Contents
Interlude I: From the East, Thunder
Overview
In a grim interlude, Father stages a celebratory feast using the deer that marked Carolyn’s lost innocence, while courtly powers attend. Carolyn withdraws into study, later translating an ancient account showing Father once faltered before triumphing with aid from Nobununga. Michael returns from ocean training and is sent to learn under this powerful ally. The brutality of Rachel’s fate underscores Father’s demands and the children’s peril.
Summary
After Isha and Asha are killed, David carries their deer bodies to the Library. Father compels Carolyn to help skin them and distribute parts to Lisa and Richard, then roasts the carcasses for a grand banquet. Dignitaries—including the ambassador of the forgotten lands and the last Monstruwaken—attend. Carolyn refuses to eat and asks to return to study; later Father tests her in multiple tongues and praises her progress.
Life settles into harsh routine until the aftermath of Rachel’s revelation. Rachel’s catalog requires her to murder her own infants to create prophetic agents. After learning this on her twelfth birthday, Rachel attempts escape and is torn apart by sentinels led by Thane, a trauma that leaves Carolyn fearful.
About a year after the banquet, Michael arrives at Carolyn’s cell, sunburned and salt-crusted from long study in the ocean under Diver Eye. They exchange guarded updates: Margaret’s worsening screams, David’s unthreatening cheerfulness, and Carolyn’s tolerance of her own situation.
Michael brings a cuneiform document from Father. Carolyn translates, summarizing an ancient history of the dawning of the fourth age: Father—Ablakha—was cast down by the Emperor of the third age until “thunder from the east” arrived. That thunder was a man once loyal to the Emperor who changed sides, renewing Father’s strength and turning the battle.
Carolyn identifies the ally as Nobununga. Michael reveals he is to begin learning under this figure the next day, signaling Father’s ongoing designs and the deep, dangerous lineage of power shaping their futures.
Who Appears
- CarolynHelps process slain deer, avoids the feast, translates an ancient text revealing Father’s past defeat and Nobununga’s aid.
- MichaelReturns from ocean training with Diver Eye; brings a cuneiform text; is assigned to study under Nobununga.
- FatherHosts a grand banquet, enforces brutal catalogs, and is revealed to have once been cast down before aided by Nobununga.
- RachelSeer whose catalog demands infanticide; attempts escape and is killed by sentinels, terrifying the others.
- DavidCarries deer carcasses; remains cheerful and friendly, increasingly unsettling to Carolyn.
- Diver EyeAncient sea tortoise minister who trains Michael in the ocean’s depths.
- ThaneSentinel who helps intercept Rachel’s escape; leads the pack that kills her.
- The last MonstruwakenPowerful guest at Father’s feast, a rare manifestation from the end of time.
- Ambassador of the forgotten landsAttends the feast, conveying his mistress’s regrets.
- LisaReceives deer pelts for leather during the grim preparations for Father’s banquet.
- RichardTakes deer intestines for bowstrings after the kill.
- NobunungaAncient ally whose ‘thunder’ turned the tide for Father; Michael is sent to learn from him.