'We're fucked.' Ioannis said as Dunsany managed to hold down a chair long enough to sit on it.
'Now, let's not panic quite yet.' He said.
'Well, what do you suggest we do?' Silus hissed. 'Without Emuel we can't empower the stone and without the power of the stone this ship's no better than a ragged merchant barque trading out of Allantia.'
'Actually, that's not quite true.' Kelos said. 'As you know, the Llothriall has remarkable healing abilities. Despite the rough ride we are currently having, the hull is unlikely to be breached.'
'Yeah, but one of us is. How many days of being thrown around in here do you think we can cope with? Have you seen Maylan? He already looks not long for this world and I don't think that the rest of us are going to fair much better.'
As if to illustrate Silus's point one of the lamps suddenly snapped from the ceiling and caught Ignacio's head a glancing blow, before shattering on the boards. Dunsany rushed to stamp out the flames as Ignacio dabbed at the blood now trickling from his scalp.
'Are you alright?' Kelos said.
'I think so. I've suffered heavier blows to the head, believe it or not.'
'I believe.' Dunsany muttered under his breath.
'Look, Kelos,' Katya said. 'Is there really no way to restore Emuel's abilities?'
'When the tattoo on Emuel's chest was burnt away it broke the flow of the songlines that cover his body. With the design broken his song will now have no effect on the gem and I'm afraid that I just don't know enough about elven runes to restore the design. 'However, there may be another type of magic that can help us here.'
'Which is?' Silus said.
'Silus, we were determined to get you on this voyage for a reason. Not only because we needed another man to help crew the ship, but also because of the extraordinary talents that you possess.'
Silus remembered his vision in the bone strewn chamber of the underwater citadel, and the feeling of pure joy as that distant battle had raged around him.
'When I observed you in Nurn,' Kelos continued, 'I remember being taken aback by the way you handled that fishing boat of yours.'
'There's no secret to that. There have been fishermen in my family going back generations.'
'But there is more to it than that Silus. It's as though you have a sixth sense when it comes to the sea. Think for me here, has there ever been an occasion when you have surprised yourself with your abilities?'
Silus thought back to the time when he had got his foot caught up in the anchor rope; how his vision underwater had been crystal clear and how it had taken a long time before he had struggled for breath.
When Silus related this to Kelos he smiled and said: 'There, you see. You have a deep-seated magical affinity with the ocean.'
Jacquinto laughed. 'Fish man! Really Kelos, I've heard you spin some wild tales but this one really takes the bait.'
Kelos was pleased to see that none of the other crew members shared in Jacquinto's joke and, once the smuggler had composed himself, said: 'Are you done? Good.
'Silus, I believe that I can help you channel your power in order to get us out of this mess.'
'But I didn't even know that I had any of these powers before you pointed them out. What is it you expect me to do exactly?'
'You are going to call for aid.'
'How?'
'I want you to speak to one of the denizens of the sea. I believe that, with my help, you will be able to achieve this.'
Silus looked around the table at his companions' faces and hoped that the trust he saw there would not turn out to be misplaced. A great shudder passed through the Llothriall and several of the crew members cried out in panic, as though they were expecting the sea to rush in at any moment.
Silus got to his feet and gestured to Kelos.
'If we're going to do this, I think that now is the time.'
Kelos nodded and together they staggered to the stairs leading above.
As Silus raised his head above the hatchway he was slapped in the face by a stinging blast of salt water.
'I don't think that this is going to work.' He shouted to the mage, but Kelos pushed him out onto the deck, before securing the hatch behind them.
In the gaps when water wasn't being whipped into his eyes, Silus saw vast hills of sea rolling all around the Lothriall. He clung to the mainmast and his feet were tugged out from under him as a surge of water rolled across the deck. As the ship rose to the crest of a vast wave all he could see was sky, before the horizon tilted dramatically and they were hurtling down into a dark, roaring hollow.
Silus turned to look behind him, convinced that Kelos would already have been dashed into the maelstrom, but the mage stood perfectly sure footed on the bucking deck. He face was creased in concentration as he tapped two emeralds together, while speaking words in a language that Silus didn't recognise.
After a moment he put the stones away and looked up at Silus.
'Take your hands away from the mast,' he shouted.
'Are you mad? It's the only thing keeping me on the ship!'
'Trust me.'
Silus looked at the calm expression on Kelos's face and did as he had been told.
Even as the ship was tossed from wave to wave, Silus stood firm. A motionless point in the chaos that surrounded them. He laughed and held out his palms to the mage.
'No hands!'
'No hands. And have you noticed that we no longer need to shout? The field that we're contained in means that we don't have to compete with the wind.'
'Okay, what now?'
'Now we need to put you in the right state of mind. Hold my hand.'
Silus did so. When Silus looked at the mage's eyes there was a soft glow there, like the sky just after a summer sunset. He couldn't hear the angry ocean at all now and could barely feel the boards beneath his feet.
'This power is within you Silus.' Kelos said. 'I want you to move away from the Llothriall. Hover out over the water like an albatross borne on a gentle wind. Just let your mind drift out.'
Silus felt himself moving away and he looked down, expecting to see his reflection moving across the water, but there was just the sea, and he followed its ever changing contours, accompanied by Kelos's voice.
'Move into the sea now, Silus, and, as the water surrounds you, send your mind out and sense the touch of the many creatures that dwell there.'
Silus hadn't expected it to be so noisy beneath the waves. As soon as he let his consciousness into the water he was surrounded by the music of thousands upon thousands of voices.
There was the blast of what sounded like a full church chorus as a shoal of shimmering gemfish exploded around him, their harmony changing with each turn of their glittering mass through the dark waters. Then there were the longer notes of the larger creatures; the passing of a ray sounding like a bow being slowly drawn across the strings of a cello; the flash and dart of a marlin like the hollow musical breaths played on a sailor's conch. And then further down — much further — the great bass notes of the vast creatures that moved along the sea bed.
'There. Call to them Silus.'
For a second Silus seemed to expand until he was the ocean and he called out to the leviathans that moved through the depths. The voices that surrounded him fell silent as he waited for a response, as though those smaller creatures were waiting with Silus. And then there was a great bass rumble as a leviathan responded and began to move towards him.
'Yes, yes. I have it!'
'That's right Silus, now bring him towards the Llothriall.'
Silus couldn't see the creature yet, but he could certainly sense it moving in the darkness, building up momentum as it rose towards the surface. He retreated before it, feeling the pull of his body as he rushed back towards the ship.
