Book of Remembrance: The Forgotten Gods: Book One (37 page)

Late into the afternoon,
Alathaya rode up next to me. She gestured for me to slow down with her and we
were soon at the tail end of our progression. My palms were sweaty and I felt a
bit jittery. For a moment I took this as a sign of imminent danger before I
realised I was simply a bit nervous about what she might want to talk about.

Even though we were now quite
out of earshot of anyone else, she still leaned over to me and whispered. “I
need to talk to you about something.”

That much was clear, I thought,
but waited for her to continue.

“You mustn’t think me crazy. I
do not know if there may be something wrong with me. You will not tell any of
the others?”

She was making me ever more
nervous, but I kept my face smooth and simply nodded. “Swear.” I frowned at
her, but she looked at me severely. I sighed, “I swear not to tell anyone of
your secret until you release me from it.”

She smiled, satisfied and nodded
once. “When we were fighting in Eranidin, something strange happened to me. It
was as if I was immensely fast. To the point where I almost thought everyone
else was fighting his or her way through treacle.” She shook her head, a
perplexed frown creasing her brow, “I do not understand it. I have never before
heard of a single person with two Talents. It just does not happen.” She looked
at me anxiously. “Do you think there is something wrong with me?” After a
moment’s pause, her eyes widened and she gave a small gasp. “You do, don’t
you?” Anger replaced shock and her mouth pulled into a hard line. “I do not
know why I thought I could talk to you about this!” She heeled her horse, but I
managed to catch hold of her reins just in time.

 
“This expression on my face is not from
judging you. It is astonishment at my own near sightedness. I had thought to
ask you and the others about it, because I noticed it as well. Except, I did
not think about it in terms of me speeding up, but thought that time slowed or
else everyone else did, but I see now. Yes, your explanation makes more sense.
That would be why it could be the same for all of us, yet we do not see each
other moving in normal time,” I explained.

It was her turn to look
astonished and it actually made me laugh aloud. The others turned round to look
what all the fuss was about.

She sniffed. “So if it is
happening to both of us and perhaps, everyone else too, what is it?”

That was the crux of it. “It
certainly aided us during battle and far as I can see, it has not had any negative
effect on me,” I looked a question at her and she shook her head, “therefore, I
think we can safely assume it is coming from one of us. In fact, it has
happened once before. It was just outside Mirtudale where I met Seran and
Trissa. I think we should perhaps talk with them about this tonight.” For a
wonder, she did not argue about that, but nodded in agreement.

It was not long before Malion
called for us to stop for the night and make camp. We all set to and soon we
had a fire going and Trissa was brewing some tea. Seran used some of our
supplies to make soup. We all sat down around the fire and made idle
conversation. I made sure to sit close to Malion. “There is someone else you
should meet.” He frowned curiously.

Markai appeared behind us sitting
on her haunches. I looked around and he followed my gaze. I was expecting him
to react as everyone else had when they had first met her. He smiled. “Markai
of the Qupari, it is an honour to meet you. My family fought alongside the
Qupari. I believe one of my ancestors had the gift of charming and was bonded
to one of your people.”

Markai was as surprised by his
collected response as I was, but pleased at the same time. A deep rumble came
from her as she started purring to show her approval.

Malion laughed in delight. “May
I touch you?”

“She does not mind.” He did not
take his eyes away from her as though he was afraid she might disappear if he
did. He had to stretch to put his hand on her shoulder blade. He ran his hand
down her thick coat. Again, I was surprised at his lack of response, but then I
realised that the sensation I got when touching her, would not be the same for
him. It had to be a result of the bond between us.

I noticed the rest of the group
were watching with bated breath. Why, I could not fathom. Did they really
believe that Markai was some animal, which might turn on you at a whim and bite
your hand, or in her case, rip your head off?

I turned back to Malion. “Tell
me of your history please, of what you have been taught. I need all the
information that I can possibly get.”

He told me much the same as what
I had heard from Alathaya and Seran. The only variation was that he knew of the
Qupari and the bond that could form. It was good to have someone there who knew
what I meant when I spoke of the bond between us, who knew who the Qupari were
and therefore, did not fear her. I could feel that sentiment echoed by Markai.
It had been increasingly annoying having everyone jump at the sight of her each
time they saw her.

“How far
to Ghydenea?”

Malion pursed his lips in
consideration for a few moments before answering.
“Four
leagues or so.
We should be there about midday tomorrow I would say.”

And then what, a small voice at
the back of my mind asked. Where do we go then? Feeling lost at sea and blind
to the stars was starting to get on my nerves now.
We will find the way
. Her comforting words would have been much
more effective had I not known she had no idea either.

That night I noticed how quiet
Brant was. I had not seen that much of him in the past few days, but even so, I
thought that he had seemed withdrawn. Perhaps the recent events had shocked him
more than I thought. I handed round the Book of Remembrance, open to the page
on the Skell. I used the opportunity of handing the Book to Seran, to sit down
next to them. Trissa hardly wanted to look at it and when she did, her face
went pale. She did not want to hold the Book as though by doing so she might
call the creatures to her. Seran studied it intently before handing it to
Tas
who sat rubbing his scar absently while squinting at the
page.

“There is something I wanted to
talk to you about,” I said, and Trissa’s expression immediately became guarded.

She looked at me through
narrowed eyes. Seran’s lips, as usual, pulled up at the corners just enough to
make you wonder if he was really smiling at you.

“Alathaya and I had noticed
something during the fighting in Eranidin.” Her lips pulled into a tight line
at my words, but I continued, “I think it may be something to do with one of
you.”

Seran looked at Trissa. “Spit it
out.” His defensiveness and the glance at her confirmed my suspicion.

“Trissa, I think I know what
your Talent is. When we fought, everything slowed down for me, or perhaps I
sped up, but whichever way round, it meant I had a lot more time to react to
any attacks coming my way. I am sure this actually saved my life several times
over. The same thing happened outside Medirea. That is what made me realise it
must be one of you two doing it. Since we already know what your Talent is,
Seran, it is clearly not you. Brant was there, but of course he is not of the
Alliance, it stands to reason therefore, this one must be Trissa’s.” I was
quite pleased with my presentation of the facts. They however, did not look
impressed or even surprised at what I had told them. “You knew.”

“We suspected.” His voice was
still a bit defensive. “She cannot control it, it just happens. That is the
reason she was walking around as though in a daze afterward. It is as if she
has to repay the speeding up of our perception. She walks around with things
appearing to move faster than naturally possible and it overloads her senses.
It was the same after Medirea.”

I purposefully turned my whole
body towards Trissa. I wanted to ask her and he speaking for her seemed a bit
patronising. “When did this first happen?” Out of the corner of my eye, I saw
him open his mouth and I shot him a glare.

“Well… I… I guess it was the day
he gave Dhillion, my brother, to those people. I did not even realise what was
happening at first. I was trying to hold onto his hand. Nassarit was pulling me
away and I did not want to let go. It all seemed to happen so slowly. He was
screaming, saying he did not want to stay with them, that he wanted to stay
with me. I struggled against them as hard as I could, but I could not break
free. He locked me in the wagon and drove away. The next thing I can remember
was waking up the next day, not even knowing how far we had driven, or in what
direction. I had no way of finding Dhillion even then.” She finally said.

“And the next time it happened
was outside Medirea?” I asked.

She nodded, rubbing her hands
together. “That is why I did not really realise what I was doing. Seran asked
me about it and it was only then that I thought about it and understood that I
must be causing it. I don’t know what I do to make it happen though.”

“Trissa, do you realise that
your ability has saved our lives several times over?” I could not help but
glance at Alathaya. If it had not been for those extra few moments, I would not
have been able to save her. My stomach clenched at the thought.

She blushed at my words. “I wish
I could control it though.”

I smiled what I hope was a
reassuring smile. “That will come in time. You will have to practice it. Try to
remember what you felt at that moment, try to recreate those emotions and see
what happens.”

She nodded solemnly, swallowing
visibly. “I hate thinking about what happened, but if it means I can gain
control over it, I am willing to try.”

Perhaps she was braver than I
gave her credit for.

∞ ∞ ∞ ∞

I
enjoyed my watch that evening. The woods were filled with night birds that I
had heard of before, but never seen. Their calls rang through the trees, some
high and shrill and others low and long. With Navitas I was able to see some of
them as well. One had a wide yellow crest along its head, which it flattened as
it called and then erected again. Another had three large eyes all pointing in
different directions. I saw one dive and catch some minute insect - too small
to see even for my Navitas enhanced eyes - in mid-air.

The rising sun chased these
birds away, replaced by the more mundane morning callers. The others rose one
by one. The mood was subdued during the morning’s travel. We all dreaded to see
what state this town would be in. I feared not finding a single survivor. As
Malion predicted it was midday that we first caught sight of the town.

We were on the top of a hill,
looking down at it in the valley. We could see some burnt out buildings which
were down to timbers, but some were at least still standing and from this
distance seemed unscathed. I could also catch some movement from people in the
village and my heart lightened at the sight.
Survivors.
As I stood watching, I focused my Navitas. We still did not truly know what to
expect. Markai walked from the trees and sat down next to me
. I can still smell them.
At
least, the wrong lack of smell.
Maybe the scent lingers, maybe they are
still there.

Malion had said not a word the
whole morning, but he was now smiling, hope shining in his eyes. He signalled
for us to follow. It was some way down and around before we finally entered the
town. A woman stood with her back to us. She was peering into a window of the
house. Her long black hair was in a tousled braid. Malion jumped from his horse
and ran to her. “Karina! Karina!”

At the same instant, Markai
growled and she swung around and crouched, a feral sneer curling her lips back.

Malion stopped on the spot. His
back was to us now, but I could see his whole body stiffen at her reaction.
Then I noticed. I looked again even though I was certain of what I had seen.
Her eyes were those of the Skell, slits for a pupil.
She has lost her scent
. What had they done to her? She looked at
Malion, but there was no recognition in her eyes. I heard Brant nock and draw
an arrow. Malion looked back at him with an icy glare until he lowered the bow,
although he kept the arrow nocked.

“Karina, it is me, Mal. You are
safe now. You are well.”

An inhuman snarl ripped from her
throat as he took a step closer.

He stopped again. “Karina, what
have they done to you?” He echoed my thought as a pleading note crept into his
voice. Her only answer was a soft rumbling growl. He glanced over his shoulder
at Brant and in that second, she jumped off and ran away. Startled, he set off
after her.

“Malion!
No!”
Seran heeled his horse after him, taking out one of his herding whips and with
a quick flip of his wrist had it tangled around Malion’s waist. He pulled,
forcing him to a stop. He fought like a caged animal against his bonds.

Seran took him by the shoulders
and shook him. “Look at me. She is not your Karina anymore.” When he kept
struggling, Seran gave him another shake. “Look at me. Calm down. Think about
it. That was not her anymore. Whatever they have done, she is gone.”