Shadow of the Serpent

by Shannah Jay

  Behind them they heard cries of alarm as a waterspout rose and whirled among the boats of their pursuers, sending them heeling over in every direction. The wind that accompanied it had blown up out of nowhere and continued gusting for long after the waterspout had sunk back into the sea. One of the boats ploughed into another and the masts bearing the serpent pennants snapped with a loud noise. The collision sent men tumbling into the water, screaming in fear as they fell into the heaving grey waves. No golden light glowed near these boats. There was only darkness, hovering like a ravening beast waiting to pounce.

  In the pursuing fleet other boats were so near to colliding that the men in them could attend to nothing but their own narrow escape from disaster. Someone was shouting orders, shouting in a voice grown hoarse with fury. No one did his bidding. None of the fisherfolk who had gone over to the Serpent wanted to tempt a providence that had just given them a warning and was now favouring those who were fleeing. It was a sign from Feera, they told one another, in hushed, frightened voices, a sign that he still ruled the seas.

  By the time the turbulence died down around Those of the Serpent, the eight fleeing boats had entered Feera's Gut. None of the pursuers tried to follow them into the rocky passage where white water boiled and churned. Bad enough for the sea god to show his displeasure with them on the open sea, fatal if the same thing happened in the narrow strait with its myriad reefs and hidden perils.

  On board Nedar's boat, Herra still stood with arms upraised, a silent and awe-inspiring figure. She was filled with exaltation that their Brother had answered her call and had sent something to carry them through the shoals that laced the entrance to the Gut. When he used her as a conduit like this, ecstasy sang in her veins.

  Behind her, Nedar stood watching, pleasure at their last-minute escape warring with anxiety as to what lay before them. His face turned white as his boat veered in a direction he had always been told led only into danger, but when he tried to speak, to protest, to beg Herra to stop, his voice dried up in his throat and all that came out was a faint choke. The other boats followed suit and their crews were similarly struck by a freezing panic.

  The boats plunged on, still carried on the shining mat of iridescent foam. Husbands clutched wives, brothers clutched sisters, babies clung to mothers. Fear rode with them over every wave, but the fear was silent, for no one could speak, no one could break the spell that surrounded them. All they could do was stand and watch, and pray that their Brother the God would bring them safely through this new danger.

  By Herra's side, Davred smiled. Here was another proof of the existence of - something. Call it their Brother, call it goodness, call it what you liked. There was something beyond them, something to give people hope in these times of trouble. Those who ruled the Galactic Confederation had lost their way, lost their souls when they lost their beliefs. It was for him, as Cathartic Agent, to show them the way back to their own hearts, the way back to the same Path of Wisdom which the Sisters sought to follow. Whatever you did in life, you needed to do it wisely and to work for the good of the world you lived in. Evil begat evil and led only to unhappiness. He was utterly certain of that.

  Suddenly the boats began to slow down. As the water stopped boiling around them, they slewed round and floated gently into a great cavern. It must, Herra thought, have been hollowed out of the towering cliffs that bordered Feera's Gut by the action of the water. Or perhaps - her breath caught in her throat - perhaps it had been hollowed out by something else, something that lived in the deep still water inside the cave.

  At last, Herra's hands dropped by her sides and her shoulders slumped. 'Brother, I thank you,' she whispered, exhaustion draining the colour from her face and making her clutch at Davred for support.

  'Thank me, too, then!' roared a loud voice from the shadows. 'Thank Feera. For I'm the one who brought you here.'

  CHAPTER 7 THOSE WHO WATCH

  In the skies above Sunrise, Robler was checking on the position of Davred, trying yet again to get an accurate fix on him. He’d still not given up hope of getting their Cathartic Agent back. He would not give up hope!

  'Where the hell has that fool got to now?' he demanded of Met, who was with him in the com-room.

  Met stiffened at Robler's tone, but as he had some sympathy with the troubles the Exec had had with Davred Hollunby, he decided to ignore the rudeness. Any Exec Officer who had lost a member of an exploration team would naturally be upset about it. And Robler had lost three.

  Met studied the instruments. 'Davred seems to be in Fen-Halani. He's just made another of those instantaneous jumps. The tracer reading faded into static, then suddenly there he was, somewhere on the coast.'

  'We'll keep that information to ourselves,' said Robler.

  'What?'

  'No need to keep telling those fools who sympathise with Mak and Soo about the cross-country jumps.

  They'll start going on again about how we should leave the poor noble savages alone, support Davred in his madness and wait until Confex gets back in touch.'

  'Do you think Confex ever will get back in touch, Exec?'

  Robler shrugged. 'Who knows? We have no way of knowing how far the troubles have spread in this sector. Best to plan for independence and self-sufficiency, then it'll come as a pleasant surprise if we ever get the chance to return to civilisation.'

  'And Davred?'

  'I'll get him back. Him and Soo, both.'

  Met raised his eyebrows. 'What about Mak?'

  'What about him?'

  'Don't you want to get him back as well?'

  'No. He's a weak fool. He's made his bed, now let him lie on it. Besides, he's lost in the wildwoods, isn't he?'

  Met grinned. 'If you say so. I always did think Mak was a fool.'

  'I agree.' Robler gave him a tight smile. 'You two never did get on well, did you?'

  'And you always did fancy Soo.'

  Robler’s smile faded, but he didn’t allow himself to get angry with Met, who must be allowed some sense of freedom if he was to remain loyal. As he looked at the tracer reading which showed Soo's approximate position, anger washed through him. What was she doing now? Had she kept out of the hands of Those of the Serpent? Or had they taken her into one of their shrines and used her? Robler ran his tongue over his lips at the mere thought of using Soo like that.

  For a moment, the lights in the com-room seemed to flicker, then they settled into their normal simul-daylight glow.

  'What was that?' Met asked sharply. The satellite's life-support systems were designed not to fail, or even to falter.

  Robler shrugged. 'A minor malfunction. Perhaps you'd better go and check it out. We have to keep the satellite in perfect running order. It may turn out to be our permanent lifelong home.' He was glad to get rid of Met. He wanted to try something that he'd been thinking about for a while, just as an experiment, of course.

  He glanced round the com-room and came to a sudden decision. Now was the time. He set a security screen across the doorway, which only he, as Exec, had the authority to do, then he focused the com-search unit on the main shrine in Setherak. When he saw that the person he wanted was there alone in the Inner Shrine, he said, 'Aaah!' very softly, in tones of great satisfaction. It was definitely the right time. If he believed in gods, like the primitives did, he might even have said that the Serpent had willed it so. But he didn't believe in such rubbish. As they taught you in Confex, a god was a tool like any other when dealing with primitives. It was the way Davred had approached the Sisterhood. But no one had yet approached Those of the Serpent directly, thanks to Davred's stupid bias about those foolish women.

  What he saw kept him watching for some time. He actually enjoyed watching it - all in the cause of science, of course. When the session was over, he forced himself to breathe more calmly and then caused a glowing light to appear in the air above the small black altar.

  Sen-Sether looked up, startled. He was standing naked in front of the altar, legs apart, arms raised to shou
lder level, and palms pressed together and held out in front of him in a salute to his god. His back was scarred from many whippings, with fresh blood oozing from a couple of new cuts. The woman he’d just used, a high-bred lady who’d believed she was above the need to offer public sacrifice, had been dragged away, whimpering and only semi-conscious, blood dripping from her back and terror still etched on her face. He’d enjoyed using her, tasting her pain as others tasted food and drink, knowing that his God would appreciate the delicacy, too.

  He’d told the other Initiates to leave with her. He wanted to commune with his god. Alone. Only here in the Inner Shrine could he feel that special closeness to the Serpent, that heady sense of power that came from doing his Dread Lord's will. And it came most often after he’d made sacrifice.

  The floating light was something new. He stared at it. 'Dread my Lord?' he queried, frowning.

  'Dread my Lord, indeed.' Robler chuckled and touched a control that made his voice echo slightly. 'You’ve done well, Sen-Sether.'

  Sen-Sether froze, as if not used to receiving a direct response. It was a minute or two before he spoke. 'To your eternal glory, dread my Lord.'

  'It's time for us to start speaking to one another properly. Time for you to take over this claim. Don't you agree?'

  Sen-Sether bowed his head as if in acknowledgement, but puzzlement flickered briefly in his eyes.

  Robler didn’t notice. This savage was taking his god's sudden materialisation well, showing no fear. He’d make an excellent tool. 'I bring news for you, fellow. The Elder Sister has returned to the Twelve Claims from beyond the wildwoods.'

  Sen-Sether's breath hissed into his throat. 'That hag! Where is she?'

  'Somewhere in Fen-Halani. On the coast.'

  'Do you not know where exactly?' Sen-Sether caught his breath. Had he gone too far in asking this question? Would this - presence - chastise him?

  Robler frowned and stared at the image of the dark inner shrine, with its eddying black draperies, its massive sticks of smoking incense and its red wax candles flickering in the corners. Really, that man should put some clothes on. Only savages pranced around in the nude like that. He decided to answer the impertinent question, however. 'I see your tiny world from a great distance, Sen-Sether. The Elder Sister is somewhere on the coast near those islands in the Fenlanik estuary. It's for you to discover the details and apprehend the woman - and her companions.'

  'I shall send messengers at once to my new brother-claimant in Fen-Halani - unless you've told Bel-Halath already, dread my Lord?' But he was puzzled. Why did not the Serpent give the estuary its proper name - Bel's Reach, named after the first settlers in the claim, one Bel Jensar and his wife.

  'No. I've not told him. I don't speak to everyone. You are worthy. You alone so far, Sen-Sether.'

  A fleeting smile illuminated Sen-Sether's dark, once-handsome face, the sort of smile that made even initiates tread warily. Evil was too deeply ingrained in his features for Sen-Sether ever to be called handsome again. Striking, fearsome, dangerous were adjectives more often used to describe him nowadays and few dared whisper his name or gossip about him, even in his absence, for fear of being overheard and reprimanded.

  Danver was very weak now, rarely able to leave his rooms, and all the power in Setheron lay with Sen-Sether, who would inherit the throne when his brother died. He had waited a long time for this, held back from killing Danver by the knowledge that those damned Sisters had spirited his nephew away and could produce him again whenever they chose.

  The voice from above was still speaking. 'When you capture them, I want one of Herra's companions.'

  'We shall sacrifice the companion to you immediately on the High Altar, dread my Lord.'

  'No! The one I want is the so-called Manifestation of the God and I want him alive. Unharmed. His real name is Davred, by the way. He is of my own people, a rebel. I want to bring him back. I shall deal with in my own way for his disobedience.'

  Sen-Sether inclined his head.

  'I shall send down a vessel to fetch him once you capture him. You mustn’t kill any of that hag's immediate companions without my permission, though you may do as you wish with her.'

  'Your service is my service, dread my Lord.' But again, Sen-Sether bent his face to hide his puzzlement.

  This wasn’t how he usually communicated with the Serpent. This didn’t even feel like his God. Though this person seemed to have the God's mark upon him. Ah! That was it! His God was using this person for his own ends, allowing him to feign godhood. Like the Sisterhood's strange Manifestations of their soft-bellied God. The Serpent was devious. He’d waited a long time to build his power. And now that he had, he was able to produce an Avatar, a manifestation of himself.

  'It's time, Sen-Sether,' the deep voice repeated and the light glowed suddenly to a brightness that hurt the eyes. 'You know it's time to take full control.'

  'Yes, dread my Lord. I know that. I was contemplating it even as you spoke to me.'

  'Then do it - and violently. So shall my powers - and yours - be augmented.'

  'Yours to command, dread my Lord.'

  When he had broken off contact, Robler sat on in the com-room, his body throbbing with the lust that the exercise of power over others always raised in him nowadays. When he eventually returned to his quarters, he said nothing to anyone of what he’d been doing in the com-room. And no one dared ask. He used a substitute for sex, not trusting himself to spend time with any woman from the crew in this state of strange exaltation. They wouldn’t understand that it needed a strong man had to take charge in an emergency and that such a man had to use any tool that lay to hand. But one day he’d teach them that lesson. One day.

  In the Inner Shrine, Sen-Sether waited for a while longer, still standing in front of the altar. The mysterious light didn’t reappear, but as the silence pooled around him, the darkness grew thicker and the voice he knew as his God spoke inside his head - which was how real gods spoke to their followers.

  * * *

  Another presence sat and observed the planet, a presence that found this plane of existence painful, but a presence that was willing to accept any pain or make any effort necessary to help those struggling to find the Path of Wisdom, the main pathway to eternal life. Terraccalliss was one step ahead of the people of Sunrise, one step only beyond them on the ladder of life, but how large that step seemed sometimes.

  Especially when he returned to this level.

  'What progress, Terraccalliss?'

  'Evil grows apace on the planet. We must keep careful watch, Ebrlk, in case the serpent gains true life.'

  'Herra's power is growing too, Terraccalliss.'

  'Yes. But will it be enough? There are times when I doubt that we shall succeed in preventing the full realisation of this evil.'

  'Who can tell whether we shall succeed, my friend? We’ve done our best to help the Kindred. Who can do more? The being who calls himself Feera is enjoying the need for action.'

  'How long has he been down there in the cavern?'

  'Who knows? Even we don't know everything about this planet, Terraccalliss.'

  'It's an anomaly in the universe.'

  'There must be some reason for its existence. Some plan behind its creation.'

  'If so, it's beyond our understanding, Ebrlk. Perhaps it was created by those further up the ladder of life than we are. They have knowledge which is not yet ours, not at this level. We can only use the skills we've acquired. We too are bound by the universal quest for wisdom and understanding.'

  'Davred seems to be playing his part well as our Manifestation. We chose well there, I think. His skills are growing every day. And will grow faster in his efforts to find his wife again.'

  'As will hers.'

  'But who knows what the deleff will do? Or Quequere? That intervention was unexpected.'

  'Another anomaly.'

  'But at least it was in our favour, Terraccalliss.'

  'Yes. Now all we can do is trust in our pla
n. And trust in the power of goodness. It has always triumphed before.'

  'We aren't even sure of that. There are dark areas at all levels of existence, areas that even we cannot penetrate. Who knows what they contain? Perhaps evil has also crept up the ladder of life? Perhaps it will always snap at our heels, to spur us on in our quest.'

  CHAPTER 8 DENNIL'S REBELLION

  Just after dusk, there was a hammering on the door of Dennil's residence. A voice called, 'Let me in! It's Shammaz. Why is this door locked?'

  Katia and Lellia, sitting in a small room just off the hallway, where they could hear if Yeldo or Jenna needed them, stared at one another in horror.

  'He's come,' Lellia whispered.

  'What shall you do? Can I help?'

  Lellia stood up and groaned in her throat. 'I must answer. I'll try to - to fob him off. You'd better stay out of sight.' She had suddenly shrunk into grey-faced timidity. She swallowed hard and turned towards the door.

  Katia could feel Lellia's fear, see the trembling of her hands. She went to lay a hand on the older woman's arm. 'Our Brother be with you.' Trying to offer support and encouragement, she repeated with a light Compulsion, 'You can deal with Shammaz. You must. Our Brother will give you the strength.'

  Lellia shuddered and stumbled forward. Even the Compulsion hadn’t completely overcome her fear, and Katia could make the Compulsion no stronger. She didn’t have enough of a Gift for that. 'I don't know why he frightens me so much,' Lellia whispered. 'I used not to be frightened of anyone or anything, but Those of the Serpent have become so vicious, so evil. Depraved, Dennil calls them. And Shammaz is the worst of all.

  I've watched the darkness grow in him, watched it and feared for my Dennil.'

  'Those of the Serpent are only men.'

  Lellia shook her head. 'You haven't met Shammaz. He's different now. That inner shrine changes them, does something to them, makes them evil and - and inhuman.' The hammering on the door started again and she hurried to open it, shaking her head as she went and muttering, 'The gatekeeper will be terrified, poor man.'