Book of Remembrance: The Forgotten Gods: Book One (48 page)

I looked back at her in
wide-eyed consternation. Without having to ask, she explained. "On this
plane, things work a little differently. My inability to speak to everyone was
only due to your plane's limitations."

Malion laughed. "That is
amazing. I have of course learnt of the bond between a Charmer and the bond
partner, but this... I never thought I would be able to communicate with
one." He shook his head in disbelief.

"Markai, you have held out
on us. How did I not see or smell all this going on when I was creating the bridge?"
The others stared at me in puzzlement. They of course, did not realise how I
had reached to Markai in order to open the bridge.

She knew what I meant though.
"I wanted this to be a surprise, so I showed you a selective view. As for
the smell, that was a simple matter of standing with my nose up wind from them.
You must be hungry, come, we have food ready." Just at that moment, my
stomach gave a grumble and elicited a laugh from Trissa.

I followed Markai through the
camp. The numbers were overwhelming, it lifted all our spirits; we were not
facing this alone after all. The Jerieghen, the other group of Fae present, we
were told, had prepared the food. It was all unfamiliar. The food was served in
small clay bowls. One dish looked like a common pea to me, but it had a strong
nutty flavour as well as being crunchy. Others did not look like any food I had
ever seen, but it smelled and tasted heavenly. Considering that this was the
type of food they served in an army camp, I would have been very interested in
tasting what they served at home. Some of the Jerieghen came and sat at the
makeshift dining table with us. Up close, I was able to see a few more
differences in appearance. Their skin had a strange colour, nearly transparent,
appearing as though you should be able to see the structures underneath, but
revealing nothing. They all had black hair with a hint of blue running through
it, but even their hair seemed strange. All, whom I had seen, wore their
straight hair loose to just below shoulder length. The breeze that blew through
the trees did not so much as stir one stray strand, making it look very heavy.
My attempts at talking to them fell flat. I had asked them how long they had
been gathered here and their only answer was a polite smile. Thinking he had
not heard me, I repeated the question, but this time I only got a flat stare.

A few minutes later, I asked if
they had seen anything; he frowned at me and moved further away with his food. From
his safe distance he shook his head at me before continuing eating. Roscien and
Xain laughed at my perplexed frown. “You reckon he speaks our tongue do you?”
Roscien only barely made it through the words before bursting out laughing.
Xain clapped me on the back as he stood up and walked away chortling.

Alathaya took his place next to
me, her face was pensive. “I do not think it is a language barrier.” I looked a
question at her. “I think it is cultural. He did not look as though he had not
understood you, but rather that you had offended him. I think to him, it is
perhaps rude to speak during a meal.”

I let out an exasperated sigh.
“Can I go back to thinking he had not understood me? I have not been here all
of an hour and I have already offended someone.”

 
She looked at me with a poorly suppressed
grin. I smiled at her to let her know I was not truly upset, and her grin
turned into a chuckle.
 

Markai came over to us and I
gestured at my food. “This food is amazing.” I whispered to her, not wanting to
give the Jerieghen another reason to be smug.

She dipped her head as if
accepting a personal compliment. “When you are done, gather all your people, we
must discuss what we know and what we must do next.” I nodded. “Alathaya was
right, by the way. In Jeriegh culture, the meal is taken in solitude. Usually,
they would each walk to a secluded area to have their meal in quiet
contemplation. It is only in these most unusual circumstances that they have
been forced to eat in close quarters with others. Do not concern yourself, I am
sure they realise you were simply ignorant of the custom,” Markai said, in what
I was sure was meant to be a reassuring manner.

I bit back a retort at being
called ignorant, and limited myself to a tight nod. Of course, she would be
aware of my roiling temper and I sensed amusement from her as she strolled
away.

Once we were all done eating, we
gathered a small way away and Markai as well as some of the Jerieghen joined
us. Markai introduced everyone. The two Jerieghen were Laskia and Wulik. They
each gripped their own right shoulder with their left hand while clenching
their right hand into a tight fist and raising it into the air. Not knowing
what else to do, I bowed to them in turn.

We sat down on the ground in a
rough circle with Markai at the head. “We are three days’ travel here from Magtisanya.
Beratus
is monitoring events there and he reports to
me daily. They have gathered a sizable force. Many times the force we have
here. It seems that Rakadamon fears no attack, for he has set himself up in a
castle. It makes him an easy target, because the main concern was how to know
him when we see him. Why he should risk himself is the question.
Arrogance?
It could not be ignorance; we cannot
underestimate him in such a way. Whatever the reason though, we will still need
to approach with great caution. Kadin, what do you think is the next step for
you?”

“I must see this place in order
to form my plan. I must go there myself.” I was not sure how I expected her to
react, but not with complete support.

She nodded her huge head. “We
can leave today. Time is
key
, we must move swiftly.
Who is coming with you?”

I looked around at my
companions. We have come so far together. “We all go.”

That brought a few determined
smiles. If they felt like me, they wanted this done with now.

“Go prepare then. We leave when
the sun reaches its apex,” Markai said before she turned and left, followed by
the ever silent Laskia and Wulik. They may not have said a word, but I had the
feeling that they had listened very carefully and scrutinised every word from
me.

We did not in truth have much to
prepare, as we had just arrived. I mostly made certain that everyone was indeed
happy with what we were doing. Apart from Trissa, who as always, was in a state
of near panic, they all agreed we were doing what was necessary. I was eager to
set off and kept tracking the sun’s slow movement across the clear blue sky.

I was glad when Markai finally
called us. Laskia and Wulik were with her. They rode on creatures much like
horses, but bigger than any horses I had ever seen and with tails similar to
Markai’s, ending in a sharp point. Their mane was not of hair, but what looked
like a horn-like material. It formed rows of spikes, pointing horizontally away
from their necks. They were not wearing bridles and instead Laskia and Wulik
held onto the lowest of the spikes. Wulik saw me looking at his mount. “It is a
riqesh. They are like battle horse… but better.” He smiled smugly before moving
his riqesh along without a signal I could see.
 

As we rode through and out of
the camp, the Jerieghen saluted us in their strange way. I inclined my head to
acknowledge them and hoped that was appropriate and not offending their
sensibilities.

I was relieved when we
eventually cleared the whole camp and moved on. The riqesh fascinated me. Their
bodies were muscular and stout, but they moved with as much grace as their
riders.
 

We travelled late into the day. At
night, Markai updated us with what she heard from
Beratus
.
It was not much however. There was still a steady stream of new arrivals at the
enemy camp daily. I tried not to worry over their numbers, but it kept creeping
into my mind.

The riqesh did not seem to tire
at all, looking as fresh when we made camp at night as they did before we had
set out. When I passed comment on that, Laskia burst out laughing. "This
is nothing. We are only walking along most of the time. Riqesh, they can fight
a battle for a whole day and be ready for more." She snorted derisively
while looking at the horses.

I was starting to learn that the
Jerieghen thought themselves better than most other beings and they did not
hide it, in fact, sometimes it felt that they flaunted that belief.

They were, however, good with
their estimation of our travel time. On the morning of the third day of
travelling, they gathered us before we set off. "In a few hours we will be
in sight of Magtisanya. They will have scouts out and watchers at all times. We
will therefore, not go in too close.
Beratus
will
meet us once we draw nearer and take us to where he has been watching from.
Also, we need to keep our noise as low as possible." He glanced towards
the horses when he said the last part.

The morning was much the same as
the other mornings, in terms of terrain, but as we went along, the landscape was
slowly changing. The tree cover started to thin out, allowing a clearer view of
what was ahead. On the other hand I worried that we would be more easily
spotted among the patchy trees. We kept to the most densely wooded areas, but I
still felt exposed. Suddenly, I heard a faint rustle of leaves to the east of
us. It was definitively something or someone approaching. My heart started
racing and I focused my Navitas. This made Markai whip her attention around to
me. "It is
Beratus
who approaches." I felt
a bit foolish for so clearly showing how frayed my nerves were and I released
Navitas. I could again feel an amused chortle burbling up from Markai, but I
tried to simply ignore that.

Beratus
appeared from the sparse scrub only about fifteen feet away from where I stood.
How he managed to disguise his bulk until he was that close, I could not
fathom. He walked to Markai and they both dipped their great heads at each
other. They appeared to have a silent discussion before
Beratus
trotted off and we followed.

He led us up a steep hill. The
horses struggled a bit with the slope and at times, we had to zigzag along the
hill. The riqesh on the other hand, did not seem to take any notice.
 
Laskia and Wulik looked at us with smug grins
on their faces. It grated on my nerves, but I did my best to keep it from my
face. Xain and Malion made up the rear of our progression and when I glanced
back at them, they had their heads together whispering, with dark scowls
clouding their faces. As we climbed higher up the hill, the trees became
increasingly dense. I thought that very odd, after all, usually it was exactly
the opposite, but then this was turning out to be an unusual place.

Just when I thought I might have
to call a halt to breathe the horses, we crested the hill. A dense forest
covered the top. Even the plants here looked strange. The leaves on the shrubs were
thick and almost sponge-like, remarkably similar to the barrier halfway across
the bridge. I picked a particularly fat leaf off a shrub and looked at it a bit
more closely. It had a soft layer of nearly transparent hair running across the
surface, which, when I touched it, pulled away from my finger. It had a rich
sweet smell. I opened my mouth, thinking to have a taste.

I was startled when Laskia,
seemingly out of nowhere, slapped the leave from my hand. It felt like I had
just come out of a trance. He wore a deep frown.
“Poison.
You would die from first taste.”

I looked at him wide eyed. “It
smell
nice, feel nice, no?” I nodded meekly. “It tricks you,
because you damage it. You break it. You should not even touch, yes?” He
continued.

I gave another meek nod and he
heeled his riqesh along. I became aware of faint snickering. I looked around to
see Dhillion pointing at me and whispering behind his hand. He was talking to
Tas
and Seran. When they saw me looking at them, a whoop of
laughter rose from them. I shook my head and heeled Balder on.

I did not see the four Qupari
before we were upon them. Laskia and Wulik gave them their strange salute,
while the Qupari all dipped their heads in greeting. When I dismounted, I bowed
to them feeling that to be the most appropriate way to greet them. We hobbled
the horses, but I noticed that the Jerieghen did not bother restraining the
riqesh at all.
Beratus
again led us further and we
approached the end of the treeline. Markai and
Beratus
dropped down and crawled forward. We all followed suit. Crouching down, we
slowly approached the clearing and I could feel my jaw drop reflexively.

From just behind the treeline, we
could see sprawled out in the valley below us, a massive war camp. I focused
Navitas in order to get a better look. Row upon row of tents and huts lined the
area. The camp was a hive of activity. With Navitas, I was able to pick out
vague shapes moving about between the tents. There were also small groups
moving in formation, which had the look of combat training. I moved a bit
closer to the nearest tree in an attempt at concealing myself. It was the
perfect spot from which to monitor the camp, though. With the dense forest
around us, it was very unlikely that they would notice us up here.