The Silver Sheen Chronicle - Emblems of Power

by C.L. Patterson

  Zenith, being a man persuaded to frequent meditation and prayer, excused himself of his duties in the School of the Faye as Head Teacher and Principal in the city of Anteperil to sojourn in the Great Northern Wilderness that he might know more concerning the Faye. Knowing the gravity of his duties, he charged his assistant, Lucent, the Assistant to the Head Teacher, to his position for a time.

  Relying completely upon the Faye for sustenance, he took no food or water, but took the wooden staff of the teachers, and wore only his tunic, trousers and sandals. At the end of the third day of his journey, he came upon an oasis. Grass with barbs as sharp as fishing hooks surrounded the pool. A single tree filled with gourds grew at the edge of the water. Zenith removed his cloak and placed it before him and crawled through the grass, towards the pool. As he reached the pool’s edge, he set down his staff, dipped his hands into the water and pulled the water to his mouth to drink. But the water changed to tar and burned his lips as he drank.

  Zenith, enraged and wroth with heat and exhaustion, tore his left sleeve from the cloak he rested upon, and cast it into the pool whereupon the water rippled. As the first ripple reached the edge of the pond, the ripples behind it grew and rolled out onto the edge where Zenith knelt.

  Zenith reached out again to drink the water, but the water stirred and turned away from his hands, so that it could not be touched. Then Zenith, finding himself for want of water and receiving naught stretched towards the sky on his knees.

  “Here I have come to commune upon the Faye and learn to rely upon the powers which it contains, and I am rewarded with tar and torment for want of water,” he said.

  The water that was about him stirred and the surface was troubled for a moment. Then a figure arose out of water. The figure’s height was the height of a man, and the girth thereof was also of a man, but the body was of a woman, and the sun shone through her. Her eyes were like fire and her voice was like a running stream. The Woman of the Water stretched forth a hand and pointed a finger at Zenith.

  “What dost thou seek at my pool?” she said.

  “I have come to drink, for I am sore with thirst. I curse the Faye, for here I have come and perish for want of water. I have cupped my hands in the waters and have been tormented by them.” The woman frowned and pointed a finger at Zenith.

  “This I do that you may know of the torment that is to come because of thy seed, for thy seed shall drink all the water of the earth and shall replace it with tar, and the earth shall be scorched continually by the hand of thy seed. And briars and thorns shall he sow among the people, dividing them hither and thither and all shall thirst for relief and shall not find. All shall seek for relief, and shall dry up as if in the desert sun.” Then Zenith wept, and his tears streamed and fell upon the ground. And the woman of the water touched his hands, and cupped them, and placed them in the pool that he might drink.

  And when Zenith had quenched his thirst he spoke saying “Woman of the Water, wither to shall I go, knowing the misfortune which thou has prophesied against me.”

  “Go north and there you shall find peace and shall be taught again by my kind and shall know what thou should do.”

  Zenith asked what the kind of creature the woman was. The Woman of the Water said that she was of the Faye, and that more of her kind would manifest themselves unto him and minister to him. Then the woman receded into the water, and the barbed grass receded into ground, and the pool of water mixed with the sand and turned to stone. After giving thanks, he arose and took up his coat, and continued his sojourn northward.

  Another day and night passed since Zenith drank, and he found himself both for want of water and food. On the horizon was another oasis, with barbed grass and a tree that was filled with fruit of many varieties. Again, Zenith removed his coat and laid it before him, and crawled to the pool’s edge. He set down his staff and dipped his hands into the pool. The water didn’t stir, and its taste was sweet. Then Zenith reached to the tree and grabbed a fruit. Its smell was of summer flowers. As he bit into it, the taste became as dung and the odor was most foul.

  Zenith dropped the fruit, fell to his knees and stretched towards the sky.

  “Hitherto have I come, and yet now I perish for want of food. I have relied upon the Faye for strength and have received none. I am cursed for my foolishness and my pride. May this tree burn and dry up in this heat and become as I shall become.”

  Then the wind troubled the water, and as its ripples came to the shore, a woman formed, who was tall and most beautiful, resembling the other Woman of the Water that Zenith had seen. This woman wore a robe of sunlight and her hair was of water reeds.

  “Zenith, why do you curse this tree as thyself? Know ye not that this tree is thee in meaning? This I show you that you may know of the torment that is to come because of thy seed, for thy seed shall drink all the water of the earth and shall replace it with tar, and the earth shall be scorched continually by the hand of thy seed. And briars and thorns shall he sow among the people, dividing them hither and thither and all shall thirst for relief and shall not find. All shall seek for relief, and shall dry up in the desert sun.”

  Then Zenith wept, hearing again the prophecy of his posterity. As his tears touched the ground, the woman of the water plucked for him a fruit, and gave to him to eat. And he ate, and the taste thereof was sweet like to honey, and filling as bread.

  “Woman of the water, what am I to do, where am I to go, now that I know this prophesy is to come upon me.”

  “Go northward, into the Great Wilderness, and there ye shall find peace and again be taught by my kind.” Then the woman receded into the water, and the barbed grass receded into ground, and the pool of water mixed with the sand and turned to stone. Zenith arose, gave thanks, and continued his sojourn northward.

  After another three days, he came to the edge of the Great Wilderness and rested beneath the trees where there was shade. As he rested he dreamt, and the dream troubled him. For he thought he saw his firstborn son, whose countenance was darker than night, but his outward appearance was bright, stand upon the earth as if it was his footstool and commanded thousands of thousands of men with his left hand, and in his right, he carried a vial filled with black liquid that sparked with purple lightning. The words of his mouth were words of power. Even the sky, earth and the sea bent to his will.

  When Zenith awoke, he was covered in a cold sweat and drank and continued northward. The night was half gone when he came to a river. The breadth of it was half a mile, and the water rushed continually. Boulders were in the midst of it, and the waves crashed around them. Around the river were many trees, but the Great Wilderness was still a week’s journey northward. He took off his cloak, kneeled upon it, set his staff before him.

  “Hitherto I have come to venture into the Great Wilderness and have come to this river that is too treacherous to cross. Here I shall wait and ponder upon my posterity.”

  And when he had said these words, the river stilled so that a leaf could float upon the surface of it and not move. When Zenith beheld it, the water rippled and a woman appeared, whose countenance, figure and voice matched the other two women of the water.

  “What do you seek?”

  “I seek and understanding of my posterity, for I have seen a vision where my first born had an outward appearance that was bright and pleasing to look upon, but whose inward appearance was darker than night. In his left hand, he could command thousands of thousands of men, and in his right, he held a vile of black liquid that sparked with lightning and he stood upon the earth as if it were his footstool. Thy kind has told me that my seed shall be a scourge unto earth, and shall scorch it with an unquenchable fire. I am troubled for I do not know what I should do.”

  “This is the meaning of thy dream,” said the woman of the water. “Thy first-born son shall have influence both of men and of the world. Strong shall be his power, so much so that even the Faye would bend under him. His strength shall be his power and influence, for he shal
l be loved by many, and hated by few, and his weakness shall also be his power. The vial which he holds in his right hand is the source of this power. But lo, this is not the end of what I shall tell you, for there are many other things which I perceive you are seeking.”

  And the woman showed him all things that were in the earth, both of physical and of the Faye. The night suddenly changed to day and Zenith stood on a plateau where he could see to the far edges of the world.

  “What do you see?”

  “I see the world and all things that live upon it.”

  “All these things are manifestations of the Faye, for each is connected to the Faye, and the Faye to it, and all things are connected to each other.” As she spoke, the material world faded away and Zenith could see the Faye flowing through all things. In some things, the Faye was faint, strong enough only to support life, and in others, it was filled with the Faye, as if it were a part of it. He looked upon himself and saw that the Faye swarmed beneath his feet and only portions entered his being.

  The woman pointed at his feet and said, “We wish to commune with thee, so that we may teach you the things that you should know and what you are to do about your first-born son.” Zenith breathed and stilled his mind. The Faye filled his body and the woman whispered in his mind.

  The woman touched his forehead with her fingers and the vision of his seed appeared to him, not as a dream, but of the things that were to take place. His son was in a cellar with a dozen dead men around him. Their faces were white and their bodies drained of their blood. There was a casket in the center of the room that was opened, and in it was the blood of the men. From that casket, a pipe led out into a mixture of glass tubes and devices. Beneath the pipes was a long flame that burned a putrid green and stank. The door to the room was secured with four bolts, one for each edge of the door.

  The child looked upon the door. His face was speckled in blood and in his left hand he carried a curved blade. The locks upon the door were loosed and the door opened. Zenith saw himself. The child fell upon his father with the blade. Zenith deflected his attack and beat him severely, even unto the point of death. As he lay upon the ground, Zenith stood above him, but could not bring himself to kill him. Then his son arose and stabbed him to the heart. He took his father’s body and placed it over the casket, slit Zenith’s throat and poured his blood into the casket.

  “You have seen what is to come to you and your first-born son if you do nothing,” the woman said. “This advice I give to you, that the future is as changeable as water. It can be shaped, it can be controlled, but if nothing is done, the events you have seen will occur. You must kill your first-born son else the entire world would be destroyed at his hand. Here, take thy fill of water and continue northward, where you will again be taught by my kind and learn what should be done concerning thy first-born son.”

  And when the woman had receded into the water, the water parted. Where the water had parted, was a path of large stones and not a drip of water was upon them. Zenith filled the gourd and walked down the path the woman created. When he crossed, the river resumed its normal shape and flow.

  Zenith continued his journey northward and the week passed quickly. The water from the river gave him strength and quenched his thirst as he walked through the forest. On the seventh day, he communed with the Faye. Its power swarmed in the Great Wilderness and filled everything that was in it. The rocks, trees, grasses and other plant life were bursting with energy.

  As he entered, the Faye surrounded him and he saw things both past and future, causing both to intertwine at present. The trees were as thick as buildings and so tall that tips seemed to have touched the sky. The veins of bark spiraled up the tree and were as wide as a man. The trees changed the next moment, being but a small sapling, tender and fragile sprouting a few leaves and needles. While he walked, thorns and vines moved away like fearful tendrils. In front of him he could see himself, and behind him, he could see himself. To his left, he could see creatures materializing out of nothing, glowing with the Faye, and on his right, he could see these same creatures dimming and disappearing into nothing.

  As he was observing the powers around him, a child in a hooded white robe appeared from behind one of the trees. Zenith followed him and called after him, but the child ran further ahead. When Zenith had caught up with the child, he was lying upon a stone alter.

  On the ground, next to the stone alter was a curved blade which was not tarnished or weathered by time. Bundles of sticks were placed around the altar as a funeral pyre but there was no torch or tool to make fire with. Then another woman of water came from a tree. Her gaze was like strikes of lightening. Her raiment was the sunlight and it wrapped around her from shoulder to ankle.

  The boy in white lay still upon the altar. The ground was covered in soft grass. The large trees parted and moved, allowing the sunlight to enter the small clearing and golden beams of light shown around Zenith. The woman approached him and plucked one of the golden beams from the air and from it, fashioned three orbs. She held the orbs out to Zenith.

  “What do you seek?” When she spoke, her voice was as terrible and powerful as a great waterfall.

  “I seek to stop my seed from choking the earth, and scorching it, and commanding thousands of thousands that all may burn under his power.”

  The woman then took one of the orbs and placed it in the hand of Zenith. The orb was blue like the sky, and fit in the palm of his hand.

  “These three orbs that I have fashioned represent the three periods of time. The first I give to you is the past. Look into it.”

  Zenith lifted the orb to his eye and looked in and grew pale, for it showed unto him an event that occurred six years prior to his sojourn to the Great Wilderness. Zenith and a group of friends were in a brewery that contained the strongest ales and the most tenderly meats known in the city of Anteperil. Barrels lined the walls that were filled with brews made from the fine grains. The booths and chairs had high backs and plush cushions. On the upper level of the tavern was an inn where rooms were paid for by the hour. The candelabra was made of brass and crafted to match kingly halls. The cutlery and eating wares were of silver. They drank much and ate much for they were celebrating Zenith’s birthday.

  As the evening was ending, his friends presented to him the harlot Anna, for she was fair to look upon. She was desired by many men and knew many men. And Zenith took her, and knew her in the upper rooms of the tavern.

  As a gift of affection and appreciation, Zenith gave her a vial wrapped with a leather cord, saying that it would protect her from all harm. Then the memory ended and the orb disintegrated in his hand.

  The woman of water took another orb from her hand. It was white in color and the same size as the previous.

  “This orb represents the present. Look into it.”

  Zenith looked into it.

  He saw the harlot Anna outside the brothel. A boy wrapped his arms tightly around Anna’s legs. He was dressed in a white robe with a cord tied around his waist.

  “This is the first fruits of your loins, a son of a harlot, whom you must kill, for he can only be killed by one who shares his blood.” When she had finished speaking, the orb disintegrated in his hand.

  Then the woman of water took from her hand the last orb and gave it to Zenith. It was the same size as the previous two. It was the color of the sun and the edges thereof burned fiercely, but did not cause pain.

  “This orb represents the future and the child upon the altar represents thy first born. Take the knife at the base thereof and cut thy hand. Sprinkle thy blood upon the child, and then cast the orb of fire onto him. For the fire that must burn the child must be a manifestation of the Faye and it must mix with the blood of his blood.”

  Zenith approached the altar, drew the knife and cut his hand. He spilled his blood upon the child’s head and cast the orb onto the altar. The child lay still, and burned. As the fire burned, the woman instructed Zenith about the words and
power of the Unspoken.

  “The child lay still because he is under the power of the Unspoken. I have bound him to the altar and stilled his tongue. This you must learn and more, for the Unspoken are to be passed down from Head Teacher to Head Teacher. Therefore, the words of the Unspoken are not written,” the woman said. “Nor could they be written, for if the words were written, the words themselves would crumble upon the page, and the page would burn like dry tinder.”

  And after the Unspoken were committed to memory, the woman of water expounded upon the Faye and how it is to be channeled and used.

  After those teachings were committed to memory, Zenith demonstrated the teachings and with profound proficiency. Then the woman of water expounded how the school of the Faye was to be organized, and the governance thereof, and the purpose of the school, which is to protect all kind from ill, by those who are and are not attuned to the Faye. The school would teach those who are attune to the Faye their responsibility of stewardship for those around them.

  And Zenith found peace in the Great Wilderness and began his journey back to the city. The sun could not scorch him nor parch him. When he had returned to Anteperil, his countenance was bright, and his friends and cohorts marveled at it.

  “Marvel not that I am among you in good health, nor be astonished that my countenance is bright, for I have communed with the Faye and have returned from the Great Wilderness with knowledge to impart to you. Let ink and pen be found, let parchment be gathered that I may speak unto you what was spoken unto me concerning the Faye and our school.”

  And those teachings are found in the volumes which were scripted upon his arrival from the Great Wilderness. He also restructured the school to tend to its future needs. The position of Head Teacher, and Assistant to the Head were kept. Others were appointed to the title of Teacher. Twelve teachers were appointed and their responsibilities are to teach others the different aspects of channeling the Faye.

  The Assistant to the Head was to be taught by the Head the words of the Unspoken so that when Head Teacher passed away, his assistant could take his place with a full knowledge of the Unspoken and then appoint another from the teachers to be his assistant.

  [][][]

  “The story goes on for a while,” the book wrote, “about the governance of the School, and those books are in the library. I don’t think they are pertinent to what you are looking for. We will skip over this section.”

  Kosai was glad the book intervened. More literature on theory and governance was the last thing Kosai wanted to read. The words faded, and Kosai turned the page.

  [][][]

  After the rules and teachings of Zenith were scripted, Zenith went into the Grand Library of Anteperil and there built a secret room, the entrance of which only he could see.

  The room was located on the south wall of the library. When he spoke the proper word of the Unspoken, a door (with a circle of power appeared etched upon it) appeared on the brick wall. The circle of power was a thin ring of green flame. Inside the ring were three green arches. The door was made from planks of wood and was held tightly together by three metal bands that were bolted to the wood. Zenith placed the end of his staff on the three arches and turned his staff like a doorknob. When the arches were inverted, there was a loud click and the door swung slowly open.

  In the middle of the room, he channeled the Faye and created an altar from the existing stone. The grey stone rose from the ground and was slightly angled on all four sides so that the top was slightly smaller than the base. The altar was big enough to lay a man upon. Channeling the Faye a second time, he created a torch from the right wall.

  The torch was built in a way that it could be taken from the wall. On the bottom of the handle was a round pommel, engraved with another circle of power. The handle was two hand spans high and had evenly spaced lateral grooves. Etched at the top of the handle were three stone circles, stacked atop of each other. The first ring was the smallest, only a few inches wide with no design. The second ring was wider by an inch and was also without design. The third ring was the largest. On the wall, above the torch, Zenith took his staff, and channeling the Faye, carved a circle of power. When the circle was complete, the torch lit, and an orb of fire burned upon the torch.

  Satisfied with his work, he exited the room and hurried up to the main assembly hall where many of his colleagues were conversing about practices concerning the Faye. He took a few of his closest friends aside. Hurriedly, he asked them to gather logs and tinder for him while he was away. When his friends asked him why, he divulged unto them the vision of his posterity.

  Zenith told them of Anna, and how it was revealed unto him that she gave birth to a son. “For only the blood of his blood and flesh of his flesh may destroy him. Power is within him and he is without restraint. I am to take him, and slay him that our future and the future of others may be preserved.”

  A few stood back and claimed him to be mad, or with fever. He took them, one by one, and placed his hand over their eyes and showed them what he had seen. In the vision given by Zenith, they each saw his son commanding thousands of thousands with his left hand. In his right, he held a vile of black substance.

  “In his left, he shall have power and authority over the earth. Armies and governments shall bow to him, and he shall hold in his left hand the key to his power. This vile and its contents have not of yet been revealed to me, but I hope to end his life tonight, that what you and I have seen shall not come to pass.” After Zenith had revealed his visions and the interpretation, there were still others who did not believe his words.

  “How are we to know for a surety that what we have seen has come from the Faye and was not a construct in his mind that he has placed upon us?” Lucent asked. “Did he not recite unto us the governing rules, stating that one should not kill without sufficient reason for good, be it survival or as a means for preventing greater harm? He has gone mad believing that killing a child who is full of innocence would be for good.”

  Zenith then left the school and made his way to the tavern where he had celebrated his day of birth. He asked the owner where he could find Anna, and was given directions to the brothel house. It was towards the mid-afternoon when he found his way to the brothel house, and was there greeted by one of the women who attempted to lure him.

  But Zenith straightway dismissed the invitation.

  “Woman, tempt me not. I have come in search of Anna, for it has been shown me that she has a son, who is of mine own flesh, and I have come to take him.” Then the color vanished from the harlot’s face.

  “How did you come to know of this thing?” she asked. “We have told no man or woman, save it be those that have worked within these walls, of the child.”

  “How I came to know is of no importance. Now go woman, fetch me Anna and my son that I may take him.” The woman went into the house and returned with Anna, and her son. Anna looked at Zenith and shook her head. Tears traced muddy trails in her dusty cheeks.

  “These years I have told no man or woman, except those that work within these walls, of our child. I pray tell me who told you that I may know who has betrayed my trust.”

  “No man or woman told me of our son. He is the flesh of my flesh, and blood of my blood and that is reason enough for me to know that he has lived. I will take him and raise him that he may grow and become a man of reputable nature. Surely you do not wish for your son to continue to be known as the son of a harlot, fatherless and without skill?”

  “I do not wish for my son to continue to grow within these walls, or for others to know that he is here, for the son of a harlot does not fare well in this world. I do wish that you would take him, and raise him as your own, and teach him to forget all that he has known here.”

  Zenith took his son and returned to the school. When he entered, he was greeted by the Assistant as well as a small number of teachers. These teachers conspired against him while he was out that they would remove him from the school and sav
e the child, disbelieving the words and the visions which he spoke of and showed to them. Zenith knelt and leaned into his son’s ear.

  “These men seek to kill me and take you as their own. I have a room prepared for us that will keep you safe from them. Stay close to me.” Zenith stood and addressed the teachers. “Brothers, why hast thou come to me at this hour? Have I not shown you what is to come to pass?”

  “What you have said, we do not believe, for we fear you are mad,” Lucent said. “We have come to take the child from you and remove you from our school. You have no place here.” Zenith looked down at the child, then back at the Assistant.

  “You have not yet learned all the words of the Unspoken, how are you to lead and carry this school?”

  “The words which you have taught me I feel are enough, but I do not know for myself if what you have taught is true. Can you prove unto me that the words you speak are true?” Zenith agreed and called for parchment, ink and pen. When it was brought to him, he handed it to the Assistant. “Upon that parchment, write the words of the Unspoken which I have taught you, that you may understand. If the parchment holds, then you shall know that I am a liar and I will cast myself out from among you, but if the parchment does not hold, then you shall know that I have spoken the truth.”

  The Assistant then loaded the quill with ink and began to write the words of the Unspoken. But as he wrote them, the tip of the quill became fire, and the parchment burst into flames.

  “And how are we to know that it is not some trick by which you have deceived us?” a teacher asked.

  Zenith breathed in, and channeled the Faye into his body. Filled with power, he stretched forth his staff, and pushed the group of teachers back, pinning them against a wall. He then took his son by the arm, and ran into the library. At the entrance, other teachers were waiting with large batches of sticks and tinder.

  “Follow me,” he said to them and the teachers followed him. He continued to run until he came to the entrance of the room with the altar and torch which he had created. He spoke the word of the Unspoken and the door appeared. They entered in and as the last teacher entered the room, the door and entranced concealed itself as stone and brick. The teachers laid the sticks and tinder around the altar and Zenith laid his son upon the altar. There, the boy struggled. Zenith breathed and channeled the Faye a second time. He placed his hand upon the child’s face and spoke the words of the Unspoken for silence, binding, and sleep.

  As the boy slept, Zenith took the knife that was at the base of the altar and cut his hand.

  “The blood of your blood and the flesh of your flesh,” Zenith said as he dripped his blood upon the child. “These are the only things that can harm you, and so do I do with my own blood, sealing the future peace of our people.” As Zenith spoke, the child stirred. Zenith, seeing that his son was waking, took the torch from the wall and thrust onto the altar.

  The flames licked the sticks around the altar and the fire grew. The child awoke as the fires burned him. He stood on the altar and leapt at Zenith, catching him by surprise. Zenith aimed for the child’s throat, but missed and sliced the boy’s arm. The child wrestled the knife from Zenith’s hand and stabbed his father straight through the heart. As the boy leaned over his dying father, a necklace fell out of the child’s robes that Zenith had not seen before.

  On the end of the necklace was the vile he had given to Anna on his birthday. The boy withdrew the knife from Zenith’s chest. The fires on him and around him subsided as he ran out of the room. Out of fear, the other teachers ran from the room, and the boy followed.

  “Murderers, they have killed my father, murderers!” the boy cried.

  The teachers that planned on banishing Zenith heard the boy’s cries and laid hold upon the teachers the child was pursuing.

  “What is this thing you have done? Have you murdered Zenith?” asked Lucent.

  “We have done no such thing. Zenith was to take the child and burn him but the child stirred and fell upon Zenith and slew him with the knife he now holds.” Then Lucent took hold of the boy and looked at the knife.

  “Is this true?” He asked.

  “They are full of lies. My father, as a demonstration of his power, placed me on the altar to show that he could protect me from the flames.” As the boy spoke, the memories of those around him changed. Lucent no longer thought that Zenith was going to kill his own son, but do what the boy had said. “But when I arose unharmed, they were afraid, killed my father and fled.”

  “He lies! He took the knife from Zenith and slew him.” One of the other teachers cried out. “The blood is upon his hands!”

  The child clenched his hands, gripping the blade tightly. Before the Assistant to the Head could turn to look, the blood was gone.

  “They are as mad as my father was. Banish them!” the child cried. His cries were not the cries of a child. His words were words of power and Lucent banished his fellow teachers, men and women he’d known for years, and cursed them as Nameless.

  Zenith, with his last breaths, saw a trace of the boy’s blood on the ground next to him. Carefully, he wiped the blood with his fingers and mixed it with his own. He channeled the Faye to create this book from the mixed blood. He placed within this book his knowledge and teachings of the Faye as well as the ability to absorb the knowledge from other writings around it.

  He also placed upon the book a spell that those who looked upon it would not be able to read its words and the pages would appear blank. Only those who were flesh of the Dark One’s flesh and blood of the Dark One’s blood would be able to read the book. For it is only by the flesh of his flesh and the blood of his blood that he can be destroyed.

  The boy was taken in by the teachers who remained and they taught him all that they knew. Eventually the child grew and became the Head Teacher and using the darkest words of the Unspoken and his own cunning, killed other teachers, one by one, and drained their blood, and concentrated it into the vial. He very well could have killed all of them, but instead, named himself as the Dark One and said that the time was not yet at hand for the School to be destroyed.

  The teachers retaliated and tried to destroy him, but his power was too great. No channeling of the Faye could harm him. The teachers, defeated and fearful, asked him what he wanted.

  “I want to see my mother,” the Dark One said. As he left, his white hooded cloak turned to black and he disappeared in the night wind. The Teachers that remained ran to the brothel and each begged to see Anna. One of the women there said that she fled the week before with a child in arms to Noiknaer.

  “She saw a man who was a client of hers frequently,” one of the women said, “begging in the streets for food. When she visited him, the man did not know who she was. She returned here, took her son, and fled. We pressed her to know why she was leaving.

  “She said that she had a dream. In her dream, she saw a man that she had known often, but the man did not know who she was. She heard a voice in her dream that was as loud and soft as a distant waterfall. The voice told her that when this should happen, she was to take her child and flee to Noiknaer and leave the child at the Capital Barracks.”

  [][][]

  The words faded and Kosai took a deep breath, taking in all the information. The words from the story stuck in his mind like dried honey. Each section seemed like a vivid memory.

  He discovered who his mother was, and in that instant, was grateful that the Captain kept it secret from him. He tried to imagine a life working the gates, or in the mines of Linnouse, and shook his head. The Dark One could only be destroyed by him. He was his half-brother, and though half, he was still the blood of his blood, and flesh of his flesh.

  CHAPTER 17