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Background Story
Written by Richard
Last Updated: 1st of August 2003
Blood in the Well
Tol remembered his Grandfather best of all. The grand patriarch of the Cathayak branch of the Cathak family, he was like the sun to Tol. Warm, powerful and distant. He moved through his manor radiating absolute certainty, each movement precise and definite, each foot fall purposeful, each stride deliberate. He rarely had a word for Tol, but often a smile, a grin, a shared joke that other adults had not yet perceived. Tol remembered the small vexed smile his grandfather used to give him while clutching the railing on the third floor balcony, as the smells of a storm flooded up from the streets.
It was years before Tol, who would then be Tolan and later C�Tolan would discover that his Grandfather had been terrified of the rain. Frightened that the water would quench his soul, the five hundred year old favoured of Hesiesh was entrapped in his own manor by the simplest of nature�s miracles.
Tol enjoyed remembering his Grandfather, it slowed his breathing and cleared his mind. The panic that had been welling seconds earlier eased. He couldn�t remember his mother�s face at all, but his Grandfather was still there tucked into his dreams. The panic gone, the child managed to move, his hands burst into flames, and he pushed.
Gerant sprawled forward into the pond. Gerant hadn�t learnt how to swim and began to drown.
Tol slowly fell over and hit his head on a squat stone lying beside the pond. He passed out.
Time passed.
Heat was leaching out of Tol in many places - mostly through the backs of his calves and thighs, but also through his lower back and shoulders, and through what felt like a sharp point on his forehead. He was lying on a stone counter and his head hurt.
�E.But five are dead...�ESaid a voice that had been someone entirely different in his now forgotten dream. The voice now belonged to Master Cannae, the school�s anatomy teacher.
�And many more are living, that is the way of these things...�E Said Asan�Tran, headmaster and sorcery master.
�The school is ruined, - he strangled Phenae and Gossan with his hands. We�ll never recover from that, no-one will send their children here�E#060;br>
Memories flashed back to Tol; two of the resident dragon blood, bloody hands around their necks, fire climbing into their mouths.
�To be fair Jos, they did think it was a calibration trick at first...�E#060;br>
�And now they�re dead, them and three other�s, we�re ruined
�Maybe, maybe not.
Tol heard footsteps. His eyes had not yet registered that they were wanted open, they seemed sticky. The footsteps had a staccato rhythm, an irregular gait.
�The bodies been retrieved from the pond, good thing too. It was... starting to float, all blue and bloated.�ESaid the oddly light voice of Master Kals the grounds-keeper. �Is this the one?
�Yes, he�s the one
�Should you have him in here?
�Can�t think of a better place right now, best to keep him away from other students right, and this is as good as it gets.
�But what about...
�It will be fine Kals, now leave
�How�s the school going to survive?
�We�ll manage somehow, I�m sure, now go.�E#060;br>
Again, the tripping walk. Master Kals had had his leg broken by Benj when Benj had exalted unexpectedly during a calibration prank last year. It had never healed properly.
�He�s right you know�E#060;br>
Calibration.
The memories rushed to greet Tol. He had pushed Gerant into the pond. And lying in the grass, blood trickling into the earth, he had watched the boy drown. He had thought of his Grandfather again as Gerant thrashed in the water, the fires of his anima being washed away in the murky water.
He hadn�t wanted to kill Gerant. But he�d had too.
�Are you sure? How many schools can claim first year students who can kill Anathema without a weapon?�E#060;br>
Gerant had already killed four people.
Tears started to wash down Tol�s face. The headmaster patted his shoulder, and Tol slowly cried himself to sleep.
A Rider Enters
C�Nain Tsom of house Mnemon, third hound of the crimson dragonpack - martial arm of the wyld hunt, strode into the headmaster�s study. Tran rose and hurriedly offered some papers to the new arrival.
�Summary?�Easked C�Nain.
�He exalted as he killed the solar, since then has refused to go to class or develop his abilities. We thought it was because he was afraid of what the other pupils would think of him, but he refuses individual tuition too. We think he might have been broken by the head trauma.�E#060;br>
�He exalted on the same day as the anathema? Is that why he was brave enough to attack Gerant? First day stupidity?�E#060;br>
�No, actually, he exalted as he touched Gerant, or so he tells us, no-one actually saw.�E#060;br>
�What day was this?�E#060;br>
�Third day of Calibration.�E#060;br>
�Day of the eclipse�E#060;br>
�Yes, that was well over by this time though.�E#060;br>
�Has he had any contact with the other children yet?�E#060;br>
�Yes, he was moved to the fire ward of the dragon-blooded boarding and seemed to take to it for the first night, but he refused to go back after that... we think there might have been some kind of hazing ritual, he is very young.�E#060;br>
C�Nain nodded, only half listening �Where is he?�E#060;br>
�Through there�E#060;br>
C�Nain pushed through the door and laid eyes on the child for the first time. Tol looked small and sad in that intense way that young children exhibit emotion, he had a bandage around his head, heavy bags beneath his eyes, and was slumped in his seat. C�Nain sat at a desk and laid the paper down on it, the boy was sitting in a chair a few feet back. He�d made sure the boy had found out who he was, he hoped the boy was smart enough to be intimidated by him. It would make his job far easier,
�Name�E#060;br>
�Tol�E#060;br>
C�Nian sighed and looked over the desk at the boy. He�d been sent here because four people had been killed by an anathema, but preliminary investigations suggested there was something more than that. He wasn�t sure what, but it certainly centred around this boy.
�No, your name, you�re not mortal any more�E#060;br>
�Tolan�E#060;br>
�E#060;i>FULL name�E#060;br>
�Tolan Cathak house Cathayak�E#060;br>
�That�s better. You should be proud boy, you�re exalted now, the strength of the realm�E#060;br>
Tolan glared at him from across the room. No, thought C�Nain, he�s not smart enough.
�Reborn in Calibration even, they say that�s a promising sign�E#060;br>
�They say there are other signs too�Emuttered Tolan darkly
He�s picked up on that? He can�t be that stupid then.
�You�re not though are you boy? Proud, I mean. The Dragons give you life, but you detest their blood in you? Is that it?�E#060;br>
�I don�t need it, let someone else have it�E#060;br>
�Only the Anathema hate the Dragons... boy.�E#060;br>
Tolan sat glumly, this worried C�Nian, he wasn�t used to interrogating children, but he couldn�t imagine a child not bothering to deny the charge, in fact the way the boy was holding his face, he almost looked... guilty.
�You haven�t been practising your charms, how do you expect to serve the realm if you don�t develop the Dragon�s gifts?�E#060;br>
�Can�t�ETolan told the floor.
�You murdered an anathema boy, it takes power to do that, don�t tell me you can�t use that power any more, that�s not how it works�E#060;br>
He noticed that the boy was shivering. Poor thing, thought C�Nian, murdered was probably the wrong word to use. The demon might have had friends before he exalted, even if he was anathema, they couldn�t have been happy when this kid pushed him into the pond, and exalted to boot. They would have been jealous, probably giving him a hard time. As if this wasn�t hard enough.
He sighed again, the boy probably needed some sympathy.
�Look, Tolan, I know that it must have been hard on you over the last two weeks. Most of us are much older than you when we�re first called to duty, but it�s something you should be proud of. Hesiesh called you to do what no-one else could do. The monster had already killed four dragon-blooded two teachers and two students. Gods know how many lives you saved, and to do it before you even exalted. You should be proud of what you did, and you should be proud of Hesiesh�s reward.�E#060;br>
Tolan sat silent and shook. C�Nian decided to change tack again.
�Why aren�t you sleeping in you dormitory?�E#060;br>
Tolan looked up. His tear stroked eyes looked were wide and wild. Bullseye, thought C�Nian
�Don�t want to�E#060;br>
�Why Tolan?�E#060;br>
�They don�t like me�E No probably not, thought C�Nian, but that doesn�t explain the fear, what�s he frightened of?
�What did they do to you Tolan?�E#060;br>
�Nothing�E It was easy to tell when children were lying, they either looked at the floor, ashamed, or screamed at you, indignant. Tolan was staring at the floor.
�I told you earlier, we won�t get anywhere if you lie�Ethe lieutenant rebuked him, �Now stop wasting my time or I�ll thrash you�E#060;br>
The boy broke, the flood gates burst;
�It... was the middle of the night, I was asleep, I was dreaming of... I was asleep, and they woke me up, and striped me down, then tied me to a tree outside. It was my first night�E#060;br>
�Don�t feel bad boy, they probably do it to everyone.�E#060;br>
Tolan looked annoyed, and nodded. So he knew that, C�Nian thought, then why does he care?
�And then?�E#060;br>
�That�s all�E#060;br>
�No it�s not, what else happened Tolan?�E#060;br>
�Nothing! I used my anima and I burnt the ropes off, and went back into my bed. They didn�t bother after that.�E#060;br>
Smart thinking for a boy new to his powers, so what was the secret?
�There�s something you�re not telling me Tolan.�E#060;br>
�No�E#060;br>
�Yes, there is, and you�re going to tell me what it is�E#060;br>
�There�s nothing!�Escreaming, indignant - frightened.
�Why won�t you use your charms Tolan?�E#060;br>
�DON�T WANT TOO.�E He was crying at full force now, C�Nian�s gut wrenched, he hated doing this, the poor boy had been through enough, but it had to be done.
He stepped from behind the desk and walked to the child in the chair.
�Shhh, Tolan, shhhh. Do you see this ring Tolan? No...not the gold one, but this one here? Made out of jade? The one with the gems? Can you see if you look very closely a small spike sticking out of them? Yes that one... no don�t touch it. You don�t want to touch it. Did you ever hear of the Bloodsinger Tolan? The Moon anathema who used to haunt this area? You did? Yes? Good? Did you know I killed him? You did? Well done.
Do you know how? No? Well I just turned my ring around like this... and then I shook his hand, and that little needle did all the work for me. Pumped enough poison into him to kill a horse. Didn�t kill him though... but it slowed him down enough, probably kill a man in seconds. I wonder what it would do to a boy?�E#060;br>
C�Nian swung his hand back and down towards the child�s face.
Golden bursts of essence flashed in Tolan�s wake as he twisted around the blow that was never meant to land, and the chair toppled to the ground.
�Oh Gods�E Whispered C�Nian, Tolan was half collapsed on the ground, bawling his eyes out, and above his eyes, and through his bandage shone a half of a bright golden disk.
Ten or twenty minutes later C�Nian exited the room and strode back into the head�s office.
�Did you know about this?�E He yelled at the man behind the desk.
�The mark?�Easked Tran, his brow furrowing.
�Yes, the godsdamn mark of the anathema on that boy�s forehead�E#060;br>
�Yes, we knew, the children discovered it when they tied him to the tree, we had Cannae check him over. He�s dragon-blooded all right, just with that mark. We think it might have had something to do with Tolan exalting while touching Gerant, or possibly that he killed Gerant just after he exalted, maybe it was because of that eclipse... we really don�t know.�E#060;br>
�Shouldn�t he have had to kill Gerant before or during his exaltation?�E#060;br>
�With magic, even cause and effect aren�t as clear cut as we�d like. We had to cover it up. Don�t you see? A school where pupils can kill anathema before exalting? That school gets pupils. A school which raises two anathema on one day who between them kill five people? That school does not get pupils, lucky if I weren�t killed�E#060;br>
�But he�s a dragon blood?�E#060;br>
�Oh yes, that much is certain�E#060;br>
�This requires... discussion. You value your school?�E#060;br>
�Yes, very highly�E#060;br>
�Very well, I will discuss the situation with my house. Keep this quiet and agree to whatever concessions we require, and you may just be able to hold onto the school, and probably your head as well.�E#060;br>
�Of course�E#060;br>
�Don�t act like you have a choice�E#060;br>
Two weeks later C�Nian returned to the school with a girl of eight, once again he barged into Tran�s office, this time without warning or introduction.
�Her name�Ehe told the nervous head master, �is Teahlassan Mnemon of house Mnemon. She is to be in every class that Tolan is in, as far as that is possible before she exalts. You will expend effort to ensure that the two spend a great deal of time in reasonable proximity. Any other boy she shows an interest in will be removed from the school. Neither is to know that they are being arranged for one another, your manipulations will be subtle yet effective. These are Mnemon�s requirements. Fail, and you will be destroyed. This school will be raised to the ground and then the ground salted. Your family will be discredited then destroyed, every copy of every book you have written will be burnt, and the ideas they champion mocked throughout the realm. You will be left trapped inside your own mind with only demons for company.
Is this understood?�E#060;br>
Tran had turned quite white through this emotionless litany.
�Ye..Yes, I will do my best to serve house Mnemon�E#060;br>
�No, not house Mnemon�Eand with that he strode out of the building and the headmaster never saw him again.
The young girl waited quietly for him to regain his composure.
Between Meetings
Cathak Corotan, head of the Cathayakan Household held broken shards of railing in splinter-laced hands. He stared at them dumbly for a few seconds, then ignited his anima. Railing and splinters turned to ash, then ash evaporated and he was left with two hands with leaking pin pricks of blood.
Firstly this storm had raged for three days, and now this.
�The matter is not for discussion, the boy will be marrying Sesus Asrina, or, should she fail to please Hesiesh, one of her sisters that does. No-one else will do.�E#060;br>
�I assure you milord,�Estarted the Mnemon Assua, unwilling messenger, politely �Teahlassan has the noblest of bloodlines, only four steps removed from Mnemon herself, only five from the Empress, may she reign forever, and each parent, all the way back to the Empress has been favoured by the dragons with exaltation�E#060;br>
�That may be she still does not have what is required.�E#060;br>
�Milord, the dowry will be favourable, we assure you, even if she exalts�E#060;br>
�It�s not money you fool it�s blood�E#060;br>
�Milord?�E#060;br>
�Check Tol�s bloodline, every step, for six generations both parents have been dragon-blooded, yes, like your Teahlassan, but unlike the girl each of his parents, his grandmothers, me and so on have been blessed of Hesiesh. Every one for five generations, born of flame, and died to flame. Look at Asrina, her bloodline is also blessed of Hesiesh, and if she exalts to Hesiesh then she will be my grandson�s wife. It is that simple.�E#060;br>
�Milord, I understand your misgivings, but if I may be so bold as to ask, were you aware of the circumstances of the young Lord�s exaltation?�E#060;br>
Corotan narrowed his eyes, he wasn�t angry any more, just smouldering. He wasn�t sure what that question was designed to achieve and that worried him. He turned and leaned against a post reaching from the floor to the roof of the balcony.
�Of course I am�Ehe replied, lacing it with more rage than he felt - best the lout think him further off balance than he was. He continued;
�Talk of the house, how many other families can claim a child who takes the life from anathema?�E#060;br>
�Apparently that�s not all he took from him.�E#060;br>
�What?�E#060;br>
�Surely you know that since your grandson exalted he has displayed half a solar mark on his forehead whenever he uses great amounts of essence.�E#060;br>
Corotan was momentarily rocked off balance, it couldn�t be a lie, it was too easily checked, too easily discredited. It must be true, even so he�d make sure it was checked in the morning.
�And?�Ehe said, suggesting that this was old, boring news.
�Well milord, surely it means nothing, but... this could start talk.�E#060;br>
�Are you suggesting...�The old dynast raised his eyes to the messenger. Assua stepped back, his own eyes going wide as they stared into the solid, frozen fire in Corotan�s.
�That my grandson is anathema?�E#060;br>
�All house Mnemon wishes to suggest milord, is that no fires burn hotter than the sun.�E#060;br>
�My grandson is not anathema�Ehe was standing straight now, his fingers flexing, releasing, flexing, releasing. Assua did not like his chances.
�Of course, we just thought that because of this unexpected turn, you may wish to re-think the wisdom of this selective breeding.
There was a pause, and Assua shrunk into himself without moving. Surely the old man wouldn�t kill him, but his temper was legendarily vile.
�It shall be considered. Now leave.
Yo, Bitchamon
Mnemon Teahlessan, least daughter of Mnemon Fhalan lay on a gentle slope in soft grass, observing the festivities of her school � the Palace of Ghost Petals Dreaming -with an ambivalent impatience. Another indent in the manicured lawn held the strange boy she had become attached to.
With a similar gaze he regarded the sky. The time stretched too long and she spoke.
�You know their names, don�t you?�
Cathak Tolan, most promising son of Cathak Wassainan, refused to remove his eyes from the night, but moved his head in the grass, a soft rustle accompanying.
�The master says it is important, demons are only ever defeated if we know them, name them and bind them, otherwise they just return�.
�Do you really see demons in the stars?�
Tolan, the demon kissed, blinked away the tears of delight he always felt when viewing the glories of the night, and silently thanked Hesiesh for the absence of illumination.
�Yes, every one.�
Teah again felt the silence intrude between them. It seemed to spread like the night, whispering promises that frightened the girl too young for her achievements, and of unexpectedly barren blood. She struggled to bridge it, to find the words that would break open Tolan�s fires. The flames frightened her, but less than the silence of this calibration night, under the peach trees on gardened lawns too distant from the cacophonic celebrations that would drown out any pleading from the least daughter of Fhalan. Some fires were welcome. Others were not.
�You should be down there� she almost pleaded, �You should take part in the competitions, master Jakub is sure you would be the one to take the thorn this year.�
The Thorn that Pierces the Petal was the name of the accolade and blade given to the winner of the school�s Calibration tournament. Students dancing blades against their soon to be former-friends.
�I don�t need it�
�It�d see you well in the Bells. Not to mention the legions.�
�The legions aren�t for me�, he added tenderly, but with petulance, �You know that�.
�Could they be? It�s safer than the Hunt.�
�Someone has to Hunt. Someone has to know the names of the stars, the sun the moon and the world.�
The venom shocked her, burning as it did. The silence was preferable to this.
�Why do you find it so hard to believe that that might be who I am? That that�s all I can be? That all I�m good for is murder?�
Quietly, almost ashamed, she replied �Because I know it�s not true.�
Tolan�s old friend again passed into the conversation, Teah reflected that this was happening too often of late. Her friend was disappearing back into this old man�s bony grip, smiling into his dark visage. It has taken so long for him to emerge from his inner exile, and it all seemed to be dissolving, Tolan rediscovering his silence, cutting her off. Embracing silence.
Poisoned issues were all she could bring to mind, and she was afraid they meet devour Tolan, not stave off the shadows.
�So you�ve decided to take the Bell�s then?�
He made a murmur of assent. �My interview is the second day post Calibration�
�Mine too�
�You chose Bells? You�re not even an Exalt.�
�I didn�t choose, I was told.�
�What? Why?�
�You think I know? Anyway, how come you chose the House of Bells, last you said, you wanted to go to the order�
�The Immaculates won�t take me. They say I�m cursed and even the little gods will shun me�
�Cursed?�
�They called me the �prophet of the demons birthing�. They said I summon the anathema and belong to them.�
�But you�ve killed two of them�.
Before the silence grew like tremblings on gossamer, this time it was rammed between them with a near palpable violence that left spiders marching over Teah.
It was several minutes before she could bring herself to speak. Again a poisoned topic
�I heard that everyone who�s taken the thorn has been a Gracious Talon in the legions at the least.�
�But the best only became a Beloved Fang.�
�Really?�
�Yeah, I checked�
�Why?�
He turned to her and Teah saw a third type of fire in his eyes. It was the fire that gnawed on souls.
�I needed to know their names.�
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