(THOB) Chapter 61: The Hallowed (Patreon)

“In the next six months,” Monsignor Crowl told them, “you will be prepared for the test of the hunt.”

It was late in the month of Martis and the snow from the winter had thawed, giving way for the green grass and the warm way. They stood in front of the dining hall, clad in their white cassocks as the Monsignor addressed them.

“During this period,” he continued, “your instructors will strengthen your ability to work as a group. It will be a tower based test, but rest assured, only if all members of the group fail will all the members of the group be shown the gate. With that, I implore you to listen to the priests; they have gone through this before and have an idea of what will be required of you all. And may Truth guide you in this endeavor.”

Ezril and his brothers made their way to the hall soon after. There, Father Thane awaited them, seated on his chair, fingers tapping a steady rhythm against his desk.

“I see it’s that time of the year, again,” he said.

“Yes, Father,” Thelsta, one of the boys from the other towers voiced their reply, his deep voice echoing through the hall. “We are to start preparations for another test.”

Thane looked confused. “Oh!” he replied. “Yes, yes. That too. But I was actually talking of the end of Martis. I just love the end of the month. I hate it; really, I do. If that makes sense.”

“Today,” he continued after they had taken their seats. “I will be teaching you about the finding…”

Father Thane proceeded to delve into a detailed analysis on how best to discern a Hallowed before what he referred to as the slumber.

“…We all know the Hallowed are best for physical tasks, and the Credo teaches us that they were Hallowed by Truth for the sole purpose of protecting the rest of his children, the less powerful ones or, as the Hallowed tend to call them, those not Hallowed.” He cast his gaze across the hall, studying them.

“However,” he continued, “the average Hallowed experiences what is called the slumber within their eleventh year, and comes to the understanding of their gifts of nin over the span of the next six years. This is why the seminary holds its test of the Hallowed in the sixth year. But it is almost impossible to determine a Hallowed before their connection to nin manifests itself.”

“Then why doesn’t the seminary just wait till we are old enough?” a brother asked. Ezril couldn’t remember his name.

Thane turned to the brother. “Bognis, is it?”

The boy, who looked more like a man, nodded.

Thane returned the nod with one of his own. “The seminary takes the Hallowed young because most Hallowed learn their skills as Hallowed, forgetting that they were without nin first.”

This drew a lot of shocked expressions from the brothers.

“Yes,” he continued. “Although you are born with a connection to nin, in your early years you lived as nothing more than a child of Vayla. Only by the eight year do most begin to display signs of Vayla’s gifts accommodating nin. Thus, the seminary reminds us that we are first Vayla’s, then Truth’s. And I assure you, most of the mistakes the Hallowed make, like those of the King’s guard, are made simply because they did not train as one without nin. Priests on the other hand are trained as those without nin before we are trained as Hallowed. And that makes a lot of difference. Take Vi Antari for example.” He placed his hand on Ezril’s shoulder.

Ezril’s face flushed in concealed discomfort and he bristled visibly at being singled out.

“This is no time for squirming, boy,” Thane chided then returned his attention to the class. “From what I have just told you all, mind you, he would have probably revealed himself to be a late bloomer in a few years or so. But how many of you think the brother here would have been able to pass the test of the Hallowed if he had not been eased into it from first being trained as an one that is not Hallowed.”

Ezril pressed his eyes shut.

“Oh.” He heard the surprise in Thane’s voice. “And why do you think so, Olufemi?” A pause. There was no reply. “Ok then…” Thane continued. “What of you?” His attention moved. “Taeval?”

“Because he fights like a Hallowed.” The voice was Baltar’s. “Always has.”

“Oh, I see.” Thane’s hold softened on Ezril’s shoulder. “And how does a Hallowed fight, Taeval?”

“Quick. Sharp. Witty. Like a Hallowed.”

Thane’s grip was a sliver of what it had been in the beginning. “So, in summary, you think he would have always succeeded because he’s a good fighter, is that correct?”

“Yes.”

“Well not to belittle you or Vi Antari’s skill,” Thane said. “But up to the age of sixteen, at least, the Hallowed and those not Hallowed fight with the same prowess. All I’m getting is that he is a good fighter.” He released Ezril’s shoulder and returned to his desk. “But I must admit, when I heard of what happened I was as surprised as you all were, maybe more than most even. And standing here, I didn’t expect any of you to have thought he would.” His attention turned to Ezril. “You have loyal brothers who believe in you. You are quite fortunate. And do away with that frown. I simply used you to prove a point. You are not a lady that you should take offense.”

Some of the brothers laughed at this. Some did not. Ezril had a feeling it said something about them.

Thane adjusted his cassock. “Now then, when a Hallowed’s command of nin begins to manifest…”

He delved into a series of explanations, addressing first the unrest, a period when Truth’s blessing melds with Vayla’s gifts by a Hallowed’s seventh year. During this period a Hallowed becomes unnecessarily restless, prone to stunts of violence and erratic behaviors. However, it is also common among children of that age.

By their ninth year through to the eleventh the Hallowed would begin to see things differently, some often seeing colors in sounds, or knowing the number of hairs on their head or their hands—depending on how well they can count. Some see the color of their lids when they close their eyes. Sometimes they are known to hear the sound of the air around them. There happened to have been a priest who had even known the taste of sunlight. During this period, they tended to be more aware of Vayla and the nin in her the world more than others, and it is known to dim as they grow.

However, roughly around their thirteenth year the slumber occurs. They lose their awareness and find themselves as simple as those not Hallowed and, in some cases, weaker.

“I don’t remember feeling weak, Father,” a brother said, gaining nods from the other brothers.

Thane waved him aside. “That is because in the presence of a large deposit of Asmidian ore beneath their feet the Hallowed can remain as strong as the those with no command of nin and, in some cases, stronger, although it can simply make them feel heavier in the early years,” he said. “And that is why the seminary was chosen to be built on these grounds, specifically. It holds the largest deposit of the ore unable to be mined…”

Thane trailed from the tangent, returning to the topic of the lesson. In the third year after the slumber, at most, the sixth year, the equinox took place. It was a point when the Hallowed’s nin finds a balance with Vayla’s nin. In the Tainted, this was when they discovered they could manipulate Vayla’s nin. In the Hallowed, it was when their nin suffused their bodies and began granting them the extra strengths they were most often known for. This was when a Hallowed begins to display, exhibiting strength above their peers which could often be mistaken as a sign when a child who was not Hallowed seems stronger than his years.

“So it is impossible to be in your twentieth year and not know if you are Hallowed?” Takan asked.

“No, Nilfinu,” Thane answered. “It is not. And, have you been paying attention, you would have realized that the seminary’s tests are designed to pass only those who can meet their equinox in the third year of their slumber.”

“If we are so special, then why do they hate us?” This from a boy whose name Ezril could not remember. “Why do they send us away?” The boy’s anger poured out in his tone.

Father Thane sighed.

“You should let go of your pain, child. Spewing pointless tripe is not going to change what has been done to you,” he told the boy. When he spoke again his voice held a solemnity born from experience. “Before the arrival of the Credo people believed the Hallowed and the Tainted were much alike. They feared them and gave them up to the forest, burning them in the name of Vayla. The Credo brought an end to the killing of the Hallowed, but still, it could not assuage the fear of them. The rise of the church dealt with the problem of the Tainted, and proved Truth was a merciful god only if the Tainted changed their ways. With the seminary came a chance for the Hallowed, and even the kingdom came to understand the importance of them.”

“Why did they fear us?” the boy asked, adamant. “Why do they still hate us?”

“Because we were not the best of men,” Thane answered. “We used what we had for the wrong reasons because we did not understand it.”

“Why?”

Thane smiled sadly. “Vanity.”

A silence fell over the hall, stretching for what seemed a few minutes.

“Okay.” Thane clapped his hands. The sound reverberated through the hall. “The method of discerning the manifestation of the Hallowed was discovered by who?”

The silence returned. This time it was palpable.

“If any of you can answer it, I will give you a hint on what your next test is going to be.”

“…Father Lenni?” a brother tried.

“No.”

“Father Nelnik.”

“No.”

“Mother Ygglish.”

This answer earned a scoff, then, “No.”

The brothers offered up a variety of priests’ names, among which Ezril found he could only identify a handful. When Thane had deemed them running out of time, drawing the class to a close, Salem spoke.

“Tamaron Duret.”

Thane applauded him. “That’s very correct. And how did you come by that answer, Thrysis?”

“I guessed.”

“And what made you guess that? And before you tell me there was no reason, I would like you to know that I observed you thinking about it for a while.”

“It could have been Brandis Algon,” Salem answered and Ezril could hear the suppressed sigh in his voice, “but from the stories of Brandis, he trusted Tamaron very much. And considering Tamaron founded the seminary long after Brandis’ death as a place not only to raise priests but as a home for the Hallowed who had none, it would be safe to say that he knew how to find the Hallowed even as children. Either he knew it or one of his cohorts did. But I’d place my bottom coin on Tamaron.”

Thane looked impressed. Though Ezril was aware of his brother’s intelligence, it never ceased to intrigue him.

“That is too precise for a guess, Thrysis,” Thane said. He closed his leather bound book and dropped it on the table with a thud. “Now, what do you all know about your test?”

“It’s called the test of the hunt,” Baltar answered.

“The priests won’t talk about it,” Thelsta added.

Father Thane shrugged. “No surprise there.”

“It will be in a forest,” Darvi offered.

“Yes,” Thane confirmed.

“We will be hunting an animal,” Salem offered. “And a group work entails it won’t be an easy one. A Titan, perhaps.”

Thane nodded, pleased with their answers. “I see you have had time to mull it over, Thrysis,” he commended. “However, you are either not thinking wide enough or you still bear a hint of naivety. But not to worry, the seminary will drain it all out of you before you are ordained. If it’s not done by your ordination, then the priesthood will.”

“So what will you offer us, Father?” Ezril asked.

“First,” he said, his tone serious, “a piece of advice. When you get the chance, do not hesitate. Do not think. Do not consider. Do not give your humanity a chance to kill you. Simply kill. Because if you do not, it will cost you your life. Second. Yes, it will be in a forest. Yes, you will hunt. And yes, you will do it as a group. But you will not be hunting Titans, for that, you will need experience and, contrary to what you may think, the seminary does not intend to kill you.” He paused, perhaps letting his words sink in.

“Your prey, however,” he continued gravely...

“will be the Tainted.”