'With all due respect, Prince Regent, putting him in the Quintail would be a mistake,' Rosalyn argued.
'I think I agree with the Margravine on this one, Gideon. His ability is just too erratic at the moment. He would just end up being killed, or worse, being a liability for the others,' Monty added.
Gideon stared into the circular fire pit that rose from the ground floor. 'He has the potential we thought,' he said, without breaking his gaze.
'Undeniably,' Monty mumbled, through the pipe in the side of his mouth.
The Margravine paced irritably around the circular room at the top of the training lodge. 'But he can neither call on it nor control it. And to make matters worse, he's remembering all the worst character traits that we thought would be forgotten from his human side. Belligerence, arrogance and a dislike for authority.'
Gideon took of his glasses and pointed them to the light. 'We learnt from the mistakes with Pinki that age plays a factor, even with Raide's age there would be unforeseen consequences. Wisp is working on that organising his mind, and we need to give her more time.'
She pointed to the spiral stairs that went back down to the ground level of the lodge. 'That wasn't the Wisp I remember in that pen. There's something else inside that boy that we didn't expect, something malevolent. I'm surprised he has agreed to help our cause so readily since we released him from prison.'
Gideon wagged a finger. 'That's Wisp's influence. So we know she is having an impact on his mind.'
Monty flicked through his notebook. 'After all the people we have tried to recruit, he was still the best candidate, even with is mental state.'
'Only because he was practically catatonic,' the Margravine snapped. 'Has it ever occurred to you, that when pushed, he may have actually killed Sister Elenara? Not some mysterious murderer, who has yet to be caught.'
'Impossible,' Monty scoffed. 'He's nowhere near good enough to take on a Sister, no single Chimera is. Only another one of their order could have done that, and Elenara's disputes with Sister Lucia were well documented.'
The Margravine looked out of the window that ran around the full-length of the circular lodge. 'Yet, look at what he did in that moat. He shouldn't be able to do things like that with the short amount of time he has had with Wisp.' She shook her head and glared at the horizon. 'Not to mention, we have sacrificed our most treasured Ember in the soul of a man, who we know nearly nothing about.'
Gideon sat, polishing his glasses absently with a handkerchief. 'They were, and still are, desperate times, Rosalyn. After all, we have been through, she knew the risks, as did Rogan. Raide could be our only option now.'
'He's not ready, and we agreed to take our time and train him properly,' Rosalyn said.
The old man turned and gave a weak smile. 'I know, but things have moved quicker than any of us have anticipated. Someone does not want this house to survive, and they're doing everything they can to stack the deck against us.'
'What about Rickard or any of the children? We can field any number we like,' Monty pondered, weighing up the options.
'Certainly not!' the Magravine shouted. 'You're not going to put any our children into the Quintail yet. They're years away from being tournament ready,' she said, pointing a finger at the archivist.
'We don't have years so that just leaves Bawbee, Pinki and Nassar. They'll be hopelessly outnumbered unless we can persuade another house to aid us in the arena.' Monty shifted in his seat. 'Also, we haven't even talked about the plan to excavate the new Ember mine, before the other houses find out, and strip it raw.'
'Nassar probably won't take part,' Gideon replied. 'But, let's just survive the week, then we can worry about the mine. At least the near collapse of this house will keep all the others hanging around, to see if they can win control of Eventide.'
'Vultures,' Rosalyn sneered.
'Preoccupied vultures,' Gideon corrected. 'And that's how we want to keep them.'
'Ma'am.' All three heads turned to the slender frame of a Rickard who stood at the top of the stairs. 'Sorry to disturb, but the man is requesting to leave, and walk back to the city, by himself.'
'Tell him he can stay put till we are ready for him!' Rosalyn shot back at the boy. 'How dare he dictate what he wants in my training house.'
'Rosalyn, let him go,' Gideon cut in, waving a hand. 'The walk may do is mind some good, and he can't get that lost this close to the city.'
The Margravine's eyes went wide, and she straightened up. 'As you wish, Prince Regent,' her tone remaining respectful. 'Rickard, show him out, and give him some directions back to the city.'
'Yes, ma'am,' the boy bowed, scurrying back down the stairs.
Monty took out his pipe and rubbed his jaw. 'You think it's wise just letting him roam around by himself?'
'You forget, he's a house Chimera now, Monty, and that comes with protection.'
'Yes, but who is going to protect the city against him. Last time he went for a walk, he destroyed part of it.'
'He has learnt from that,' Gideon dismissed.
'Let me send a message back to the city to keep an eye out for him returning.'
'Good idea, send a Sqaub,' Gideon said nodding.
Monty shook his head. 'Squabs can be intercepted in the air, especially with the other houses in town. I'll send out a rat, with a coded message and tell Nassar to be on the lookout for him returning.'
The Margravine shuddered. 'Loathsome creatures.'
Monty put away his pocketbook. 'Actually, a very misunderstood creature, the rat. No other creature can move faster or stealthier throughout the city than a trained rat,' Monty said, with some admiration. 'Unlike Squabs, they're next to impossible to track, good swimmers, and they're willing to go places most people can't, or won't. The Jackals have been using them for years, since the war.'
'Whatever you think is best, Monty,' Gideon said.
The archivist sank back in his chair. 'Interestingly, the use of the Squab messengers dwindled during the war as food grew scarce. The rat gained popularity because of the spymaster Reverend Thoman Moore who—.'
'Yes, thank you, Monty,' Gideon politely interrupted. 'Do whatever you feel is necessary.'
Rosalyn sat back down and watched the flames dance out of the pit. 'I think we made a mistake recruiting him, my husband wouldn't have agreed of what we have done,' she said morosely.
Gideon met her gaze from across the fire. 'No, he wouldn't have approved at all. But what's done is done. As my father would have said, we have made our bed now we must sleep in it.'
The gates to the Menagerie let out a rusty groan before clattering shut. The rain had stopped, but the sky still looked full of menace. The colours of the leaves had started to turn from a soft yellow to brown, as they braced themselves for winter's arrival. Rickard pressed his face in between the bars, and he pointed towards the road, that snaked up the hill. 'Just keep following the road and try to keep the sun on the right side of your face.' He looked up at the broken patches of light in the sky. 'If you can see it,' the boy added.
Raide scanned at the metal letters that spelt Menagerie above the gate, the A and G letters were missing from the name. The paintwork had faded, leaving patches of green amongst the rust. 'Thank you,' Raide muttered, rubbing his hands for warmth.
'The Margravine said you should head straight back to the city and not dawdle about the countryside, folk around here might not be the friendliest to you,' Rickard said, dithering in the cold.
'Why?'
'Malefactors they call us, witches and demons. They'll think you've come to take their grain or steal their children for the Quintail.'
'I thought people liked us and the Quintail?' he said, flexing the leather gloves he kept from the training area.
'They do, but rural folk are suspicious of everything. Especially when the Chastity keeps preaching inside their villages.' Rickard looked nervously down the windswept path. 'If that's all, sir, I'll head back to the lodge,' the boy said, looking longingly back behind him.
Raide gave a brief smile. 'You can head back now.' The boy turned and started to walk back through the gardens. 'Rickard!' Raide called.
The boy turned. 'Yes, sir?'
'Do you think I should take part in the Quintail?' Raide asked.
The boy bit his lip and nervously looked down at his feet, unable to speak.
'Be honest,' Raide said, fastening his coat.
'No sir,' the boy talked to his shoes.
Raide flicked his head. 'Go on, speak your mind.'
Rickard shifted awkwardly on the spot. 'The Chimeras in the Quintail are amazing. They can fight like nothing else you have ever seen. But you, y- you are always out of breath, yo- you don't have or use a weapon, and you..' his voice trailed off.
'And?' Raide prompted.
Rickard shivered. 'You scare me,' he said swallowing hard. 'Sir,' he quickly added. 'You don't move or fight like any Chimera I've ever seen.'
Raide nodded thoughtfully. 'Run along, boy, before the weather changes again.' Rickard took off at pace, disappearing back into the overgrown gardens of the Asher training grounds. Raide walked around the fountain that sat outside the gates. Unlike the fountain from the memorial garden, the masonry looked like it was once white but now was stained green and brown. A fox statue stood crumbling in the centre. The base was now a mulch of rainwater and leaves that sat, like a thick soup, curdling at the bottom. He set off on the path pointed out to him by Rickard, leaving the training grounds behind him.
'Do you want to talk about it?' Wisp softly asked.
'Nothing to talk about,' he shot back dismissively walking at speed.
'Where's this anger coming from?' she asked.
Raide stomped down the muddy path that followed a hedgerow. 'I don't know. Maybe I'm sick of being judged by everyone,' Raide spat.
'No one is judging you, they just want to help you,' her voice was soothing.
'I'm being used, Wisp. We both are. We're no different than the animals that used to sit in those cages for people to gawk at,' his eyes filled. 'The boy was right; I'm not cut out for this.'
'Gideon believes in you,' she said.
'Then he's a fool,' Raide snapped.
'I believe in you,' she said softly.
'You don't even know me. I don't even know myself, but the more I remember, the less I like. I don't think I want to know the person I was before that prison,' he said, wiping his eyes with his sleeve.
'You have a choice about who you are, not what your memories tell you to be.'
Raide came to a stop at a cairn that held a weather-beaten signpost. The wind came in short gusts, blowing his hair around. 'Something is eating away at me from the inside, Wisp,' he said, thumping his chest. 'It's like a ball of rage, hate and regret pushing outwards, and I'm scared,' he gasped. 'I'm scared that if it comes out, I'll never be able to put it back.' Raide collapsed against the pile of stones. 'Wisp, what's happening to me,' he sobbed.
'Raide, listen to me,' her voice sounding as musical as ever. 'Since we've been joined, you have put others first. You look after Pinki as if she's your little sister. You tried to protect Charm at the dock, and you defended Gideon at the council meeting. You always act purely out of instinct, and that comes from a need to love and protect the people around you, that's the true you. Whatever it is you're carrying, you have a choice on how that affects you. Raide, you're not the person you were, you're the person you are now.'
The man stared through bloodshot eyes into the distance. 'I don't think I can save this house,' he said earnestly.
Wisp sighed. 'I know the weight of what we have put on you recently. Asher isn't like the other houses. Gideon has always said that anyone can remove themselves from Quintail duties, whenever they like. The responsibility of the house rests with him, and he will see it through to the very end, alone if he has to.'
'So, I can just walk away,' he said, staring up at the signpost.
'If that is what you choose.'
'What about Pinki and the others?'
'They'll fight regardless,' her voice sounded hollow. 'They have invested so much of themselves in this endeavour.'
'Can they win?'
'It's unlikely,' she said remorsefully.
Raide looked at his wet wrinkled fingers poking through the leather gloves. 'Wisp, do you honestly think I'm ready for the Quintail now, not in a few seasons, but now?'
Wisp paused as the wind gently rocked them both. 'No,' her voice croaked.
Raide clenched both hands. 'Then you need to convince Gideon to surrender the house.'
'He won't listen to me,'
'Why?'
'Because of you.'
Raide shook his head. 'He thinks I'm going to do something incredible, doesn't he? He thinks I have some magical power to swoop in and save everyone.'
'He believes in you.'
'There's nothing incredible about who I am. Gideon has made a mistake about putting his faith in me - you all have.' Raide picked himself off the floor and dusted his wet knees with his hands. 'I'm going to tell him I'm out, Wisp,' he said, wiping his eyes. 'If I don't play, then we can convince him to surrender the house. We can save others from a hopeless fight.'
'As you wish,' she said faintly.
Raide took a long look at the pointed pieces of wood, hammered to the post. He fixated on the one that had Eventide etched on the side. 'This has gone on long enough. It's time to put an end to this fantasy and be realistic. People's lives are more important than this war,' he said, marching up the path, towards the high walls in the distance.
The sun had started to dip by the time Raide reached the top of the rounded bluff, that extended around the eastern side of the city. At the bottom of the valley, dirt track roads that arched out across the countryside began to merge into one broad street, as they approached the east gate. A queue of carts and carriages trundled slowly in a line as they funnelled through the guarded entrance. 'So many people,' Raide said in awe.
'For the Quintail,' Wisp explained.
'That's six days away?'
'Even so, the inns will fill quickly. You should see it when the caravan arrives. Fortunately, they were already here.'
Raide snorted. 'Well, imagine their disappointment when we call it off.'
'We should get back to the shop at dusk if we keep moving,'
'Will we have any trouble with the guards?'
'No, you're an official house Chimera, and even the most dim-witted guards wouldn't dare to detain you now.'
Raide worked his way down the coastal path to a small clearing flanked by pillars of eroded sandstone that jutted out of the ground. In the middle of the track, a scruffy little girl stood sobbing. She had no shoes and wore a filthy dress, and her eyes glistened with tears as Raide approached. He knelt to the girl who had one hand in her mouth. 'What are you doing here little one?' he said, looking around for signs of anyone else.
The girl didn't say anything she just rubbed her eye with her other hand and continue to sob.
'You're freezing,' Raide said, gently brushing her straw-coloured hair from her face. 'Where are your parents?' The girl shivered in the cold, pointing to a coppice of pine trees, a short distance from the path. 'They're over there?' Raide asked, pointing at the trees. 'Do they need help?'
The girl just made a pained noise and nodded as a fresh set of tears rolled down her reddened cheeks. She reached out and tugged on his coat, pointing back to the firs.
'Show me,' he said, standing up.
The girl pulled his coat as she led him towards the dense copse of trees that rustled angrily in the sea breeze.
'What's your name?' he called down to her.
The girl didn't respond. She only tugged his coat harder as she continued to chew on her other hand. The light had dropped quickly as they pushed through the branches. The floor was covered in a soft carpet of brown pine needles, that prevented anything else from growing underneath. The girl pointed furiously, before breaking into a run through the wood.
'Slow down!' Raide shouted as he shielded his face against the branches that clawed at him. The dense wood suddenly thinned out to a clearing at the centre. The sky was turning from dark blue to black, as the first of the bright stars shimmered overhead. 'Little girl!' he shouted, spinning around in all directions. 'Come back here!' A sudden bright yellow light made him throw and a hand in front of his face. He peered through his fingers but saw nothing outside the intense light.
'Blinded by the light of the one true faith,' a voice called out.
'I'm looking for a girl,' Raide shouted back from behind his hand.
'Indeed, for the lamb is used to lure the lion. Isn't that right, my brothers?' the voice asked.
'For the flame and hammer,' the chorus of voices came from all directions.
Raide swore under his breath.
Two silhouettes stood in front of the light and began to walk towards him. 'Behold brothers! The worst of the taint, the one for who we have been waiting for.'
'Is it him? He doesn't look evil,' a voice called out from the tree line.
'Evil never does,' the man walked up to Raide, his ivory hair highlighted by the lantern. The little girl held his hand tightly. 'But if you had been there, in the street that night, you would have seen the boy reveal his true self,' Jonas said, smiling as he handed the girl a small slither of dried meat, which she took and ate greedily.
'It's true,' another voice called out. 'I was there. He lit up the entire street.'
Brother Jonas looked him square in the eyes. 'This one's light sings like no other,' he said, with a curious infatuation.
'Twenty three people all armed. Fourteen of them have circled to the rear, the rest are spaced out either side of the cart. Single-handed weapons mainly, three have crossbows, two are on horseback,' Wisp dictated. Raide turned around and squinted into the dark but saw nothing but the rustling of trees. 'Trust me, my eyes are better than yours. Ground yourself quickly,' Wisp said with a tone of authority.
Raide looked at the little girl who was busily gnawing on the gristle of meat, before flicking his eyes back up to the robed man. 'What do you want with me?' Raide demanded.
'Simple, I want you to be an example to all the other apostles fighting to spread the word of the one true faith,' he said, clutching a small book tightly. 'You're going to show the world that your kind aren't gods, that you aren't the chosen ones to be revered. You're going to help us to become what we were before a ridiculous tournament blinded the people, by a group of tattooed abominations,' Jonas spat with disdain.
Raide laughed to himself. 'You honestly expect me to help you? A group of misguided zealots, who use children and run around in the dark, trying to snare people. If this is the one true faith, then it's no wonder people turned their backs on you.'
Jonas' expression darkened. 'We do what we must to survive.'
'I hearing that a lot lately,' Raide shot back. 'And, I'm having nothing to do with your cult.'
'And yet, those are the exact words spoken by every man and woman who have turned their backs on the Sisters rule. No longer should we be a group of terrified people worshipping animals, the sun or the seasons, like we were a hundred years ago. We want to be free.'
Raide snorted. 'You're already free. Free of war. Free of famine. The Sisters have done more for freedom than the Chasity ever has.'
'Irony brothers,' Jonas called out. 'The man with no memory lecturing us all on history.'
The muted laugh rippled around the clearing.
'But I'm glad you raise the issue of freedom. Ours, as long as we obey the laws set out by the Sisters, and we adhere to the Quintail. Tell me, what would you call a group of people who just appear and take over, without divine right or democratic election, to change our laws, which is then enforced by violence or death?'
Raide was suddenly stuck for words.
'Invaders? Conquerors?' Jonas raised an eyebrow. 'Dictators?' The chorus of people around the edge jeered clanking their weapons together.
'But, snatching people at night doesn't exactly give you the moral high ground, does it? Raide said, squinting into the light.
Jonas tore off another piece of meat and knelt next to the girl. He placed the slither in her hand and patted her head. 'So, let me get this straight. You volunteered for house Asher from prison?'
'What do you mean?'
'You were willing to give your life to help out a house, that is on the brink of collapse?' Jonas asked intently. 'People who say they care for you but then force you into a tournament where you fight till the death.'
Raide stammered, 'I-, well, I was—'
'Snatched?' Jonas asked before tutting slowly. 'This isn't a child's bedtime story with heroes and villains. I wonder if you have met anyone recently who has your best interest at heart.'
Raide swallowed. 'So what now then, we become friends, and I help you with your noble cause?'
'You're going to help us, Raide. You have the ability to take down the oppression of the Sister's regime, exposing them for who they are.'
'And what are they?'
'Demons,' Jonas hissed. 'You have already seen enough to know something isn't right.'
Raide looked at the scruffy girl chewing away on the floor. She smiled at him before taking another bite of the chewy meat.
'To be honest, I don't know who to trust, but I know something about this also doesn't feel right. So, no. I'm not going to help you.'
Jonas sighed. 'I'm not an idiot. I never thought for one minute I would convince you of joining our faith,' Jonas said, gathering his robes as he walked back towards the light through the tall grass. 'But you're going to help. Take him to the Sepulture brothers!' Jonas ordered.
'Brother Jonas? Malaki said our orders were to kill him, that's what they are paying us for,' a voice from behind the light growled.
'Calm yourself, brother. He's worth more to our cause alive for now. They just don't want him in the Quintail, and he won't be anywhere near it. They won't know if he's alive or dead.'
'He needs to be judged by the flame and hammer,' another voice shouted.
'He will, but this one has a different taint, and I think I might know a way of tearing it back out. Leave Malaki to me. We can't pass an opportunity to experiment on a living subject,' Jonas mused. Imagine what we could do if we can unlock that knowledge.'
'Purge!' a disciple called. The word echoed and was chanted around the copse, to the clanking of metal against metal.
'Girl! Come here,' Jonas barked over the chanting. The little girl got up, and gave a wave back to Raide, before skipping off towards the light.
Raide widened his stance, closed his eyes and began to breathe the crisp pine-scented air. The yellow light inside flickered and pulsated rhythmically. The chill of the early evening left and was replaced with a warm glow that radiated from his abdomen.
'Good Raide, they're coming,' Wisp said calmly.
'The light, I can't see anything else,' he whispered, trying to keep his composure as the lamp kept his eyes to thin lines.
'I know. It will work to our advantage. Just stay focused and sense for my movements, just like we did with the Groomhurd. Remember, I can only suggest intentions to you, you're the one in control,' she instructed.
Raide twitched his fingers nervously making the leather creak in his gloves. The grass around rustled with the movements of men trudging slowly through until a sudden quickening of footsteps came from the rear. His legs urged to move, which he allowed, making a quick sidestep gracefully to the right, sending the robed man gambolling forward, ploughing him into the floor. The next strike was from the side. He could smell the leather of the small baton that swung towards his head. He accepted the urge to lean back and watched as the weapon glide harmlessly past him.
'Grab him, Vic,' a voice shouted out.
'I'm trying, he's fast,' another man replied breathlessly.
'At the same time, you idiots,' a gruff voice barked.
'Can someone shut off that damn light, I can't see what I'm doing,' another barked.
Raide's body moved with the grace and precision of an acrobat. He twisted and turned past each clumsy strike with ease. His attackers' movements seemed slow and childish to his eyes. He used his forearm to meet each blow before guiding their momentum past his body.
'Slow him down with some crossbow bolts,' a man panted.
'Jonas said he wanted him alive,' another yelled, lurching towards Raide, only to be thrown clear.
'Shoot his legs then,' one wheezed.
'No, you'll hit one of us. He'll tire soon,' a nasal man squeaked.
'I'm tired now! And will somebody turn off that bloody light,' a voice coughed.
The yellow light that filled his body gathered into Raide's hands. It felt as if he was holding a ball of thick sunlight that no one could see. As another wild swing came whistling past, Raide pushed his hand flat against the chest of a burly man. With a sudden, brief burst of light, he sent the man hurtling through the air and into the blackness of the tree line.
'He's using the taint,' one cried.
Raide looked at his hand in amazement. Four men rushed at him at the same time from every direction. The light gathered at the balls of both of his feet before releasing it against the ground as he jumped. The four men collided together, in a heap, as he launched into the air. Raide laughed to himself before the height made him panic. He flailed his arms wildly as plummeted back to the floor.
'Stop!' Brother Jonas called, his hands waving in the air. 'Leave him.'
Raide jumped back to his feet. 'That's a shame, I was just getting warmed up,' he said cockily.
Jonas scanned the field of men in the clearing who were all slumped over as if they had just run up a hill. 'Maybe a more drastic tactic is needed, brothers.'
'You know,' Raide said, strutting over to Jonas. 'I almost can't wait to get back to the city and tell the Sisters that you have attacked a house Chimera. I would very much like to be there, when they tear down the walls, to everything that you hold dear.'
Jonas' expression darkened. 'We do not fear demons. However, I don't think you'll be telling anyone about tonight.'
'Is that so? Unless you have a hundred men hiding in the trees, I think this conversation is over. Pray, we never meet again, Brother,' Raide said mockingly.
Jonas tutted and shook his head. 'Raide,' he let the name hang in the air. 'That is such an unusual name, don't you think? Not at all human.'
'It's all I have ever known,' he replied.
'No doubt more lies from the filth that grows within you. You see, the people who want you out of the way have such an interesting story about you,' a smile spread across Jonas' face. 'About the real you.'
'Raide, we need to run now,' Wisp sounded concerned.
Raide reached out and grabbed the man by his throat. 'What do you know about me?' he snarled.
'Raide, put him down and run, now,' she ordered.
Jonas clutched at Raide's hands around his neck. 'Raide was the name of your previous demon,' he gasped, struggling to breathe. 'Your human name is Ordellen. Don't you remember?'
Raide stiffened and the light faded. The sound of his name rang like a giant bell in his mind. A flood of images stabbed at him from every angle as he collapsed to the floor. Blood poured from his nose as he shook uncontrollably, lost in a barrage of memories from another life. The darkness came quickly and swallowed him whole, without mercy and without sound.