsany recuperate. "When we still had a city we may have been able to help you, but now that we have nothing, no defences… I'm afraid that this is the end."
"Ah, but you have yet to see what the Llothriall is fully capable of," Dunsany said. "She has, at her disposal, a devastating array of magical weapons."
"It won't be enough," Seras said. "What we have faced so far is but a small part of the Chadassa's army and now, led by their dark god incarnate, they will fight with a conviction and ferocity that will ensure their success in wiping us out. I'm sorry Kelos, but the Calma can no longer offer their aid. We have to flee before the Chadassa once more."