But there was nowhere to go.

Silus to reach out to Kerberos, but there was no response from his god.

The darkness closed on the Llothriall, the song died and then they were falling.

With a terrific bang, Brother Sequilious was flung onto his back as a wall of ice-cold water crashed over him. There was the burn of salt at the back of his throat and he floundered on the cavern floor for a moment, before he realised that he was not drowning.

As he got to his feet an octopus dropped to the ground, its tentacles uncoiling from his thigh. All around him, fish littered the floor, mouths gaping as they drowned in the air. There was a strange smell about him; a smell that made the sorcerer’s balls shrivel in fear — the smell of magic gone wrong. He turned to the lake to see just how wrong.

He had retrieved the Llothriall, albeit only half of it. The broken ship sat a while on the lake, before beginning to keel over. He got a brief glimpse into the interior as water flooded in. Cabins had been sheared in half, spilling shattered furniture and broken cargo. The sorcerer thought that he saw a body hit the water as the ship sank. Soon, only a curve of the hull was visible. In despair, Brother Sequilious began to wade into the lake, desperate to salvage anything from his disastrous summoning attempt. But as the cold water rose above his thighs, he knew that it was useless. He had lost Katherine Makennon her greatest prize.

CHAPTER THREE

“Daddy?”

Silus was dimly aware that someone was prodding him in the cheek. One side of his face was on fire, the other side covered in grit.

“Daddy?”

There was that prod again, and now small fingers were trying to peel back his eyelids.

He tasted sand and tried to spit it out as he sat up, but his mouth was bone dry. His eyes watering, he could only make out a jumble of shapes before him. One of them resolved itself into the face of his son, Zac. The child was standing unsteadily, one hand leaning against Silus for support. There were tears in his eyes, and Silus immediately gathered him into his arms.