Chapter Five

The heavy sea, it stifles thee

With darkness and great majesty.

What curious torture the God-ordained

For those whose life, was crude and pained.

Given to this ghastly host

A land devoid of all but ghosts

No prayer can reach those lost in the depths

No funeral, no grave, just grief is left.

Those words would ring uncomfortably true with anyone who made their living from the ocean. Dealing with its moods and battling whatever hurdles it threw at them.

But if any thought the depths would bring silence, they were wrong. At least at certain points in time.

Hellish, heavy music, rare meats, copious wine...the Lord of the Ocean Dead had some taste, even if he seldom seemed to appear to enjoy any of it.

It broke the monotony and enabled him to keep track of those lost souls that were not fit for paradise or purgatory. Or those inhuman beings that belonged nowhere.

The huge chamber was a whirl of activity and Demetrius could sense it as he followed Calder to a huge door, so heavy the bulky guards beyond struggled to open it.

Shadowy chains looped around his wrists. For something so flimsy looking, they were solid. And they felt heavier than the iron ones they replicated.

"You will be silent." Calder hissed, knocking once with his staff. "You speak only when spoken to."

Demetrius scowled but said nothing as the hinges of the door screamed, slowly opening to admit them. The music was thunderous. A heavy beat with more dulcet undertones, rising and falling and stirring the souls.

As he entered, everything stilled, enabling him to properly see the room he had been brought to.

It was simple. Columns of marble and a floor of cold, grey stone. The only decoration was etched into the walls, odd figures and strange letters that spelt out legends and tales that had long been forgotten. Perhaps never even told.

A large table was pushed aside, laden with a mouth-watering array of produce and rich wine. The scent alone made his stomach grumble, but hunger was soon chased away by the sight of the gruesome beings staring maliciously at him.

The decayed shells of sailors and twisted forms of humanoid creatures were all about him. Creatures beyond his worst nightmares and from stories told to children to coerce good behaviour. They were all there, real and tangible.

His eyes moved to survey in front of him and he felt his legs buckle as they fell on the dark form at the head of the room.

The austere male sat rigidly on a throne carved from grey metal and bone from the countless dead that fell from above to rest in the sands.

Dark eyes gazed from a frosty exterior, matching the stark contrast of pure white skin and jet black hair that fell past his shoulders. Thin silver chains draped a toned chest, devoid of any hint of hair and as pale as the rest of him.

One could be forgiven for thinking that he had no heart at all, a smile was as rare as rain in the desert.

Beside him stood a woman, garbed just as skimpily in a thin black gown that showed her hourglass shape and accentuated the swell and outline of her breasts. A glimmering silver comb in her mahogany hair was the only jewellery she wore but that sparkle could not divert from sharp features and icy eyes.

"Lord Karanos..." Demetrius whispered, unable to hold his tongue. "Shit...Um...this looks really bad....doesn't it?"

Calder jabbed him sharply with his elbow, silencing him with a hiss and a wince.

"My Lord...Lady Kayana ," he said, bowing with some difficulty. "The intruder has been found, and I bring him for you to judge. He might be of use, he might not. My Lord's wisdom is what I will obey."

Karanos pressed his fingers together and gazed at the pair calmly. The silence was excruciating. He twirled a lock of his hair idly before giving a shrug, finally speaking with a soft voice that was both sultry and fearsome at the same time.

"Life or death. Such is the choice in matters like these. Isn't that what life is all about anyway?"

Ignoring Calder's instruction, even though the sting from his elbow still throbbed in his ribs, Demetrius spoke.

"I can help you if you want. Work for my freedom? I'm good with animals, I'm assuming your dogs have the needs of those on land? Or similar?"

Calder bristled and grabbed his neck, squeezing tightly enough to cut off much of the other's air and rendering him unable to speak.

"I'm sorry...he is quite the fighter. The shadows had a game with him."

As he spoke, the woman leaned forward. Her hands stroked Karanos's neck, tracing down the indent of his throat to ghost his nipple. Her red lips moved as she whispered to him, pressing her body close.

"The matriarch is with child. He could aid the birth. I have lost all too many of my servant sprites to those beasts. If he succeeds then he may well be worth keeping. If not, then we will have no more to worry about."

Karanos looked thoughtful before he nodded slowly. "Very well. I accept the offspring to survive."

Demetrius nodded as Calder released his neck. "Y-yes, my Lord."

"The mother often attacks once they are born. She dislikes the pain and discomfort they have brought and the threat to her power."

It was not a request. It was an order and Demetrius's heart lifted into his throat and all he could do was nod again, a reaction that didn't seem to phase the Godly figure.

"Do not take my leniency as weakness." Karanos continued flatly. "If you fail, I will throw you to the dogs myself. You have my sister to thank for your reprieve."

Sister?

Demetrius managed to suppress his disbelief at the revelation. The manner in which the woman acted was like a wife or courtesan.

Calder glowered at him. A dire warning not to speak as Karanos slowly got to his feet. He made little sound as he approached, looking over the newcomer dispassionately.

Demetrius stiffened as the God stopped by him, studying him as one would an insect in a jar. It seemed like an age before he gave a sniff and gesture for him to follow.

The barking of the hounds was loud the door opened. Louder than an enraged wolf and it echoed easily in the hollows of the caverns. They were fine guards and even when Karanos was busy he could hear the noise they made.

Normally, he allowed his guards or the sprites the deal with the matter, it seemed beneath him to deal with any trouble like that.

However, this time was different. The female was one of his favourite hounds and the idea of someone daring to try and infiltrate their habitat was she was birthing was as offensive as it would be should they be doing it to a woman. Not to mention the chaotic noise was irritating.

And, as Kayana had said, it would give their trespasser a chance to prove his worth.

A guard stood near the dog's lair. The man was a giant, towering above even the God himself and appeared to be made of stone, his skin the shade of mortal clay. His face was the thinnest part of him, pinched and lined as if the flesh had been sucked out of it leaving only dry skin and thin, bluish lips.

The rest was simply muscle, protected by thick leather armour and completed with a lethal blade, clasped in the meaty hand.

"Although him through," Karanos ordered. "Unless he errs greatly, you are to hold your blade still."

The golem grunted and Demetrius prayed that was one of agreement.

Calder pursed his lips as he released the bindings that tied his wrists, digging his elbow into his ribcage once again again to force him forward.

"Go. We shall see how brave you are now."