Book of Remembrance: The Forgotten Gods: Book One (14 page)

The
morning went by in a haze. After completing the Shea-Rin, I spent most of it
packing and preparing. The sentinel went into my belt pouch and the Book I
wrapped in an extra blanket and stuffed it into a bag. I knew in the back of my
mind that I was also trying to keep busy to keep from having to think about the
farewells that were coming. When I finally ran out of preparations, I went down
to the stable. Breen had already saddled Balder and another horse that I
assumed was for Brant. He came jogging out of the dimness of the stables and
took my bags from me. In a matter of moments, he had strapped them to Balder’s
saddle. I smiled at him appreciatively. “Master Trayde is obviously training
you well Breen. The stable master is sure to be pleased with your good work.” I
flicked
a silver
at him. He caught it and flashed me a
brilliant smile before hurrying back into the stable.

I heard voiced behind me and
turned around to see my brothers walking towards me. With some relief, I saw
Jamber was among them. Jench stopped in front of me and pointed a finger at me.
“Finally, we will be rid of you.” He grinned and slapped me on the shoulder.
“We will miss you around here.”

Prea nodded. “We will be waiting
to hear your tales of adventure when you come back.”

Jamber had an intent look on his
face. “Don’t get yourself killed out there. You still need to come back and
teach Jench a thing or two about arm wrestling.” His tone was light and he
smiled, but it never reached his eyes. Jamber had always been the quiet one,
but he had a kind heart. Today though, his eyes looked hard.

I had not seen Brant approach,
but I managed not to jump when he suddenly spoke behind me. “Kadin, how will
you ever cope without your group of lackeys following you about telling you how
amazing you are?” He snorted with derision and walked off before I could
respond.

Jench looked at his retreating
back. “Well, he will be a bundle of fun on the road north.” I gave a wry laugh.

Jamber stared after Brant. His
brows pulled together in a deep frown and his eyes were looking daggers at him.
So, they were not friends.
 
Moma and
Lilana came over to say goodbye as well. Lilana cried even though she tried to
look brave. It was always more difficult to say goodbye when you did not know
when you would meet next. Finally, everything was ready and we mounted. I said
one final goodbye and we set off.

We rode in silence for some way
following the winding path of the North pass through Drean Forest. It was no
less than what was expected. I had never had a friendly conversation with
Brant, which meant starting with small talk then was near to impossible. The
only talking was the occasional snide remark from him. With the sun reaching
towards the horizon we found a suitable campsite, although the first few I
suggested had not been good enough for him; too rocky, the ground was too
uneven, too many trees, not enough trees. In the end, I simply decided it was
not worth arguing over and I let him choose a place.

We set the horses to graze and
Brant silently started collecting firewood. I was relieved. The silence had
started growing awkward. As he moved away, I walked in the opposite direction and
found some privacy to practise the Shea-Rin.

I could hear the trickle of a
stream not far away and went to wash. I hurriedly collected an armful of
firewood to try to avoid any questions over where I had been. Luck was with me
when I spotted a rabbit.

Quietly, I took my sling from my
pocket and loaded it with a stone. The stone hit the rabbit in the head killing
it instantly. I strapped it to my belt and headed back to camp. Brant was
striking his flint and rock together to get the tinder alight. I dropped my
wood next to his.

Taking out some dried meat from
my bag, I was surprised to hear him speak. “Do you even know what we are doing
out here?”

I looked around. He had not
lifted his eyes from his work. “I know what
I
am doing. I am not so certain why you had to come along. Do you know?”

His eyes flicked up to mine and
darted back down. He was adding some kindling to the growing fire. “Of course I
know. I made certain that they had a compelling reason for me to travel with
you.”
 
His voice held a sneer.

Silence fell again between us,
so thick that you could slice it with a knife.
 
Apart from not being allowed to tell him about my Seeking, I did not
trust him. I did not want to reveal anything of my plans to him that I did not
have to and I was guessing that he felt the same way.

The fire was going well and
Brant sat back down, but still did not take his eyes from the fire. “If you
know what is good for you, you will not get in my way.” He looked up at me, his
face set in determined lines.

I kept my voice level as I
replied. “Then we are in agreement. You stay out of my way and I will stay out
of yours.” He looked at me a moment longer before turning his attention back to
prodding at the fire. I set about skinning and gutting the rabbit. Soon the
smell of roasting meat filled the air and made my mouth water. I shared the
rabbit with him. I did not want to set a precedent for selfishness with our
supplies. He accepted what I offered with less grace than a dog.

I arranged my bedding and called
for Markai. She padded up behind me. It was becoming more difficult to be
separated from her and I felt rush of relief when she appeared. I could feel it
was mutual from her. I unbuckled Sunder and lay down on my back. She curled up
against my side.

I kept my sword next to me and
rested my hand on the hilt. Only then did I realise that it was a full moon.
Master Boryka said he would test me with the next full moon. I lay thinking
about how I was supposed to find him again, but before long was fast
asleep.
 

I woke up with the feeling of
eyes crawling over me. Brant seemed to be asleep still. I tried to look around
without alerting anyone that might be out there that I was awake. From the
corner of my eye, I caught movement between the trees. For a couple of minutes
there was nothing. I decided that there could not be more than one person out
there,
or possibly, that it was only my imagination. I stood
up as quietly as possible and with Sunder in hand walked around. I did not see
anything so turned to walk back to camp. Markai was awake and sitting up, but
she had not moved.

The slightest rustle of leaves
behind me gave me warning and I spun around, swinging Sunder in a tight arc.
Steel connected with steel. My attacker took a step back. I sighed with relief.
It was Master Boryka. “You scared….” I did not have a chance to finish what I
was saying, because he was launching another attack.

I defended furiously. Without
having to think about it, my body moved between the forms of the Shea-Rin. I
moved from defensive to offensive stances. I did not even get a chance to
wonder why he had attacked me in such a way. I needed all of my focus, all of
my strength to stay one step ahead of him.

I flowed into Navitas. The sword
became part of me. He managed to push me back by a step occasionally, but I was
driving him back three for each of my one. I was only dimly aware of the sweat
trickling down my spine and the blue mist swirling about my sword.

Suddenly he twirled and sliced
towards me from the right. I managed to block him, just, but he pushed me off
balance.
 
Immediately he attacked again.
It was all I could do to jump back. The tip of his sword brushed against my
stomach. It was only a light touch, but I could feel warm blood trickling down
my front.

I redoubled my efforts. I was
sure now that I was fighting for my life. I looked for any opportunity, the
slightest hesitation from him to find a way in. It was not easy. I was somewhat
heartened to see the sweat dripping from his brow. He, however, was not
bleeding.

I realised that if I did not do
something, he would eventually triumph. My strength was leaching out. I feigned
right, but instead of going left, I crouched low and spun, kicking his feet
from under him. As he stumbled and fell, I hit his sword with all my might and
my Navitas focused on the swing of my sword. It connected solidly sending a
judder up my arm and through my shoulder. His sword spun from his hand, landing
several feet away.

Stepping on his arm, I lay my
sword against his neck, the blue mist swirling thickly around the tip of the
blade. Abruptly, I was aware of Markai next to me. She told me to stop. It was
done.
 
I stepped back from him, but did
not sheathe my sword.

He got up slowly with his hands
held up in surrender. Bowing, he smiled broadly at me. “Congratulations. You
surpassed my expectations. You were truly destined for this.” He straightened
from his bow.

Slowly, I sheathed Sunder and
bowed to him as well. “I thought you were going to kill me.”

He laughed. “That was the idea.
Only when one’s life is threatened do you see the true skill.”

I lifted my shirt, pointedly
showing him my wound. “This does not look like pretend blood to me. If I had
jumped an instant later, you would have gutted me.”

His smile broadened. “I did not
say anything about pretending. You could have died today, but so could I. This
is why it is a worthy test. If you could not defeat me, it would have been
highly likely that you would not have got very far on your journey.”

I shook my head disbelievingly.
“I guess I am lucky to have passed then.”

He nodded. “You have come far in
a short time. Today, you must be marked according to what you now are, a
LemMestari, Master of the Blade. There have only been a small number of people
ever to attain this rank. Training to the required standard usually takes
several years. The most talented in history, until now that is, was the great
Master Jeuch. He became a LemMestari after a mere six months of training. What
you have done is unprecedented. It has never been seen before.”

I was taken aback by this. Not
really knowing what else to say I responded, “I am honoured.” After a brief
pause I asked, “What do you mean I need to be marked?”

 
His face was resolute. “It must be done. All
LemMestari are marked. It is an honour.”

He gestured to a flat stone next
to me. “Take your shirt off and sit.” I obeyed, but I still kept a wary eye on
him. He looked me in the eye, his face grave. “This will hurt.”

He started rubbing his hands
together while chanting soft incoherent words and walking around me. After the
third round, he stopped in front of me and placed his hands on my waist just
above my hips. His voice took on an intense note and started rising.

Heat started creeping from his
hands into my body and spreading. It was mild at first, almost pleasant.
Rapidly, however, the heat grew and became first uncomfortable and then
excruciating.

Wildly, I started pulling at his
hands trying to get them off me, but try as I might, I could not even touch him.
It seemed as though a thin layer of some transparent material covered him...I
tried to turn my attention to Markai. Silently, I begged her to do something,
anything. Attack him, kill him,
just
get him off me!
She did not move. All I had from her was sympathy and encouragement.

I looked down at his hands
again. Terror crept up my throat as I saw searing red lines running from his
hands and up my chest. I screamed as I had never screamed before. I howled
until the very last breath of air left my lungs then desperately sucked in
another lung full and screamed again.

I was sure that I was going to
die. I was burning up from the inside out. I was sure my blood must have been
boiling. I could even smell my own flesh burning.
 
Through it all, his deep voice rumbled on
with the chant.

Like a cornered animal, I fought
for survival. I tried to scratch at his face, hands and arms, kicking at him
and spitting at him when I could not reach to bite. Nothing had an effect
though. Infuriatingly, I could not touch him. That invisible force protected
him from anything that I tried.

How long had this been going on?
It could have been hours, it could have been minutes, I could not tell. Slowly
the intensity of the heat lessened. It seeped away and took with it my
remaining strength. I stopped fighting, not because I had given up, not because
I did not want to fight, but I could not. I felt drained. I could hardly keep
my eyes open, my lids felt too heavy. My chest and stomach burned fiercely.

I looked up at him pleadingly. He
placed one hand on my forehead and instantly everything went black.

Slowly I became aware of day
breaking. I opened my eyes and it felt as though I had a handful of sand in
each one. I blinked to try to clear my vision. I could see where Brant was
still sleeping. I started sitting up, but immediately fell back down with a
groan. My stomach and chest felt as though… I had been branded. My night with
Master Boryka came rushing back.

I cringed. Gingerly I lifted my
shirt. There were two swords on me. Each hilt started where his hands had been
and curved blades ran up my chest with their tips nearly meeting at the top of
my chest. In between the blades, was a large
flame.
How apt, I thought grimly.