Book of Remembrance: The Forgotten Gods: Book One (5 page)

“She ran for a day and a half,”
the Cha said. “She was determined to save you, to make sure that your father’s
sacrifice was not for naught. So she ran. She did not stop to rest when her
feet first started hurting, nor when they were bleeding, not even when her
waters broke.”

It was as if I was floating on
the wind beside her. There was sheer determination on her face as she raced
through the trees. Finally, she stopped and after looking around, she forced
her way into a narrow opening of a cave. My ears pricked when I heard soft
footsteps approaching. I looked around and through the nearby brush I saw Moma
approaching. She walked over to the cave and peered inside.

I watched in wonderment as Moma
assisted my mother in delivering me. My mother was saying something to Moma,
but it was getting hard to hear and see what was going on. Everything was
fading, but just before it all winked out, my mother looked at me.

For that moment, she was aware
of my presence, aware that I was watching. In her gaze, I found the deepest
love I had ever known. It penetrated my soul and filled me with awe.

She exhaled slowly and darkness
swallowed me.

Dawn woke
me the next morning. Groggy, I sat up and looked around trying to piece
together what had happened the night before. Memories started trickling in to
my awareness. For a long time, I just sat there remembering.

Both my parents had sacrificed
their lives for mine. The terrible pain my father endured haunted me. I shied
away from the memory of his broken and twisted body on the cottage floor.
Who would do such terrible things? Who
killed my family and had tried to kill me…. and why?
I wondered. Whoever
these evil men were, I was increasingly apprehensive about it all. People
determined enough to torture did not give up easily. One thing I was becoming
certain of was that they would still be looking for me.

The few belongings I had, had
been packed neatly into the saddlebags next to my bedroll. The Cha and his
horse were gone. My head felt thick and foggy so I undressed and washed in the
stream. The freezing cold water helped to clear my head. I was still slightly
at a loss as to what I was supposed to be doing.
 

I filled my empty water skin
with fresh water and dug an apple out of my saddlebag. For lack of a better
idea, I started going through my Navitas focusing exercises. As always, Markai
appeared seemingly out of nowhere.
 

She stalked over and sat down
next to me. Remembering what had happened last time, I tentatively reached over
to her and put my hand on her shoulder. It was the most astonishing feeling; my
whole body felt on fire, but at the same time, as though I had ice-cold water
running under my skin. Markai had her eyes shut and she was purring softly.

It was the first sound I had
ever heard her make and I could not help but smile. We sat like that for a
while. It was as if we were getting to know each other for the first time. I
opened my eyes and was surprised to see how high the sun was already sitting in
the sky. I relaxed out of Navitas and watched with fascination, and some
regret, how Markai seemed to turn to mist and blow away on the gentle breeze.

I saddled my horse and gathered
up the last of my things. I set off with no destination in mind, but it felt
right to be on the move. When I focused my Navitas again, it somehow felt
different now. At first, it had been like a new cloak made of rich wool. It
felt nice to wear because it was new and soft and fresh. Now achieving and
maintaining my Navitas was as comfortable as wearing seasoned boots; they fit
perfectly, like a second skin. It was starting to feel more natural giving
myself over to my Navitas than being without it.

Markai trotted along beside my
horse. The mare shied away from her, eyes big and darting from side to side as
if trying to find the source of her agitation. I was sure it was only the
horse’s training that kept her from bolting. That was intriguing. No other
human, as far as I had been able to tell, could see or sense Markai and yet my
horse was obviously acutely aware of her presence. Something had made Balder
skittish, yet it did not seem like the horse could see her, so perhaps she
could smell her.

Clouds were gathering above my
head so I decided to start looking for shelter. I found a cliff with a huge
rock overhang and decided to stop for the day. I settled Balder and went out to
hunt for dinner.

It was not long before I spotted
small tracks in the dirt. I was pretty sure it was forest rat and followed it.
I spied the huge rat long before it spotted me. I moved upwind from it and
stalked closer. Markai was also moving in on it. I realised that I must have
focused my Navitas unintentionally.

Markai launched into a run. The
forest rat’s head jerked up and it gave a startled screech as she hit it with a
powerful front paw. The rat flew twenty feet through the air before hitting a
tree. I was so stunned I stopped in place. I gaped at Markai who was padding
over to the dead rat. I walked over too and examined its body.

The Jurpa had shown no sign of
Markai’s claws or teeth. I was sure that it had been my arrow alone that had
killed the Jurpa. This rat had wide ragged claw marks running all the way down the
side of its body. I hadn’t been sure whether Markai could affect the world
around her. After all, I had never even seen her so much as leave a paw print
on the ground. But this rat… I hadn’t touched it in any way. This was purely
her kill. Apparently, there were things I did not yet know or understand about
her.

I walked back to camp and
started building up a fire to roast the huge rat. By the time I had skinned and
gutted it, the last of the sun was disappearing over the horizon. The rain had
arrived and I was grateful for my dry shelter.

Soon the roasting meat was
making my mouth water. I seasoned it with a little of my precious salt supply.
Following a long day with hardly any food, it tasted incredible. After eating
my fill, I spread my bedroll, but just as I was settling in, I remembered the
Cha’s instructions about his tea. Reluctantly, I fetched myself a cup of it and
holding my nose, I swallowed the whole of it down in three gulps. A shiver ran
down my back and I had to fight to keep it down. It tasted even worse than the
previous night if such a thing was possible. The Cha had not given me any
further instruction so I lay down on my bedroll and listened to the rain,
waiting for something to happen.

I heard laughter. I thought I
must have imagined it, because I was nowhere near a village. But then I heard
it again. I quietly got up and set off in the direction of the sound.

After a couple of minutes, I
caught sight through the thick trees and shrubs of a girl running. “Hey, wait!
Who are you?” I asked.

The only answer I got was more
laughter. Without knowing why, I raced to catch up to her. However, every time
I thought I was getting close, she disappeared again.

Oddly, the next time I saw her I
could have sworn she looked like an old woman. Determined, I ran after her. She
proved as elusive as a faerie. After a few more minutes of chasing with no
sight or sound of her, I stopped and listened for a while, but when I could not
hear or see any trace of her, I decided to give it up and go back to my camp.

Looking around I realised that
the sun was sitting high in the blue sky above. Perplexed, I turned to start
back and almost walked right into her. She was a beautiful young woman with
startling golden eyes that seemed to sparkle. She giggled. “You give up far too
easily. You will have to learn to do better.” She cocked her head to one side
with a mischievous smile playing across her lips. I felt entranced by her
beauty, her golden hair and her mesmerising eyes; eyes I could drown in.

I realised my mouth was hanging
open. I quickly shut it with an audible snap. “Oh, how enchanting, he blushes!”
she said and gave a melodious laugh. “Well I guess we should get to work.
Follow me!”

She set off into the bushes and
I rushed to keep up. She seemed to move in accordance to music only she could
hear, her feet hardly seeming to touch the ground. When I caught up to her, my
breath was coming quickly. We were standing at the edge of a clearing in the
forest. A small stream trickled past at our feet. She sat down and gestured for
me to sit as well.

Between deep breaths, I asked,
“What do you mean we have work to do? Who are you?”

She was looking at me with a
thoughtful gaze. Her neat brows pulled into a small frown. “Kadin, do you not
know me? You must awaken. You are so intent on looking that you do not see.
Have you forgotten about the world beyond the Tretakai or have you simply never
considered the beyond?”

I was not sure if she was trying
to be abstruse. She certainly was not answering my questions. She must have
seen the confusion on my face and she continued, “I suppose you are a child
yet. No matter, we will make a man of you. You have many things to learn. We
will start with the basics. You are not Tretakai.”

I gave an exasperated sigh. Not
this again! I shook my head and opened my mouth to reply, but before I could
say anything, she cut me off. “This does not mean you do not belong with them,
Kadin. In fact, it is quite the opposite.

“You humans have such short
memories. You would have thought that with your love of recording every little
detail of your short history, nothing would ever be forgotten.” Her mouth
pulled up into an irritated pout. “Humans were not always as prosperous as they
are today. People grouse and grumble about their troubles, but they do not
remember the time of real troubles. Strife, starvation, war, and not the little
scuffles between bordering lands you call war, but real war.
The
battle between day and night, ultimate good and ultimate evil; the battle that
your very existence depended on.
The war that has been
and will be again.”

She shook her head. “I am
getting ahead of myself. Suffice to say that you may not be Tretakai, but the
Tretakai were meant for you.”

My head was reeling.
“
Us
humans?
You
say that as if you are not included in the ‘us’?”
What did she mean with the Tretakai were meant for me?
I wondered.

She sat staring at me, an
unreadable expression on her face. I looked away under the force of that gaze.
When it was clear that she was not about to answer me, I changed my question.
“Who are you?”

I looked back at her and was
startled to see that I was sitting next to an elderly woman. My eyes found hers
and they were the same golden sparkling ones as before. She gave me an
enigmatic smile. “I have many names, but for you I will be Quiniewa: teacher.”

“So before we continue on your
path of Moirai, your walk of destiny, you must know who and where you are now.
Tell me Kadin, who are you?”

It seemed a strange question and
I was not certain how to answer it. I took a long moment to compose my
thoughts. “Well, I guess part of me is a hunter, part of me is a son, a
brother, but also at the same time, an adopted orphan. I’m an outsider.”

She looked at me with narrowed
eyes. “You clearly missed out some important parts there. What do you know of
your father and of your mother?”

“All I know of him is that he
was a stranger in my mother’s village. I don’t even know where he was from or
what his calling was. My mother, well, I know she was of the village of
Merandal.” I looked down and started fiddling, pulling up grass around me. With
the words seeming to twist my tongue, I added, “I know they both gave their
lives to save mine.”

She nodded. “Perhaps this is
where we will start then as we are all part of our parents. Your father chose
your mother very carefully. He loved her to be sure, but he would have married
her even if he did not. She was a descendant of the Pheagrea people. Power,
passion and greatness runs in their blood. They played a vital role during the
Severance. If it were not for them, humans may not have survived. Your father
knew he needed to find a descendant of the Pheagreans if this world were to
stand a chance. The powers of the Pheagreans have been lying dormant in their
descendants for the past thousand years, but combined in you with your father’s
innate abilities, they have been reawakened. Your father is a descendant of the
Ribaen people, the Protectors.”

I was fascinated to learn all these
things about my parents, but her words were leading to many more questions than
answers. She looked at me with those golden eyes that seemed to look much
deeper than any before. “Have you not considered that part of the reason you
feel so out of place with the Tretakai may have more to do with you than with
the odd disapproving look you receive from the Kichwa?” she asked. “Tell me,
have you told anyone of Markai?
Your
Masters perhaps?
No, of course not.
Moma?
Your brothers?
What do you think they would say if they
learned of your secret?”

I was taken aback that she even
knew about Markai. “They have no need to know of her,” I said, feeling
defensive. “I don’t even fully understand what she is or where she comes from
or why indeed she comes.”