Descent of Angels:The Horus Heresy Book 6 Part 1/6
Descent of Angels:The Horus Heresy Book 6 Part 1/6
Transcript
00:00:00Descent of Angels by Mitchel Scanlon
00:00:17Read by Gareth Armstrong
00:00:30Prelude
00:00:33It begins on Caliban. It begins back before the Emperor came to our planet,
00:00:40before there was even the first talk of angels. Caliban was different then. We knew nothing of
00:00:46the Imperium and the Great Crusade. Terror was a myth. No, not even that. Terror was a myth of a
00:00:53ghost of a memory, brought to us by our long-dead forefathers. It was an ephemeral and half-forgotten
00:01:00thing, with no bearing on our lives. It was the time of old night. Warp-storms had made it
00:01:08impossible to travel between the stars, and each human world was left to fend for itself.
00:01:14We had passed more than five thousand years in isolation from the rest of humanity—five
00:01:19thousand years. Can you imagine how long that is? Time enough for the people of Caliban to develop
00:01:26our own culture, our own ways, drawing from the patterns of the past, but separate from what had
00:01:32gone before. Free from the influence of terror, our society had developed in a manner more in
00:01:38keeping with the world in which we lived. We had our own beliefs and customs—aye, even our own
00:01:43religions. There's precious little of it left now, of course. It was all swept away by the coming
00:01:50of the Emperor. It is amazing to me that there are children born of Caliban to-day who have never
00:01:57even heard of the Watchers, or ridden a mighty war-horse. They have never known what it is to
00:02:04hunt the great beasts. This is the sorrow of our lives. Over time the old ways are forgotten.
00:02:13Naturally, those who came in the Emperor's wake claimed this was all to the good.
00:02:17We are making a new world, a better world, a world fit for the future.
00:02:23We are making a better world. It is always the way with conquerors. They don't say they have
00:02:29come to destroy your traditions. They don't talk about banishing the wisdoms of your grandfathers,
00:02:35turning the world upside down, or replacing your ancient beliefs with a strange new creed of their
00:02:39devising. No one willingly admits they want to undermine your society's foundations and kill its
00:02:47dreams. Instead they talk about saving you from your ignorance. I suppose they think it sounds
00:02:54kinder that way. But the truth of it remains the same regardless. I am getting ahead of myself,
00:03:02though, for at this moment in Caliban's history all these things were unknown to us. In time the
00:03:08Emperor would descend from the heavens with his angels and everything would change. The great
00:03:13crusade had not yet reached us. We were innocent of the wider galaxy. Caliban was the sum total of
00:03:19our experience, and we were content in our ignorance, unaware of the forces heading towards
00:03:24us and how much they would transform our lives. In those days Caliban was a world of forests,
00:03:32except for a few places given over to settlement or agriculture, the entire planet was covered in
00:03:38primordial shadow-haunted woodland. The forest defined our lives. Unless a man made his home
00:03:45in the mountains or lived near the coast, he could spend his entire life without once seeing
00:03:49an open horizon. Our planet was also the domain of monsters. The forests teemed with predators,
00:03:58not to mention all manner of other hazards. To use a word we didn't know then, a word taken
00:04:04from the lexicon of imperial cartography, Caliban is a death world. There isn't much here that is
00:04:10not capable of killing a man one way or another. Carnivorous animals, poisonous flowers, venomous
00:04:17insects—the creatures of this world only know one law, and that is, kill or be killed.
00:04:24Of all the dangers to human life there was one class of creatures that was always viewed as
00:04:29being set apart from the rest. They were more fearsome and brutal than any other animal we knew.
00:04:35I am talking about the creatures we called the great beasts. Each great beast of Caliban was as
00:04:43different from its fellows as a sword is different from a lance. Each creature represented the only
00:04:49example of its kind, a species of one. Their diversity was extraordinary. An individual
00:04:55beast might appear to be modelled after a reptile, or a mammal, or an insect, or else combine the
00:05:01features of all of them taken together in chaotic collaboration. One might attack with tooth and
00:05:07claw, another with beak and tentacle, another using horns and hooves, while yet another might
00:05:13spit corrosive poison or bleed acid in place of blood. If they had one dominant feature,
00:05:19it was that every one of them appeared to be crafted directly from the stuff of nightmares.
00:05:25Allied to that, they each possessed qualities of size, strength, ferocity, and cunning that
00:05:30made them the match of any ordinary human hunter, no matter how well armed he might be.
00:05:35It would not be overstating the case to say that the great beasts ruled the forests. Many of the
00:05:40customs we developed on Caliban owed their origins to the beasts' presence. For humanity to survive
00:05:47we had to be able to hold the beasts at bay. Accordingly, knightly orders were formed among
00:05:52the nobility to create warriors of exemplary skill and ability, armed to the highest standards,
00:05:58and trained to protect human society against the worst predations of these monsters.
00:06:03They were aided in this by the persistence of certain traditions in the making of weapons and
00:06:08armour. Most of the technology our distant ancestors brought with them to Caliban had
00:06:12been forgotten in our isolation, but the knowledge of how to repair and maintain pistols and explosive
00:06:18bolts, swords with motorized blades, and armour that boosted a warrior's strength and power
00:06:23had been preserved. Granted, they were relatively primitive versions, and they
00:06:28lacked the reliability of the more powerful models later brought to Caliban by the Imperials,
00:06:34but they were effective all the same. We had no motor vehicles, so the knights of Caliban rode to
00:06:40war on the back of destriers—enormous war-horses selectively bred over thousands of years from the
00:06:46equine blood-stock brought to our world by its first settlers. In due course the knightly orders
00:06:52went on to build the great fortress monasteries that still serve as many of the major places of
00:06:57settlement in modern Caliban. Whenever one of the beasts began to prey on a settlement,
00:07:02the leader of the local nobility would declare a hunting quest against the creature. In response,
00:07:08knights and knight-supplicant would come to the area from every land, seeking to prove themselves
00:07:13by killing the beast and completing the quest. This, then, was the pattern of life on Caliban
00:07:19for countless generations. We expected it to continue indefinitely. We thought our lives
00:07:25would follow the same well-trodden path as the lives of our fathers and grandfathers.
00:07:30We were wrong, of course. The universe had other plans for us.
00:07:34The Emperor was coming, but the first currents of change in our society were already at work
00:07:39long before his arrival. Some time before the Emperor came to Caliban, a new knightly order
00:07:45had been founded among our people. It called itself simply the Order, and its members put
00:07:50forward the startling proposition that all men were created equal. Previously it had been
00:07:56traditional for knights to be recruited strictly and solely from among the nobility, but the Order
00:08:01broke with accepted practice to recruit from all layers of society. So long as an individual could
00:08:06prove by his deeds and his character that he was worthy of knighthood, the Order did not care
00:08:11whether he was a noble or a commoner. It may seem a minor matter now, but the issue sparked
00:08:17no small amount of turmoil and controversy at the time. Traditionalist die-hards among the
00:08:22more established orders regarded it as the thin end of a wedge that they thought would inevitably
00:08:27bring the whole edifice of our culture crashing down, and leave us as easy prey for the great
00:08:32beasts. In one case this issue even led to open warfare. A group, calling itself the Knights of
00:08:40the Crimson Chalice, attacked the Order's mountain fortress at Alderuk, and laid siege to it. In what
00:08:46would later be seen as one of the defining moments of Caliban's pre-imperial history,
00:08:50the Knights of the Order sallied forth and counterattacked before the enemy had completed
00:08:54their siege lines. The resulting battle was decisive. The Knights of the Crimson Chalice
00:09:00were routed, and the survivors hunted down to the last man. With this victory the future progress
00:09:06of the Order was guaranteed. Supplicants flocked to them from all walks of life,
00:09:10and within the space of barely a few decades the Order had become one of the most powerful
00:09:15and well-regarded knightly groups on Caliban. This was only the beginning, however. Whatever
00:09:22subtle changes were brought to our society by the rise to prominence of the Order were as nothing
00:09:27compared to what would happen when the Lion came to Caliban. With the benefit of hindsight,
00:09:33we now know that Lion L. Johnson is one of the primarchs, wrought in gene-labs by the Emperor
00:09:39to lead the armies of his angels, but at the time he was far more extraordinary to us.
00:09:46We were not an unsophisticated people, nor were we primitives. Imagine the effect, though,
00:09:51as word spread across our planet that a man had been found living wild like an animal in the deep
00:09:57forests of the great North Wilds, his features handsome and beautiful beneath the matted hair
00:10:02and the mud-cake to his body. No one knew who he was, and he spoke not a word of human language.
00:10:08He had survived for years naked and unarmed in the wilderness of the most dangerous region
00:10:14on Caliban—a place where even fully armoured knights hesitated to venture unless as part of
00:10:19a larger group. Nor was it the end of the wonders associated with this strange figure.
00:10:25In light of the details of his discovery, the wild man came to be called Lion L. Johnson,
00:10:31meaning the Lion, the Son of the Forest, in the old tongue of Caliban. Having been
00:10:37brought to human society, Johnson soon demonstrated a prodigious talent for learning.
00:10:42He quickly assimilated human ways, learning the habit of speech within a matter of days.
00:10:48From there his rate of progress increased exponentially. Within a few short months
00:10:52he was the equal in mind of our finest savants. A month later he had exceeded their greatest
00:10:58achievements and left them trailing in his wake. He never spoke of his days in the forest,
00:11:04nor could he account for how he had come to be living there or where he had come from,
00:11:09but his powers of reason and intelligence seemed unaffected by his time in the wilderness.
00:11:15His intellectual capacity was matched only by his physical power. None could match his
00:11:19strength or prowess in combat, and he swiftly mastered the skills of knighthood to be accepted
00:11:25into the Order. As might be expected given his abilities, Johnson rapidly ascended through the
00:11:30Order's ranks. His achievements were legendary, and coupled with a natural talent to inspire
00:11:36intense devotion in others, his presence soon led to a marked upsurge in recruitment.
00:11:41As the number of knights within the Order increased, and new fortress monasteries were
00:11:44built to accommodate them, Johnson and his supporters started to press for a crusade to
00:11:49be mounted against the great beasts. Their proposal called for a systematic campaign to
00:11:55clear the beasts from the forests, region by region, until Caliban was finally free from their scourge.
00:12:03Objections were raised to the proposal, of course. The Order was the dominant military
00:12:07power on Caliban, but it was still only first among equals in the eyes of the other knightly
00:12:12orders. Given the size of the scheme Johnson had put forward, it would require the actions
00:12:17of every knightly order working in unison to a common plan to have any hope of succeeding.
00:12:23This was no small undertaking, considering that the knights of Caliban had always been inclined
00:12:27to feud and squabble amongst themselves. Combined with this, the plan would also need the support
00:12:33of the wider nobility and the common population. In general, though, we are not the kind to easily
00:12:39follow after leaders on Caliban. Each man has too high a regard for his own opinions.
00:12:45Then there were other problems. The faint-hearted said it would be impossible to truly clear the
00:12:50beasts from the forests. It was too grand a scheme, too much the product of hubris. Some
00:12:57viewed the great beasts with supernatural dread, believing that any plan of extermination would
00:13:02only awaken an apocalypse by uniting the beasts against humanity. Finally, there were concerns
00:13:08even among those who backed Johnson's aims. Some of them counselled caution.
00:13:14Johnson had envisioned a span of six years from the beginning of his war against the beasts
00:13:19to victory, but even his allies thought this was not enough time to achieve the plan's objectives.
00:13:25They feared he had failed to take full account of the human factor. He had forgotten that the
00:13:29plan would be carried out by individuals who did not share his own extraordinary mental and physical
00:13:34abilities. Johnson might be superhuman, but he was the only one of his kind on Caliban.
00:13:40His plan would not be carried out by supermen. The real hard work would be done by mortal men.
00:13:49In the end Johnson carried the day. His supporters argued that the people of Caliban
00:13:54had skulked for too long behind the walls of their settlements. They had lived too much
00:13:58in fear of the beasts. Man was made to have dominion over the wilderness, they said,
00:14:03not vice versa. It was time to restore the world to balance, to end the reign of the beasts,
00:14:09and give mankind dominion over the forests.
00:14:13This is our world, he said. It is not the world of the beasts. It is time we took our stand.
00:14:22So the decision was made, and Johnson would have his campaign. One by one the beasts were hunted
00:14:28down and killed. They were driven from the forests. They were tracked to their lairs and
00:14:32destroyed. In one thing at least, though, some of those who had opposed Johnson were proven right,
00:14:39for it took more than six years to finish the campaign. It took ten years of constant
00:14:44campaigning, ten years of hardship, ten years of friends maimed and lost, but ultimately it was
00:14:50worth it. Our cause was just, and we achieved our ambition. Ten years, and not one of the great
00:14:57beasts remained. It occurs to me that I have been slapdash in one respect in telling this story,
00:15:04for I have made no mention of the one man who could hold forth knowledgeably on all the topics
00:15:10before us. I have talked of Caliban, of Lionel Johnson, and of the campaign against the great
00:15:16beasts, but I have neglected to mention the most important player in our drama.
00:15:22I am talking about Luther. He was the man who found Johnson in the forest and gave him his name,
00:15:29the man who brought him to civilization and taught him the ways of human society.
00:15:33He was the one who, through all Johnson's exploits and honours, stood side by side with him
00:15:38and matched him. Luther had not Johnson's advantages in matters of war and strategy.
00:15:45He was born a man, after all, not created to be more than human. Yet as Johnson's actions
00:15:50began to change the face of Caliban, Luther kept stride with him, equaling the wild man's
00:15:56accomplishments with his own. Too often the Imperium portrays Luther as the devil. Some
00:16:03say he grew jealous of the lion, for though the two of them had shared in many victories,
00:16:07it was always Johnson who was lauded for these triumphs. Others say Luther grew increasingly
00:16:13bitter at being so much in the lion's shadow. They say a secret seed of anger was born in
00:16:18Luther's heart in those days—the seed of future hatreds. But those who repeat such things are
00:16:26liars. Luther always loved Johnson like a brother. I know Luther well, and you may be assured I am
00:16:34well-placed to comment on his secrets. Luther is the key to understanding so much of how our world
00:16:40came to be where it is today. But it is better if we do not speak too much of Luther now.
00:16:45It will only work to the detriment of my story. To begin a tale with too many secrets tends to
00:16:52cause confusion. After all, in my experience it is always better if you build towards these things
00:16:57more slowly. Poor, poor Luther! We will get to him in time, you may be certain of that point.
00:17:05We will get to it all in time. I will account for everything in time.
00:17:11For now, though, the stage of my story is set. It is the tenth year of Johnson's campaign against
00:17:18the great beasts. Nearly all the beasts have been killed, and only a few stragglers remain in the
00:17:23less hospitable and more thinly populated regions of the planet. Once the last of the great beasts
00:17:29are gone, we will all be able to build new lives. We can found new settlements. We can clear the
00:17:34trees for fuel and lumber, and plant new fields. For the first time we will have control over our
00:17:40existence in ways we never had before. A golden age beckons our people. It is before the Emperor
00:17:49came to our planet, and before the time of angels, but the old ways are already dying.
00:17:55The world of our childhood will not be the world of our future. Many are unhappy at the prospect,
00:18:00but it is entirely possible that the world we inhabit tomorrow will be like nothing we could
00:18:05have foreseen. Change can bring out the worst and best in us, or something of both qualities
00:18:12at the same time. Some look at the horizon and fear the future, while others look and see it
00:18:17shining in welcome. It is the tenth year of Johnson's campaign, and the world turns beneath
00:18:23our feet. Unknowing, we stand on the brink of a bright new age of progress. We stand on the brink
00:18:29of learning of the Emperor, of the Imperium. We stand on the brink of becoming angels.
00:18:34But as yet we know nothing of these things. On Caliban it is a time of innocence, but already
00:18:42the storm-clouds gather. It is said that a man should be wary of weeping angels, for wherever
00:18:47their teardrops fall, men drown. This is the shape of our lives. These are the days that made us,
00:18:55that formed our conflicts and decided our future. This is a time of which much will be written,
00:19:01but little understood. The histories created by those who follow after us will be riddled
00:19:07with falsehoods and fabrications. They will not know why we turned from the Lion. They will know
00:19:14nothing of our motives. But you can know them. You can know it all. Come, listen, and you will
00:19:23hear my secrets. Come, listen, and we will talk of Luther and Lionel Johnson. We will talk of
00:19:30schism and civil war. We will give voices to the dead. Come, listen, hear my secrets.
00:19:39Let us talk of the dark angels and the beginnings of their fall.
00:19:46Part 1 Caliban
00:19:50Chapter 1 It began in darkness.
00:19:55Zahariel's eyes snapped open an instant before Lord Cipher's men came for him. He awoke to find
00:20:02a hand descending to clamp across his mouth. They dragged him from his bed, put a hood over his head,
00:20:07and tied his arms behind him. With that he was hauled blindly down a series of corridors,
00:20:12when at last they came to a halt he heard one of his captors knock three times on a door.
00:20:17The door opened, and he was pushed inside.
00:20:21"'Who is brought before us?' asked a voice in the darkness.
00:20:26"'A stranger,' Lord Cipher said beside him.
00:20:29"'He has been brought here bound and blinded. He comes seeking entrance.'
00:20:35"'Bring him closer,' said the first voice.
00:20:40Zahariel felt hands at his arms and shoulders. He was propelled roughly forward and forced to kneel.
00:20:46A shock ran through him as his bare knees met the cold stone floor.
00:20:50Unwilling to let his captors think he was afraid, he tried to suppress a shiver.
00:20:55"'What is your name?' he heard the first voice again,
00:21:00louder this time. Its tone was rich and deep, a voice accustomed to command.
00:21:05"'Who are your people?'
00:21:08"'I am Zahariel Elzurias,' he replied. In keeping with ancient custom,
00:21:14Zahariel recited his full lineage, wondering if it would be the last time he ever spoke those words.
00:21:19"'I am the only living son of Zurias Elcaliel, who in turn was the son of Caliel Elgibrael.
00:21:25My people are descended from the line of Sahiel.'
00:21:29"'A nobleman,' said a third voice. In some ways this voice was more arresting than the others,
00:21:34its tone even more magnetic and compelling than the first.
00:21:38"'He thinks he should be allowed among us because his father was important.
00:21:42I say he isn't good enough. He isn't worthy. We should throw him from the tower and be done with
00:21:48it.' "'We will see,' said the first voice.
00:21:53Zahariel heard the tell-tale rasp of a knife being slid from its sheath. He felt the uncomfortable
00:21:58sensation of cold metal against his skin as a blade was pressed to his throat.
00:22:03"'First we will test him,' said the voice in the darkness.
00:22:08"'You feel the blade at your throat?'
00:22:12"'Yes,' replied Zahariel.
00:22:15"'Know this, then. A lie is a betrayal of our vows. Here we deal only in truth.
00:22:22If you lie, I will know it. If I hear a lie, I will cut your throat. Do you accept these terms?'
00:22:31"'Yes, I accept them.'
00:22:34"'Do you? Understand I am asking for an oath. Even when I take the knife away from your throat,
00:22:40even when I am dead, even when this knife is rusted and dull and useless,
00:22:46the oath you make by its edge will still be binding. Are you prepared to make an oath?'
00:22:55"'I am prepared,' said Zahariel. "'I will make the oath.'
00:23:00"'First tell me by what right you have come here. Who are you to claim entrance to our gathering?
00:23:07By what right do you claim to be worthy to stand among us?'
00:23:12"'I have completed the first portion of my training, and I have been judged worthy by
00:23:16my masters,' said Zahariel. "'That is a start. But it takes more than that to be welcomed among us.
00:23:25That is why you must be tested.'
00:23:30Zahariel had known they would be coming for him. Master Ramiel had told him as much the
00:23:36previous day, though as usual the old man's words were cloaked in shadows,
00:23:40concealing as much as they revealed.
00:23:42"'You understand I cannot tell you much,' Master Ramiel had said.
00:23:46"'It is not the way we do these things. The initiation ritual is ancient. It predates
00:23:50the Order's foundation by thousands of years. Some even say our ancestors may have brought it
00:23:55with them from Terra.' "'I understand,' said Zahariel.
00:24:00"'Do you?' his master asked. He turned to stare at Zahariel with quick hooded eyes. In the past
00:24:07Zahariel might have felt the need to look away under the intensity of his gaze,
00:24:12but now he met the old man's eyes directly. "'Yes, I think you do,' said Master Ramiel,
00:24:18after a short pause. A smile creased his weathered face.
00:24:23"'You are different, Zahariel. I noticed it in your face when you first joined our Order.'
00:24:30They were sitting in one of the many practice-halls inside Alderook, where knights and
00:24:34supplicants spent their days honing the skills they needed to survive on Caliban. The practice-hall
00:24:40was empty, the hour so early that even the supplicants were not yet awake.
00:24:45Ordinarily Zahariel would also have been abed, but a message from Master Ramiel
00:24:51had brought him to the practice-hall an hour before daybreak.
00:24:54"'In the course of the next night you will attend your initiation ceremony into the Order,'
00:24:59said Master Ramiel. "'During the ceremony you will swear your oath of loyalty, and will begin
00:25:05your journey to becoming a Knight of the Order.' "'Do you wish to take me through the procedures
00:25:10for the ceremony?' asked Zahariel. "'So I know what to expect.' Ramiel shook his head, and Zahariel
00:25:17knew the old man had other things on his mind. "'Despite the claims of some of our rivals,
00:25:24the Knights of the Order are not entirely immune to the lure of tradition. We understand the vital
00:25:29role it can play in our lives. Human beings crave ritual. It gives meaning to everyday life,
00:25:35and adds gravity to our deeds. More than that, it can even help us to understand our place in the
00:25:40world. Granted, we disagree with those who hold a religious view of such things. We see no
00:25:46supernatural significance in tradition, whether our own or anyone else's. In our view, the most
00:25:52important function of ritual and tradition is not to achieve any effect in the outer world,
00:25:57but to create stability and balance in the inner world of the mind. If tradition has any outer
00:26:03function at all, it is to create a sense of social cohesion. It might almost be described
00:26:10as the glue holding our society together." The old man paused again.
00:26:15"'You are looking at me strangely, Zahariel. Have I touched a nerve?'
00:26:21"'No,' said Zahariel. "'I'm just tired, master. I hadn't expected a lecture on tradition at this
00:26:27hour in the morning.' "'Fair enough. You're right. I didn't bring you here to discuss the social
00:26:33aspects of tradition. I am more concerned with the symbolism of some of the Order's rituals.
00:26:38I want to make sure you understand their significance before they come for you.'
00:26:42Master Ramiel rose to his feet and walked into the middle of the room. In accordance with the
00:26:47Order's traditions, there was a spiral design inscribed into the floor of the practice-hall,
00:26:52stretching from one end of the room to the other. "'You know why this is here, Zahariel?'
00:26:58"'The spiral?' "'I do, master,' said Zahariel,
00:27:02rising to join Ramiel. "'The spiral is the foundation of all the Order's sword-work,
00:27:08as much a part of its physical doctrines as the verbatim is the cornerstone to our mental
00:27:12disciplines.' "'Indeed so, Zahariel. But it is so much more than that. From your first day you
00:27:20have been made to walk the spiral on the practice-hall floor, launching pre-set routines of
00:27:25attack and defence at different stages of your journey. Do you know why?' Zahariel hesitated,
00:27:32before answering, "'I assumed it was an ancient sword-ritual of terror, is that not so?'
00:27:38"'Possibly,' admitted Ramiel. "'But by rigorously practising the spiral, endlessly repeating its
00:27:44patterns day after day for years, until the movements become second nature, you will master
00:27:49an unbeatable system of self-defence.' Master Ramiel began walking the spiral, his staff moving
00:27:55as though in an elaborate ballet of ritual combat. "'The Knights of the Order regularly
00:28:00defeat representatives from the other knightly Orders in tournies and mock-duels. The spiral
00:28:06is the reason.' At last Ramiel reached the centre of the spiral, and indicated the lines encircling
00:28:12him with a wide sweep of his staff. "'Look at the pattern laid out before us.
00:28:18This room has been here ever since the monastery at Alderook was founded. You see how smooth the
00:28:23edges of the spiral are in places, worn down by the feet of the thousands of warriors who have
00:28:28walked its path since it was put here. But what is the spiral, Zahariel? What do you see here?'
00:28:37"'I see attack and defence,' Zahariel replied.
00:28:40"'It is the path to excellence and to the defeat of my enemies.'
00:28:44"'Attack and defence?' Master Ramiel slowly nodded his head as he spoke the words,
00:28:50as though considering them. "'It is a good answer, as far as it goes.
00:28:55Spoken like a true warrior. But a knight must be more than just a warrior. He must be the guardian
00:29:02and guide of our people. He must protect them from all their enemies, not just the human and bestial
00:29:08ones. It is not enough to protect our people from the beasts or from predatory warlords and bandits.
00:29:14The path to excellence is a far harder and rockier road than that.
00:29:18No, we must try to shield the population of Caliban from every threat that assails them.
00:29:24We must do our best to protect them from hunger and want, from disease and malnutrition,
00:29:29from suffering and hardship. Ultimately, I grant you, it is an impossible task.
00:29:34There will always be suffering, there will always be hardship. But for so long as the order exists,
00:29:39we must strive to defeat these evils. The measure of our success in this case is not so much that
00:29:45we win the battle, but that we are willing to fight it at all. Do you understand?'
00:29:51"'I think so, master,' Zahariel answered.
00:29:54"'But I do not see how it relates to the spiral.'
00:29:57"'The spiral is an ancient symbol,' Master Ramiel said.
00:30:01"'They say it was found carved on some of mankind's oldest tombs.
00:30:05It represents the journey we take in life. You are young, Zahariel, and so your experience of
00:30:11these things is limited. But I will tell you of a mystery of life that is revealed to a man
00:30:16as he gets older. Our lives repeat themselves. Time and time again we face the same conflicts,
00:30:24we take the same actions, we make the same mistakes. It is as though our lives circle
00:30:29the same fixed point, repeating similar patterns endlessly from birth to death.
00:30:35Some call this the eternal return. That which is true for individuals is also true for the
00:30:41mass of humanity as a whole. One need only look at history to see that repeating the same mistakes
00:30:47is hardly the folly of individuals alone. Entire cultures and nations do exactly the same thing.
00:30:54We should know better, but somehow we never do.'
00:30:59"'If this is true, if the spiral represents our lives, where does it lead?' asked Zahariel,
00:31:05looking at the design on the floor beneath them.
00:31:08"'The spiral never comes to an end. Every place where its lines should end,
00:31:12they turn back on themselves, creating a repeating pattern.'
00:31:16"'What does it remind you of?' asked Ramiel.
00:31:20Zahariel cocked his head to one side and said,
00:31:23"'It's like a serpent swallowing its tail.'
00:31:26"'An ancient symbol indeed,' nodded Ramiel.
00:31:30"'One of the oldest.'
00:31:32"'What does it mean?'
00:31:33"'It is a symbol of rebirth and renewal,' said Ramiel.
00:31:37"'A symbol of new beginnings and immortality.'
00:31:42Zahariel nodded, though the sense of much of what Ramiel was saying was lost upon him.
00:31:47"'If you are saying that our lives repeat themselves,
00:31:49isn't that the same as the teachings of the religious die-hards?
00:31:53They say after death our spirits are reborn in new bodies.
00:31:57They talk of their own spiral as well.
00:31:59They say it exists in the underworld, and that by walking it we choose the path of our rebirth.
00:32:05Is that true?'
00:32:07"'I don't know,' said Master Ramiel.
00:32:10Seeing the expression on Zahariel's face, Ramiel smiled again.
00:32:14"'Don't look so shocked, Zahariel.
00:32:17I know it is commonplace among supplicants to view their masters
00:32:21as the font of all wisdom and knowledge, but there are limits even to my insights.
00:32:25I can only comment on the paths we walk in life.
00:32:29As to what happens after death, who can say?
00:32:31By its very nature, death is an insoluble mystery to us.
00:32:35No one has ever returned from its lands, at least not to my knowledge,
00:32:38so how can anyone define its nature?
00:32:41Are we simply a collection of physical processes that begins with birth and ends with death,
00:32:46or is there more to us than that?
00:32:48Show me the man who claims to have the answer to that question, and I will show you a liar.'
00:32:54Without waiting for him to comment, Master Ramiel continued.
00:32:58"'We are digressing, however.
00:33:00I called you here because I wanted to emphasize the symbolism underlying some of our traditions.
00:33:05I told you earlier that I couldn't reveal too much about your forthcoming initiation ceremony.
00:33:09It would not be seemly for me to do so.
00:33:12It is better you experience the ceremony without preconceptions.
00:33:17I simply wanted to ensure you had some inkling that the outer circumstances of the ceremony,
00:33:22the ritual and its accoutrements, have a significance that extends beyond their mere
00:33:27physical aspect.
00:33:28All these things are symbolic.
00:33:31Remember, this is not just an initiation, but a ceremony of rebirth.
00:33:36Symbolically, you will be reborn from one state into another.
00:33:40You will make the transition from supplicant to knight, and from boy to man.
00:33:46Tomorrow the old Zahariel will be dead,' Master Ramiel said finally.
00:33:52I wish my best to the new Zahariel.
00:33:56May he live a long and worthy life.'
00:34:02It was more an interrogation than a test.
00:34:05Zahariel knelt on the stone floor, his head hooded, his hands bound, and a knife still
00:34:10at his throat.
00:34:12He knelt while his unseen captors hurled rapid-fire questions at him one after the other.
00:34:17At first they questioned him at length about the verbatim.
00:34:21They insisted he recite entire passages from memory.
00:34:24They made him explain each passage's meaning.
00:34:26They asked him about his sword work, whether it was better to respond to a two-handed
00:34:30descending strike by evading the blow, or by meeting it with a parry.
00:34:36"'What kind of parry?' the first voice asked after they had heard his answer.
00:34:41"'Your opponent is right-handed, and his blow comes at you on a high diagonal line.
00:34:47Do you deflect to your left or right?
00:34:50Do you follow with a riposte, a counter-slash, or a punch with your free hand, should that
00:34:56hand even be free?
00:34:58Where is your pistol?
00:34:59Answer, quickly!'
00:35:01So it went on.
00:35:02They asked questions about war-horses, about hunting beasts, about pistols, swords, lances,
00:35:08strategy, and wilderness survival.
00:35:12They asked him about the dangers of sweet-root flowers, the most secure places to seek shelter
00:35:17in the forest during an unexpected storm, and how to recognize the difference between
00:35:22the tracks of a Melii bird and a raptor.
00:35:26They asked him to explain the decisions that needed to be made in setting up an ambush,
00:35:30what warning signs a commander should look out for when adopting a defensive perimeter,
00:35:34and what was the best way to attack an enemy, who had the advantages of both higher ground
00:35:40and a fixed position.
00:35:42"'What are the accepted grounds for challenging a knight from another order to a duel?'
00:35:47the second voice, the one he knew was Lord Cypher's, asked him.
00:35:52"'What form should the challenge take?
00:35:54How do you choose your seconds?
00:35:55What about weapons?
00:35:57Where should the duel take place?
00:35:58Is honour the only consideration, or should there be others?
00:36:02Answer, quickly!'
00:36:03There were more men in the room, he was sure of it, but only three of his captors contributed
00:36:08to the interrogation.
00:36:09They handled it smoothly, as though each was well practiced in these situations, swiftly
00:36:14following every one of his answers with yet another question.
00:36:18At times, attempting to confuse him, two of them would ask different questions in tandem,
00:36:23sometimes all three at the same time.
00:36:26Zahariel refused to be flustered or intimidated.
00:36:29He refused to let his confidence be undermined by the off-putting conditions.
00:36:33It did not matter that he could not see, or that his hands were tied.
00:36:36It did not matter that there was a knife against his throat.
00:36:39He would not fail this test.
00:36:41He had come too far.
00:36:43He would not fall at this latest hurdle.
00:36:45"'This is a waste of time,' the third voice said.
00:36:49"'You hear me?
00:36:50We are wasting our time.
00:36:52This whelp will never be a knight.
00:36:55It doesn't matter what his masters say.
00:36:57He doesn't have what it takes.
00:36:59I have a sense for these things.
00:37:00I say let's cut his throat and be done with it.
00:37:03We can always find another candidate for the path to knighthood, one that's more worthy
00:37:07of the honour.'
00:37:09The questions of the third man were always the hardest.
00:37:12Most of the time he did not ask questions at all.
00:37:15Instead, he verbally abused Zahariel as though trying to denigrate him in the eyes of the
00:37:20others.
00:37:21Where the other two did not react when Zahariel answered a question correctly, the third man
00:37:26always responded with bile and sarcasm.
00:37:29More than once he accused Zahariel of being book-learned rather than a man of action.
00:37:35He accused him of lacking staying power and fibre.
00:37:38He said Zahariel did not have the true inner resolve that was necessary to become a knight.
00:37:43Again and again he tried to persuade his confederates that Zahariel was not what they
00:37:48were looking for.
00:37:50"'He will bring shame to our order,' the third voice said, during one particularly
00:37:54heated exchange with the others.
00:37:56"'He will be an embarrassment to us.
00:37:58He is useless.
00:37:59We must be harsh in these things.
00:38:01One weak stone in a wall is enough to bring the whole structure crashing down.
00:38:06It is better to kill him here and now, than take the risk that he may one day destroy
00:38:11us.
00:38:12He should have been drowned at birth like a tainted child.'
00:38:16"'Too far,' said the first voice, the one that held the knife against Zahariel's
00:38:21throat.
00:38:22"'You play your part, brother, but this is too far.
00:38:25The young man before us has done nothing to earn such disdain.
00:38:30You treat him too harshly.
00:38:32He has proved he is worthy to train further among us.
00:38:35He is worthy,' Lord Cipher's voice agreed.
00:38:39"'He has passed the test.
00:38:41He has answered every question.
00:38:43I vote in his favour.'
00:38:46"'As do I,' said the first voice.
00:38:50"'What of you, brother?
00:38:52Has he convinced you?
00:38:54Will you make it unanimous?'
00:38:59"'I will,' the third voice said, after what seemed like an eternity's hesitation.
00:39:04"'I have played my part, but I had no doubt about him from the outset.
00:39:08He is worthy.
00:39:09I vote in his favour.'
00:39:12"'It is agreed,' Lord Cipher said.
00:39:14"'We will administer the oath.
00:39:16But first—'
00:39:17"'He has been in darkness too long.
00:39:19Bring him into the light.'
00:39:22"'Close your eyes,' said the first voice, as the knife was taken away from his throat.
00:39:28Zahariel felt hands of the hood over his head, pulling it away.
00:39:32"'Then wait a moment before you open them.
00:39:35After being in the dark you may find the light blinding.'
00:39:41The hood was lifted from his head, and finally he saw his interrogators.
00:39:46At first all Zahariel could see were blurred shapes and outlines, as the brightness of
00:39:51the room stabbed his eyes.
00:39:54Slowly his vision was restored.
00:39:56The blurs coalesced into discrete bodies and faces.
00:39:59He could see a circle of knights in hooded robes surrounding him.
00:40:03A number of them held torches, and as the ropes were cut from his wrists, he looked
00:40:07up and saw the faces of his three interrogators gazing down at him.
00:40:12As he expected, one of them was Lord Cipher, an old man that many of the younger supplicants
00:40:17felt was long past his prime.
00:40:20Lord Cipher blinked and squinted at him through eyes that were already well on the way to
00:40:24succumbing to cataracts.
00:40:26The two other faces he saw belonged to far more impressive individuals.
00:40:30On one side stood Sir Luther, a hearty and robust figure, who favoured Zahariel with
00:40:36a friendly smile, as though trying to encourage him not to be too intimidated by the solemnity
00:40:42of the occasion.
00:40:44On the other was a man who was already a legend, who, rumour had it, would eventually become
00:40:48the Order's next Grand Master—Lion L. Johnson.
00:40:54In his first years with the Order, it was the closest Zahariel had ever come to Johnson,
00:40:59and he felt his senses and reason desert him at the incredible presence of the warrior.
00:41:03He towered over Zahariel, and the young man found himself staring intently at the magnificent
00:41:08leonine specimen of physical perfection in unabashed awe.
00:41:13Luther laughed and said,
00:41:15Get careful, boy!
00:41:16Your jaw's in danger of dropping off.
00:41:19Zahariel snapped his mouth shut, fighting to throw off his adoration of the lion, with
00:41:24only moderate success.
00:41:26The lion spent most of his time in the forests, leading his campaign against the great beasts,
00:41:31and only rarely returned to Alderook for any extended period.
00:41:35As such, it was an honour of unprecedented worth to be accorded the attention of such
00:41:40a senior figure, and to be inducted into the Order by such a mighty legend.
00:41:45We should bring matters to a close, said Sir Luther.
00:41:49I am sure our friend would like to get up off his knees sooner rather than later.
00:41:54As he spoke, Zahariel was struck by the resonance of Luther's voice, knowing that its power
00:41:59would make men follow him into the depths of hell if he ordered them to march beside
00:42:03him.
00:42:04He had been so astounded to see Lion L. Johnson standing before him that he had almost ignored
00:42:10Luther entirely.
00:42:12Belatedly it occurred to him that he had been doubly blessed.
00:42:15His initiation ceremony had been officiated over by two of the greatest men of his era—Johnson
00:42:21and Luther.
00:42:23While it was true that Luther could in no way match Johnson's extraordinary physical
00:42:26stature and musculature, he was every bit as exemplary and heroic a figure.
00:42:31In their own ways they were both giants.
00:42:35Your tone is inappropriate, said Lord Cipher, fixing his half-blinded eyes on Luther.
00:42:41The initiation of a new member of the Order is not a time for levity.
00:42:45It is a sombre and serious matter.
00:42:48One might almost describe it as sacred.
00:42:52You must forgive my brother, Lord Cipher, Johnson said, placing one of his enormous
00:42:58hands on the old man's shoulder in a placatory gesture.
00:43:01He means no harm.
00:43:03He is simply mindful that we all have other pressing matters that demand our attention.
00:43:09There is no more important matter than the initiation of a new supplicant, remarked Lord
00:43:14Cipher.
00:43:15The young man before us is still on the threshold.
00:43:17He has come forward into the light, but he has yet to take his oath.
00:43:22Until then he is not one of us.
00:43:25The old man stretched out a hand for the knife in Lion L. Johnson's grasp—the knife they
00:43:30had earlier pressed against Zahariel's throat.
00:43:33Once Johnson had passed it to him, Lord Cipher put his thumb to the edge to test it.
00:43:38Now is the time for the shedding of blood.
00:43:42He turned to Zahariel and brought the blade down upon his hand.
00:43:46The cut went diagonally across his left palm, causing a moment of pain, but it was shallow
00:43:51and only intended to shed his blood for the purposes of the ceremony.
00:43:55It was symbolic, just as Master Ramiel told him.
00:43:58At the climax of the ceremony there was a taking of oaths.
00:44:02"'Do you, Zahariel, swear by your blood that you will protect the people of Caliban?'
00:44:08"'I do,' he said.
00:44:10"'Will you swear to abide by the rules and strictures of the Order and never reveal its
00:44:15secrets?'
00:44:16"'I will.'
00:44:18"'From here on in you will regard every one of our Order's knights as your brothers,
00:44:23and never raise a hand against them unless it be in the form of a judicial duel or a
00:44:28sanctioned matter of honor.
00:44:30This you will swear against the pain of your own future death.'
00:44:34"'Against my death, I swear it,' he answered.
00:44:38There was a particularly chilling moment in the oath-taking, for Lord Cipher held the
00:44:42knife up before Zahariel to enable him to see his face reflected in its surface beside
00:44:47the red smear of his blood on the edge of the blade.
00:44:51"'You have sworn a blood oath,' said Lord Cipher.
00:44:55"'These things are binding.
00:44:57But now you must go further.'
00:45:00Lord Cipher turned the blade so that it was balanced in the flat of his palm.
00:45:05"'Put your hand on the knife and swear to the most bloody and binding undertaking.
00:45:10This blade has already taken your blood.
00:45:13It has cut your palm.
00:45:14Let the knife be the guardian of your oaths.
00:45:18If by any future deed you prove that the words you have spoken here are lies, let the blade
00:45:25that has cut your palm return to slash your throat.
00:45:29Swear to it.'
00:45:31"'I swear it,' said Zahariel, placing his hand over the knife.
00:45:36"'If my words here to-day are lies, let this knife return to slash my throat.'
00:45:41"'It is done, then,' Lord Cipher nodded, satisfied.
00:45:44"'Your old life is dead.
00:45:46You are no longer the boy named Zahariel el Zorayas, the son of Zorayas el Kaliel.
00:45:52From this day forward there will be no more talk of lineage and the antecedents of your
00:45:56fathers.
00:45:58You are neither nobleman nor commoner.
00:46:00These things are behind you.
00:46:02From this moment on you are a Knight of the Order.
00:46:07You are reborn into a new life.
00:46:10Do you understand?'
00:46:12"'I understand,' Zahariel said, and his heart swelled with pride.
00:46:18"'Arise, then,' said Lord Cipher.
00:46:21"'There is no further need to kneel.
00:46:24You are among brothers.
00:46:26We are all your brothers here.
00:46:28Arise, Zahariel of the Order!'
00:46:34Chapter 2
00:46:37The wound to his palm would not leave a scar.
00:46:40It would heal in time, and within a few months there would be no physical sign that his hand
00:46:44had ever been cut.
00:46:46Strangely to Zahariel, it was as if the wound was always there.
00:46:50It did not in any way pain or disable him.
00:46:52Afterwards, when he grasped the butt of his pistol, his grip would be as strong as it
00:46:56had ever been.
00:46:58Despite this, Zahariel felt the presence of the wound, even after it had healed.
00:47:04He had heard that sometimes men experienced a phantom itch when they had lost a limb,
00:47:08a curious malfunction of the nervous system, that the apothecaries were at a loss to explain.
00:47:14It was like that for Zahariel.
00:47:16He felt a vague and insubstantial sensation in his hand at times, as though some part
00:47:21of his mind was reminding him of his oaths.
00:47:25It was always with him, like a line in his palm, invisible to the eye, but present all
00:47:30the same, as though it was etched into his very soul.
00:47:33If he had wanted to give it a name, he supposed he would have called it conscience.
00:47:39Whatever the cause, the sensation of the phantom wound in his palm would stay with
00:47:43him for the rest of his life.
00:47:46In time he would almost become used to it.
00:47:51Zahariel and Nemiel had grown up together.
00:47:54Barely a few weeks separated them in age, and they were related by blood.
00:47:59Though distant cousins, born to different branches of the same extended family of the
00:48:03nobility, their features were so alike they could be mistaken for brothers.
00:48:07They shared the characteristically lean faces and aquiline profile of their ancestors, but
00:48:12the bond they shared went far deeper than any accidental similarity of their features.
00:48:18According to the monastic traditions of the Order, all the Knights of the Fellowship were
00:48:22counted as brothers to each other.
00:48:24For Zahariel and Nemiel, though, the fact of their brotherhood went beyond any such
00:48:28simple platitudes.
00:48:30They had each thought of the other as a brother long before they joined the Order as supplicants.
00:48:34In the years since, the bond between them had been tested countless times and proven
00:48:39true.
00:48:40They had come to rely on each other in a thousand small ways, even as their friendly rivalry
00:48:44spurred them on to greater heights.
00:48:47It was natural that there was an element of competitiveness, of sibling rivalry, in the
00:48:51relationship between them.
00:48:53From the earliest days of their childhood they had tried to outdo the other in every
00:48:57way possible.
00:48:58In any contest they had each striven to be the victor.
00:49:01They each wanted to be the fastest runner, the strongest swimmer, the most accurate shot,
00:49:06the best rider, the most skilled swordsman.
00:49:09The exact nature of the test did not matter so long as one of them could beat the other.
00:49:14Their masters in the Order had recognized the competition between them early on, and
00:49:19had actively encouraged it.
00:49:21Separately they might have been counted as average candidates for knighthood.
00:49:25Together, driven on by their mutual rivalry, they had become more impressive prospects.
00:49:31Their masters said it quietly, for it was not the way on Caliban to give unnecessary
00:49:35praise, but Zahariel and Nemiel were both expected to do well, and to rise far in the
00:49:41Order.
00:49:43As the elder of the two, even if it was only by a matter of weeks, their competition was
00:49:47perhaps harder on Nemiel than it was on Zahariel.
00:49:51Sometimes their rivalry felt like a race he could not win.
00:49:54Every time Nemiel thought he had finally beaten his rival, Zahariel would quickly prove him
00:49:59wrong by equaling and exceeding his achievements.
00:50:02At some level Zahariel recognized the important role his brother played in his triumphs.
00:50:07Without Nemiel to measure himself against, to strive to overcome, he might never have
00:50:12been granted entrance into the Order.
00:50:14He might never have become a knight.
00:50:16Accordingly, he could never begrudge his brother's triumphs.
00:50:19If anything, he celebrated them as loudly as he did his own.
00:50:24For Nemiel, however, it was different.
00:50:27In time, despairing of ever out-distancing his brother, he began to harbour secret reservations
00:50:32about Zahariel's achievements.
00:50:34Despite his best efforts to control his thoughts, Nemiel found there was a small voice within
00:50:38him that wished Zahariel would not be too successful.
00:50:43Not that he ever wished harm or failure on his brother, but simply that Zahariel's triumphs
00:50:47would always be more limited in magnitude than his own.
00:50:51Perhaps it was childish, but the competition between them had defined their lives for so
00:50:55long that Nemiel found it difficult to outgrow it.
00:50:58In many ways, his relationship with Zahariel would always be as much about rivalry as it
00:51:04was about brotherhood.
00:51:05It was the nature of their lives.
00:51:08In times to come, it would decide their fate.
00:51:14If that's the best you've got, taunted Nemiel, dancing away from Zahariel's sword-thrust,
00:51:19you'd best give up now.
00:51:21Zahariel stepped in close, bringing his training-blade close to his body and slamming his shoulder
00:51:26against his cousin's chest.
00:51:28Nemiel was braced for the attack, but Zahariel's strength was greater, and the two boys tumbled
00:51:33to the stone floor of the training-hall.
00:51:35Nemiel cried out at the impact, rolling and bringing his sword up, as Zahariel stabbed
00:51:40the ground where he'd been lying.
00:51:42Not even close to the best I've got, said Zahariel, panting with exertion.
00:51:48I'm just toying with you.
00:51:50The bout had been under way for nearly fifteen minutes—fifteen solid minutes of sparring
00:51:55back and forth, lunge and feint, dodge and block, parry and riposte.
00:51:59Sweat drenched both boys, their muscles burned, and their limbs felt leaden.
00:52:05A circle of their fellow-supplicants surrounded them, each cheering on their favourite, and
00:52:09Master Ramiel watched over the fight with a mixture of paternal pride and exasperation.
00:52:16Finish it, one of you, for the love of Caliban, said Ramiel.
00:52:19You have other lessons to attend to-day.
00:52:21Finish it, or I will call it a draw.
00:52:24His last comment gave Zahariel fresh strength and purpose, though he saw it had the same
00:52:28effect on his cousin.
00:52:30No doubt, as Master Ramiel had intended.
00:52:33Neither boy would settle for a draw, only victory would be enough to satisfy either
00:52:37of them.
00:52:38He saw Nemiel's muscles bunch in preparation for an attack, and lunged forward.
00:52:44His sword stabbed out towards Nemiel's stomach, the blade was dulled and the tip
00:52:48flat, but the weapon was still a solid lump of heavy metal in Zahariel's hands that
00:52:52was capable of wreaking great harm upon an opponent.
00:52:56Nemiel's weapon swept down and pushed the blow to the side, but Zahariel's attack
00:53:00had never been about his sword.
00:53:02With Nemiel's blade pushed to the side, he carried on his lunge, and hammered his fist
00:53:07against the side of his cousin's head.
00:53:10The blow was poorly delivered, but it had the effect Zahariel was looking for.
00:53:14Nemiel cried out and dropped his sword as his hands flew to his face.
00:53:19It was all the opening Zahariel needed.
00:53:22He finished the bout by driving his knee up into Nemiel's stomach, doubling him up,
00:53:26and sending him crashing to the floor in a winded, head-wringing heap.
00:53:31Zahariel stepped away from his cousin and looked towards Master Ramiel, who nodded and
00:53:36said,
00:53:37"'Winner, Zahariel!'
00:53:40He let out a great shuddering breath and dropped his sword to the floor.
00:53:44It landed with a ringing clang, and he looked over to where Nemiel was picking himself up
00:53:48from his pain.
00:53:50Ramiel turned from the bout and marched resolutely towards the arched exit, leading his students
00:53:55towards their next gruelling lesson.
00:53:57Zahariel held out his hand to Nemiel and said,
00:54:01"'Are you all right?'
00:54:02His cousin still had his hands clutched to the side of his head, his lips pursed together
00:54:07as he tried to hide how much it hurt.
00:54:10For a brief second Zahariel was sorry for the pain he had caused to Nemiel, but he forced
00:54:14the feeling down.
00:54:16It had been his duty to win the bout, for giving anything less than his best would have
00:54:20been contrary to the teachings of the Order.
00:54:23It had been two years since his induction into the Order, and the ninth anniversary
00:54:27of his birth had passed less than a month ago.
00:54:30Not that there had been any special reason for marking the day, but the instructor-knights
00:54:34of the Order were very particular about marking the passage of time and keeping the census
00:54:38of ages and merits of its members.
00:54:41Nemiel had turned nine a few days before him, and though they were alike in features and
00:54:46age, their temperaments could not have been more different.
00:54:50Zahariel could see that Nemiel had already forgotten the outcome of the bout, having
00:54:54learned how he had been defeated.
00:54:56I'm fine, cousin," said Nemiel.
00:54:58That wasn't bad.
00:55:00I see what you did, but you won't get me that way again.
00:55:03That was true, thought Zahariel.
00:55:05Every time he fought his cousin and employed a method he had used previously, he was roundly
00:55:09beaten.
00:55:10You could beat Nemiel, but you could not beat him the same way twice.
00:55:15Try not to be too disappointed, said Zahariel.
00:55:18I may have won, but it wasn't a pretty victory.
00:55:20Who cares about its prettiness?
00:55:22snapped Nemiel.
00:55:23You won, didn't you?
00:55:25Zahariel's hand was still extended towards his cousin, who finally accepted it and hauled
00:55:30himself to his feet.
00:55:31He dusted his robes down and said,
00:55:34Ah, don't mind me.
00:55:35I'm just sore about getting beaten again in front of Ramiel as well.
00:55:38I suppose I should think of all the times I've put you on your back, eh?"
00:55:42You're right, said Zahariel.
00:55:44I think there's something in human nature that makes us concentrate too much on our
00:55:47disappointments at times.
00:55:49We should remember how lucky we are.
00:55:51Lucky?
00:55:52What are you talking about?
00:55:54said Nemiel, as they followed the other students from the training halls.
00:55:57You just beat me in the head, and we live on a world infested by killer monsters.
00:56:02How is that lucky?
00:56:04Zahariel looked at Nemiel, afraid he was being mocked.
00:56:08Think about it.
00:56:09Of all the eras of Caliban's history, we have been fortunate enough to be born in the same
00:56:13period as men like the Lion and Luther.
00:56:17We are to take part in the campaign against the great beasts.
00:56:20Oh, well, I can see how that would be considered lucky, getting to march into the forests and
00:56:25face a horde of monsters that could swallow us whole or tear us apart with one sweep of
00:56:29their claws.
00:56:31Now Zahariel knew he was being teased, for Nemiel could always be relied upon to boast
00:56:36of how fearsome a creature he would slay when he was finally allowed to declare a quest,
00:56:40venture into the forest, and prove his mettle against one of the great beasts.
00:56:45Instead of backing down in the face of Nemiel's teasing, he continued,
00:56:49We're here, supplicants of the Order, and one day we will be knights.
00:56:54Zahariel gestured at their surroundings, the high stone walls, the racks of weapons, the
00:56:59spiral on the floor, and the giant mosaic on the wall depicting the Order's symbol,
00:57:04the downward-pointed sword.
00:57:06Look around you.
00:57:07We train to become knights and eradicate the threat of the beasts from our world.
00:57:12The moment when the last beast is slain will be written into the annals of the Order
00:57:16and Caliban, and will be preserved for thousands of years.
00:57:20History is unfolding, and if we're lucky we will be there when it happens.
00:57:25True enough, cousin," said Nemiel.
00:57:27People will say that we lived in interesting times, eh?
00:57:31Interesting times?
00:57:33It was something Master Ramiel said once, you remember, when we were outside in the
00:57:37dark petitioning to join the Order as novices?
00:57:40I remember," said Zahariel, though in truth he remembered little of the night they had
00:57:44spent in the darkness beyond the safety of the gates of the Order's fortress-monastery,
00:57:49save for the terror of the great beasts, and of the night.
00:57:53He told me it was a phrase from ancient Terra," continued Nemiel.
00:57:57When people live through periods of change, the kind of days when history is made, they
00:58:01refer to them as interesting times.
00:58:04They even had an expression, May you live in interesting times.
00:58:08That's what they used to say.
00:58:10May you live in interesting times?" echoed Zahariel.
00:58:13I like it.
00:58:14The expression, I mean.
00:58:16It sounds right, somehow.
00:58:17I know knights aren't supposed to believe in such things, but it sounds almost like
00:58:20a prayer.
00:58:22A prayer, yes, but not a good one.
00:58:24May you live in interesting times was something they said to their worst enemies.
00:58:29It was intended as a curse.
00:58:31A curse?
00:58:32I don't understand.
00:58:34I suppose they wanted a quiet life.
00:58:37They didn't want to have to live through times of blood and upheaval.
00:58:40They didn't want change.
00:58:41They were happy.
00:58:42They all wanted to live for a long time and die in their beds.
00:58:45I suppose they thought their lives were perfect.
00:58:48The last thing they wanted was for history to come along and mess it all up.
00:58:52It's hard to imagine, Zahariel said, picking up the sword he had dropped and returning
00:58:56it to the weapons rack.
00:58:58Imagine anyone being that contented with their lot and not wanting to change it.
00:59:03Maybe the difference is that we grew up on Caliban.
00:59:06Life is so hard here that everyone grows used to blood and upheaval.
00:59:10Maybe things were different on Tara, suggested Nemil.
00:59:13Maybe, but maybe it's because we take it for granted that our lives on Caliban are
00:59:18always about struggle.
00:59:19In comparison, Tara must be like a paradise.
00:59:22If it even exists, said Nemil, there are people who say it's only a myth made up by
00:59:27our ancestors.
00:59:28Caliban is where our culture was born, and Caliban is where it will die.
00:59:33There are no starships or lost brothers on other planets.
00:59:36It's all a lie, a well-meant one, created to give us comfort when times are bad, but
00:59:41a lie none the less.
00:59:43Do you believe that?
00:59:44asked Zahariel.
00:59:46Do you really think Tara is a lie?
00:59:49Yes, maybe.
00:59:52I don't know, said Nemil with a shrug.
00:59:56We can look up at the stars in the sky, but it's hard to believe anybody lives there,
01:00:00just like it's hard to believe a world could be so perfect that you'd never want it to
01:00:04change.
01:00:05You're right, cousin.
01:00:06Our lives are struggle.
01:00:08It's all we can ever expect of things—on Caliban, anyway.
01:00:12Further discussions were prevented by Master Ramiel's booming voice coming from the
01:00:17archway at the far end of the chamber.
01:00:19Get a move on, you two!
01:00:21bellowed their tutor.
01:00:22It's an extra turn on the sentry towers for you two tonight.
01:00:25Don't you know you've kept Brother Amardis waiting?
01:00:29Both boys shared an excited glance, but it was Nemil who recovered his wits first.
01:00:34Brother Amardis has returned!
01:00:37Aye, nodded Ramiel.
01:00:39By rights I should send you to the kitchens for your tardiness, but it will reflect badly
01:00:43on your fellows if you do not hear him speak.
01:00:46Zahariel sprinted alongside Nemil as he ran for the archway, excitement flooding his
01:00:51young body with fresh vigour and anticipation.
01:00:55Brother Amardis—the hero of Maponis.
01:00:58His hero.
01:01:02The circle chamber of Alderouk was well named, thought Zahariel, as he and Nemil skidded
01:01:08through its arched entrance.
01:01:10Flickering torches hung, sending a fragrant aroma of scented smoke into the enormous
01:01:15chamber.
01:01:16The hall was already packed—hundreds of novices, knights, and supplicants, filling
01:01:20the many stone benches that rose in tears from the raised marble plinth at the centre.
01:01:26Mighty pillars rose at the chamber's cardinal points, curving inwards in great Gothic arches
01:01:31to form the roof of the dome, a green and gold ceiling from which hung a wide circular
01:01:36candle-holder filled with winking points of light.
01:01:40The walls of the chamber were composed almost entirely of tall lengths of stained glass,
01:01:45each one telling of the heroic actions of one of the order's knights.
01:01:49Many of these glorious panels depicted the actions of the lion and Luther, but many more
01:01:55predated them joining the order, and several of these depicted the warrior known as the
01:02:00hero of Maponis, Brother Amardis.
01:02:03One of the most senior knights of the order, who still participated in the lion's great
01:02:08quest to rid the forests of Caliban, Brother Amardis was known throughout the world as
01:02:13a dashing and heroic warrior who embodied everything it meant to be a knight—not just
01:02:18a knight of the order, but a knight of Caliban.
01:02:21His deeds were epic tales of heroism and nobility—adventures every child on Caliban grew up hearing
01:02:27from the mouths of their fathers.
01:02:30Amardis had personally slain the great beast of Kulkos, and had led the knights in battle
01:02:35against the predations of the blood knights of the Andriago vaults.
01:02:38Before the coming of Johnson, it had been assumed by many that Brother Amardis would
01:02:43eventually rise to become the grand master of the order.
01:02:48Such had not been the case, however.
01:02:49Though all believed that the position would be Johnson's upon the successful conclusion
01:02:53of the beast-hunt, Amardis had borne the lion no ill-will, and had simply returned to the
01:02:58great forests to slay monsters and bear the honour of the order to places near and far.
01:03:05The number of youngsters presenting themselves before the mighty gates of Alderuk had as
01:03:09much to do with his renown as it did the presence of the lion.
01:03:13Zahariel remembered hearing the tales of him vanquishing the blood knights at the hearth-fire
01:03:18on many a stormy evening.
01:03:20His father would always choose the darkest, most haunted knights to tell the tale, weaving
01:03:25a grisly tapestry of the horrors and debauched blood-feasts of the knights to terrify his
01:03:29sons, before bringing the story to its heroic conclusion when Amardis defeated their leader
01:03:35in single combat.
01:03:37It looks like every one who's any one's here," said Nemmil, as they jostled for position
01:03:42among the stragglers in the topmost tier of the circle chamber.
01:03:46They elbowed past newly accepted novices and supplicants who had not served as long as
01:03:50they had.
01:03:51Grumbles followed them, but none dared gainsay a boy who had been part of the order for longer.
01:03:57An unspoken but wholly understood hierarchy operated within the order, and its structure
01:04:01could not ever be broken.
01:04:03At last they found their proper place, further forward than the inferior supplicants, and
01:04:08behind or beside those of a similar rank and stature.
01:04:12Though the centre of the circle chamber was some distance away, the view afforded from
01:04:16the upper tiers was second to none in terms of its panorama.
01:04:20The centre was empty, with a single throne-like chair set in the middle of the floor.
01:04:26It looks like we've made it in time," Zahariel noted, and Nemmil nodded.
01:04:31Banners hung from the chamber's roof, and Zahariel felt a familiar wonder envelop him
01:04:36as he stared at them, reading the history of the order in their pictorial representations
01:04:40of honour, valour, and battle.
01:04:43Gold-stitching crossed ceremonial standards of green and blue, and red-edged war-banners
01:04:48outnumbered the ceremonial ones by quite some margin.
01:04:52The entire roof was hung with banners, so many that it seemed as though a great blanket
01:04:56had been spread across it, and then slashed into hanging squares.
01:05:01A hush fell upon the assembled novices, supplicants, and knights at some unspoken signal, and Zahariel
01:05:08heard the creak of a wooden door opening, the metallic walk of a man in armour, and
01:05:13the harsh rapping footsteps of metal on marble.
01:05:16He strained for a better look, finally seeing the man who had made him want to become a
01:05:21knight.
01:05:22One man marched to the centre of the chamber in the burnished plate armour of the order.
01:05:27Zahariel tried not to feel disappointed of the warrior before him, but where he had expected
01:05:32a towering hero of legend, the equal of the lion, he now saw that Brother Armadis was
01:05:38simply a man.
01:05:40He knew he should have expected no more, but to see the warrior who had lived in his heroic
01:05:45dreams for as long as he could remember as just a man of flesh and blood, who did not
01:05:50tower over them like some mighty leviathan of legend, was somehow less than he had hoped
01:05:54for.
01:05:56Yet even as he tried to come to terms with the reality of seeing that his hero was, after
01:06:00all, just a man, he saw there was something indefinable to him.
01:06:04There was something in the way Armadis walked to the centre of the chamber, as though he
01:06:08owned it, the confidence he wore like a cloak, as though he understood that this gathering
01:06:13was just for him, and that it was his right and due.
01:06:18Despite what might have been perceived as monstrous arrogance, Zahariel could see a
01:06:22wry cast to Armadis' features, as though he expected such a gathering, but found it
01:06:27faintly absurd that he should be held in such high regard.
01:06:31The more Zahariel looked at the figure in the centre of the chamber, the more he saw
01:06:35the easy confidence, the surety of purpose, and the quiet courage in his every movement.
01:06:41Armadis held tight to the hilt of his sword as he walked, every inch a warrior, and Zahariel
01:06:47began to feel his admiration for this heroic knight grow with every passing second.
01:06:53Surrounded by knights of such stature and courage that it was an honour simply to be
01:06:57in the same room as them, Zahariel had assumed that such warriors knew no fear, but looking
01:07:02at the weathered, handsome face of Brother Armadis he realised that such an idea was
01:07:07preposterous.
01:07:08As a boy in the forests of Caliban he had certainly felt fear often enough, but he had
01:07:14assumed that once he became a knight the emotion would be utterly unknown to him.
01:07:18Brother Armadis had faced terrible foes and triumphed despite fear.
01:07:24To know fear, real fear, and to gain a great victory in spite of it, seemed a more noble
01:07:29achievement than any triumph where fear was absent.
01:07:32Brother Armadis looked around and nodded in quiet satisfaction at the quality of the men
01:07:37and boys around him.
01:07:40If you are expecting a long and inspiring speech, then I am afraid I have none to give
01:07:45you.
01:07:46Armadis's voice easily projected to the far reaches of the circle chamber, and Zahariel
01:07:51felt a thrill of excitement course through him at every word.
01:07:54Only the Lion and Luther had voices of such power and resonance.
01:07:59I am a simple man, continued Armadis, a warrior and a knight.
01:08:05I don't give speeches, and I am not one for grand shows.
01:08:09But the Lion asked me to talk to you here to-day, though I am no public speaker, that's
01:08:13for sure.
01:08:15I have returned to Alderook, and I will be working alongside the instructor-knights for
01:08:20a spell, so I expect I'll be seeing you all over the next few weeks and months before
01:08:25I return to the forests."
01:08:28Zahariel felt his pulse quicken at the idea of learning from a warrior such as Armadis,
01:08:33and felt wild, uncontrollable elation flood him.
01:08:36As I said before, I am not usually one for theatrics, but I do understand their value
01:08:43to you and to me.
01:08:44Said Armadis,
01:08:46Seeing me here will drive you on to become the best knights you can be, because I give
01:08:51you something to aspire to, a reason to want to better yourselves.
01:08:56Looking out at your faces reminds me of where I came from, what I used to be.
01:09:02Many tales are told of me, and some of them are even true.
01:09:07Polite laughter rippled around the chamber as Armadis continued,
01:09:11As it happens, most of them are true.
01:09:15But that's not the point.
01:09:16The point is that when a man hears the same things said of him often enough, he begins
01:09:21to believe them.
01:09:22Tell a child often enough that it is worthless and beneath contempt, and it will start to
01:09:27believe that such a vile sentiment is true.
01:09:31Tell a man he is a hero, a giant amongst men, and he will start to believe that, too, thinking
01:09:36himself above all others.
01:09:38If enough praise and honour is heaped upon a man, he will start to believe that such
01:09:42is his due, and that all others must bow to his will.
01:09:47Seeing you all here is a grand reminder that I am not such a man.
01:09:53I was once a would-be novice, standing out in the cold night before the gates of this
01:09:57monastery.
01:09:58I, too, walked the spiral under the rods of instructor knights, and I, too, undertook
01:10:03a beast quest to prove my mettle to the order.
01:10:07You are where I was, and I am where any one of you can be."
01:10:14Amardis's speech seemed to reach out to Zahariel, and he knew that he would remember this moment
01:10:18for as long as he lived.
01:10:20He would remember these words, and he would live by them.
01:10:24The words of this heroic knight had power beyond the simple hearing of them.
01:10:28They seemed to be aimed directly at every warrior gathered in the chamber.
01:10:32Looking around, Zahariel knew that every knight, novice, and supplicant felt that every word
01:10:37was for him and for him alone.
01:10:40Thunderous applause and spontaneous cheering erupted in the circle chamber, the knights
01:10:44and supplicants rising to their feet.
01:10:47Such displays were almost unheard of within the walls of Alder Rook, and Zahariel was
01:10:52swept up in the infectious enthusiasm of his brethren.
01:10:55He looked over at Nemiel, his cousin similarly caught up in the wave of pride.
01:11:01Such was the power, strength, and conviction in his words and delivery that Zahariel vowed,
01:11:07there and then, that he would be the greatest knight the order had ever seen, the most heroic
01:11:12warrior ever to sally forth from the great memorial gate to do battle with the enemies
01:11:17of Caliban.
01:11:19Despite the pride and hubris inherent in such vows, he made a silent oath that he would
01:11:24never lose sight of what it meant to be a knight, the humility that must accompany all
01:11:28great deeds, and the unspoken satisfaction in knowing that doing the right thing was
01:11:34reason enough to do it.
01:11:36Eventually the applause died down as Amardis lifted his arms and waved away the clapping
01:11:42and cheering.
01:11:43"'Enough, brothers, enough!' he shouted with a smile on his face.
01:11:48"'This isn't what I came here for.
01:11:50Despite my earlier words I do seem to have given a bit of a speech, but hopefully it
01:11:56wasn't too boring, eh?''
01:12:01Chapter 3
01:12:04The nightmare always began the same way.
01:12:08It was two years ago, and he was seven years of age, one of nearly two hundred would-be
01:12:13aspirants who had come to the fortress-monastery at Alderook, seeking to be accepted as knight's
01:12:18supplicant by the order.
01:12:20From whatever pleasant fantasy was drifting around inside his skull, the darkness would
01:12:25always come to wrench him back to his first day with the order.
01:12:30It had been mid-winter, the only time of year at which the order recruited, and hundreds
01:12:34of children would arrive at the fortress desperately hoping they would be among the handful chosen
01:12:39to start on the pathway to becoming a knight.
01:12:43The rite of selection was the same for every one of them.
01:12:47The guards manning the gates would tell the waiting aspirants there was only one way to
01:12:51be accepted for training within the order.
01:12:54They must survive a single night beyond the gates of the fortress until dawn the next
01:12:58morning.
01:13:00During that time they had to remain standing in the same spot.
01:13:04They could not eat, or sleep, or sit down, or take rest in any way.
01:13:09What was more, they were told they each had to surrender their coat and boots.
01:13:14It had been snowing the day Zahariel took the test, and the snow lying in wide drifts
01:13:19against the walls of the fortress and upon the branches of the trees at the forest's
01:13:23edge gave the scene a curiously festive appearance.
01:13:28Nemiel had been beside him.
01:13:29The two of them had each decided they would become knights, assuming they managed to pass
01:13:33the test and were found to be worthy.
01:13:36The snow was thick on the ground by the time the test started, and throughout the day the
01:13:40snowfall continued until it had risen as high as their knees.
01:13:44Though the forest was several hundred metres from the walls of the fortress, the darkness
01:13:48beyond the tree-line seemed to reach out from the haunted depths like a living thing,
01:13:53enveloping them in its silky embrace like an unwelcome lover.
01:13:58As he dreamed, Zahariel turned in his sleep, the phantasmal cold making him shiver in his
01:14:03cot-bed.
01:14:05He recognized the dream for what it was, but such knowledge did not allow him to break
01:14:09from its inevitable course.
01:14:11His extremities had grown so numb he felt sure he would lose his fingers and toes to
01:14:15frostbite, and knew that in the morning after the darkness he would wake and check to make
01:14:20sure his nightmare had not translated into the real world.
01:14:24Throughout the test the guards had done everything in their power to make the ordeal more
01:14:29difficult.
01:14:30They had wandered among the ranks of miserable barefoot children, alternating between cruelty
01:14:35and kindness in their attempts to break them.
01:14:38One guard had called Nemiel a puss-brained simpleton for even thinking he was worthy
01:14:42to join the order.
01:14:43Another had tried to tempt Zahariel by offering a blanket and a hot meal, but only if he would
01:14:48first give up on his ambitions and leave the test.
01:14:52Once again Zahariel could see the guard's face leering down at him as he said,
01:14:58"'Come inside, boy.
01:14:59There's no reason for you to be standing out here freezing.
01:15:02It's not as if you'd ever make it into the order.
01:15:04Everybody knows you haven't got what it takes.
01:15:06You know it, too.
01:15:08I can see right through you.
01:15:10Come inside.
01:15:12You don't want to be outside once night comes.
01:15:14Raptors, bears, and lions—there's a lot of different predators come around the walls
01:15:19of the fortress at night.
01:15:21And there's nothing they like more than to see a boy standing in open ground.
01:15:26You'd make a tasty morsel for the likes of them."
01:15:29So far the nightmare had followed a familiar course, treading the paths of memory, but
01:15:35at some point, never the same one twice, it would deviate into madness, and things of
01:15:39which he had no memory—things he wished he could erase from his mind as easily as
01:15:44his pleasant dreams—were wont to vanish.
01:15:47In this variation Zahariel stood beside a fair-haired boy he had never seen before,
01:15:52in his nightmares or in reality.
01:15:54The boy was a youth of wondrous perfection and pride, who stood with ramrod-straight
01:15:59shoulders and the bearing of someone who would grow into the mightiest of warriors.
01:16:04A guard with a gnarled face and cruel orange eyes leant towards the boy.
01:16:09"'You don't need to finish the test,' said the guard.
01:16:13"'Your pride and fortitude under pressure has attracted the attention of the Order's
01:16:16Grand Master.
01:16:17Your fate has already been decided.
01:16:20Any fool with eyes can see you've got what it takes to be the Chosen One.'"
01:16:26Zahariel wanted to cry out, to tell the boy not to believe the falsehoods he was hearing,
01:16:32but it was what the boy wanted to hear.
01:16:34It promised him everything he had ever desired.
01:16:37The boy's face lit up at the news of his acceptance,
01:16:40his eyes shining with the promise of achieving all that he had ever wanted.
01:16:45Thinking the test was over, the boy sank exhausted to his knees,
01:16:49and leaned forward to kiss the snow-covered ground.
01:16:52The cruel laughter of the guards brought the boy's head up with a start,
01:16:56and Zahariel could see the dawning comprehension of his foolishness
01:17:00slide across his face like a slick.
01:17:03"'Foolish boy!' cried the guard.
01:17:06"'You think because someone tells you that you're special that it must be true?
01:17:11You are nothing but a pawn for our amusement!'
01:17:15The boy let out a heart-rending howl of anguish,
01:17:18and Zahariel fought to keep his eyes fixed straight ahead,
01:17:21as the boy was dragged to the edge of the forest, red-eyed and crying,
01:17:25his face pale with shock and disbelief.
01:17:28The boy's cries were muffled as he was hurled into the dark forest.
01:17:32The tangled webs of roots and creepers
01:17:35dragging him deeper and deeper into the choking vegetation.
01:17:39Though the boy's pained cries grew weaker and weaker,
01:17:42Zahariel could still hear them,
01:17:44echoing in unimaginable anguish long after he had been taken by the darkness.
01:17:49Zahariel tried to shut out the boy's pain as the weather grew colder
01:17:53and the number of aspirants standing outside Alder Rook dwindled,
01:17:57as other boys decided it was better to bear the stigma of failure
01:18:00than to face the ordeal for a moment longer.
01:18:03Some went pleading to the guards, begging for shelter within the fortress,
01:18:07and the return of their coats and boots.
01:18:09Others simply collapsed, worn down by cold and hunger,
01:18:13to be carried away to fates unknown.
01:18:16By sunset only two-thirds of the boys remained.
01:18:20Then, as darkness fell,
01:18:22the guards retreated to their sentry-points inside the fortress,
01:18:25leaving the boys to endure the long hours of the night alone.
01:18:31The night was the worst time.
01:18:33Zahariel twisted as his dream-self shivered in the dismal darkness,
01:18:37his teeth chattering so violently he thought they might shatter.
01:18:41The silence was absolute.
01:18:43The boys' cries from the forest stilled,
01:18:46and the guards' jives and taunts ended.
01:18:49With the coming of night,
01:18:51the silence and the power of imagination
01:18:53did a better job of terrorizing the boys than the guards ever could.
01:18:57The seeds of fear had been sown with talk of predators prowling around outside the fortress,
01:19:02and in the still of the night those seeds took root and sprouted in each boy's mind.
01:19:07The night had a quality that was eternal, thought Zahariel.
01:19:12It had always existed and always would exist.
01:19:15The feeble efforts of men to bring illumination to the galaxy
01:19:19were futile and doomed to failure.
01:19:22He dimly perceived the strangeness of the concept as it formed in his mind,
01:19:26expressing ideas and words that he had no knowledge of,
01:19:29but which he knew were crushingly true.
01:19:32Afterwards it was the sounds that Zahariel feared the most.
01:19:37The ordinary sounds of the forest at night,
01:19:39noises that he had heard more than a thousand times in the past,
01:19:43were louder and more threatening than any sounds he had heard before.
01:19:47At times he heard sounds he swore were the work of raptors,
01:19:50bears, or even the much-feared Calvernite lion.
01:19:53The crack of every twig, every rustle of the leaves,
01:19:56every call and scream of the night—all these things sounded heavy with menace.
01:20:01Death lurked just behind him or at his elbow,
01:20:04and he wanted to run to give up the ordeal.
01:20:06He wanted to go back to the settlement where he was born,
01:20:09to his friends and family, to his mother's soothing words,
01:20:12to the warm place by the hearth.
01:20:15He wanted to give up on the order.
01:20:16He wanted to forgo his nightly pretensions.
01:20:20He was seven years of age.
01:20:22And he wanted to go home.
01:20:25As horrible and unearthly as the noises had been,
01:20:28it was the voices that were the worst part of the ordeal,
01:20:31the most loathsome invention of his nightmare.
01:20:34Between the roars and the snap of branches,
01:20:37a million susurrations emerged from the forest,
01:20:40like a cabal of whispering voices.
01:20:42Whether anyone else could hear them Zahariel did not know,
01:20:45for no one else reacted to the sounds that invaded his skull
01:20:48with promises of power, of flesh, of immortality.
01:20:53All could be his if he would step from the snow-covered esplanade
01:20:57before the fortress and walk into the forest.
01:21:01Without the presence of the guards,
01:21:02Zahariel felt able to turn his head
01:21:05and look towards the tangled, vine-choked edge of the trees.
01:21:09Though forests carpeted much of the surface of Caliban,
01:21:12and his entire existence had been spent
01:21:14within sight of tall trees and swaying green canopies,
01:21:17this forest was unlike anything he had seen before.
01:21:21The trunks of the trees were leprous and green,
01:21:24their bark rotten and diseased.
01:21:27Darkness that was blacker than the deepest night lurked between them,
01:21:30and though the voices promised him
01:21:31that all would be well if he stepped into the forest,
01:21:34he knew that terrors undreamt of,
01:21:36and nightmares beyond reckoning,
01:21:38dwelt beneath its haunted arbors.
01:21:41As ridiculous as it seemed to Zahariel,
01:21:43he knew that this dream-shaped forest was no natural phenomenon.
01:21:48A region so unnatural that it existed beyond the mortal world,
01:21:52shaped by its dreams and nightmares,
01:21:54stirred by its desires and fears.
01:21:58What lurked within its depths was beyond fear and reason,
01:22:02madness and elemental power that seethed and roared
01:22:05in concert with the heaving tides of men and their dreadful lives.
01:22:10And yet, for all its dark, twisting, horrid power,
01:22:15there was an undeniable attraction.
01:22:18Power, no matter its source, could always be mastered, couldn't it?
01:22:23Elemental energies could be harnessed and made to serve the will
01:22:26of one with the strength of purpose to master its complexities.
01:22:30The things that could be achieved with such power were limitless.
01:22:34The great beasts could be hunted to extinction,
01:22:36and the other knightly brotherhoods brought to heel.
01:22:39All of Caliban would become the domain of the Order,
01:22:42and all would obey its masters,
01:22:44or die by the swords of its terrible black angels of death.
01:22:48The thought made him smile,
01:22:49as he thought of the glories to be won on the fields of battle.
01:22:53He pictured the slaughter and the debaucheries that would follow,
01:22:56the carrion birds and worms feasting,
01:22:58and the capering madmen that made merry in the ruin of a world.
01:23:02Zahariel cried out.
01:23:04The vision faded from his mind,
01:23:06and he heard the voices for what they were—the whisper in the gloom,
01:23:11the hinting tone, the haunting laugh,
01:23:14and the jealous vipers that cracked the panels of tombs
01:23:16and composed the platitudes of his epitaph.
01:23:20Even unmasked, the tempters of the dark realm of the wood would not leave him,
01:23:24and their blandishments continued to plague him throughout the night
01:23:28until his feet were ready to carry him to willing damnation in the darkness.
01:23:32In the end, as it always was,
01:23:34it was Nemiel that stopped him, not through any word or deed,
01:23:38but purely because he was there.
01:23:40Nemiel stood at his shoulder throughout the nightmare,
01:23:43as he had on that cold, fearful night,
01:23:45unbending and unbroken,
01:23:47his best friend stood by his side, never wavering and never afraid.
01:23:52Taking heart from his cousin's example,
01:23:54Zahariel found new strength fill him,
01:23:57and knew that but for the strength of his brotherhood with Nemiel
01:24:00he would have faltered in his inner struggle.
01:24:02With the strength he drew from his presence,
01:24:04he refused to bow down to his fears,
01:24:06he refused to give in.
01:24:09He had seen out the night with Nemiel beside him.
01:24:13As the relentless logic of the nightmare gave way to memory,
01:24:17the sun rose over the treetops of the forest,
01:24:19and the dark whisperers withdrew.
01:24:23Only a dozen boys remained standing before the gates of Alderook,
01:24:27and Zahariel, relaxed in his bed as the familiar pattern of reality,
01:24:31reasserted itself.
01:24:34Many of the other hopefuls had failed the test during the night,
01:24:37and had gone to the gates to beg the guards to let them in.
01:24:40Whether any had heard the same voices as he had,
01:24:44and ventured into the forest, he never knew,
01:24:47and as the first rays of sunlight reached their freezing bodies,
01:24:51Zahariel saw a gruff, solidly built figure emerge from the fortress,
01:24:55and march towards them.
01:24:57The figure had worn a hooded white surplus over burnished black armour,
01:25:01and carried a gnarled wooden staff at his side.
01:25:05"'I am Master Ramiel,' the figure had said, standing before the aspirants.
01:25:10He had pulled back the hood of his surplus,
01:25:12revealing the weathered face of a man well into his middle fifties.
01:25:16"'It is my honour to be one of the Order's Masters of Instruction.'
01:25:20He raised the staff, and swung it in a wide arc,
01:25:23indicating the dozen shivering boys before him.
01:25:26"'You will be my students.
01:25:29"'You have passed the test set for you, and that is good.
01:25:33"'But you should know it was more than just a test.
01:25:36"'It was also your first lesson.
01:25:39"'In a minute we will go inside, Alderook,
01:25:41"'where you will be given a hot meal and warm dry clothes.
01:25:45"'Before we do, I want you to consider something for a moment.
01:25:50"'You have stood in the snow outside the fortress for more than twenty hours.
01:25:55"'You have endured cold, hunger, and hardship,
01:25:58"'not to mention other privations.
01:26:01"'Yet you are still here.
01:26:02"'You passed the test, and you endured these things where others failed.
01:26:07"'The question I would ask you is simple.
01:26:10"'Why?
01:26:11"'There were almost two hundred boys here.
01:26:13"'Why did you twelve pass this test, and not the others?'
01:26:19Master Ramiel had looked from one boy to another,
01:26:22waiting to see if any of them would answer the question.
01:26:24At length, once he had seen that none of the boys would,
01:26:28he had answered it for them.
01:26:30"'It is because your minds were stronger,' Master Ramiel had told them.
01:26:35"'A man can be trained in the skills of killing.
01:26:38"'He can learn to use a knife or other weapons.
01:26:41"'But these things are nothing if his mind is not strong.
01:26:44"'It takes strength of mind for a man to hunt the great beasts.
01:26:48"'It takes strength for a man to know cold and hunger,
01:26:50"'to feel fear and yet refuse to break in the face of it.
01:26:54"'Always remember, the mind and will of a knight
01:26:58"'are as much weapons in his armoury as his sword and pistol.
01:27:02"'I will teach you how to develop these things,
01:27:04"'but it is up to you whether these lessons take root.
01:27:08"'Ultimately, the question of whether you will succeed or fail
01:27:11"'will be decided in the recesses of your own hearts.
01:27:15"'It takes mental strength and great fortitude of mind and will
01:27:19"'to become a knight.
01:27:21"'There, you have heard your first lesson,' Master Ramiel had said grimly,
01:27:25"'his eyes sweeping sternly over his new charges,
01:27:28"'as though he was capable of seeing into their very souls.
01:27:31"'Now, go and eat.'
01:27:34"'The command given,' Zahariel's mind floated up from the depths of his subconscious
01:27:39"'towards waking, as he heard a distant bell ringing
01:27:42"'and felt rough hands shaking him awake.
01:27:45"'His eyes flickered open, gummed by sleep, his vision blurred.
01:27:50"'A face swam into focus above him, and it took a moment for him
01:27:53"'to recognize his cousin from the callow youth he had stood next to in his dream.
01:27:58"'Nemil?' he asked, with a sleep-drowsy voice.
01:28:02"'Who else would it be?
01:28:03"'What are you doing?
01:28:05"'What time is it?'
01:28:06"'It's early,' said Nemil.
01:28:08"'Get up, quickly, now!'
01:28:10"'Why?' protested Zahariel.
01:28:12"'What's going on?'
01:28:14"'Nemil sighed, and Zahariel looked around their austere barracks,
01:28:17"'as supplicants dressed hurriedly, with grins of excitement,
01:28:20"'and not a little fear upon their faces.
01:28:23"'What's going on?' parroted Nemil.
01:28:26"'We're going on a hunt, is what's going on.
01:28:28"'A hunt?
01:28:30"'Aye!' cried Nemil.
01:28:32"'Brother Amardis is leading our freight-tree on a hunt!'
01:28:37"'Zahariel felt the familiar mix of excitement and fear
01:28:40"'as he rode the black steed between the trees in the shadowy depths of the forest.
01:28:45"'He shivered as fragments of his dream returned to him,
01:28:48"'and he strained to hear any hint of the screaming or whispering
01:28:52"'that had dogged his latest episode of dreaming.
01:28:55"'There was nothing.
01:28:56"'But then the excited jabbering of his comrades
01:28:58"'would have blotted out all but the most strident calls from the forest.
01:29:02"'Zahariel rode alongside Nemil, his cousin's open face and dark hair,
01:29:07"'partially concealed by his helmet, but his excitement infectious.
01:29:12"'Zahariel had been selected to lead this group,
01:29:14"'and nine supplicants rode behind him,
01:29:17"'each one also mounted on one of the black horses of Caliban.
01:29:21"'The root-strands of any other colour of riding-beast had long since died out,
01:29:25"'and only horses of a dark hue could be bred by the order's horse-masters.
01:29:30"'Like their riders, each horse was young and had much to learn,
01:29:34"'on their way to becoming the famed mounts of the Raven-wing cavalry.
01:29:38"'The knights of the Raven-wing rode like daring heroes of old,
01:29:42"'leading exponents of lightning warfare and hit-and-run charges.
01:29:46"'They were masters of the wilderness.
01:29:48"'They could survive for months alone in the deadly forests of Caliban,
01:29:52"'heroic figures in matt-black armour and winged helms
01:29:55"'that concealed the identity of each warrior.
01:29:58"'To be one of the Raven-wing was to live a lonely life,
01:30:01"'but one of heart-stopping adventure and glory.
01:30:05"'Five other groups of ten riders made up the hunt,
01:30:07"'spread throughout the forest in a staggered V-formation,
01:30:10"'with Brother Armadis roaming between them as an observer and mentor.
01:30:15"'They were many kilometres from the order's fortress-monastery,
01:30:17"'and the thrill of riding through the forest so far from home
01:30:21"'almost outweighed the cold lump of dread that had settled in Zahariel's stomach.
01:30:26"'You think we'll actually find a beast?' asked Atayas, from Zahariel's right.
01:30:31"'I mean, this part of the forest is supposed to be clear, isn't it?'
01:30:34"'We won't find anything with you prattling on,' snapped Nemil.
01:30:38"'I swear they can hear you back at Alderrook.'
01:30:41"'Atayas flinched at Nemil's harsh tone,
01:30:44"'and Zahariel shot his cousin a curt glance.
01:30:47"'Nemil shrugged, unapologetic, and rode onwards.
01:30:51"'Pay no attention to him, Atayas,' said Zahariel.
01:30:54"'He's missing his bed, that's all.'
01:30:56"'Atayas nodded and smiled,
01:30:58"'his natural optimism glossing over the incident with good grace.
01:31:02"'The boy was younger than Zahariel,
01:31:04"'and he had known him ever since Atayas was seven and had joined the order.
01:31:08"'Zahariel wasn't sure why he had taken the younger boy under his wing,
01:31:12"'but he had helped Atayas adapt to the disciplined and demanding life of a supplicant,
01:31:16"'perhaps because he had seen something of himself in the boy.
01:31:20"'His early years with the order had been hard,
01:31:22"'and if it hadn't been for Zahariel's guidance,
01:31:24"'Atayas would undoubtedly have failed in his first weeks and been sent home in ignominy.
01:31:29"'As it was, the boy had persevered and become a more than credible supplicant.
01:31:34"'Nemiel had never warmed to the boy,
01:31:36"'and made him the frequent subject of his often cruel jibes and scornful ridicule.
01:31:41"'It had become an unspoken source of antagonism between the cousins,
01:31:44"'for Nemiel had held that each supplicant should stand or fall by his own merits,
01:31:49"'not by who helped him, where Zahariel contended that it was the duty of each
01:31:53"'and every supplicant to help his brothers.
01:31:56"'It's a great honour for Brother Amardis to lead us on this hunt, isn't it?'
01:32:01"'Indeed it is, Atayas,' said Zahariel.
01:32:04"'It's not often we get to learn from such a senior knight.
01:32:07"'If he speaks, you must listen to what he says.'
01:32:10"'I will,' promised Atayas.'
01:32:13"'Another of their group rode alongside Zahariel,
01:32:16"'and pushed up the visor of his helm to speak.
01:32:18"'The helmets the supplicants wore were the hand-me-downs of the order,
01:32:22"'and only those issued to team-leaders boasted an inter-suit communication system.
01:32:27"'Zahariel's helmet allowed him to communicate with the leaders of the other groups of riders
01:32:31"'and Brother Amardis, but his fellow supplicants had to open their helmets to be heard.
01:32:37"'The rider next to him was Eliath, a friend of Nemiel and companion in his mocking games.
01:32:43"'Eliath was taller and broader than any of the other supplicants,
01:32:46"'his bulk barely able to fit within a suit of armour.
01:32:49"'Though his flesh was youthfully doughy, his strength was prodigious,
01:32:53"'and his stamina enormous, though what he possessed in power he lacked in speed.
01:32:59"'Eliath and Zahariel had never seen eye to eye,
01:33:01"'the boy too often taking Nemiel's lead when shaping his behaviour towards his fellow supplicants.
01:33:07"'Did you bring your notebook with you, Atayas?' asked Eliath.
01:33:11"'Yes,' said Atayas.
01:33:13"'It's in my pack. Why?'
01:33:15"'Well, if we do find a beast, you'll want to take notes on how to gut it.
01:33:19"'They might stand you in good stead if you ever face one without us.'
01:33:23"'A tightening of the jaw-line was the only outward sign of Atayas' displeasure,
01:33:27"'but Zahariel knew it was a jive that was somewhat deserved.
01:33:30"'The younger boy would carry his notebooks with him at all times,
01:33:33"'and write down every word the senior knights and supplicants said,
01:33:37"'whether appropriate or not.
01:33:39"'The foot-locker at the end of Atayas' bed was filled with dozens of such notebooks,
01:33:43"'crammed with his tight script, and every night before lights out
01:33:47"'he would memorise entire tracts of offhand comments and remarks
01:33:50"'as though they were passages from the verbatim.'
01:33:53"'Maybe I'll write your epitaph,' said Atayas.
01:33:56"'If we do meet a beast, it's sure to go for the fattest one first.'
01:33:59"'I'm not fat,' protested Eliath.
01:34:02"'I'm just big-boned.'
01:34:03"'Enough, the pair of you,' said Zahariel,
01:34:06"'though he took pleasure in seeing Atayas sticking up for himself
01:34:09"'and Eliath taking down a peg.
01:34:12"'We're training for a hunt, and I'm sure brother Amardis
01:34:14"'doesn't consider baiting each other as part of that training.'
01:34:17"'True enough, Zahariel,' said a sanguine voice in his helmet.
01:34:21"'But it does no harm to foster a little rivalry within a group.'
01:34:26"'None of the other supplicants heard the voice,
01:34:28"'but Zahariel smiled at the sound of brother Amardis' voice,
01:34:31"'knowing he must have heard the exchange between the supplicants.
01:34:35"'Healthy rivalry drives us to excel in all things,
01:34:38"'but it cannot be allowed to get out of hand,' continued Amardis.
01:34:42"'You handled that well, Zahariel.
01:34:44"'Allow rivalry to exist, but prevent it from becoming destructive.'
01:34:48"'Over the closed communications,' Zahariel said.
01:34:52"'Thank you, brother.'
01:34:53"'No thanks are necessary.
01:34:54"'Now take the lead and assume scouting discipline.'
01:34:58"'He smiled, feeling a warm glow envelop him at his hero's praise.
01:35:02"'To think that a warrior as great as Amardis knew his name was an honour,
01:35:06"'and he spurred his mount onwards
01:35:08"'as he felt the responsibility of his command settle upon him.
01:35:12"'Close up!' he ordered, riding to the front of the group of supplicants,
01:35:16"'and taking his place at the point of their arrow formation.
01:35:19"'Scouting discipline from now on!
01:35:21"'Consider this enemy territory!'
01:35:24"'His voice carried the strength of conviction
01:35:25"'that came from the approval of his peers,
01:35:28"'and without a murmur of dissent his squad-mates smoothly moved into position.
01:35:32"'Nemiel took up position behind him and to the left,
01:35:35"'while a supplicant named Pallian assumed the same position on the opposite side.
01:35:40"'Elioth and Attias took up position on either side of the formation,
01:35:44"'and Zahariel turned in the saddle to make sure his squad was lined up in position.
01:35:49"'Satisfied that all was as it should be,
01:35:51"'he returned his attention to the terrain ahead—the thick trunks and heavy foliage
01:35:56"'rendering the forest a canvas of shadows and slanted spars of light.
01:36:00"'Leaf-mold covered the ground,
01:36:02"'and the smell of decaying matter in the darkness
01:36:04"'gave the air a musty scent that was reminiscent of spoiled meat.
01:36:08"'The ground was rocky, but the horses of the raven-wing
01:36:11"'picked a clear path between the boulders and fallen tree-trunks.
01:36:15"'Strange noises drifted between the trees,
01:36:17"'but Zahariel had grown up in the forest,
01:36:20"'and he let the rhythm of the undergrowth drift over him,
01:36:22"'sorting the various calls of the wildlife of Canaban
01:36:25"'into those that were dangerous and those that were not.
01:36:29"'Most of the great beasts had been hunted to extinction by the Lion's Great Crusade,
01:36:34"'but several enclaves of lethal predators still existed,
01:36:37"'though they were far from any such places.
01:36:40"'Less dangerous monsters still lurked, unseen and unknown,
01:36:43"'in almost every part of the world's forests,
01:36:46"'but such creatures rarely attacked groups of warriors,
01:36:49"'relying on stealth and surprise to attack lone victims
01:36:52"'as they moved between the safe havens of the walled cities.
01:36:56"'Amid the hooting, cawing cries of birds,
01:36:59"'Zahariel could hear the clicking, creaking noise of the forest,
01:37:02"'the wind through the high trees,
01:37:04"'and the crunch of hooves over broken branches.
01:37:07"'Moving silently through the forest was virtually impossible
01:37:10"'for any but the Raven-wing,
01:37:11"'but still Zahariel wished they could be riding in silence.
01:37:15"'Even though the worst of Canaban's predators were mostly dead,
01:37:18"'there was no such thing as a beast that could be easily overcome,
01:37:22"'even with such numbers.
01:37:24"'They rode on for what seemed like a few hours,
01:37:26"'though without any sign of the sun above
01:37:28"'it was difficult to judge the passage of time.
01:37:31"'Only the changing angles of the beams of light
01:37:33"'that penetrated the forest canopy
01:37:35"'gave any hint to how long they had been travelling.
01:37:38"'Zahariel longed to communicate with the other groups of riders,
01:37:41"'but did not want to appear nervous or unsure of the course he was leading.
01:37:45"'This was supposed to be training for them
01:37:47"'going on a hunt of their own one day,
01:37:49"'and the idea that he did not know where he was going
01:37:52"'was not one he wanted to cultivate.
01:37:54"'The paths through the forest were well worn
01:37:57"'through countless training exercises,
01:37:59"'but so many existed that it was next to impossible
01:38:02"'to know which ones led to their destination.
01:38:04"'He and Nemiel had consulted the map before setting out,
01:38:08"'and their route had seemed simple enough
01:38:09"'in the walled confines of the fortress-monastery.
01:38:12"'Out in the forest, however,
01:38:14"'it was quite a different proposition.
01:38:17"'He was fairly sure he knew where he was
01:38:19"'and where their path should lead them,
01:38:21"'but it would be impossible to know
01:38:22"'if they had succeeded until they arrived.
01:38:25"'Zahariel hoped that Brother Amardis was nearby
01:38:28"'and would take note of how he was leading his fellows.
01:38:32"'His thoughts were interrupted as they rode,
01:38:33"'beneath low hanging branches, into a shadowed clearing,
01:38:36"'the sound of the leaves brushing against his helmet,
01:38:39"'startlingly loud, in the silence of the forest.
01:38:42"'Even as the thought struck him that the forest was silent,
01:38:45"'it was already too late.
01:38:47"'Something dark and winged dropped from the trees,
01:38:50"'its body scaled and reptilian.
01:38:53"'Claws like swords flashed, and one of his squad was dead,
01:38:58"'both he and his mount shone in two
01:38:59"'by the ferocity of the blow.
01:39:01"'Blood sprayed, and horrified cries echoed from the clearing.
01:39:05"'Zahariel drew his pistol as the beast struck again.
01:39:08"'Another supplicant died, his armour torn open,
01:39:11"'and his innards hooked from his belly.
01:39:13"'The horses were screaming, the scent of blood maddening them,
01:39:16"'and the supplicants fought to control their crazed mounts.
01:39:19"'Cries of horror and anger resounded,
01:39:22"'but there was no sense to them.
01:39:23"'Zahariel turned his mount towards the beast.
01:39:26"'Its large body was easily the size of one of their horses,
01:39:29"'undulating as though a million serpents writhed
01:39:32"'beneath its glistening flesh.
01:39:34"'Its spiny head snapped and bit
01:39:36"'at the end of a long snake-like neck,
01:39:39"'its jaws long and narrow,
01:39:41"'filled with razored fangs like the teeth of a woodsman's saw.
01:39:45"'Its wings were filmy and translucent,
01:39:47"'edged in ridges of horny carapace,
01:39:49"'and ending in long barbed claws.
01:39:52"'Zahariel had never seen its like before,
01:39:55"'and his momentary horror at its awful appearance
01:39:57"'almost cost him his life.
01:40:00"'The beast's wings slashed as though it were about to take flight,
01:40:03"'and one of the barbed hooks scored a deep groove
01:40:06"'across his breastplate,
01:40:07"'pitching him from the back of his screaming horse.
01:40:10"'Zahariel hit the ground hard
01:40:11"'as he heard another anguished scream of agony.
01:40:14"'He struggled to rise, his movements awkward in his armour.
01:40:17"'He reached for his fallen pistol
01:40:19"'as a wide shadow engulfed him,
01:40:21"'and he twisted his head
01:40:23"'as the screeching reptilian bird towered above him,
01:40:26"'its jaws wide and ready to snap him in two.'
01:40:33Chapter 4
01:40:36Zahariel rolled as the beast's beak stabbed downwards.
01:40:39He slithered on to his back and brought his pistol around.
01:40:42Three shots boomed from the barrel in a blaze of light,
01:40:45and Zahariel was momentarily blinded by the brightness.
01:40:48The noise was deafening,
01:40:50his helmet only slightly muffling the sounds.
01:40:53He scrambled away from the beast on his backside,
01:40:55fully expecting every second to be his last.
01:40:58He heard more shots,
01:41:00and as his vision cleared,
01:41:01he saw Nemiel crouching behind a tree
01:41:03and pumping shots from his pistol at the beast
01:41:06as it clawed at the remains of Zahariel's horse.
01:41:09Blood, like molten wax,
01:41:11oozed from three neat holes in the beast's chest.
01:41:14But if they had discomforted it,
01:41:16Zahariel could not tell,
01:41:17for it fought and roared as fiercely as it had when first attacking.
01:41:22The beast's wing shot out
01:41:23and clothed through the trunk of the tree
01:41:25Nemiel was using for shelter,
01:41:27and slammed into his cousin's chest.
01:41:29Nemiel dropped to the ground,
01:41:30his breastplate cracked but still whole,
01:41:33for the impact with the tree
01:41:34had blunted much of the force of the beast's blow.
01:41:37Zahariel scrambled to his feet
01:41:39as he saw the scattered remnants of his squad
01:41:41panic in the face of the monster.
01:41:43Elioth was pinned beneath his mount,
01:41:45the horse's flank opened from neck to rump,
01:41:47and Atayas sat petrified at the edge of the clearing.
01:41:51The young boy's mount stood stock still,
01:41:53its ears pressed flat against its skull,
01:41:55and its eyes wide with terror,
01:41:57rooting them both to the spot.
01:41:59The beast turned towards Atayas,
01:42:02and let out an ululating roar,
01:42:04spreading its wings and bunching its muscles,
01:42:07as it prepared to attack.
01:42:09—Hey! screamed Zahariel,
01:42:11stepping from the cover of the trees,
01:42:13and waving his arms above his head.
01:42:15—Over here!
01:42:17The beast's head turned on its sinuous neck,
01:42:20its blood-frothed jaws opening wide,
01:42:22and its black soulless eyes fixing upon him.
01:42:25Zahariel drew his sword,
01:42:27and aimed his pistol at the drooling monster.
01:42:30—Oh, ugly! he shouted.
01:42:33If you want him, you'll have to take me first.
01:42:37He had no idea whether or not
01:42:38the beast understood the words he was saying,
01:42:40but there was little doubt that it understood
01:42:42the challenge of his actions on a primal, animal scale.
01:42:46Without waiting for a response,
01:42:48Zahariel opened fire,
01:42:50the pistol bucking in his hand,
01:42:52and wet blooms of filmy blood burst from the beast's chest.
01:42:55It screeched and lunged towards him,
01:42:57its head shooting forward like the thrust of a sword.
01:43:01Zahariel leapt to the side,
01:43:02the blade of its beak slashing past him,
01:43:04barely a hand span from skewering him.
01:43:07Faster than he would have believed possible,
01:43:09the beast's head twisted in the air
01:43:11to catch him a glancing blow just below his hip.
01:43:14He flew through the air and slammed into a tree,
01:43:17the breath exploding from his lungs,
01:43:19and his weapons tumbling from his hands
01:43:21as he fell to the ground.
01:43:23Shouts and cries of terror sounded around Zahariel,
01:43:26and he shook his head
01:43:27as he tried to get his bearings once again.
01:43:29He heard his squad crying out in fear,
01:43:31and he spat blood as he pushed against
01:43:33the stinking ground and lifted his head.
01:43:36Though his vision swam crazily,
01:43:38he saw Elioth finally drag himself
01:43:40from beneath his dead mount,
01:43:42and Nemiel pick himself up from the beast's blow
01:43:44to drag himself behind another tree.
01:43:47Attias had snapped from his horrified paralysis
01:43:50and had ridden his horse into the trees,
01:43:52the beast lumbering back towards
01:43:54the tasty morsel of boy and horse.
01:43:58Zahariel used the tree next to him
01:44:00to haul himself to his feet,
01:44:02feeling a screaming pain in his twisted leg.
01:44:05He searched the ground for his fallen weapons,
01:44:07eventually spying the gleam of sunlight
01:44:09on the steel of his sword.
01:44:11He couldn't see his pistol,
01:44:12and had no time to look for it.
01:44:15He grimaced in pain as he swept up his sword
01:44:17and limped towards the clearing,
01:44:19as the beast's jaws snapped out
01:44:21and bit Attias' horse in two.
01:44:24The boy flung himself from the saddle
01:44:26just as the monster struck,
01:44:27and landed with a thud on a fallen log,
01:44:29rolling over it and flopping
01:44:31to the ground in a heap.
01:44:33Zahariel's armour hissed as breaches
01:44:35in its structure caused it to fail,
01:44:37the mechanisms of its protective systems
01:44:40grinding and seizing.
01:44:41The full mass of the plate began
01:44:43to weigh heavily on him,
01:44:44and he grimaced in pain as the plates
01:44:46at his hip settled on his hurt leg.
01:44:48"'Spread out!' shouted Zahariel.
01:44:50"'Get to the trees and spread out!
01:44:52Don't bunch up!'
01:44:55More pistol shots boomed,
01:44:56and Zahariel saw Pallion run forward
01:44:59to drag Attias back to the trees.
01:45:01The beast leapt over the dead horse,
01:45:03and its beak shot out,
01:45:05catching Pallion by the shoulder
01:45:06and wrenching him from his feet.
01:45:08The boy screamed as he was lifted
01:45:10high into the air,
01:45:11but his screams were cut short,
01:45:13as his arm and most of his shoulder
01:45:14was bitten through.
01:45:16He fell, trailing a drizzling arc of blood
01:45:18from the ruin of his body,
01:45:20the curve of his arm moving down
01:45:22the beast's throat with a horrid,
01:45:24peristaltic motion.
01:45:26Blood geysered from Pallion,
01:45:28and his screams filled the clearing
01:45:29as the agony overcame
01:45:30the shock of the wound.
01:45:32The beast turned its head back
01:45:34to the fallen boy,
01:45:35its wing-claws slashing twice.
01:45:38Pallion screamed no more.
01:45:41Zahariel cried out as Pallion
01:45:42was dismembered by the beast,
01:45:44and stepped into the clearing,
01:45:45his vision blurred with tears of pain
01:45:48and terror.
01:45:49He raised his sword,
01:45:50and held it unsteadily before him,
01:45:52as he faced the monster
01:45:53that he knew would kill him.
01:45:55He knew that fact with cold certainty,
01:45:57but he could not allow others
01:45:58to suffer and die
01:45:59without at least trying to save them.
01:46:01Get away from them, you bastard!
01:46:04he snarled.
01:46:05These are my friends,
01:46:06and they're not for the likes of you!
01:46:09The beast looked up,
01:46:11and though its eyes were empty and cold,
01:46:13Zahariel could sense
01:46:14its monstrous hunger to kill.
01:46:16Beyond even what it needed
01:46:18to feed and survive,
01:46:19this creature needed to inflict pain,
01:46:21and took some primitive enjoyment
01:46:23from the act of slaughter.
01:46:25The beast turned from Pallion's body,
01:46:27and let loose a tremendous roar,
01:46:29as it saw Zahariel advancing towards it,
01:46:31his sword aimed at its heart.
01:46:34The beast's wings rippled,
01:46:36and Zahariel knew what was coming.
01:46:37He brought his sword up
01:46:38as the creature's right wing
01:46:40slashed towards him.
01:46:41He swayed aside,
01:46:42and swung his sword around
01:46:43in a downward arc
01:46:44that chopped into the wing
01:46:45where the claw began.
01:46:47Milky blood sprayed,
01:46:49and the claw was shorn from the beast,
01:46:51as Zahariel's leg
01:46:52finally gave out beneath him,
01:46:54and he dropped to one knee.
01:46:56The beast howled in pain,
01:46:58and drew back its injured wing,
01:47:00its jaws opening wide,
01:47:01as it prepared to end his life.
01:47:04A shadow moved behind Zahariel
01:47:05as the beast lunged forward.
01:47:07The sight of its thousands of teeth
01:47:09filled his vision.
01:47:11Even as he smelt
01:47:12the rankness of its gullet,
01:47:13and saw the scraps of flesh
01:47:15stuck between its teeth,
01:47:16a silver-steel blur
01:47:18slashed over his head,
01:47:19as an armoured figure
01:47:20rode past him
01:47:21with a thunder of hooves,
01:47:22and a mighty war-shout.
01:47:25A long heavy-bladed sword
01:47:26struck edge-on
01:47:27into the beast's mouth,
01:47:28the wielder's strength
01:47:30and the beast's momentum
01:47:31driving the blade
01:47:32through its jawbone,
01:47:33and into the middle of its skull.
01:47:36The sword juddered to a halt,
01:47:37and the rider released the blade
01:47:39as he rode onwards,
01:47:40expertly wheeling his horse
01:47:41as the beast fell,
01:47:42its lunging body
01:47:43collapsing to the ground
01:47:45before Zahariel.
01:47:47The rider rode alongside
01:47:48the beast's skull.
01:47:50He drew a magnificent
01:47:51rotary-barrelled pistol,
01:47:52and aimed it at a point
01:47:54between the monster's eyes.
01:47:56Zahariel watched the hammer
01:47:57draw back,
01:47:58and flinched
01:47:59at the percussive bang
01:48:00as the explosive bolt
01:48:02detonated with a hollow boom
01:48:04inside its head.
01:48:06Viscous fluids leaked
01:48:07from the monster's skull,
01:48:08and the dark predatory hunger
01:48:10in its black orbs of eyes
01:48:12was finally extinguished.
01:48:14A last fetid exhalation
01:48:16gusted from the beast's mouth,
01:48:18and Zahariel recoiled
01:48:20from the rotten stench.
01:48:22He looked up,
01:48:23as his saviour
01:48:24holstered his pistol.
01:48:26The man wore the dark armour
01:48:27and hooded white surplus
01:48:29of the order,
01:48:30the front of which
01:48:30was embroidered
01:48:31with the symbol
01:48:32of the downward-pointing sword.
01:48:34"'You're lucky to be alive, my boy,'
01:48:37said the knight,
01:48:38and Zahariel instantly recognised
01:48:40the commanding tone.
01:48:42"'Brother Amardis,' he said.
01:48:44"'Thank you.
01:48:45You saved my life.'
01:48:46"'Aye,' said Amardis.
01:48:48"'And by the look of it,
01:48:49you saved the lives
01:48:50of your friends, Zahariel.'
01:48:52"'I was protecting my squad,'
01:48:55said Zahariel,
01:48:56the last of his strength
01:48:57beginning to fade
01:48:58now that the battle was over.
01:49:00Amardis swung down
01:49:01from his saddle,
01:49:02and caught him
01:49:02as he fell to the grass.
01:49:04"'Rest, Zahariel,'
01:49:06said Amardis.
01:49:07"'No,' whispered Zahariel.
01:49:09"'I have to get them home.'
01:49:11"'Let me do that for you, lad.
01:49:14You've done enough for one day.'
01:49:18"'You are lucky,'
01:49:20Nemuel would say to him later.
01:49:21"'But luck can't be relied on.
01:49:23It's a finite resource.
01:49:24One day it always runs out.'
01:49:27For years afterwards,
01:49:29whenever Zahariel
01:49:30told the tale
01:49:30of their confrontation
01:49:31with the winged beast,
01:49:33his cousin would always
01:49:34make the same remark.
01:49:36He would say it privately,
01:49:37out of earshot
01:49:38of their brothers,
01:49:38in the arming-chamber,
01:49:40or beside the practice-cages,
01:49:41as though he did not want
01:49:42to embarrass Zahariel
01:49:43in front of others.
01:49:44Yet, equally,
01:49:45he was incapable
01:49:46of letting the matter rest.
01:49:48Something about the whole affair
01:49:50seemed to have worked
01:49:51its way under Nemuel's skin,
01:49:52as though the battle
01:49:53had become a source
01:49:54of subdued annoyance to him,
01:49:56even irritation.
01:49:57He never showed it in his face,
01:49:59nor let it invade his tone,
01:50:00but at times
01:50:01it felt as if he were
01:50:02chiding Zahariel in some way,
01:50:04as though he felt compelled
01:50:06to subtly make the point
01:50:07that all of his cousin's
01:50:08later successes,
01:50:09all of his glories,
01:50:11had been built on a lie.
01:50:13Zahariel would find
01:50:14this behaviour curious,
01:50:15but he would never
01:50:16raise the issue
01:50:16with his friend.
01:50:18He would do
01:50:18what Nemuel could not.
01:50:20He would let the matter rest.
01:50:21He would never
01:50:22question Nemuel's words.
01:50:23He would listen to them,
01:50:25ignore the hidden bitterness,
01:50:26and accept
01:50:27they were well meant.
01:50:28For him to do differently
01:50:30might have endangered
01:50:31their friendship.
01:50:32"'You were lucky,'
01:50:33Nemuel would say.
01:50:34"'If it wasn't for luck
01:50:35and Brother Amardis,
01:50:36the beast would have
01:50:37killed us all.'
01:50:39Zahariel could not disagree.
01:50:43A week later,
01:50:44Zahariel was made
01:50:45to tell the tale
01:50:46of the fight
01:50:46to his fellow supplicants
01:50:48in the training chambers.
01:50:50Each time he told
01:50:51of how he had
01:50:52stood before the monster,
01:50:53it would always seem
01:50:54a far more thrilling affair
01:50:55than it had been in reality.
01:50:57It would seem
01:50:58a story of high ideals
01:51:00and grand adventure
01:51:01to his listeners.
01:51:02It was not that he lied
01:51:03about the specifics
01:51:04of it in any way,
01:51:05but he would learn
01:51:06that repetition
01:51:07had a way of softening
01:51:08the edges of human experience.
01:51:10Each telling
01:51:11sounded like a fairy-tale
01:51:13or fable.
01:51:15During the mad,
01:51:15frenetic rush of battle,
01:51:17it had been
01:51:17a life-or-death struggle,
01:51:19a hard-won victory
01:51:20achieved through
01:51:21the action of blood,
01:51:22sweat, and tears.
01:51:23It had been
01:51:24a close-run thing,
01:51:25and to the very end
01:51:26Zahariel thought
01:51:27the winged beast
01:51:27would kill them all.
01:51:29He thought
01:51:30the last instants
01:51:31of his life
01:51:31were to be spent
01:51:32gazing in horror
01:51:33into the beast's
01:51:34widening mouth,
01:51:35as the black void
01:51:36of its maw
01:51:37expanded
01:51:38to swallow him whole.
01:51:40If he were to be left
01:51:41any headstone
01:51:41or grave-marker,
01:51:42it would take
01:51:43the form
01:51:44of a regurgitated bolus
01:51:45created some time later,
01:51:47incorporating
01:51:48only those parts of him
01:51:49that were indigestible
01:51:50to his killer.
01:51:52This was the end
01:51:53he expected.
01:51:54The creature
01:51:54had seemed too strong,
01:51:55too formidable,
01:51:56and far too primal
01:51:58a force to ever be killed.
01:52:00But for Brother Armadis,
01:52:02those thoughts
01:52:02would have been correct.
01:52:04He would keep
01:52:05these thoughts
01:52:06from his fellows
01:52:06when he told the tale.
01:52:08He would be asked
01:52:09to tell the story often,
01:52:10but he realized
01:52:11no one wanted to hear
01:52:12of his private doubts.
01:52:14They wanted to hear
01:52:15something more stirring,
01:52:17full of heroic exploits,
01:52:18and the expression of valour,
01:52:20something that spoke
01:52:21of the inevitable triumph
01:52:22of good over evil.
01:52:24It was human nature,
01:52:25he supposed,
01:52:26but his listeners
01:52:27expected him
01:52:27to be the hero of his story.
01:52:29They wanted him
01:52:30to be confident,
01:52:31wise,
01:52:32debonair,
01:52:32unflappable,
01:52:33dashing,
01:52:34handsome,
01:52:34charismatic,
01:52:35even inspiring.
01:52:37The truth was
01:52:38that at the time
01:52:39he had fully expected
01:52:40to fail.
01:52:41He had not allowed
01:52:42that thought
01:52:43to undermine his resolve,
01:52:44but it was there
01:52:45all the same.
01:52:46No one wanted
01:52:47to hear that truth.
01:52:49No one wanted
01:52:49to know their heroes
01:52:50could have feet of clay.
01:52:53Occasionally,
01:52:54in the brief,
01:52:54quiet moments
01:52:55he would experience
01:52:56in the life ahead of him,
01:52:57he would wonder
01:52:58at the folly
01:52:58of human judgments.
01:53:01To his mind,
01:53:02his victory
01:53:02had been more special
01:53:04precisely because
01:53:05he had been afraid.
01:53:07His fellow supplicants,
01:53:08however,
01:53:09seemed to think
01:53:09it was improper
01:53:10to speak of the emotion at all.
01:53:12It was as if fear
01:53:13was a secret shame
01:53:14in every human heart,
01:53:16and his listeners
01:53:16wanted to be reassured
01:53:17that their heroes
01:53:18did not feel it,
01:53:19as though it meant
01:53:20they might one day
01:53:21be freed from their own fear.
01:53:23It seemed to Zahariel
01:53:25that this was wrong.
01:53:26The only way
01:53:26to overcome fear
01:53:28was to confront it,
01:53:30to pretend
01:53:30it did not exist,
01:53:31or might somehow
01:53:32disappear one day,
01:53:34only made it worse.
01:53:38Part 2
01:53:40Beast
01:53:43Chapter 5
01:53:46Years passed,
01:53:47and Zahariel's standing
01:53:48within the Order grew.
01:53:50His fight
01:53:51with the winged monster
01:53:51of the woods
01:53:52had almost cost him his life,
01:53:54but it had been
01:53:55the making of him.
01:53:56The senior masters
01:53:58of the Order
01:53:58knew his name,
01:53:59and though the monster
01:54:00had been slain
01:54:01by Brother Amardis,
01:54:02the Knight had ensured
01:54:03that every member
01:54:04of the Order
01:54:05knew of Zahariel's
01:54:06bravery in fighting it.
01:54:08The dead boys
01:54:09were buried
01:54:09with full honours,
01:54:10and life went on
01:54:11as before,
01:54:12with the supplicants
01:54:13training and living
01:54:14within the walls
01:54:14of the Fortress Monastery
01:54:16on the road
01:54:16to becoming Knights.
01:54:18Zahariel spent
01:54:19more time than ever
01:54:20honing his skills
01:54:21with pistol and blade,
01:54:23more than ever determined
01:54:24that he would not
01:54:25be at the mercy
01:54:25of another beast
01:54:26in his lifetime.
01:54:28The next time
01:54:29he faced a monster
01:54:30of Caliban
01:54:31he would be ready
01:54:31to kill it
01:54:32without a moment's pause.
01:54:34As the latest lesson
01:54:36concluded,
01:54:36Master Ramiel said,
01:54:38Always remember,
01:54:40you are more
01:54:40than just killers.
01:54:42Any fool can take a knife
01:54:43and try to push it
01:54:44into his enemy's flesh.
01:54:46He may attempt to strike,
01:54:47feint,
01:54:48and parry with a blade.
01:54:49Given some instruction
01:54:50he may even become
01:54:51proficient.
01:54:52But you are more
01:54:54than that,
01:54:54or you will be.
01:54:56You are Knight Supplicant
01:54:57of the Order,
01:54:58but in future
01:54:59you will be the protectors
01:55:00of the people of Caliban.
01:55:03Fine words, eh?"
01:55:04said Nemil,
01:55:05moving to one
01:55:06of the rest benches
01:55:07and picking up a linen towel
01:55:08to mop his face.
01:55:10Fine indeed,
01:55:11agreed Zahariel,
01:55:12just as fine
01:55:13as the first hundred times
01:55:14I heard them.
01:55:16The lesson had been spent
01:55:17mastering the principle
01:55:18of the inner-circle
01:55:19sword defence,
01:55:20and both boys
01:55:21were lathered in sweat
01:55:22from the sparring session.
01:55:24Though honours were still
01:55:25more or less even
01:55:26between them,
01:55:27Nemil had begun
01:55:28to claw ahead
01:55:28in their perpetual rivalry.
01:55:31Master Ramiel does love
01:55:32to quote the verbatim."
01:55:34True,
01:55:35but I think he thinks
01:55:36we're all like a Taius,
01:55:37writing down
01:55:38every pithy quote we hear.
01:55:40Well, so long as we
01:55:41master the fighting,
01:55:42I can live with hearing
01:55:43a few repetitions
01:55:44now and again,"
01:55:45said Nemil.
01:55:46I suppose,
01:55:47agreed Zahariel,
01:55:48next time we fight a beast
01:55:50we won't be so unprepared.
01:55:52A heavy silence
01:55:53fell between them.
01:55:54Zahariel cursed himself
01:55:56for bringing up
01:55:56the subject of the beasts,
01:55:58for it always served
01:55:59to remind Nemil
01:56:00of how his cousin
01:56:01had won glory
01:56:01and plaudits
01:56:02for his role
01:56:03in protecting them
01:56:04long enough for
01:56:04Brother Amardis
01:56:05to kill it,
01:56:06when all Nemil had won
01:56:08was time in the infirmary.
01:56:10"'Do you think the beast
01:56:11was sentient?'
01:56:12asked Nemil.
01:56:13"'What beast?'
01:56:14replied Zahariel,
01:56:16though he knew fine well
01:56:17what his cousin meant.
01:56:19"'The winged beast
01:56:20that attacked us in the forest
01:56:21all those years ago.'
01:56:23"'Sentient?'
01:56:24asked Zahariel.
01:56:26"'I suppose that depends
01:56:27on what you think
01:56:27the term means.
01:56:29I think the beast
01:56:30was intelligent, yes.
01:56:31I really believe it.
01:56:33But was it truly sentient?
01:56:35I remember Brother Amardis
01:56:36saying that the true
01:56:37test of sentience
01:56:38was whether a creature
01:56:39was capable of planning
01:56:40towards the future
01:56:42and using reason
01:56:43to solve its problems.'
01:56:45"'So what do you think,
01:56:46then, cousin?'
01:56:47asked Nemil.
01:56:48"'Do you think the creature
01:56:49was sentient or not?'
01:56:51"'I don't believe I know.
01:56:52I think it's too difficult
01:56:53for a human mind
01:56:54to understand the workings
01:56:55of an inhuman one,
01:56:57but I can only tell
01:56:58what it felt like to fight it.'
01:57:00"'And what did it feel like?'
01:57:01asked Nemil.
01:57:03"'It felt like the beast
01:57:04was a spider,
01:57:05and I was a fly.'
01:57:08Zahariel ran the oily rag
01:57:10through the barrel of his pistol,
01:57:12clearing it of the residue
01:57:13of repeated firing.
01:57:15The gun was starting
01:57:16to pull to the left,
01:57:17and it had let him down
01:57:18in the firing drills
01:57:19with the rest of the supplicants.
01:57:21When he had pointed out
01:57:22the weapon's fault,
01:57:23the knight-armorer
01:57:24had simply recommended
01:57:25that he clean the barrel
01:57:26thoroughly before trying again.
01:57:28The implicit insult
01:57:29in the armourer's comment
01:57:30had angered Zahariel,
01:57:31but he was still
01:57:32just a supplicant,
01:57:33and had no recourse
01:57:34to answer back
01:57:35to a full knight.
01:57:37Instead, he had politely thanked
01:57:38the knight-armorer,
01:57:39and returned to the dormitories
01:57:41to break out his cleaning-kit,
01:57:42and meticulously clean
01:57:44every moving part of the weapon.
01:57:46Not that he expected it
01:57:47to do any good.
01:57:48He suspected that
01:57:50the imperfection with the weapon
01:57:51was more to do
01:57:52with the weapon's age
01:57:53than any impurities
01:57:54lodged in the barrel,
01:57:56for he was as fastidious
01:57:57with his weapons
01:57:58as he was with his armour—
01:57:59more so, in fact.
01:58:01"'The armourer told you
01:58:02to clean your weapon
01:58:03more thoroughly, eh?'
01:58:04said Nemial,
01:58:05watching as Zahariel
01:58:06angrily sat on his cot-bed,
01:58:08lifted another component
01:58:09of his pistol,
01:58:10and began cleaning it
01:58:11with vigorous strokes
01:58:12of the cloth.
01:58:13"'As if I don't keep it
01:58:15clean enough already,'
01:58:16said Zahariel.
01:58:17"'You never know,'
01:58:18said Nemial.
01:58:19"'It might help.'
01:58:21"'I keep this weapon
01:58:22cleaner than anything else
01:58:23I own.
01:58:24You know that.'
01:58:25"'True.
01:58:26But the armourers
01:58:26know what they're talking about.
01:58:28"'You're taking their side.'
01:58:30"'Side?'
01:58:31said Nemial.
01:58:32"'Since when did this
01:58:32become about sides?'
01:58:34"'Never mind,'
01:58:35snapped Zahariel.
01:58:36"'No, come on,
01:58:37what did you mean?'
01:58:38Zahariel sighed,
01:58:40and put down the breech
01:58:41and the brush
01:58:41he had been cleaning it with.
01:58:43"'I mean that you seem
01:58:44to be relishing this.'
01:58:46"'Relishing what?'
01:58:48"'That you managed
01:58:48to beat me
01:58:49in the firing drills,'
01:58:51said Zahariel.
01:58:52"'Is that what you think, cousin?
01:58:54That I need your gun
01:58:55to fail for me to beat you?'
01:58:57"'That's not it, Nemial,'
01:58:58said Zahariel.
01:58:59"'I just meant—'
01:59:01"'No, I understand,'
01:59:02said his cousin,
01:59:03rising from the cot-bed,
01:59:04and making his way
01:59:05down the central corridor
01:59:06of the dormitory chamber.
01:59:08"'You think you're
01:59:09better than me.
01:59:10I see that now.'
01:59:12"'No, that's not it at all,'
01:59:14protested Zahariel.
01:59:15But his cousin
01:59:16was already walking away.
01:59:18His pride ruffled.
01:59:20Zahariel knew he should
01:59:21go after Nemial,
01:59:22but part of him was glad
01:59:24he had finally given voice
01:59:25to the irritation
01:59:26that his cousin
01:59:26took such a relish
01:59:27in watching him fail.
01:59:29He put the disagreement
01:59:30from his mind,
01:59:31and continued
01:59:32cleaning his weapon,
01:59:32head down,
01:59:33putting the background noise
01:59:34of the dormitory
01:59:35from his mind,
01:59:36as he focused his efforts
01:59:37on making his pistol
01:59:38shine as good as new.
01:59:40A shadow fell across him,
01:59:42and he sighed.
01:59:44"'Look, Nemial,'
01:59:45he said.
01:59:46"'I'm sorry,
01:59:46but I need to get this done.'
01:59:49"'It can wait,'
01:59:51said a sonorous voice,
01:59:52and he looked up
01:59:53to see Brother Armadis
01:59:54standing at the foot
01:59:55of his cot-bed,
01:59:56dressed in full armour
01:59:57and white surplice.
01:59:59"'Armadis?'