The Vessel of Ra

Chapter 17: The Father

Octavia and Ra flew over the Derbyshire countryside and landed at the bottom of the peak into which Mistraldol, the ancestral Klaereon home, was built. On her way home the fine people of Hathersage had noticed her glowing figure overhead, but Hathersage had been trained to leave the Klaereon family alone. No matter what happened today, and Octavia imagined today would be talked about for some time, Hathersage would have more reason to fear the people in the big house.

Through Ra's eyes, Octavia's world was painted in different colors. The moors were an ugly scrub when she had left, but now there were subtle gradations of brown, rough vegetation, jagged stone, clumps of dirt, and leftover bits of summer green. The peak was a cross between a mountain and a hill. Many tourists and nature lovers came through the town, but they stayed away from Mistraldol. Since Mrs. Klaereon died, rumor in the town had it the Klaereons used ghostly servants or were served by the dead. Rumor was wrong, but not by much. The dutiful shadows of Mistraldol attended to the domestic needs of Caius Klaereon and his family. It was all one and the same to Hathersage, peculiar goings-on to stay away from.

The manor was covered with magical sigils. Stone obelisks rose from the roof, as did sculptures shaped like ankhs and scarabs. The gardens on the upper levels were filled with sundials, statues, and gargoyles. Great walls preceded the giant entry doors at the bottom of the peak, which opened onto a main hall of polished marble and ornate stained glass windows outlined in lead, colored light streaming through. The entry hall was the sanctum of a church. Elizabeth the first had awarded the manor to the Klaereon family for services rendered, and various ancestors had altered the structure. Today, what interested Octavia and Ra the most was the metaphysical part of the house.

The levels underneath Mistraldol existed in magical realms. The house was filled with living shadows, which Binders used to do their raw magic. Uncle Bartholomew had brewed elixirs in a laboratory. Ceremonial chambers furthered the family's understanding of demonology, and vaults guarded the family's treasures, including the Scroll of Solomon.

Octavia knew the Erasmus story by tedious rote. Erasmus Klaereon, who had served as a magician in the armies of Julius Caesar, left the army to study at the library in Alexandria. Sorcerers knew of a scroll hidden in the desert, which controlled legions of demons. The scroll was too powerful for Rome, for the Ptolemys, for any would-be ruler, and much too powerful in the hands of the magical families scattered all about the globe. One day Erasmus set out to destroy it. How naive of him, Octavia thought, to understand nothing about the mythology surrounding Solomon's Scroll. How egotistical to decide he was the man to save an unworthy world from itself.

Thanks to Erasmus, the Klaereon family became intertwined with Solomon's exiles in the Abyss, both banished demons and Binders doomed to replay Erasmus' battle with Nuit. Caius Klaereon, Octavia's father, together with his demon Neith, protected the Solomon Scroll.

Octavia climbed the stairs circling the peak to the garden on top hewn from the rock which wrapped around the house. Lesser demons attached themselves to Binders like personal shadows, which was appropriate, since the Binders never seemed to see light. The children of Nuit chose a Klaereon at birth and the strongest sorcerer of each generation would emerge to use the scroll's secrets. That Binder had the gift of being able to summon the demons of the Abyss in times of great need, a temporary dark army to destroy the family's enemies. Erasmus was right in his way. Using the scroll could change the world.

The flaw in the agreement was people's morality varied, even among honorable Erasmus' family, especially among his demon-tainted progeny. All the Klaereons had not been or would not be honorable. Octavia considered her more notorious ancestors. Publius Klaereon had loved Aurelia Galt and they used the scroll for their own gain. Their love plunged Europe into what was called the Dark Ages. Mistraldol had been the reward for Leonides and Leto Klaereon reclaiming the scroll.