Book of Remembrance: The Forgotten Gods: Book One (3 page)

On each side of the gate was a
larger than life stone statue of a rearing Jurpa. As children, Moma used to
tell us that the intimidating statues were the guardians of the town. She said
that in times of great need they would rise and defend the town and its
people.
 
Once again, I found myself
wondering what ‘great need’ had prompted the Tretakai of old to build such a
wall around our small village.

By the time we passed through
the gates a large crowd had gathered. I had hoped that a great cheer would go
up across the whole crowd, but as always where I was concerned, there was a
divided response.

Amongst the jubilant
celebration, there were the expected grumbles. The Kichwa was talking with a
group of council members. Each and every one was wearing a scowl worthy of a
thunder cloud. Although I could not hear what they were saying, the Kichwa’s
face was dark with anger.

One face stood out of the crowd
for me, though.
 
Her thick wavy hair was
hanging loose. It almost reached down to her waist. She was standing with her
friends, her eyes glittering like diamonds as she laughed at something with them.
 

I knew Aliana. I knew how her
beautiful lips twitched at the corners when she was amused, but trying to hide
it. I knew she loved wildflowers and that her favourite one was the yellow and
orange gazania. She often wore one in her hair. I knew that her mother wanted
her to follow in her footsteps and become a dressmaker, but Aliana wanted to
learn to be a healer. She was always friendly and ready with a smile, yet she
had never shown any interest in me.
 

She looked up and caught me
gazing at her. I tried for what I hoped looked like a casual smile before
shifting my attention elsewhere. I could feel my cheeks colouring, but I hoped
that the distance between us meant that she would not be able to see it. I kept
staring straight ahead as we went past her.

It
seemed that the whole village had gathered in the communal square for the Jurpa
festival that night. These great antelopes were sacred among the Tretakai and
as they were only ever hunted as part of an Induction, the last such feast had
been held for Brant.

Rows of wooden houses lined one
side of the square – I always envied those living so close to where every
festivity took place – and on the other side stood the now covered stalls of
the market area.

I had
the honour of roasting the Jurpa and serving it to the people. Early on in the
evening Moma came over to me. “I’m so proud of you,” she said. “You are turning
into a respectable young man and I thank the Almighty every day for sending you
to me.”

She gave me a fierce hug and as
she pulled away, I could see the glisten of tears in her eyes. She turned and
rushed away. I had never before seen her cry.

Throughout the night, there was
a steady stream of well-wishers that. They offered congratulations for the
day’s success as well as encouragement for what lay ahead.
 
I looked up from the roasting Jurpa to see
Lilana bounding over to me.

“Well hello, little sister,” I
said. “Are you enjoying yourself?”

Lilana
launched herself into my arms and I narrowly avoided toppling into the fire.
She gazed up at me with pure joy dancing in her dark eyes.
 
“Moma says you did well today. She says that you
are going to show those oily old men that you are truly one of us!”

With a conspiratorial wink, I
whispered back to her, “That may be the case, but if you don’t keep your voice
down, Moma will have to gather some sweet root to put on your backside after
you are whipped for such dishonouring talk.”

She giggled and as she ran off
shouted back, “They will have to catch me first!”

Of course, at seven cycles old,
Lilana certainly would not be whipped for any misbehaviour, but I often worried
about the trouble she could get into with her unguarded tongue.

“Kadin,” a voice said behind me.

Still smiling, I turned at the
sound of my name. When I saw whom it was my smile became fixed. It was only out
of the respect Moma had drilled into me that I managed to keep a grimace from
surfacing. “Good evening,
Your
Greatness,” I said,
giving a stiff bow.

As the
leader of the town council, the Kichwa was held in high esteem in the
community. Tall, even amongst the Tretakai, with thick black hair and beard, he
cut an imposing figure. He wore the glorious Sword of the Navitas. It had a
magnificent engraved hilt made of Jurpa bone. The sword held great power,
however to my knowledge, the Kichwa had never so much as swung this weapon in
actual combat; a waste in my eyes. But for his station, the Kichwa would never
have been worthy of a sword such as this. In my opinion, he still was not.

To most people, he appeared a
man of great character. He took an interest in the town’s people and their
affairs.
A seemingly honourable man.
However, where I
was concerned he showed another side to his personality. He treated me with
cold disregard that had only grown cooler since they discovered that I was
practicing the Navitas.

He glared at me for some time,
his mouth turned down in distaste. “They say you performed well today. I
suppose you expect me to congratulate you like all the other overindulgent
members of our community. You may have them duped with the mask you wear, but
not me. I see the sweat dripping from your brow. I see that every move you make
is a calculated effort to make it appear as if you blend in with us. You will
never succeed at this, because you are like a blood red rose in a field of pure
white moonflowers. You will never fit in, because you simply do not belong
here. No matter what happens tomorrow, do not fool yourself. It does not
matter.”

He had a hawkish expression on
his face. He looked at me for a moment longer, then turned on his heel and
stormed off. Disapproval was well known to me, but in the past, it had been
simmering just below the surface. This open and hostile approach by the Kichwa
took me by surprise.

 
Up until that moment, I had believed that as
long as I was successful in completing my Induction, all the community would accept
me. I realised, that
they
had simply
believed that I would never be able to do it. They had not expected me to
return from the Hunt that day. If my Navitas had proved to be lacking, the
Jurpa would not have taken kindly to being hunted. It was well known that if
you failed in taking a Jurpa with your first attempt it would turn on the
hunter. Once that happened, it would take a miracle to escape.

I had always known that I was
not born into my family, but taken in. Moma had always said that our Cha had foretold
my coming to her. Seventeen cycles ago, he’d sent her into the woods to find
me. She had raised me as her own, yet there had never been a time in my life
that I had not known that I was not Tretakai. Apart from my obvious physical
differences, there were those who never for a second let me forget my outsider beginning.
However, amongst my brothers, Jench, Prea, Wilm and Jamber, I belonged. I had
always known I had a place among them and that I was accepted.

The celebration lasted long into
the night. I kept looking out for Aliana, but I never even so much as glimpsed
her. As the Inductee, I was obliged to stay until the end of the festivities
and I was glad to be getting off to bed by the time the last people retired. I
was just settling under my blanket when there was a soft knock on my door. I
dragged myself out of bed again and was surprised to see Jamber at my door with
Brak sitting by his feet. “Jamber, it’s late and I expect I will have a long
day tomorrow. Is this important?”
 

He swallowed and rubbed his
hands together. “Did you notice anything strange today? When you were about to
take your shot at the Jurpa…. did you feel anything unusual?”

My stomach gave a twist. Could
Jamber have seen Markai? Did he suspect that my Navitas worked differently to
everyone else’s? I tried to keep my voice level and gave what I hoped looked
like a casual shrug. “What do you mean? I think I managed to focus my Navitas
better than ever before, but considering the importance of the day, I didn’t
find that strange.”

He shuffled his feet, folding
and unfolding his arms. “It’s just that I thought I saw….” He trailed off and I
realised I was holding my breath. “It looked like there was mist coming from
your hands,” he said. “And... I could swear your eyes were glowing. Look, I
know it sounds mad, but that’s what I saw.”

Relief
flooded through me and I released my pent up breath. That had been the first
time I had seen the mist and I had hoped that no one else had noticed it.
Still, much better that he observed that, than Markai. I was not sure how to
reply so I waited for him to continue. When it was clear that he was not going
to, I sighed and said, “I am sure it’s nothing. It must have been your eyes
playing a trick on you. You know your imagination sometimes gets the better of
you. Maybe it was just the reflection of the sun on my bow.”

He did not look convinced, but
he shrugged and said, “Maybe. Well I guess I need to get off to bed as well.”

He turned and started to walk
off. “Jamber,” I called after him. “I would appreciate if you didn’t mention
this to anyone else. There is enough animosity in the air.”

He gave me a tired smile. “Of
course, you don’t even have to ask. You know I wouldn’t add fuel to
that
fire.”

I grinned. “Thanks. Good night.”

Troubled,
I stood in the door and watched them go. I knew I would not be able to sleep so
I took out my sketchpad and charcoals and started working on drawing Markai.
For as long as I could remember, I had been sketching. It was relaxing. While I
drew, it was all I thought of. I could effectively clear my mind of all that
troubled me. I had been meaning to sketch her since the first time I had caught
a glimpse of her.

When I was done with the first
draft, I drew the moment when she had attacked the Jurpa. I wanted to get it
perfect and I made several drafts before I was happy with the result.

After all that, I still lay
awake a long time, staring up at the ceiling. Although I had tried to mollify
Jamber, I had not quite managed to quell my own worry.

I was confident that I alone
could see Markai, but clearly the mist was another matter altogether. And what
did he say about my eyes? Glowing? That was worrying. If Brant had seen any of
this then I was in for serious trouble. Surely, if he had seen anything, he
would have spoken up immediately, wouldn’t he? Maybe he was biding his time to
speak to the Kichwa. No, Brant was many things, but patient was not one of
them. He would have said something as soon as he had seen it. One thing seemed
clear though. My Navitas was still developing. Into what and to what purpose I
did not know, but from what the Cha had told me it seemed like it would be
significant somehow.

∞ ∞ ∞ ∞

After
many hours of tossing and turning, I finally gave up on the notion of sleep
when dawn flooded through my window. I walked down to Lake Uzuri. Whenever I
needed some clarity I would sit at the water’s edge and watch the world awaken
to another day. It was so peaceful there.

The dawn birds were taking up
their calls. The serenity and calm of my surroundings soaked into my being and
it allowed me to collect my thoughts.

I did not know what to expect of
the day to come. All I knew was that I was to go off on my own in search of… something.
The Cha was going to accompany me into the forest for the first night to give
me what guidance he could. The final stage of the Induction was a solemn event
and it was strictly forbidden to speak of the specifics of what happened to someone
during those days. Once the Inductee returned he immediately joined the Cha in
his house and they did not emerge until the Cha was satisfied that he had
either succeeded or failed.

 
I heard silent footsteps approaching. I looked
around to see Prea walking up to me. He had wide dark eyes in an amiable
face.
 
He sat down next to me giving me
one of his easy smiles. “So, are you ready?”
 

I shrugged. “I guess so. I am a
little nervous. I don’t know what to expect. I am ready to do this; I just wish
I knew what it is that I am supposed to do.”

Running a hand through his
unruly mop of curly hair, he gave me a reassuring smile. “I may not have been
through this yet, but from speaking to others, that’s normal. Everyone feels
that way. Just remember that the Cha would not have initiated your Induction if
he did not feel that you were ready.”

Prea was only a year my senior,
but ever since we were young he was always the one to go to with a problem. He
had a cool calm approach to all things and his innate wisdom tended to lead us
in the right direction.

“I know you’re right. I think
the anticipation is the worst. I almost wish I was on my way already.”

He stood up.
“Soon
enough.
First, breakfast.”