Book of Remembrance: The Forgotten Gods: Book One (9 page)

I shuddered, Grer had said that
they were simply animals, so how could they have been involved in this…. this…..
massacre
? I could tell from Markai that she smelt
someone, no, something else had been there, but she did not know what. What she
did
know,
was that this other…. thing that had been
here was pure evil.
  

My skin was crawling; I did not
like being in the place where such an atrocity had been committed and I had an
eerie feeling of being watched. I got back on Balder and started back the way I
had come, but then I heard a groan. I heeled her round and called,
“Hello….hello….I want to help you!”

I looked around desperately
trying to find him. Just to my right I heard another moan. I saw the boy’s hand
move. I jumped down from Balder and raced over to him. He was only a boy, no
more than ten cycles old. He was very badly hurt.

Blood covered his face and
matted his hair to his head. Large cuts covered his body. Painfully, he turned
his head to look at me with one eye, the other was swollen shut. He opened his
mouth several times as if to say something.

I ran back to Balder and grabbed
my water skin from my saddlebags. I dribbled the water into his mouth and was
relieved when I saw him swallow a few times.
 
His breathing was haggard and wheezed in and out. He looked at me, his
eyes intent.
 
“Wolves…. listening…..
wolves
,” he took another shuddering breath, “listening to…. men…..
no
…..
not
men… monsters.” He
coughed and I dribbled more water into his mouth.

“They said…. said only
beginning….
were
looking for…. for something.” His
eyes fluttered.

I gave his hand a squeeze. “What
were they looking for?”

He struggled to open his eyes
again. “I don’t….. I don’t,” his eyes went large and wildly he looked around.
“Monsters… could feel them coming before… no, please. Don’t let them hurt. Don’t
hurt me.”
 

I squeezed his hand gently and
let him drink some more water. “Don’t worry. They are gone now. They are not
here anymore. They won’t hurt you anymore.” He started convulsing; his body
shaking violently. Suddenly he went still.

He opened his eyes, but they had
rolled back so far in his head that only the whites were showing. He gave me a
cold stare. With sudden force that I would not have thought him capable of, he
jerked me closer by my hand. “We will find you. We will find you, Kadin.” His
voice was a deep rumble like a rake drawn over gravel. Abruptly, his hand went
lax in mine and his face smoothed out with the release of death.
 

My stomach turned over and I
jerked my hand away from him as if stung. I suddenly had a desperate urge to
get as far away from that place as possible. My heart was hammering and I all
but ran back to Balder. I urged her on to a gallop and we raced through the
forest for several leagues before slowing down to a walk, but I did not stop
for several more hours.

Finally, failing light forced me
to make camp. With Markai watching, I practised the Shea-Rin. It was a relief
to make my whole being focus on something other than what I had seen. At the
end of it, I was pleased to notice my knees were not trembling from exhaustion.
I sheathed Sunder, but this night I kept it strapped to my belt. I thought of all
the faerie tale creatures I knew, but none bore any resemblance to the
Dyrrendrel.
 

I had some dried meat, flat
bread and a wedge of hard cheese for dinner and sat staring into the fire while
eating. Markai was lying next to me and I lay my hand on her shoulder to
reassure myself of her presence. I tried not to think about the village, about
the boy, about his white eyes and the voice that was not his. However, at the
same time it felt important; a piece of a puzzle that I had only glimpsed thus
far.
 
I needed to speak to Quiniewa. But
how could I reach her? I had no tea left and that was my only connection with
her.

There was only one thing I could
think of to try. I sat down on my bedroll and focused my Navitas. Markai was
studying me intently and I reached out to her. The bond between us was new to
me, to us, but I started probing her mentally. I closed my eyes and
concentrated.

Slowly, I became intensely aware
of her. Her thoughts, emotions, her memories, all flowed and mixed with my own
until I could not separate the two.
 
She
knew Quiniewa from before so I tried to focus in on her memories of meetings
with the Teacher. I reached through her to Quiniewa; I visualised meeting with
her. When I opened my eyes, I saw it.

I was standing at the foot of a
great wooden bridge. It stretched away from me into nothingness. I strained my
eyes to see where it went, but could not see the end of it. Markai started
across and I followed. Halfway across, I walked right into what seemed like an
invisible wall. Markai was already beyond this apparent obstruction and was
looking back waiting for me to follow.

I pushed at it and felt it give
way under my hand and then spring back into place. I pushed harder, but it
resisted. I pushed with all my might, but that only seemed to make the barrier stronger.
I put my hand against it and reached out with Navitas. I was shocked to find
that it almost felt alive. Not quite the same, but almost organic.

I probed the edges of it trying
to figure out a way through.
 
I brought
an image of Quiniewa to mind. I tried to focus completely on my need to find
her. All of a sudden, the wall stopped resisting. In fact, it was pulling me
in. I started tensing, but forced myself to relax. I took a deep breath just
before my head went in. It felt as though I was being squeezed, my breath was
forced out of my lungs and I could not draw another. Dizziness started to
overwhelm me and if not for the invisible arms squeezing me I might have
collapsed. Abruptly the pressure vanished. I sank to my knees gasping for
breath.
 
Spots danced in my vision.

Once I recovered enough to
breathe normally, I got back to my feet.
 
The air seemed different, thicker somehow. I could still not see the end
of the bridge. I set off with Markai padding along beside me. I started seeing
some trees faintly in the distance. As I continued, I could make out the shape
of some roofs through the trees, but it all still seemed faint, as if it could
disappear in an instant.

I came to the end of the bridge
still with no clear idea of what I was walking toward.
 
The moment I stepped off the bridge
everything in front of me came into sharp focus. I gasped. I was back at the
burnt out village. The bodies still were I had left them. Panic rose in my
throat. What if this had been a trap? What if the ones that said they would
find me, had somehow led me here?
 
I
turned around intending to run right back across the bridge.
 
My heart sank. The bridge was gone and in its
place was the forest.
 
Markai looked back
at me and set off towards the village. Clenching my teeth against the fear, I
followed.

We stepped clear of the trees
and relief flooded through me. Quiniewa was standing at the edge of the
village. She did not look at me as I approached. She was in the form of the
elderly woman, and for the first time, she really looked old. Her eyes narrowed
as if she was trying to see something in the distance.

“You are the first human capable
of Travelling since before the Severance.” She looked at me with raised
eyebrows. “You are the first human capable of not only maintaining a connection
with an Enchanted while doing it, but summoning one of the Fae as well.” She
gave her head a small shake.
“Ever.”

After a short silence she
continued. “The most surprising of all: I did not suspect the potential in you.
I should have, but I did not. There I am preaching to you to believe the
impossible is attainable when I did not even entertain this possibility. Curse
me for a fool. By not preparing you for that, I had in fact risked your life. I
apologise for my failure.” She bowed to me, her face sombre.
 

I was unsure how to respond to
this. “What do you mean my life was at risk?”

Her brows knitted together, but
a small smile curved the edges of her lips. “If you did not realise your life
was at risk then perhaps you are even stronger yet.
 
No one has ever attempted to Travel without
instruction. Even so, a significant number do not make it through. They enter,
never to be seen again.
 
No one knows
where they went or what happened to them.” My stomach gave a bit of a twist at
that. Had I known the risk, would I have been brave enough to face it?

I looked across the desolated
village and I shivered. “Quiniewa, do you know what happened here? Who did
this?” Her mouth pulled into a thin tight line.

Her hands balled into fists. “We
never imagined that Rakadamon’s plans could have been this far advanced
already. This is the work of the Dark Children and the Twisted Ones. They do
his bidding. This is not simply a physical war, Kadin. This is a war for our
very souls. What you see here was not a simple massacre. These people would
have been given a choice: Give your soul to the Dark Master and live to serve
him, or die in agony. The fact that we see so many bodies here is testimony to
the moral character this village had. You will play a pivotal role in the
events to come. They want to see to it that you never get the chance. Your
carefree days are over, Kadin. You will have to look over your shoulder by day
and sleep with one eye open and your sword by your side at night. You are
hunted.”
 

Iciness crept down my back. This
was what I had feared and yet to have that fear confirmed was hard to take. I
tried to hide my alarm keeping my face smooth. I gave a tight nod.

Still staring straight ahead,
she continued. “Now more than ever you need to keep Markai close. She will do
all in her power to keep you safe.”

Suddenly a thought occurred to
me. “Do you know of any legends or folklore that speaks of the Dyrrendrel? Are
they common in certain areas of Surrelmidia?”

She looked confused at my question
and she shook her head. “No. The Dark Master worked hard at erasing any trace
and every memory of his Children. People were all too glad to forget. Why do
you ask this?”

I swallowed. Grer had spoken as
if they were no more unusual than a herd of Pronghorn that had migrated further
south than was common. Quiniewa was looking at me worriedly and I realised my
face bore a grimace. Cursing myself for being so transparent, I smoothed out my
face.

“Kadin, I am not a day old fawn,
why did you ask about the Dyrrendrel? How do you even know anything about
them?”

I sniffed. “A pack of them came
upon me a couple of nights previous. They were about to attack when a man came
out of nowhere and scared them off. His name was Grer. He said he was the
keeper of the forest and that he lived in Hefrnea. Clearly that was not true.”
I sighed. “He told me about the Dyrrendrel. Said there is folklore about them.
That it is possible that someone could control them, but he made it seem like
he thought that was all it was just stories to scare children with. I thought
they were no more than distant cousins of the wolf.”
 

She was silent for a long time,
her face pensive. Finally, she nodded as if she had come to some decision. “You
were careless.”

I started to protest, but she held
up a hand and gave me a stare that brooked no argument. “You were careless, but
careless because of lack of knowledge. I trust you will not make such a mistake
again. On the other hand, this Grer was in all likelihood not a Twisted One. If
he were, you would not be standing here now. However, we cannot assume that he
is working for the good either. You cannot trust anyone, Kadin. Even roses have
thorns. You must take the utmost care.”

I nodded. “Where do I go from
here?” When I looked over to her, she was in the form of a young woman again. A
small smile appeared on her lips, her golden eyes sparkling in the sunset.

“You continue. Your Seeking is
complete, now the true journey begins. There are others like you out there.
Well, perhaps not exactly like you, but whose paths are intertwined with
yours.
 
They may be unaware, as you were
a short time ago, that they are not like everyone else, but you need to seek
them out. Given what we have said tonight, this will not be an easy task, but
one that only you can do.”

She leaned over to me and gave
me a small peck on the cheek. “Good luck Kadin Aken. May the Almighty encourage
your heart and guide your feet.”
 

I bowed low in respect and when
I looked up, she was gone. I smiled. She does indulge her mystical side. I
looked back at the village and it too had gone. In its place was the bridge. I
walked across tentatively waiting for the wall, but this time it never came. I
stepped off the other side and found my campsite exactly as I had left it. I
realised how exhausted I felt so I curled up on my bedroll and was asleep
within moments.

Dawn sunshine woke me. After
practising the Shea-Rin, I washed in the nearby stream and gathered my
belongings. I set off towards home with Markai trotting next to Balder for the majority
of the time, and never out of sight. She was fully as large as the mare.