Serilda Corazon

Life at Camp Skadi

Serilda shares hut seven with Megan and other prisoners, many of whom are ill, injured, or dangerously dehydrated. She collects water and distributes food taken from Colonel Jaakobah Flint's house, attending to wounds and helping those too weak to drink. Some human prisoners persecute her for her Flaxen ancestry.[1][2]

The distant ship

Serilda experiences recurring dreams of a starship and its commander. She tells Megan that a powerful 'man in the moon' is approaching and can feel her without understanding the connection. Her expectation of help precedes Echo's proposed extraction of a gifted hybrid prisoner from an eastern North American camp.[1][2][3]

Mental abilities

Lillet Corazon noticed that Serilda answered unspoken thoughts at about six years of age and later influenced her mother's wishes. Serilda can establish a mental connection, sensed as repeated sharp sensations in her head, and plant desires or false memories. She keeps Flint drunk and gives him fabricated memories of sexual intimacy. Despite promising never to intrude on Megan's mind, she induces the gravely ill woman to eat.[2]

Family

Serilda's father was a Flaxen regional colonel who gradually showed kindness after forming a relationship with her mother. Her parents made bread for prisoners. Serilda believed that her father intended to free them, although she did not know his plan. Both parents were tortured and shot after his conduct was discovered. Serilda was eight when she was sent to the camp.[5][7]

Life at Camp Skadi

Serilda survived years of imprisonment and protected Megan, who became her lover. She influenced Colonel Jaakobah Flint's mind at night, encouraging mercy and compassion and keeping prisoners too weak to work alive. His replacement by Damien Senery after her escape brought renewed mass killing.[5][7][11][12]

Abilities and intelligence

Serilda could introduce suggestions and memories into other people's minds and encounter their dreams. She used these abilities to draw Eastcott back to Earth and obtain information about an infrasound weapon and a facility in the Andes. She warned that dreams could be abstract and unreliable. She explicitly said she could not predict the future, although Megan described her anxious dreams preceding danger.[5][6][7][8]

Life after rescue

After leaving the camp, Serilda remained aboard Echo with Megan. She lent Eastcott mental strength during the attack by Brookes and its aftermath, leaving herself exhausted. At Cylli she recovered, helped reconcile Sarah's mistaken concern about her relationship with Eastcott, and later returned to war rather than remain in safety. She received a wrist communicator implant.[9][10][11][13]

The combined operation

Serilda joined the intelligence team in northern Iceland in a mission concealed from most of Echo's company. She supplied both the power and the experiences for a broadcast directed at nine generals and three air marshals. The effort left her collapsed and apparently comatose.[15][16][17]

Journeys and liberation

While her body remained weak, Serilda met Eastcott in an experience she identified as Copious and said that she had been travelling among worlds. She broke his cell's diamond door, allowing him to begin the operation that restored Echo and Cylli. She said Brookes could not be changed as the generals had been because he already understood other ways and did not care.[18][19][20]

Return to Camp Skadi

Serilda and Megan confronted Major Damien Scenery after marines secured his home and killed the camp's remaining guards. They said he would face trial, then Megan castrated him with his own knife.[21]

Search for the horde

After the war, Serilda deliberately searched the galaxy at Eastcott's request. She encountered a hostile collective mind, saw memories of its war against a peaceful race, and was expelled. Her sketch of the stars enabled Echo to identify a viewpoint near Vega.[22]

Related records

Sources

Simon Evans, The Flaxen Tyranny, first edition (2023). Page numbers refer to the printed pagination of the source edition.

1. Chapter 1 · pp. 1–5
2. Chapter 11 · pp. 78–82
3. Chapter 12 · pp. 91–92
4. Chapter 14 · pp. 104–107
5. Chapter 15 · pp. 114–121
6. Chapter 16 · pp. 122–130
7. Chapter 17 · pp. 131–137
8. Chapter 18 · pp. 152–153
9. Chapter 20 · pp. 164–168
10. Chapter 21 · pp. 169–179
11. Chapter 23 · pp. 188–190
12. Chapter 24 · pp. 194–205
13. Chapter 25 · pp. 212–214
14. Chapter 27 · pp. 219–226
15. Chapter 31 · pp. 247–251
16. Chapter 32 · pp. 252–264
17. Chapter 33 · pp. 265–276
18. Chapter 34 · pp. 277–282
19. Chapter 35 · pp. 283–289
20. Chapter 36 · pp. 290–303
21. Chapter 38 · pp. 316–324
22. Chapter 39 · pp. 325–338