Josiah found the boy meditating in the Folly, legs folded, at peace. Sitting on a sawn stump of a giant redwood.

'I know you are there,' the boy told him.

'And how did you deduce that, master Xindii? My breathing was slight, my footsteps furtive.'

Xindii smiled. 'It's your belly. You've yet to have lunch.'

Josiah laughed. 'Then come, let us raid Basquiat's larder.'

The pair dined on casslehink sandwiches with splurges of gumbledak honey and a pint of milk each. After they had finished, Josiah took it upon himself to tell Xindii the truth.

'I can't ask that of you, Josiah. You have helped me enough.'

'Think nothing of it my friend. I will stand as Advocate. You have my word. You have been denied a lot in life Xindii. There is a serious chance that you may go to the forces. You are of the right age now and the courts would like to see your blood shed for justice.'

The boy nodded. 'I have done terrible things. I can't keep running anymore.'

'I'm sorry. I shouldn't have got your hopes up about becoming an apprentice Mapper . . . Dom Janus wasn't very supportive.'

'Don't blame yourself. You've helped me more than enough. More than Hadigan ever did.'

'I will do you proud, master Xindii.'

'And I you, Josiah. Thank you.'

Josiah put his arm around Xindii's shoulders. 'Come, it is time we headed back into Testament. The city awaits.'

'I must say goodbye to Jia. If it wasn't for her I'd probably be dead.'

Josiah nodded. 'You and me both, Xindii. You and me both.'

'Will she ever get back home?'

'I don't know. The waters of the Black Swell are not for the faint hearted and any fool-hardy crew going there ought to know better. She will be safe here for now, Basquiat will keep a keen eye on her.'

'I may never see her again.'

'Then make your farewells, master Xindii.'

Xindii walked down into the Folly. The last time he would do so for quite a while. He was under no delusion about that. He saw Jia, laying in the cosoto blossom, her gossamer summer skirts writhing up above her thighs, the sheened mahogany of her legs catching the warmth of the sun, glistening with a subjugating lure. She turned on her stomach and studied the fenland moth resting on the stem of the blood orchid. Its wing span the size of two hands locked together with apposable thumbs. Jia mimicked its faint flutter and watched it drink.

She suddenly realised she was being watched and turned over, Xindii caught sight of the dark alluring curves of her fundament and realised he should of averted his gaze. He did, albeit too late. Jia shimmied down the fabrics of her skirt and stared at him with a mindful gaze.

He approached cautiously, unsure if he was welcome. The Kraken Brood pulled herself up to meet him and saw the weight hanging from his shoulders. She took his hand.

'You worry, why so?'

He felt her voice in his mind again. It had seemed an age since Testament, when he had liberated her from Oda La Brin's basement.

'I have to go back to Testament . . . to stand trial.'

'You don't have to. We could run again. Tell me you didn't enjoy the running?'

'I can't, Jia. I can't run anymore. I must answer for my crimes.'

She looked into his eyes, peering in to see if he could be swayed. 'There is a ship. It comes by every month on the same day. Provisions, I think for Kalas?' She asked.

Xindii nodded.

'Today is that day. Come, run with me, Heironymous Xindii?'

Xindii stood fast. 'No, Jia. No more running.'

She nodded, disappointed. But appreciative of Xindii's decision to stand for himself.

'There is a tradition among my Brood, that when the man walks into the waters to take of the Kraken he must first take of the woman.'

Xindii sighed deeply. 'No, Jia. No more dreams. I can't -'

'NO,' she demanded, taking his hand into hers. 'Take. Of the woman.'

Jia took her index finger and circled his palm with it, probing the sensuality of his skin until she finally took the tip of his fingers and placed them into her labia. She slid forward into his embrace where she breathed with an exalted calm, her lips nibbling at his neck, kissing, discovering the terrain of his skin, tasting.

Xindii explored her with thumb and forefinger, the rest probing the smooth texture of her perineum. He found a rhythm and stuck with it. Each stroke moistening her even more, her pleasure reciprocated with a bite to the neck or a dance with their tongues.

She pulled his hand from her and guided him down onto the soft powdery texture of the cosoto blossom, pulling his shirt over the top of his head and discarding it like wanton rubbish. Jia parted her legs and guided the Jeppa boy in close. Pulling the belt from his waist, unbuttoning the trousers and under garments revealing his hard young white cock. She placed her own palms on the bare flesh of his arse and clutched, guiding the boy into her gladly.

Xindii felt the tip of his cock pass through a fountain of warm water, at first strange and alien and then welcoming. Jia licked his lips and he felt the taste of the sea on her. He pushed with his hips to explore further, her tightness welcoming, creating a frenzy of pleasure along his shaft which culminated behind his balls, nestled; heightening his excitement further.

He found his place. Grinding and sliding with an effortless grace. Her fulfillment evident as she licked her own lips and held his face in her palms, looking into his eyes, her lids closing over in a moment of climax and joy.

He felt the muscles of her vagina close around his cock, tightening, never wanting him to let go. A tidal fury swept through her, dowsing his balls with warm water, as if she herself had just called the sea to her. The wetness became alluring, inviting, Xindii pushed harder and felt the rapture sewn between them climb over the ramparts of his balls.

'No dream?' he asked, eager.

She held his flurried head in her hands and for the first time since they had met she mouthed the words and heard the sweet tone of her voice. 'No dream.'

With one last push into her silken cove he released his own deluge, meeting her own ocean. The release was overwhelming, he surged into her again, holding on to the moment, never letting go. He rested his head on her bare chest, the cool air of the Folly hardening her black nipples. He felt his heart beating inside his chest and listened to her own but only heard the sound of waves crashing onto the surf.

He took himself from her, his cock still hard and glistening in the warm light of dusk. They embraced each other and kissed and stroked. For a moment they both slept, the sound of the steamer to Kalas echoing along the banks of the Lillius. They both looked at each other and then kissed and pawed some more. She pulled herself up and mounted him again, the smell of the ocean within her welcoming. Jia began to writhe.

No more running.

No more dreams.