The Blades of Mercy

(Restricted fragment from the Conclave Annals, 8th Cycle of Still Waters—redacted after the Heresy of Lirha.)

I.

Origin

In the early centuries of the Dominion, the fertility fog grew restless. Anchor (masculine) births increased, the Hollow stirred, and the Conclave feared that open conflict would shatter the Veil’s illusion of unity.

Matron Laureth of the Veil created a secret order to “protect the Mother’s Dream from its own reflections.”

She named them The Blades of Mercy—because mercy, when practiced correctly, left no memory behind.

Each Blade was a priestess of the pyre, trained in two disciplines:

The Doctrine of Ash—erasure through sanctified fire.

The Art of Tranquility—the ability to kill without leaving echo or trace, so the Veil would not stir.

They were trained to creep like smoke and feel no rhythm of conscience; their faith was the silence that followed a scream.

II.

Methods and Rituals

Before each execution, a Blade would speak the Litany of Still Flame:

I unmake what was unmade. I quiet the voice before it echoes.

Their weapons were called “Silencers”—thin obsidian knives inscribed with prayer-lines filled with powdered ash from prior burnings.

Upon killing an Anchor, the Blade would gather a fragment of breath (drop of blood) —believed to contain the target’s reflection—and cast it into the fire. With this ritual, the Dominion believed it was burning sin at its source.

But over time, the pyres began to whisper.

III.

The Fracture of Lirha

Of all the Blades, Lirha was the most devout.

It was she who realized the fire remembered.

Each killing fed the fire. Each named burned became a whisper in the embers.

When the Matron ordered her to silence a philosopher-Anchor who spoke of harmony between Breath and Dream, Lirha obeyed—and heard her own name spoken from his dying breath.

From that night forward, the pyres glowed red instead of gold.

Lirha disobeyed her next order.

She wrote the names of her victims and sang them to the flames.

And the flames answered.

When dawn came, the pyres burned without oil, fed by memories alone.

The Blades of Mercy were dissolved; their records sealed beneath the Atrium.

Lirha’s name was burned—but her fire never went out.

IV.

Doctrine of Consequence

Mercy is not silence. Mercy is the flame that remembers so the living may forget.

—Heretical scripture, attributed to the Red Shade, Psalm of Smoke.

Today, the Red Shade’s priestesses still whisper the Blades’ oath before they breathe in the fog—not as devotion, but as defiance.

Where the Dominion once used mercy to erase, the Red Shade now uses remembrance to ignite.

Archivist’s Annotation (Solenne)

The pyres were never extinguished.

Every time the Dominion burns a name, the flame sings softly, as though in prayer.

I believe it is not the Mother the Shade praise—it is her last Blade, Lirha, who refused to forget.

Read: The Veiled Dominion Episode II The Red Shade's Song