'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 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
