Discworld and Member Articles
|
|
|
Written by TheJackal
Monday, 29 August 2005 |
It took seven or so seconds for Nemoy’s memory banks to open for business. He withdrew thoughts of the previous few days’ actions and left a deposit of fear and foreboding.
When Nemoy finally opened and focussed his eyes, he found himself in a dark and moist cell. He lay on a wooden bench that served as a bed of sorts. Nemoy’s head was swimming with searing pain and his vision blurry.
‘Ah, you’re awake.’
The voice startled Nemoy, for even though he still could not see properly, he hadn’t sensed anyone else in the room.
‘Who are you?’ asked Nemoy, trying furiously to focus his eyes on where the man stood.
‘They call me Brother Rubeus,’ said the stranger. ‘And you would be Jonah Nemoy.’
It was a simple statement but for the second time in a minute, the man had surprised Nemoy. No-one had called Nemoy by his first name since he’d left his home all those years ago. People had just presumed Nemoy to be his first name and he hadn’t bothered to correct them.
‘How do you know my name?’ enquired Nemoy.
‘I know many things about you. Much more than you think.’
Nemoy attempted to move away from the bed but found, much to his dismay, that a manacle was tied to his left leg, which in turn was chained to the cell wall.
‘I am sorry about the convenience,’ said Rubeus, who had noticed Nemoy’s consternation. ‘However, we couldn’t have you trying to escape now, could we?’
‘What do you want with me?’ asked Nemoy.
‘Ah! That is a much more complicated question than you would imagine, although, I am sure that Brothers Adams and Stevens have already filled you in on some of the details.’
Nemoy’s face remained blank, whilst he decided whether or not he should confirm that he knew Ron and Gee.
‘Please, do not insult my intelligence by pretending that you don’t know what I’m talking about. I do not fool easily. Besides, it was my men who captured you after you left Sleepy Falls.’
Nemoy had met a lot of bullies in his time and many who would consider themselves a ‘hard man’, but this Rubeus fellow was something entirely different. He was something unique. The man dripped persona and raw power. Nemoy could tell straight away that Rubeus was the kind of guy that you didn’t mess with, under any circumstances.
Moreover, there was another element which instilled a sense of fear into Nemoy, of which he had not felt since his youth. The man seemed all controlling, all knowledgeable. Rubeus seemed to ooze confidence in himself and his surroundings.
‘Maybe I do know what you’re talking about,’ replied Nemoy.
‘There’s no maybe about it. I suppose you’ll be wanting to know the rest of the story? It’s quite interesting.’
‘I’m afraid I grew out of bedtime stories years ago,’ replied Nemoy defiantly, although he was really very keen to hear what the man had to say.
‘Indeed. Perhaps then, you will let me amuse you?’
‘Perhaps.’
Rubeus took in a deep breath and began his tale.
The wind was roaring wildly now and drowned out all other sounds in the area. Brother Parthas was grateful for this. He also cursed his luck at having to deal with the complete incompetence of his men.
There had already been two incidents: one of the men had stood on a garden rake, the handle of which had swung back and given him a concussion. Another Brother managed to stub his toe on something in the dark and had insisted on screaming out loudly.
Honestly, if it had been a fine night, then the noise that the guy had made over simply hurting a toe, would have been enough to wake the dead. One of the men had resorted to smacking Brother Nilfis in the mouth to cease his hysterics.
Parthas couldn’t help but stare at Brother Nilfis, who was over to his left, as the man now seemed to be sucking his thumb. It was as if Nilfis was trying to channel his pain away by means of absorbing it out through his thumb.
They hadn’t even penetrated the inside of Brother Adams’ house yet, and Parthas wondered what the babies would do next.
‘It has only been in the past few hours that you have become aware of the unique qualities you possess. I imagine it must have come as quite a shock to discover your immortality. On the other hand, I have known of your existence and capabilities for many years. In fact, it was by my hand that you received your gift.’
At this point Nemoy tried to interject a question but Rubeus cut him off.
‘Ah yes, the Brothers will have told you another story, but I assure you that my account is true.
‘You see,’ continued Rubeus. ‘I have ruled the Order of Mediators for almost five hundred years now. I have ruled with an authority that has withstood all attempts to denounce me, and there have been many. But as they say, appearances can sometimes be deceiving. Whereas to the outside world, I am, and always have been, a man of sheer power and strength, on the inside I have felt my body slowing down on me over the past hundred years or so. Gradually this came to worry me more and more as I felt that my mortality, although long lasting, was coming to an end.’
Rubeus walked closer to Nemoy, so that he could see the Grand Master’s supremely evil-looking eyes.
‘I had almost consigned myself to the inevitable when, one Autumn afternoon thirty years ago, I made a startling discovery: The Order holds thousands upon thousands of books in its libraries, and it was in one of these libraries that I found a diary. Now, this wasn’t your average diary. Another Grand Master of our Order, a Brother Eisic, once owned it.’
‘So he was one of your head honcos then. Big deal.’
Rubeus ignored the insolence. ‘It so happens that Brother Eisic is known to all members of our Order. Potential Brothers read about him in their curriculum. According to the textbooks, he reigned as Grand Master for a period of 892 years. It is due to this 892-year period that he is revered as having by far the longest reign of any Grand Master. Many fathers in the Order tell their sons to be good and to study well, in the hope that they too may grow up to be a great Grand Master, like Brother Eisic. I myself must also admit to having looked up to his achievements.
‘However, the diary that I found shed a totally new light on the matter. According to his personal account, Brother Eisic did not rise to the rank of Grand Master until the age of 789. I saw right away that this didn’t make sense. The average age that members of our Order can hope to live to is around eleven hundred years. Leading a healthy lifestyle can increase this by another two hundred years or so by. But even if Eisic had practiced living a very healthy life, there was simply no way that he could have reigned for that long a period. I knew something was amiss.
‘When I read further on, I discovered the truth behind Brother Eisic’s feat. He spoke of how they had once encountered a problem, whereby a young man was meant to die but, just as happened in your case, his lifeforce was not extinguished on time. This man had subsequently become an Immortal.’
A look of shock came over Nemoy’s face.
‘You didn’t think that you were the only one, did you?’ spoke Rubeus haughtily.
Nemoy didn’t reply.
‘Charge!’ said Brother Parthas. It did not, however, have the same je ne sais quoi as your average battle cry, since it wasn’t so much a cry as a whisper. He did not want to give the game away now that they were, literally, on the enemy’s doorstep.
Like any good leader, Parthas stood by as the men charged forwards. No, the men attempted to charge. In reality it was more like an untidy scrum. Parthas watched thirty men try to simultaneously fit through a door built for a maximum of two at any one time.
There was a jam. This led to a push from those in the back, resulting in an increment in the problem. If it weren’t so pathetic looking, he’d laugh.
Parthas wondered if the thirty going in by the front door were fairing any better. He rather doubted it but went to look anyway.
Ah. They were all inside, at any rate. And now he could hear screaming, which was always good, wasn’t it?
‘Not being sure what to do with the now immortal man,’ continued Rubeus, ‘Brother Eisic had him locked away in a cell. Years passed, and in all that time, the prisoner was never told the real reason for his incarceration. It was believed that if the prisoner were to know of his immortality, he could cause a lot of trouble in the unlikely event of an escape.
‘Now, the time came where Eisic began to show more interest in the imprisoned man, whom he called Prisoner U. The Grand Master was puzzled by how the man’s body coped with pain and suffering, and he began to torture the prisoner on a weekly basis. It was on one of these visits that a most unexpected thing happened: although the hand of someone else could not harm the man, the prisoner could cause bodily damage to himself, if he so wished. You can imagine how excited Brother Eisic was when he saw that.’
Nemoy couldn’t, but he did not say so.
‘The concept of someone wanting to harm themselves had never entered Eisic’s head, but the tortured man became so depressed of his captivity, that he began to cut himself every now and then. After doing so, his wounds would bleed like any other normal person’s would. Yet, when Brother Eisic stuck a blade straight into the prisoner’s body, the wound never bled and would soon be healed.
‘Ultimately, after months of torture, Prisoner U died from blood loss after cutting his own throat. Brother Eisic was present at the time and was caught up in a truly remarkable occurrence: Upon the man’s pitiful last breath being used up, a great light erupted from within him. The light shot forward and struck Brother Eisic. The force of the blow knocked Eisic out, but when came to, he seemed to be okay. It wasn’t until a few months later that he discovered the true effect that the strange light had had on him.’
Nemoy could guess this bit. ‘He became far more powerful, didn’t he?’
‘You could say that, yes. On a night quite like this one, an assassin successfully penetrated the Brother’s bedroom, and shot him straight in the heart with a crossbow. Alas for the assassin, this utterly failed to kill Eisic. It was then that the Grand Master realised what had happened: Prisoner U’s immortality had been transferred to him!’
I n that moment, the shining light of truth flashed upon Nemoy’s previously clouded mind.
‘You said that you gave me my immortality. If that’s so, then it was you who made sure only two Mediators turned up for my birth. But that would mean…,’ continued Nemoy.
‘Yes?’
‘…that…’
‘Keep going, you nearly have it.’
‘…you’re going to kill me for my immortality.’
Rubeus clapped his long, thin hands slowly but loudly.
‘Well done. I was beginning to think that you wouldn’t work it out.’
 |
|
|
Subscribe to this comment's feed