CARNACKI: The New Adventures Read Online Free Page A

save him.
    “I stopped chanting.
    “The sea roared and screamed around me.
    “I said its name, softly.
    “‘Oannes.’
    “Whatever designs the black ooze may have had on Gault were forgotten. It surged again, this time coming straight for the defensive circle, moving at speed. Blac kness crashed against the outer lines. Valves flared, azure light blazing and throwing capering shadow around the hull. The noise of the gale rose, and rose again.
    “The deck bucked underfoot, sending me to my knees. The lantern that Gault had left at my feet started to slide away from me. I made a grasp for it—too late. It slid over the inner protective line, leaving a clear gap in the defences.
    “The tugging in my head grew severe, and I felt the call of the dance, an almost overpowering desire just to relax, and float, and dream .
    “The black ooze gathered and thickened. The gale rose to an almost unbearable scream as the whole boat tos sed and bucked. The ooze surged directly towards the weak spot in the circle.
    “I was out of options. I had only one recourse open to me, one that I was loath to take, for I knew the chances of success were only slim to none. Neverth eless, just as the ooze raised itself up and looked to fall on me from above, I shouted, unsure if I could even bring it to memory.
    “The last l ine of the Saaamaaa Ritual echoed through the hold.
    “There was a huge crash, and I was thrown down to strike my head, hard, on the deck. My eyesight dimmed, but not before I saw the ooze dissipate, melting into the cracks in the deck. The movement of the boat steadied. I heard Gault call my name, but he was so very far away.
    “I fell into a dead faint.
    *
    “I awoke some time later with bright warm sun on my face and the taste of rum on my lips. Gault looked down at me, concern writ large on his face.
    “‘You’re back among the living then?’ he said. ‘I knew that beastie was no match for a spot of rum.’
    “He handed me a tumbler full of the spirit, and I was only too happy to knock it back. As it hit my stomach I started to feel more like my old self. I sat up and looked around.
    “It was immediately apparent that we were no longer in Greenwich. The boat sat, in what looked to be an abnormally high tide, berthed at Westminster pier in the shadow of Parliament.
    “Gault saw my puzzlement and grinned.
    “‘I thought we were lost for a time there. ’Tis a shame you were out of things, for you missed a tidal bore the likes of which this old river has never seen. Fifteen feet high and more it must have been, and it carried us up from Greenwich to here as if the winds of hell were pushing us on. There’s heavy flooding up and down the whole length of the river; a terrible mess.’
    “‘And we caused it?’
    “He laughed again.
    “‘I wouldn’t go around making accusations against honest seafaring folks caught up in a natural calamity if I were you,’ he said. ‘Besides, whatever you did, it was quite a success.’
    “He pointed down to the quayside. Four men were manhandling the stone box down the gangway.
    “‘It seems to have lost whatever powers it had. And I will keep my word. You shall have your share, Mr. Ca rnacki. You more than deserve it.’
    “I left the good c aptain standing up on his deck. The last I saw of him was as he waved down at me. Then I turned my back and made my slow way home, to bed, and a most welcome sleep.”
    *
    Carnacki sat back in his chair, his tale done.
    “So Gault was right?” Ark right said as we stood to take our leave. “Your risk at the end paid off?”
    Carnacki was quiet for so long that I thought he would not answer.
    “Perhaps,” he replied. “But I cannot get that last sight out of my mind—the sight of the black ooze seeping down through the cracks in the decking. And I wonder . . . did I banish it? Or did it merely take up a new home?”
    He led us out into the hallway to collect our coats.
    “I will tell you something,” he said as he opened