“Even now, knowing who strides through the ruins of this church, you would resist me?”
He gestured and the wall before Him melted, collapsing the upper levels and spilling a host of Red Chapter mercenaries into the transept. Those not killed by the fall were trapped in the solidifying rock, screaming as their lungs were crushed and their bones pulverised. A few survived intact, and they turned on Kerberos with their swords drawn before an understanding of what truly stood before them dawned on their faces.
Some knelt before their god then, while others took their own lives, their minds broken. Kerberos looked upon His remaining disciples kindly. They bowed their heads to receive His sacrament, and soon the pain and fear in their eyes was replaced by His pure, azure light.
As one, Kerberos and the three men and four women now possessed of His grace turned to Kelos and Dunsany.
“This is our world,” they said in unison. “This is our creation. This is our-”
One of the men suddenly clutched at his face and wailed. From between his fingers came shards of a brilliant crimson light. The cathedral was now open to the sky through the rent in the collapsed wall, and there Dunsany could see red tendrils reaching out from the sphere of Hel’ss and wrapping themselves around the great disc of Kerberos. The possessed Silus reached out to the man, there was a flash of azure light, and a corpse hit the floor, smoke rising from its flesh. Above them, the two deities were still once more.
“There is little time,” Kerberos and His disciples said.
For a terrifying moment, Dunsany and Kelos feared that they too were about to be possessed, corralled into the service of the Lord of All. Instead, Kerberos opened a door in the north wall and descended the steps beyond, trailed by His followers. Dunsany and Kelos could have run then, but they had come too far not to see this through to the end.
The tunnels below the cathedral led to a vast complex of rooms; some simple storage areas or administrative offices, others housing vast libraries and laboratories. In one high-vaulted chamber Dunsany caught a glimpse of a huge statue of a dwarf, inscribed with glowing runes and holding a steel axe that looked capable of felling entire armies. He was about to walk past when something about the dwarf’s features made him do a double take.
“Kelos, is that…?”
“My gods, you’re right! It’s the exact likeness of Orlok.”
Such wonders, however, held no interest for Kerberos and His disciples, who continued on their relentless march through the many levels of the cathedral. Kelos and Dunsany brought up the rear, keeping their distance lest they attract the attention of the god. Passing through a large set of heavily fortified double doors they came to what must have once been the barracks of the soldiers of the Order of the Swords of Dawn. Now, however, there was no sign of the holy warriors, although the blood-stained floor spoke clearly of what had happened to them. Instead, lounging on cots or sparring in the centre of the room with purloined weapons, there were a host of Red Chapter mercenaries. At first, they did not notice the presence of the god, but when Kerberos sent forth His disciples, the sight of their comrades, possessed by the light of the deity, brought many of them to their knees. Everything that had been human had been stripped away. Now they were merely the vessels of their god. Looking at Silus, Kelos wondered whether he’d ever see his friend behind those eyes again, and where — at that moment — his spirit resided. He was glad that Katya and Zac were not here to see this; the sight of Silus as he was now may well have destroyed them.
With His ever-growing army of followers, Kerberos descended through the last and deepest levels of the cathedral. Any Red Chapter mercenaries they met were either added to the legion or, if their minds were not robust enough, dispatched. And the further they descended, the more Hel’ss made its presence known. Many disciples were lost as the crimson glare of the deity poured from their eyes, with Kerberos forced to end their suffering as quickly as possible before the other god could spread its taint. Kelos and Dunsany followed this trail of the dead, all the while wondering why a god would have need of a mortal woman. Just what would Kerberos say to Katherine Makennon? Would she too become a vessel for the Lord of All?
When they finally stood before the ornate door leading to Makennon’s quarters, Dunsany reached for Kelos’s hand.
“Are you ready?” he said.
“Do we have a choice? Have we ever had a choice? I feel like we’ve been nothing more than pawns in a game played between gods.”
“It’s been a hell of an adventure, though, hasn’t it?”
“Oh, yes. Though it’s a pity we never got a chance to put that retirement plan of mine into effect. No desert island for us, just a ruined land at war once again.”
“That’s the Twilight we love.”
Kelos laughed. “And that’s the Dunsany I love. Now, let’s see what a god has to say for itself.”
K ATHERINE M AKENNON HAD heard the trail of destruction coming her way and had been about to call for her guards, when she remembered that those who remained were no longer hers to command. All authority had been stripped from her by the Red Chapter and she had been confined to her quarters, able to do little more than pray for her liberation.
This she did now, falling to her knees as she heard screams coming from beyond her chamber door.
“Lord of All, deliver me from this torment; free me to serve you once more.”
The prayer was no sooner spoken than the door opened and there, stood before her, was Silus Morlader.
Except it was not Silus Morlader, for from his eyes poured an azure light that she knew all too well.
Katherine Makennon looked into the eyes of her god and her heart filled with hope.
She was about to bow her head when Kerberos sank to His knees before her. He seemed to be in pain, and for a moment a cruel grin crossed His face as His eyes shone with an unholy light.
“No! This world is… not yours! This… this is my creation!” He screamed, and to hear such pain and despair in the voice of her god chilled Katherine Makennon to the very core.
“My Lord?” she said, reaching out and touching the man’s shoulder.
Kerberos looked up at Makennon — her god, her life, her reason for choosing the path that had seen her rise through the ranks of the Final Faith to become the most powerful woman on the peninsula — and there was fear in His eyes.
“Katherine Makennon. You have to help me, or all of Twilight will fall.”
There was a peal of thunder then, so loud that she heard it even here, far beneath the ground, and as her god bowed before her Katherine Makennon began to sob.