The Story
Temujin’s classmates called him the Little Canary - a runt that proved useful in the mines.
His teachers called him the little bull. How could such a small boy have such burning rage?
The boy had caused chaos for 6 months now, and his family was threatened with exile as a result.
The military normally takes over and raises the child, in these situations…
but he was not yet 11. Still too young to join the army.
The army wanted that rage. They say good rage makes for Good Warriors, and great rage makes for Great Khans.
There was no justifying a boy so young, living in barracks, though.
The Khan heard of the boy and wanted to take action. Exiling the boy risked losing a great leader, or a great rival, or both, and The Khan wanted to make sure he could see who the boy would grow up to become.
So The Khan went to Temujin’s house, unannounced, as the family of 8 sat outside eating their dinner. He didn’t say a word, or even acknowledge their presence, as he walked towards their table. The father stood and blubbered welcomes, offered their service, their loyalty, their gratitude.
The Khan walked past him as if he was a sign post, and sat in his chair, waiting for them all to be silent, as he peered into each of their eyes.
The mother clutched her infant baby, fearing the child be taken.
The eldest brother kneeled, frozen like a gargoyle, wondering if he was being personally enlisted to the army by The Khan himself, and how he felt about it.
The eldest sister, also frozen like stone, had always feared being claimed, but now that she had seen The Khan, she understood… she knew that if he picked her up and threw her on his shoulder to take her right here and now, no one would speak a word of protest, not even her.
The father, lost for words, babbled like an idiot about tea leaves and good fortune.
Temujin noticed that only the farm animals were quiet, as if before a flood, or a storm, or a bear. The farm animals were quiet, Temujin was quiet, and everything else was in chaos.
The Khan locked eyes with Temujin, who had never taken his eyes off him, and knew the boy instantly.
“Leave!” He said. And all but Temujin left.
They sat in silence for a long time. Temujin couldn’t handle the silence, so he spoke.
“It wasn’t my fault,” he said.
The Khan stared and said nothing.
The boy tried to maintain the eye contact, but in his shame, averted his gaze.
"I have a gift for you," The Khan said.
He placed a small blade on the table. It was sheathed, and engraved with the word "Clarity"
“Do you know who this belonged to?”
Temujin shook his head, not taking his eyes off the engravings.
"I didn’t think you would. It belonged to a man named Yeff."
“Was he a Great Khan?”
"No, but if it wasn’t for his blindness, he could have been."
"Yeff was a chieftain until his tribe was raided, his people killed, his children mutilated, his wife tormented. Eventually, they were all slaughtered. All except Yeff."
“Yeff was placed on the back of a horse and made to ride south for 3 days, without food or water.”
"He was unhorsed, to be fed and watered. And to make sure that Yeff wouldn’t know the route, his leading officer took a brandishing iron, cooked it in the fire, and then scooped out Yeff’s eyes with it, so that he wouldn’t see the route they took to arrive."
“They rode for another 3 days, and all Yeff could hear was the officer’s voice. The one who blinded him and mutilated his family. The one he’d sworn to kill in revenge. He heard the man drink, give orders, yell, snore.”
“One day, there was a confrontation. An order given, an order disobeyed. Blades drawn.”
"Yeff’s captor screamed in pain, as a subordinate plunged a blade into the officer’s belly. That scream of pain turned into a scream of rage, as the officer struck back, and cut off his subordinate’s head. Yeff’s captor killed the disobedient soldier and survived the wound he suffered."
“With this blade!?” Temujin asked.
“No. Yeff would use this blade to take his revenge, though. He never forgot the scream that erupted from his captor’s mouth. He would use it to hunt down the officer he swore revenge against.”
“When he escaped, he came back home and gathered a great army to charge against the enemy Chieftain, who’s camp he was eventually able to locate.”
“Yeff was blinded, but still, effective at strategy and war. They crushed the enemy camps, and his army brought every leading man, of every rank, to kneel before Yeff.”
"Yeff would test their identity the only way he knew how. He would plunge a sword into each of their bellies, and listen to their scream. When he finally found the scream he was listening for, he cut off the man’s head. For all the others, he let them go."
"Yeff got his revenge, quenched his thirst and his rage, and was sated… but not before 108 men were stabbed, 38 men died from the stabbing, and another 21 died of infection."
Temujin looked at the blade, stone-faced.
“Will you kill me with this blade?”
The Khan didn’t answer that.
“Will I be able to use it to kill someone?” The boy asked.
“Who would you kill, if you were even given the permission?”
The boy was ecstatic. “OH YES! YES! I WOULD BE SO STRONG. I WOULD SLAY THE CHILDREN AT SCHOOL. OVERPOWER THE MINERS IN THE SHAFTS. I WOULD ROB THE MERCHANTS THAT DON’T LEND US BREAD, EVEN WHEN WE BEG.”
“Perhaps you would, son. There’s always the risk I give this to you, and you do that. Like Yeff, with his great rage spreading 1000 different directions until it reached it’s intended target.”
"But even without eyes, he knew his intended target, Temujin. Do you?"
Temujin grunted something unintelligible.
“What was that?”
“The children at school call me Little Canary…”
“All of them, Temujin?”
“Svelten, okay, Svelten does and all the others follow, ARE YOU HAPPY NOW?”
The Khan watched the boy.
“If I kill Svelten and then promise to be good, will you let me?”
"I won’t let you, no. But, even without me, for an offense of that nature, you could beat him within an inch of his life and leave the rest to the gods, if you liked."
“I knoooow that… it’s just… I’m not strong enough.”
“Ah,” The Khan said. “The Truth is here.”
Temujin shook, tears in his eyes, anger on his face.
“End this pointless rage towards all the villagers, Temujin. Wield it on it’s intended target. Your anger is Svelten. And your anger is pointed at you, and your lack of strength.”
"Imagine focusing this, instead of spreading it like a golden spring lily’s pollen. Magnify it. Svelten may be bigger than you, but your rage is bigger than anyone’s. Beat him, let the gods decide if he lives or dies from there, and request
a seat at my table when you do. It will be granted."
The Khan looked Temujin in the eyes, found the steadiness within, and asked him… “Can you do that?” … it was a test, more than a question.
“Well… maybe… but what happened to Yeff after he killed all those men?” Temujin asked.
“Yeff… Yeff lead battles, aged well, and became a monk. He still lives at the temple to this day.”
A MONK!? Temujin was in shock.
"Yeff was never an angry man, Temujin. Neither are you. He just needed to understand what he was truly mad at, become strong enough to conquer it, and then move on with his life."
The Lesson @Ouroboros learned, before writing this story.
Before Khan, I wasn’t angry enough. After Khan, I was so angry, I was lashing out at people who didn’t deserve it. The key to mastering Khan is finding out exactly what you’re angry at, and solving it. I am angry at people in my life who put their agenda ahead of my own, but I’m even more angry at myself, for being weak, and at myself, for not being strong enough to reject their agenda.
