The Book of the Fallen - Chapter 11 - The First Death

[Kane]

On the morning of the fifth day after the Keeper’s pronouncement of contact with the gods, I was shaken awake by Sahi Tayam. I was told to get dressed quickly and help gather the students and staff in the central hall. Sahi Tayam looked terrible; hair disheveled, eyes sunken, and somehow deflated, as if the spark of life had fled him. I started to ask what was wrong, but from the look on his face I knew something terrible had happened and it was best to do what he asked.

It took me fifteen minutes to find and convince most of the students and Sahi to gather. Once there, we were met by the three ranking Sahi; Sahi Hamad, the Keeper, and Sahi Amahd, the prayer master. Seeing the three of them together was strange as they rarely cooperated and I knew that Sahi Hamad hated the Keeper. I wasn’t the only person to realize that something serious must have happened as whispered conversations filled the room. Finally Sahi Hamad, his voice cracking, called the hall to order and said that the Abbot was dead. There was a stunned silence in the room. Before anyone could ask questions, Sahi Hamad told us that classes and formal prayers would be cancelled for the day and that the Abbot’s tower was off limits to all. Without another word he and Sahi Amahd left the room.

As the crowd began to disperse I heard the Keeper talking to his followers saying it was the hand of Dal Sahaad reaching out to punish those with little faith. The Keeper was gloating over the Abbot’s death expecting that now he would be raised to take over the school and spread the Riding Host’s word across Eredane. I was furious, believing at the time that somehow the Keeper was responsible for the Abbot’s death; that he was a murderer. Looking back, I think the Keeper was not involved; that it was the Dark God or his demons that killed the Abbot to remove an obstacle in the Keeper’s path. The Keeper was being manipulated and his tenuous hold on sanity was failing.

The next two days were especially hard and I barely saw Sahi’s Hamad or Tayam. No one was allowed to see the Abbot’s body but rumors, believed to be coming from the servants who found the body, were that the Abbot died in terror and had horrific wounds. Men from the city came to meet with Sahi Hamad and the Abbot’s body was taken away in a sealed casket. No service was held and all that was said was that the Abbot’s body was being returned to his family for burial. Many of my classmates were talking of leaving the school but I felt I had to stay out of loyalty to Sahi’s Hamad and Tayam and also to not bring dishonor to my family. It would have better for everyone if I had left then; maybe at least a few of my friends and family would have survived.