Katya closed her eyes and refused to open them until one of the Chadassa hauled her from the bed and marched her from the room. Mercifully Zac was placed back in her arms then and he had looked up at her with a happy little smile.
As they entered a large chamber that looked out onto the sea, Belck turned to greet them. He reached out for her son and Zac was soon crying again as one of the Chadassa took him from her and placed him in the ancient creature's arms. Zac squirmed, his face wrinkled in a red grimace of distress. The Chadassa chuckled and cooed at the infant, increasing the volume of his cries.
Katya looked on helplessly as she was restrained by one of the Chadassa females. Her claws dug painfully into her wrists and she could feel her hot breath on the back of her neck.
"Ah yes," Belck said, "the bloodline may be even stronger in this one. It is a pity he is not of an age where he could be useful. Still, he is something of a prize. You may take him now."
The other Chadassa female took Zac from him.
"Leave him alone!" Katya screamed.
"And so to the mother," Belck said. "What to do with you I wonder?"
"You harm Zac and I will - "
"You'll what? What can you do Katya?"
It was true of course, she could do nothing but watch. Tears welled in her eyes and she quickly blinked them away, unwilling to show these foul creatures any sign of weakness.
"Yes, I thought so," Belck said. "Still, I believe that you can be of some use and Zac is still an infant. It would be wrong to separate mother and child at this delicate stage, don't you think?"
The Chadassa female came over to them, Zac curled against her breast, his eyes closed and his chest calmly rising and falling as he slept.
"If we give him back to you Katya," Belck said, "will you be more cooperative?"
She made a grab for her son and the Chadassa stepped away, Zac stirring briefly as he was jolted by the motion.
"No Katya," Belck said. "I asked you a question. Now, will you cooperate?"
A vicious, jealous hatred burned in her as she looked at her child sleeping in the arms of the creature, and she swore to herself that if she broke free she would kill the mongrel bitch that held him. But for now, her fury was of no use to her son, and so she held out her arms.
"Yes, I'll cooperate."
"Good. That was what I was hoping you'd say."
Zac was placed back in her arms and Katya was relived that he did not wake or struggle against her.
"What have you done with my husband?"
"Silus is being prepared for our Queen." Belck said. "His seed will be the herald for a new age. Aren't you proud to be even a small part of that?"
"Silus isn't one of you."
"So you have told us."
A sudden tremor shook the room and sent Belck stumbling away from her. Katya would have laughed at the look of confusion on his face if she weren't so preoccupied with keeping her own feet.
Across the room a door dilated open and a Chadassa male raced in.
"Ancient one, we are under attack. We have sealed the right flank chambers but we are already taking more hits."
"Podrol, what exactly is attacking us?" Belck said, as he steadied himself with his staff.
"I've never seen anything like it before, but Utral says that it is a Calma vessel."
Belck looked not only confused now, but Katya thought that she saw something like fear creeping into his face, though on features so alien it was hard to tell.
"Where is Silus?" Belck snapped.
"I'm afraid that he has escaped his bonds. However, he will still be somewhere on the ship. I have dispatched my best soldiers after him. For now, I suggest we get you to safety."
"No Podrol."
"I'm sorry ancient one, I don't follow."
"Get the woman and her child away from the ship first. I will stay and fight. If it really is the Calma they will not stand up long against the might of our warriors."
"Very well." Podrol approached Katya and she flinched away from his touch. "It is for your own safety."
There was nothing she could do to resist and she knew it. If Katya attempted to fight they would like as not take Zac away again and have her killed. The fact that she was being allowed to nurse her son was perhaps the only thing keeping her alive. She had to hope that Silus would win through and come and rescue her but, in the meantime, she could only numbly follow the creature that led her from the room and down a narrow corridor. Through the thin walls Katya could see what looked like a network of veins. Through each one flowed a dark fluid and, not for the first time, she wondered just where she was.
At the end of the corridor another door peeled open and she was led into a small spherical chamber. Podrol gestured to where a stump of knotted and bloody material grew from the floor.
"Sit." Podrol said, before leaving the room, the door dilating shut behind him.
Katya sat and rocked Zac back and forth, singing him a song that her mother had taught her, the lyrics telling of the glittering seas of Long Night and the creatures of light who danced there. She hoped that they would not have to wait long before Silus found them. The room was stiflingly warm and the light that illuminated it was sickly.
Suddenly there was a falling sensation in the pit of her stomach and she cried out, holding Zac tight. He woke with a squeal and began to struggle in her arms. Pale filaments grew from the walls, quickly wrapping the two of them in a tight, sticky web. Katya fought against them for a second, but as the room began to spin she found that she was glad of the restraints.
The walls of the room glowed before becoming translucent and now Katya could see where she had been imprisoned.
As she tumbled through the sea, away from the Chadassa craft, she wondered at just how they had managed to make their fortress inside an enormous fish.
Chapter Nineteen.
With a sound like a great sheet being torn in half, the Chadassa ship was breached and Silus saw the Calma in the flesh for the first time.
As the thing stepped through the rent in the chamber wall, Silus could see beyond it, into the interior of its craft. Like the ship they had found themselves imprisoned on it seemed to be entirely organic.
The Calma looked at Silus for a moment before raising the flail in its hand. Dunsany threw himself in the way, his bone sword raised to defend against a blow that never came.
Instead of attacking the Calma made its way to the tear through which Silus and the crew had entered the chamber. There it touched its flail to the wall and the flesh peeled back as sparks of energy crackled across it.
"What is that thing Silus?" Dunsany said, staring at the Calma.
"They're called the Calma. Don't worry, they are no friend of the Chadassa."
The collapsed walls of the corridor beyond opened up under the flow of energy from the flail and Silus looked down the passage to see two Chadassa racing towards them.
The Calma let out an almighty yell that filled the heads of the crew with a sharp pain. The Chadassa, though, seemed to feel it even more acutely because they dropped to their knees, bent almost double in their agony.
As the sonic assault died away, the Calma turned to Silus. "You will board our vessel and wait for us to return."
"Who are you?"
"My name is Seras."
But beyond that the creature was clearly going to tell him nothing. Instead it inclined its head and gestured towards the breach in the chamber wall as more of its kind poured from their ship.
"No, I'm coming with you." Silus told the Calma. "The Chadassa have my wife and son. We're not leaving without them."
From the corridor came the sound of fighting as the Calma and Chadassa clashed, strange inhuman cries and ululating screams echoing toward them.
"We're coming too." Dunsany said.
"I appreciate it, I really do." Silus said. "But you've done enough for me as it is. Risked enough. This is my fight."
"This is our our fight," Jacquinto said. "Remember that the Chadassa are responsible for the death of Ioannis. If there's a chance that we can take them down, we should take it." fight," Jacquinto said. "Remember that the Chadassa are responsible for the death of Ioannis. If there's a chance that we can take them down, we should take it."
"For Ioannis," Ignacio agreed.
"And the people of Morat." Father Maylan spoke up. "Those abominations destroyed that beautiful city."
"And for you Silus." Emuel said. "For you, Katya and Zac."
"Okay," Silus said after a moment. "Okay. But if things get too dangerous there will be no dishonour in you retreating to the Calma ship. Stay well back and let the Calma do most of the fighting. If you see any sign of Katya and Zac, let me know at once."
With that Silus ran after the Calma warriors. Behind him he heard the footfalls of his companions and he felt momentarily buoyed up by their bravery.
This, however, was short-lived as he started to come across the first casualties of the battle.
The burns on the torso of the first Chadassa corpse he saw were so deep that they revealed the ruptured organs within. Ahead of him the walls of the corridor had been similarly scorched, and the floor was wet with the brackish fluid that poured from the wounds. The smell of cooking flesh was sour and Silus fought against a sudden, intense nausea. He realised then that in learning the art of war the Calma had also inherited something of the Chadassa's ferocity. As Silus pulled himself through a ruptured doorway, he saw another Calma take down a Chadassa. The Calma's flail wrapped around the creature's torso and tightened, the dark scales beneath the fronds splitting as they began to burn. The Chadassa tried to rake its claws across the Calma's face, but it died in agony before it could effectively retaliate.
Silus looked back and, seeing the expressions of appalled horror on much of the crew's faces, he started to search the room for an exit.
Three low tunnels led from the chamber in which they now stood, two of which were currently blocked by the entangled forms of Chadassa and Calma. The third remained clear and Silus gestured to his companions as he crouched to enter the passage. As he looked back to check that they were following, he saw Seras enter the tunnel behind them, followed by several more Calma.
He cursed under his breath but made no attempt to confront the creatures.
The tunnel widened as it sloped gently upwards and Kelos made his way to Silus' side.
"So, what's the plan?" He said.
"We find Katya and Zac and get out."
"And how do we get out?"
"I think we're going to have to rely on the Calma for that."
Kelos looked back to see Seras and his companions struggling to get ahead of the group. "They certainly seem keen to keep an eye on you."
Two Chadassa raced down the corridor towards them, wielding thin metal staffs. They stumbled to a stop when they saw Silus, seemingly unsure as to whether they should attack. Their indecision gave Kelos time to take a small ball of what looked like matted fur from his robe and throw it to the ground, shouting a many-syllabled word as he did so.
Silus experienced a moment of disorientation - an instance of pure darkness - before he suddenly found himself standing behind the Chadassa, further up the corridor from his companions. He didn't question what had just happened, instead he rammed his bone shard into back of the neck of the Chadassa on his right, before felling the creature on his left.
Kelos smiled as he stepped over the fallen bodies. "Just a minor teleportation spell. Thought that it might come in handy."
"I'd save your power for now," Silus said. "I think that the Chadassa have orders to capture rather than kill me and that's going to give us something of an advantage."
"Nevertheless," Seras said, finally pushing his way to the front of the group, "I would be happier if you would allow us to provide you with some protection."
They followed the Calma up the corridor. From close by they could hear the sound of battle and at one point they were thrown to the floor as the corridor shook.
"It seems that the first of the charges has been prematurely detonated," Seras said, regaining his feet. "I only hope this doesn't mean that Belck is attempting to escape."
Silus was more worried about the prospect of Katya and Zac being injured, but he said nothing as they left the corridor and entered a long low passage that reminded him of the cloisters of a monastery. Through arches of bone and sinew he could see more Calma and Chadassa engaged in battle. None of the combatants appeared to notice the humans led by the group of Calma in their midst, and they proceeded unchallenged to a huge set of labial double doors.
Seras used his flail on the barrier and the curtains of flesh withdrew slowly, strings of mucus dripping from the parting folds. Through them Silus could see into a vast chamber, one wall of which was entirely translucent, showing the underwater vista beyond.
"If you think I'm going through that slime, you've got another think coming." Jacquinto said.
At that moment another explosion shook the ship and a wall of black smoke billowed swiftly towards them, forcing the group into the room.
Silus immediately scanned the room for Katya and Zac, but the only occupants were two Chadassa. One stood not far from the door and did nothing to stop them, even appearing to view their approach with disinterest. He only looked mildly pained when Dunsany ran him through. The other Chadassa standing by the window only moved as his brethren fell.
As he turned, Silus recognised the gnarled and aged form of Belck.
"I'm afraid that you have missed her, Silus," he said. "When the Calma attack began I sent her away. You will not see her again."
With a yell Silus charged Belck. The creature gestured with a hand and the bone shard flew out of his grasp. However, this did nothing to slow his progress. If it came to it, he was willing to pummel this abomination to death with his bare hands. Behind him he was vaguely aware of his comrades following in the wake of his charge. But then there was a sensation like he had stepped through a sheet of ice-cold water, and the only sound he could now hear was the clicking of Belck's talons on the floor as he walked towards him. As Silus continued to rush forwards his legs grew heavy and he slowed.
Looking down, he realised that he wasn't moving at all.
"All this, and for what? A woman and child." Belck said. "I have seen how the human race have proliferated across Twilight, their numbers swelling each year, your cities growing more crowded. It always amazes me that you get so attached to each other when there are so many of you around and more are easily created. What's two lives amongst so many, Silus? They are nothing to you. You, however, are unique. Does that not give you a certain pride? Does that not make the lives of your family seem insignificant?"
Silus tried to speak, but he couldn't even move his jaw. His thoughts began to trickle away until he wasn't aware of any anger or hatred, any emotion at all. There were just Belck's words.
"Turn."
Silus did so. In front of him a glistening membrane divided the room, separating him from his companions. They tried to cut at it with their knives but failed to penetrate it. Even when Seras applied his flail nothing happened. In desperation they looked back at the entrance to the chamber, but a bone carapace had grown over the door, sealing them in.