Book of Remembrance: The Forgotten Gods: Book One (36 page)

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The next
day was bleak. Together with about six others, I dug graves. Before each
unclaimed body went into a grave I sketched his or her face and added some
notes on clothes, hair colour, and anything I could see that would help someone
later identify them. I then meticulously drew the outlay of the graves and
where each body went. The others grumbled at me for this, saying that I slowed
down the work, but when I asked them if they knew where all their friends or
relatives were, they quickly quietened down.

It was physically tiring,
emotionally draining work, but I reminded myself of what Moma always said, ‘If
something is worth doing, it is worth doing well.’ I tried to convince myself
that my dedication to this was not because I felt guilty, but the more I tried
to convince myself of that, the more guilty I felt.

With the sun setting, I hauled a
bucket of water from the well with trembling arms. It felt as if every muscle in
my body was hurting. It felt as if my very bones ached. I did not even bother
to carry the water to the inn to heat; I stood by the side of the well and
washed. I had to haul a second bucket, but by the end of it, I felt at least
partially refreshed.

The next morning I woke up as
stiff as a plank. Every movement was painful. Wincing, I dragged on my shirt and
breeches and stumbled down to the common room. I was surprised to smell fresh
bread and something roasted.

Seran and Trissa were at a table
in the far corner of the room. I sat down with them and a moment later, the
innkeeper came dancing in, setting a plate loaded with food in front of me. He
smiled broadly at me. “Enjoy!” He whistled as he made his way back to the
kitchen.

I looked questioningly at Seran.
“He found his wife in one of the houses being used for the injured. He cannot
stop smiling.” I sighed. I wished there were more stories like that.

Brant joined us soon after
followed by Alathaya and
Tas.
The joyful innkeeper
brought out more food for everyone and
Tas
spoke
between mouthfuls. “Have you found who we are looking for here?”

I nodded and told them of the
first day and the events after the battle. “Why haven’t you spoken to him
since? Is he not still the reason for us being here?” There was not a trace of accusation
in his voice, but his frown was thick.

“There has been so much to do. I
think he needed some time to recover from his loss as well.” I tried not to
sound as if I was making excuses, but I did not think I succeeded. Part of my
reluctance to seek him out stemmed from my guilt. I knew the attackers did not
come here only for me, but I still felt I failed the townsfolk. Somehow, I
should have done better.

“It is time. The town will take
a long time to recover. Much more time than we have to give. I know where he
lives. I will take you to him.” I was surprised at Brant’s eagerness, but
perhaps he was in a hurry to put all this behind us.

While we
had been talking a small group of men sat down a few tables over from us.
I
recognised some of them as the men who had been digging graves with me. They
talked about the attack of course, and how many people had died. As they spoke,
I realised though, that they were not speaking of Eranidin. I walked over to
them. “I apologise for the interruption. I did not mean to eavesdrop, but are you
talking of Eranidin?”

Their faces were set in grim
lines. The tall bald fellow spoke. “Nah, there has been another town sacked.
Not two days’ travel west of here. Rumour has it that monsters attacked them.
From the descriptions I have heard, much like the monsters that came here,
right. Sounds like senseless killing.
A slaughter.”
Chills went down my back. Why would they attack another town? Have they found
the next Alliance member already?
Surely not.
These
families have been in hiding for thousands of years. They could not have found
two in as many days. Surely not!

Alathaya insisted on coming with
to meet Malion and to be truthful I did not mind having her with me. I knocked
at the door, but no answer came. After another knock and no response, we decided
to try again later. We turned and walked back, but as we passed the corner of
the house, movement from the back of the property caught my eye. I walked to
the back with Brant and Alathaya following.

He saw me as I rounded the
corner and jumped. He was shorter than I had thought, but with a stocky build.
His light hair was short and tightly curled on his head. “You should not sneak
up on someone like that.
Especially not in times like these.”
His voice was gruff and his amber eyes rimmed red.

“Sorry, I did not mean to scare
you.” I apologised.

He waved my words away. “You did
not scare me. You just caught me unawares. It will not happen again.” He looked
at me calculatingly. “Those things seemed to know you. Why?”

No stepping carefully with small
words then. I answered him in like. He listened attentively without questions
as I told him the whole of my story. He looked at Alathaya speculatively when I
spoke of her Talent. I had gone hoarse by the time I finished speaking. He had
only one question and it was not for me. “Why did you not go back and warn of
the attack on the town?”

I thought that an unfair
question and was about to say so when she answered. “For the simple reason that
prior knowledge does not always mean the outcome can be altered. We had been
travelling towards Eranidin in the days before this happened. Even if we had
known they were coming here, we would not have been able to get here before
them.”

He mulled over her words a while
before nodding curtly. “What do we do now?”

I smiled grimly. “We move on.
Find the last two Alliance members and then we will have to see where we go
from there.”

He looked around. “When do we
leave?”

When we walked away, I sighed in
relief. That went much more smoothly than I could have hoped for. I had not
admitted it, even to myself, but I had been a bit concerned that he may blame
me. Now my only concern was that once again I did not know where I was to go
next.

We spent the rest of the day
helping where we could and getting what supplies we could, which was to say not
much. The town was running low on many things and I did not want us to be a
drain on their resources. The day passed in a haze, but at least the town
seemed to be getting back on its feet with a small market opening again to
trade and the streets a bit busier with people going about normal
business.
 

I stood outside the inn. Markai
came before I had even finished my thought about calling her. “Do you have any
more information about where I need to go next?”

No. I do not know yet. Maybe you should go to the town where they
attacked. There may be a reason for that attack.
Her
frustration was palpable and fed my own.
Have
you considered Trissa’s brother?

I showed her confusion.
“Considered him for what?”

An Alliance member.
I have searched for their parentage. To
make sure it matches. It has not been easy, but I think they are true siblings.
You need to find him.

When she put it that way I was a
bit abashed that I had not thought of him.
At all.
Of
course, it made sense.
Tas
and his grandfather was
proof enough that more than one family member could have a Talent. If they were
blood related, there was a good chance that he may have a Talent as well. That
would mean an extra member for the team, but how for blood’s sake, were we
meant to find him?

I walked into Dener’s house. I
found him in the front room talking with one of his apprentices. When I
approached, he dismissed the boy and turned a grim face toward me. “Another
town attacked and by the sounds of it, the same creatures. You know, not a
month gone, we had rumours going around of a town to the south of here. Tales
had it that strange beings attacked them. There was mention of some kind of
wolf, but I completely dismissed it from my mind, thinking it impossible. Now,”
he looked around and shook his head, “who knows what is out there?”

I told him of the men in the
inn’s tale and he nodded in confirmation. “Same thing I heard.”

“I am sorry to have to admit now
that we are leaving on the morrow. We need to be getting on. I do feel bad leaving
you with all this still going on.”

He waved my words away. “No need
to apologise. You and your friends have helped more than most would have
considering we are not
kin
. May blessings blow on your
wind.
”

I appreciated the words, but
despite what he said I still saw regret in his eyes. I started away, but turned
around to ask. “Dener, do you know the name of the other town that was attacked
now?”

“It is a town called Ghydenea.
It is roughly two days’ travel west of here. You only need to follow the main
road westwards, but Malion knows this area as the back of his hand, he will
guide you.”

He raised a speculative eyebrow
at me. I had not told him that Malion would be coming with us. Either word
spread fast here, or he knew more than he let on. I smiled enigmatically.
“Thank you. May the gods’ fortune find
you.
”

When I got to my room, I took
out the Book. I had been meaning to research these creatures, but with all that
had been going on, I had not had the time. I paged through, quickly flicking
past sketches depicting one despicable creature after another. There were quite
a number of entries without any image though and these I read briefly. One such
entry eventually caught my eye. I had been near to nodding off when I read
about a screeching wail the creature made. My attention snapped back into
focus. It described the creature perfectly, from its elongated head, the eyes,
the claws, to the razor sharp teeth. It was called the Skell. It said that they
emit a high frequency pulsating wavelength of sound that was beyond human ears,
but it ‘disorientates and induces dizziness.’ Whatever had caused the apparent
slowing down of events for me had certainly saved my life. It went on to say
that exposure to this sound can result in a ringing in the ears, which may be
permanent.

I wondered why, if they had such
an accurate description, was there no sketch. I took out my parchment and
charcoal and started working. I was so tired that I had to try three times
before I was happy with the result. I added a note about the Skell’s ruthless
appetite for killing.

I awoke
the next morning with the first rays of dawn slanting in through my window. I
had my bags already packed and carried them down with me to breakfast. I was
surprised to find I was the last to arrive. “Where are we going?” Malion asked
before I had even pulled my chair in to the table.

“We are travelling to Ghydenea.
The Skell attacked there not two days after the attack on Eranidin and I reckon
it must be worth looking into the why of it.” Not to mention I had no idea
where I was going to find the next Alliance member.

I caught Alathaya looking at me
over the top of her mug. I would not have thought anything of it, except she
dropped her eyes the instant I looked at her. Had I angered her? I was sure
not, but then sometimes you could not tell with women.

“We could be chasing our tails
with that. You saw how they murdered here. It was indiscriminate slaughter.
Maybe they just happened upon the village and thought to have themselves some
killing.” Brant’s tone sounded almost flippant.

Malion’s eyes flared with anger
at Brant’s casual tone, but he kept his silence. I could see him grinding his
teeth with the effort though.

“Do we have to go there? I know
what we are doing is dangerous, but do we have to go and chase it?” Trissa’s
tone was dangerously close to whiney.

“Yes.” Brant and my sharp answer
blended together resulting in a harsh response. She sank back in her chair and
her lip went pouty. If it had not been for the pouty lip, I would have tried to
soften the effect, but that tipped me over the edge into grinding irritation.
Alathaya sputtered into her mug. All eyes turned to her and she tried to
disguise her chuckle as a cough. The attempt was not very successful and Trissa
glared at her.

Although Dener told me that we
should follow the main road to the west, Malion was insistent that he knew a
shorter way and in the end I relented, agreeing to follow him. For most of the
first day, we travelled through dense woods. There was a wide array of trees.
From great black bark trees to the reedy gum trees. I even noticed some twine
leaf trees. I picked some of their sweet fruits, stuffing any bags I had with
space left, full of them. The terrain was quite rough and we made what felt to
me like slow progress. When I asked Malion again if he was sure this would be
the quicker way he simply gave me a blank stare before continuing on.