Chapter 21. Xenarach

erenity Temple loomed over him, vast and solid as a mountain. From its high windows, the last rays of the sun took on the colors of the glass and set the floor upon which he prostrated himself ablaze with color. He hardly remembered the names of the priests and priestesses performing the rite now, but he could see his master standing quietly near the great lancet doorway, his narrow figure swathed in red and black and his long arms folded.

“Focus upon the rite,” he instructed coldly. Theirs had never been a warm relationship. It was only through his sense of duty to Dojin Matabe that Master Suhlevar had agreed to train Zhou.

“I’ll make a demon hunter out of you,” Suhlevar growled, “and then you’ll understand fully what you awakened. I hope you never sleep well again.”

“I’m dreaming this.”

He walked over to stand beside Suhlevar’s imperious figure and gazed upon the broad oval of the chapel. Dojin, wise and gentle as ever, was kneeling beside Shikai, praying for him as the rite continued. Shikai had not changed, of course. Her mortal form was incorruptible. In Tyria she took the guise of an elementalist and wore a diadem of flame. The old priestess Merada, whose oracular powers had delivered the means of his salvation, knelt at the side of his penitent form. She was holding his hand and mouthing the words of the rite. A priest of each of the five gods was present, and each in turn, made their mark upon him. From Dwayna he received a crystal charged with light. Into it, Master Suhlevar had placed a sundered piece of Xenarach, the demon lord that had brought him to this low pass. From Lyssa he was granted two sacred sigils that were emblazoned upon his back and shoulders in the form of tattoos. These would mark him in the mists as redeemed or doomed when his time upon this plane was over. Melandru blessed a pair of dragon claws that were given freely by Shikai and these where enchanted to ward his flesh. From Grenth he received the judgment of the scourge. From Balthazar, the wounds were purified with flame.

Master Suhlevar watched the proceedings grimly. Everyone else had the decency to look appropriately disgusted or had turned their faces away during the beating.

“Look at you refusing to cry out. You think yourself superior to ordinary men.”

“Why didn’t you take me back to Elona with you? A student normally follows their master,” Zhou asked, speaking to the old man in a way he had never dared while he was still alive. Most of the time, Suhlevar had forbade him to speak at all.

“Shikai will not go there and it is by her grace that you will be saved.”

“Do you know who is hunting me now, Master Suhlevar?”

“Someone who knows the demon lord’s true name.”

“You, Shikai, Dojin…”

“I taught you to hold your tongue,” the man rumbled, “If you had told anyone else, you would remember. When did you first encounter him?”

Zhou did not dwell on the past and preferred to keep it that way. Difficult though it was to go back to his early years, he recalled the small holdings of his father at the northern frontier of Luxon lands. His father had proudly sat the exams and earned the feathers of a scholar but had eventually refused a position in the Celestial Ministry. He had also been offered a place in the garrison of several local guilds for he was a natural mesmer, bright and focused. Instead he had returned to the village of his ancestors and resolved to make life better for all there. His mother had hated the man’s lack of ambition. To her mind, he had squandered his chance for greatness and thus her chance for comfort. She hated their humble house, even if it was the finest of those in the village and for many miles around. She longed for the city and the finer things in life.

It did not matter that he used his talents to protect the region. Oni and nagas were a near constant threat and one of the main reasons their people lived in grinding poverty. He gathered a small band of adventurers to hand and eventually the village knew peace and safety. It was a far cry from anything the empire had ever offered to do on their behalf. Into this little haven Zhou had been born, the youngest of eight and spoiled for he only knew the prosperous and happy place his father’s dedication and kindness had forged.

He was barely five when his mother dressed him up and had the ox cart prepared. Zhou had wondered at her elaborate preparations, for if they were only going to the market, why bring chests of clothes and furniture? The two of them sat in comfort beside the driver and she distracted him with tales of dragons and spirits until it grew dark and he curled up to sleep against her. In the morning he was shocked to awaken in a strange bed in a noisy, stinking place. Of course she had dipped into her sizable dowry to obtain a lavish apartment. Where she had failed with her husband, she would now see to it ambition flourished in her son.

Naturally he resisted, but eventually the approval of his mother grew more precious than gold now that he was without his siblings and father. He longed for them and he longed for the rural sweetness of his home. But she plied him with scholars, forced him to absorb every morsel of knowledge his growing mind could handle. She courted a new husband and, since there was no record of her marriage, abandoned the old. He was now one of ten and not favored by his new father. As a clever little parrot, he no longer belonged with children. He did not know how to play, but he soon learned how to fight when his mesmeric talents emerged.

When he alone of all of his father’s sons showed a propensity for Lyssa’s art, his father renewed his attempts to reclaim Zhou. By then, however, it was too late. His stepfather and mother were now well-connected. After one forcible attempt to take him away failed, Zhou’s father was imprisoned and charged with kidnapping. His claims that Zhou was his son were denied and his alleged marriage was ridiculed. To this day, Zhou still did not understand what happened next. Even his mother had never intended for things to spin so badly out of control.

“I first heard Xenarach when I was at Raisu with my mother. We pleaded my father’s case but the Celestial Ministry would not listen. Instead, we witnessed his execution.”

“The Emperor would not intervene?”

“Not for my clan. They did not dwell in the great city and had no sway in the court. We were beneath the notice of all but the pettiest bureaucrats. That was why it was so easy to accuse my father of treason and spying. He did not understand the various circles of power that surrounded the court. He had annoyed someone powerful and he paid the price.”

“Or his talented son caught the eye of someone in the court and all that was needed to bind him was the sacrifice of one of his parents.”

Zhou gazed back in time to the moment of his father’s death. The manner of execution was determined by the accusing ministry. Shrouded in white silk, his father’s breath had been ritually stolen away by garrote. He remembered his overwhelming grief and rage and the smooth calm voice of the demon offering revenge.

“Ministry of Air…”

But it made sense now. Air ruled communications and spying.

“How do demons grow powerful?” Suhlevar demanded.

“By the corruption or possession of souls.”

“How might a demon be made weak?”

“By releasing its imprisoned souls, by destroying its physical projection, by gaining its true name and binding it.”

“What will a demon do to prevent this?”

“Destroy those who are capable of doing any of those three things, above all those who know its name or who have successfully defeated it to some degree in the past.”

“How many who knew the true name of this creature among your circle of friends now live?”

“Shikai and myself.”

“Xenarach returns, Master Bei, and it appears he is very unhappy with you.”

“That cannot be, we shattered him and bound him in the Realm of Torment.”

“But a demon cannot be destroyed.”

“He was little more than a mewling shadow when we were done with him. He cannot have gained so much power so quickly.”

“Unless someone or something helped him.”

Someone else who knew its name. Someone in the Ministry of Air and possibly the same who had pushed for his father’s execution. Someone who wanted he and Shikai dead.

“I am not helpless, Xenarach. I bound you once. I will bind you again. And if you were the reason for my father’s death, then by the gods, you will suffer.”