Purity
“Where are you!” Keliban shouted. Thick mist muffled his voice, consumed by the greyness that surrounded him. He been a fool to give into this temptation, but the lure was too great: A chance to rid this world of the filthy mutants forever; to exterminate every nasty, vile, stinking one of them.
How could he not try to fulfil the wishes of his father, his grandfather, his great-grandfather and so on back into time to the Beginning of Men?
The First Rule of the House, written in the Book of Gold, said to eliminate the mutants wherever and whenever found. But they were sly, slippery creatures who melded into the countryside. No one could spot them when they wanted to hide. He’d seen them do it. Of course, Benyiri was fog-bound for ten of the thirteen months of the year so it was inevitable that they would hide themselves in the grey-smeared landscape.
He could hide, too; had spent years learning how, just so he could hunt the last of the mutants down and destroy them.
It was he, Keliban, who would complete the First Rule; Keliban hailed a hero by all Men; Keliban to reap the rewards, the accolades and the kingdom’s gratitude for riding the world of such a noxious animal. Pride and anticipation filled him, near choked him as he thought of the adulation of the world.
He knew the creature was out there, watching, waiting, taunting. Keliban turned in a circle, kept his sword high and his eyes keen. “Come out! Show yourself you miserable coward! I demand restitution!”
“You demand?” An ethereal voice came back at him and he spun. “You demand?” He turned again but couldn’t tell which direction the smug mutant was. Damn her!
“By what right do you demand anything of me, boy?” Her voice was everywhere and nowhere.
“By right of birth, mutant!” He growled and spun as he caught movement through the mist. Nothing there. Keliban took a step forward. His booted foot sank into the soft, moist ground. Pale, lush grass scraped against the sides his leather boots.
“That is no right at all, manling.”
Keliban followed to where he thought she stood and lashed out with his sword. Movement! He stepped forward, slashed and hacked at the grey wisps. “I nearly had you, mutant.”
Her laugh was deep, as seductive as it was sinister.
“You are out of your league, manling, you are nowhere near me.” Her amused voice came from behind and he lashed out again as he spun.
He didn’t hit anything.
“The second sun will rise soon and you will have nowhere to hide. It is the month of Free, when we have sunlight and you are a creature of darkness, of damp, putrid places, mutant.”
Her chuckle came again. “I would have thought you better educated than that.”
“I know all I need to know and you are a pestilence upon our land.”
The chuckling stopped and there was silence.
Keliban kept moving his gaze, looking for something solid to strike out at, but he didn’t miss the anger in her voice.
“Your land?”
“Men have ever and always been here. You are intruders into our landscape and must be purged. So it is written; so it will be done.”
“The Men of Benyiri have forgotten much if you think this is your land.”
“Once I have rid this world of your scourge, it will be totally mine. Mine and that of Men. This is our rightful home, and you are nothing but a guest who’s overstayed her welcome.” He slashed out with his sword, but again hit nothing.
“You seek to make me angry enough to reveal myself.”
Keliban’s grin was feral. It sounded like it was working. She was well and truly pissed at him.
Her voice was a frustrated sigh. “It is good that you have fire in your belly, manling, for what I have to say will fuel that blaze.”
“You have nothing to say that I want to hear, unless it is your death cry. Then I will go and hunt down the rest of your pack and slaughter them, too.”
“You’re welcome to try, but never in your history have any of your people succeeded in destroying any of us. That will not change now, or ever. You do not have the wherewithal to complete such a task. Which is why it is a centuries old rule.”
Keliban gasped. “What do you know of the Book of Gold? It is forbidden for any but the Family to know what it contains.”
“Ah, yes. The Family. Listen well, manling and you might learn something of use.”
Keliban’s curiosity momentarily caught him and his sword lowered. Then he raised it again and continued to hunt through the fog. “There is nothing you can teach me that I don’t already know, mutant.”
“Apparently the House of Tavis has grown more arrogant, not less, over the centuries, but I will tell this story since you have every intention of loitering about until the fog lifts so you can kill me.”
“Well spotted, mutant. Keep talking. I’ll find you yet.”
The voice snorted with contempt and he grinned.
“Your people came to my world four of your thousand years ago, manling. You came from a distant world, a broken world, and settled here. Men settled elsewhere amongst the stars, but I shall restrict myself to you.”
Keliban ground his teeth. “That has been proven to be a lie, mutant. We have found evidence that we’ve been here for tens of thousands of years. That we descended from…”
“Once a big lie has been told it must be perpetuated or die. It is a simple thing to age bones, manling. Do not interrupt me.”
Keliban continued to swish and slash, all to no avail, but he listened, because it brought him closer to the mutant.
“Your people were on the verge of extinction when we intervened. We taught you the old ways of farming and fishing; everything you needed to survive. In return, Men promised to share this world in peace with us. There was certainly enough room. Over the decades that followed, Men forgot the ways of the stars. Over the centuries they forgot the truth of it and began to believe that this is where Men had always been. It had been written, after all, in the Book of Gold that this world Benyiri belonged to Men. Kelleher Brand had ‘claimed’ it.”
Keliban snorted. “Brand was the first great High Priest. He wrote the Book. So what?”
“Did you not wonder where he came from?”
“Everyone knows where he came from: he was born of the Gods. Come to Benyiri to save us. It was he who taught us the way to survive.” The hacking and slashing grew more agitated as he felt the anger rise. “How dare you claim to have saved us! You’re nothing but a filthy, vile, noxious animal! Fit only to slaughter. You have no right…”
The mutant stepped through the fog and he froze. His breath stopped, his heart seized for a moment then restarted. Keliban dragged in a short, painful breath. She was… she was… human-looking and… naked, her dark green skin glistened with mist. His eyes met her light green ones and he lowered his sword.
“Until this moment, you’ve never seen what you describe as a ‘mutant’ have you.” She asked as she approached. Keliban shook his head.
“All you know about me and my people is what you’ve read and what has been handed down from generation to generation.”
Keliban nodded, still unable to speak.
“And in the telling, the tales grew worse, more heinous, until where once we were saviours, now we are reviled and hunted.”
Her words reminded him and he lifted his sword. “I don’t care, you must die.”
“Keliban. Listen close.” She stopped just out of reach of his sword tip. “We are no longer a pure race, which is why I am called mutant. I understand the meaning of the word. But what you must understand, is that Men are not pure either.”
“No! That’s not true!” His voice was tight with horror.
“The colour of your eyes, Keliban. The eye colour of your parents, your grand parents, your cousins, siblings, friends. Have you not noticed the slight colouring to your skin? The darkness of your hair?”
He raised the blade. “You’re a liar, mutant. This world belongs to Men. We are pure, shall always be pure and never sully ourselves with likes of you!” He spat at her and she tilted her head.
“One day, you will realise the truth in my words. Look in your Book of Gold, manling. Study it, and other texts. Find the truth in your heart and maybe we will have peace again. If not, I will be waiting for you.” She faded back into the fog and he chased after her.
He found only more fog and silence.
Tired, angry and damp, he found his way back to his neo-horse and mounted. He would come back alright. He’d come back when the suns had risen and he had a thousand men. Then he would wage a war the likes Benyiri had never seen. He would purge this world of the mutants; cleanse it of everything unclean.
Keliban looked down at the palm of his hand. Faint green lines marked his skin. He was not a mutant. It was from living on a damp world; that was all. Everyone in his family had it, his friends, neighbours - everyone had it. It had nothing to do with the mutants; it was what marked men as pure.
He would kill anyone and anything who said different. The Book of Gold said so.
Labels: Fantasy
posted by Jaye at
2:24 pm
|
0 comments
