Ananais

Ananais is one of three former comrades at the centre of The King Beyond the Gate, with Tenaka Khan and Decado. All three once served in the Dragon, the elite regiment of the Drenai. Since then Ananais has survived the arena, where the emperor Ceska sets men against his Joinings, the beast-men he uses to keep the country in fear. One of those fights cost him his face. He now hides the damage behind a black mask, and among the rebels he is known as Darkmask. What the arena did not take was his ability as a soldier and a leader. When the people of Skoda rise against Ceska, Ananais takes command of their rebellion and has to hold the mountains against the emperor's forces. The novel sets his fury beside Decado's longing for peace, and gives each of the old comrades a different answer to the question of what a damaged man still owes his country.

Appears in

1. 1The King Beyond the Gate (1985)A century after Legend, a half-Nadir exile comes home to kill a mad emperor, and finds himself leading a rebellion instead.