Book of Remembrance: The Forgotten Gods: Book One

by Tania Johansson

  I tried to remember if I had read something about how to defeat it, because clearly it was not going to be by my sword. I seemed to remember that fire was its weakness, but where was I going to get fire from now? I could not very well ask it to wait while I kindle a fire quickly. Navitas. Markai’s thought drifted to me, but I could not understand what she meant. I could not make fire with my Navitas. Except, I had once before transferred heat from objects around me into wood to shape it for a wagon wheel. Just maybe… I reached out with Navitas and I could dimly sense the campfire. It was almost beyond my reach. I let the energy of the fire flow into and down my arm, letting it all accumulate in my left hand. All the while, I had to vigorously defend against the onslaught of attack. I could feel the moment when the campfire extinguished. My hand felt as if I was holding it in the middle of a burning flame and it took all of my focus to keep hold of Navitas. I took a deep breath and slammed my hand toward my attacker, with my palm facing it. To my amazement, flames shot from my hand and consumed the Haze.

  I collapsed from exhaustion as soon as the last flame left my palm. I sat shivering. Markai put her cheek next to mine and I could feel her touch infuse me with energy. My shivering stopped and I stood on still shaky knees. Slowly I made my way back to camp. Brant was busy rekindling their fire. He glanced up at me when he heard me approach. “It was not a poor fire. I do not care what they say. I built it properly the first time round. It should have burned for a few hours more.”

  When I did not answer he looked up at me scowling, but his expression quickly turned to a mixture of concern and wariness, his hand subconsciously reaching towards his bow. “What happened to your arm?”

  Numbly I looked at it. It was bright red with what seemed like blisters already forming on my skin. The others had stopped what they were doing and were all looking at me. “Get the fire going again.” Brant’s frown deepened, but for a wonder, he did as I asked. I sat down heavily. Seran sat down next to me and handed me a skin of water. I drank gratefully. Something cold touched my arm and reflexively I jerked away.

  “It looks like you have burnt your arm and hand. Let me wrap this around it. It will soothe it.” Alathaya’s calm grey eyes met mine and I held my arm out for her. I was relieved to see the fire alight again just in case there were more of those things out there.

  “What happened to you?” I looked up when Seran spoke and found that they were all huddled around me with worry etched on their faces. Whether their worry was for me or for whatever danger might be lurking I was not sure. Haltingly I started telling them what happened. Halfway through, I gestured for Brant to get my bag.

  I pulled out the Book and as I was speaking, I paged through looking for the entry on these creatures. I remembered what I had read the first time I opened the Book; ‘Reader beware: power lies in names. Naming awakes the slumbering. Do not name those you do not wish to summon’. I carefully avoided naming the Haze aloud. I told them of the warning and then showed the page. When I explained how I had used Navitas to pull the heat energy from the flame and project that out to burn the Haze, Brant’s eyes narrowed. “I have never heard the masters speak of anyone doing anything remotely like that with Navitas.” I just shrugged. I did not have the energy to argue this point with him. Did he think I was hiding something? I looked up at him. Yes, he probably did.

  Only then did I notice Markai was not there with us. When I turned my attention to her though, I realised that she was running the perimeter to make sure there were no more enemies around. Knowing that she was out there made me relax a bit more, but my arm was starting to throb. I wondered if there might be another way to do what I did, without scorching my arm.

  When I finished my telling, they all passed around the Book and read about the Haze. Alathaya rebuked me for not having shown her the Book before. “This is just incredible. We did not even know something like this existed. Of course, that was the whole point so that if we had been discovered we could not give any information away, but still!” As she paged through, some of my own sketches that I had put in the back fell out. She picked them up quickly and looked at them. “What are these?”

  Tiredly I explained to her that I had been sketching anything we came across that was not already in the Book. Her eyes widened at that. With curiosity painted across his face, Seran walked over and stood looking over her shoulder. “Not bad for a…” he cut off as he snatched a sketch from her hands. She glared at him, but he did not even notice. She turned back to the Book muttering to herself.

  He brought the page over to me. “Where did you see these?” He was holding up my sketch of the Twisted Ones that had attacked Brant and me. Their oddly humanlike faces still made me shiver.

  In my current state, I had to think a moment before I could remember. ” They attacked me and Brant about two days north of Pharae.”

  He frowned. “What do you mean they attacked you? And you do realise that you have made a mistake here?” He was pointing to the sketch of the paw and retractable claws.

  I was meticulous and a perfectionist when it came to my sketches and I looked at it critically before answering. “No, that is as I remember it.”

  He shook his head. “Apes do not have retractable claws. They hardly have claws at all. They are certainly not hunters. They have never even been known to travel this far south. So, you have not answered yet. You must have disturbed a mother with babies. They do not attack unprovoked and are known for trying to evade conflict.”

  I was too tired for this conversation. “These were Twisted Ones Seran. I doubt very much that they would behave normally once Rakadamon has had a hand on them. For that matter, there is a reason they are called Twisted. He most likely altered their physiology to suit his purposes for them.”

  He looked at the picture disgustedly. “That is just wrong. These creatures are the gentle inhabitants of the north. In Gheldea, they are treasured. This is wrong.” He repeated, and shaking his head, he handed the parchment back to Alathaya.

  They split my watch up between them, which I was very grateful for. It felt as if I could sleep for a week. Alathaya sat reading by the fire for the rest of the evening and was still there when I lay down on my bedroll. Blessed sleep took me at once.

  The next morning I felt much refreshed although painful blisters covered my arm. I still had the cream Master Boryka had given me after he branded me so I started using that. Soon after dawn, we set off and we kept a brisk pace. We were all eager to reach Mirtudale and by mid-afternoon, it came into view. The town seemed to have a strange layout, sprawling across miles of rolling hills, but with a lot of space in between apparent neighbourhoods. It almost had the appearance of closely grouped farms together with small areas that were more densely built up, which I presumed would be the market areas. The majority of the roads in the town were not paved, but gravel and the houses were simple wooden structures with thatched roofing.

  Alathaya pointed us to an inn called the Handsome Knight, which she claimed was a fine inn despite the ridiculous name. The common room was simply furnished, but the floors were clean and the vegetable soup and fresh bread they served was good. After dinner, I had wash water sent up to my room, which was small with barely enough space for the small bed, bedside table, and washstand. There was a mirror, though and I gratefully had a quick shave.

  Alathaya had barely had any dinner before leaving the inn again. I wanted to go with her to the pigeon keeper, but she said he might think it odd if she did not arrive alone. I thought that odd, but I let it lie.

  It was not long before she was back. She knocked softly at my door before coming in. “The meeting is set for tomorrow morning at dawn. I will take you with me, but only you. If he sees more people there, he may not reveal himself. We have had to learn to be extremely cautious.” I nodded my understanding.

  The next morning she led me some small way out of the town and into a forested area and we stopped by a big black boulder. She stayed on her horse and I copied. She whistled a low long whistl
e making it go sharp at the end. She repeated that three times. I thought I had heard a bird with that call the day before. There was a rustle of leaves close by and as I turned, I saw a plain looking man of his middle years come riding out on a dapple-grey gelding. He had a thin beard that almost looked patchy in places. The now familiar heat started to pulse across my chest. Sweat immediately popped up all over my body and I shifted uncomfortably. When he came closer, I saw that the beard was covering a thick white scar on his left cheek and jaw, or at least was an attempt at covering it.

  His sharp brown eyes flickered from Alathaya to me and back again. She gave him a small nod and he rode up to us, still eyeing me suspiciously. She gestured to me. “This is Kadin Aken from Predaki.” Her hand moved to gesture to him. “Kadin this is Tasolin Hollis.”

  We both acknowledged the introduction with a nod. The moment he acknowledged me, the heat dulled and then disappeared entirely from my chest. I breathed a sigh of relief. He turned to her. “Can we trust him, are you certain?”

  She smiled reassuringly at him. “I trust him as much as I trust you or my father.”

  I tried to hide my startlement at such a bold statement; I kept my face carefully blank and avoided looking at her. He nodded, apparently that satisfied him. Turning to me he said, “It’s just Tas.” Without another word, he turned his horse around and we followed.

  He led us deeper into the forested area. A small clearing held a dark wooden cottage, smoke curling up lazily from the tall chimney. We tied the horses to a post outside and followed him in. An old man sat inside in front of a crackling fire even though it was still quite warm out especially for autumn. He even had a thick brown blanket around his legs. Holding a steaming mug of tea, he sat staring into the fire. When we walked in, he looked up with glazed eyes. Those eyes fixed me with a stare that seemed to search my soul. “Everything is fine, grandfather. Alathaya is here and she has brought Kadin with her today. He is to be trusted like our own.” He said the last in a steady tone matching the rest of his words, but his eyes still looked at me searchingly.

  His grandfather waved his words away though. “You have brought the Protector. The Preserver. You have brought here the leader of the Resistance who will be our only hope.” His hoarse voice gave way to a racking cough. He took out a handkerchief and wiped at his mouth. “That is the hope of humanity for I do not think I will be here long enough to witness it.”

  Tas looked at him with confusion, a deep frown knitting his brows. “Are you certain, Grandfather? You know the viewings are not always clear.”

  A rasping laugh bellowed from the old man. “Now you question, Tasolin? I am certain about this one.”

  Alathaya looked smug as if she had rooted me out of Predaki and led me here by my nose. Tas gestured to some chairs and we sat down around a large table. It was intricately carved along the edges, but it had seen a lot of wear and some of the carving was worn completely smooth. He poured strong tea into two cups and handed us each one. I took a sip and suppressed a shiver before reaching for the slice of lemon on the table.

  Master Hollis walked over to the table with surprising agility, hardly using his thin white cane at all. He felt his way around and touched the chair before sitting down with a grunt. It was clear that he was blind or nearly so. He had a sip of his tea and with his eyes now fixed before him on the table he spoke. “Kadin, tell me your story boy.” Alathaya and Tas turned expectant eyes to me.

  I self-consciously cleared my throat and started speaking. The old man listened with rapt attention and at the third question from Tas gave an exasperated sigh. “How about we let him tell the story and then we can ask questions.” Tas looked more chastised than a four year old who has been caught stealing sweet cakes. I took a sip of my tea before continuing. Tas certainly had stored up many questions for when I was done, he fired one after the other at me.

  When he finally fell silent, the old man pursed his lips. “There is one question you have not asked Tasolin. The most important one of all. What is the plan now?” That was a difficult question, but not entirely unexpected.

  “Well, I am gathering together the Alliance members…” I began, but he held up a sharp hand, his face stern.

  “Yes, yes. You have said this. Once these members are all together, what are you going to do with them?”

  I tried to find an answer that would not make me look an entire fool. “Uh, um, I, well…To be honest, I do not know what to expect. I cannot imagine what will happen when Rakadamon rises and therefore, I am finding it difficult to plan for unforeseen circumstances.”

  He was nodding along while I spoke. “Mm, yes, your lack of education in terms of your destiny has no doubt hindered you in this. All Alliance members should be taught the Knowledge from birth. This is not only to make sure all is remembered, but also that we start thinking and planning from the time that we are first able to comprehend what we are taught.”

  He took a long drink of tea and gestured to Tas to refill his cup, which he obediently did. “You must have realised that the eight of you will not be able to defeat the Dark Master, his Dark Children and the Twisted Ones, all on your own. So, the question is, how will you defeat them?” I did not have an answer to that and I was grateful when he continued without waiting. “The answer my dear boy, is that you cannot defeat them all. We, even if we manage to garner armies, will be outnumbered terribly. However, you see, Rakadamon will fight with brute strength. He will rely on numbers to lead him to victory. He does not care if thousands of his followers are slaughtered. This is why we will have to fight smarter than they do. We will have to not only find their weaknesses, but we have to work out how to defeat Rakadamon himself.”

  A fit of coughing overtook him and he sat for a moment breathing heavily. Alathaya took the opportunity to speak. “Do we not simply need to kill him? Surely, he must be like all other living things, therefore, able to die.”

  He was wiping his mouth with his handkerchief and shaking his head. “You are looking at it too narrowly, my child. First of all, we will have to find him and then get through his defences to reach him. Secondly, it will most likely not be a simple case of dagger through the heart and job done. Thirdly, we are not looking to send him back to the outer reaches of the universe, only to have him regain his strength once more and attempt to overtake us for a third time.” A slow smile spread across his face. “Lastly, when you picture him in your mind, do you see a man?”

  She lifted an eyebrow and tilted her head to one side. “I suppose I do, yes.”

  His smile was mirthless. “Why? He is not a man. His followers are certainly diverse enough to feed your imagination with possibilities. He may yet appear as a man to us, but do not be fooled, never allow yourself to be fooled, he is not a man.”

  Tas’ face was grim. “Grandfather, you are showing us the boulders in the road, without telling us how we are to remove them.”

  He blinked as if he had forgotten Tas was there. “The impatience of youth.” He shook his head and Tas grimaced. “Tasolin has always been one to want the answer before you have even told him the question.” He looked at him with an affectionate expression, but Tas simply glanced away.

  Something occurred to me. “You spoke of a viewing earlier. What did you mean by that?”

  Tas and the old man’s head shot up at the question. Tas looked to his grandfather. “The Alliance members had a promise given to them in return for swearing the Oath of Preservation. We were to receive an ability; a Talent, so that when the Great Threat rises, we would be able to stand strong in the hour of need.” He went quiet and now turned to look with cloudy eyes at Tas. A look of sorrow passed over his face, which was mirrored in the younger man’s.

  “You tell them, Grandfather.” He turned and busied himself with the kettle making another pot of tea.

  The old man sighed. “When Tas was about four, I had come over for a visit. His parents had sent for me. They were concerned that they had been discovered. They told me a man had come to
visit them a few days before. He came to the door claiming that he had seen Bretha in the market that day with Tas. That he had recognised her from childhood. They invited him in for a cup of tea. That is when he started acting odd. He started looking around the house and asking all sorts of questions. No direct questions about the Threat or the Alliance, but alluding to much. He left them shaken that night. They thought of running, but Prao did not feel it necessary. That is when they called me to ask for advice.”

  He looked distant for a moment. “The night of my arrival I had a dream. It was a terrible dream that woke me in the middle of the night and I was convinced that it was more than just a dream; it felt different. Colours were more vibrant, sounds crisper… it is hard to describe. Suffice to say it unnerved me. I told Prao and Bretha of it. We discussed it before they decided that it was not possible for me to have a Talent, because the Threat was still a distant possibility and even if it were coming, it would not be the eldest of the Alliance family to receive the gift. It made sense, but I was still worried.”

  He gestured for Tas to pour him another cup of tea. He sat inhaling the steam above the mug first, but I thought that perhaps he was trying to take a moment to gather himself. He shook his head. “I had not been able to find sleep again and Tas as usual would not settle for the night. To give Prao and Bretha a chance at some rest I took Tas for a ride on old Swift. He loved riding and I thought it would give me a chance to clear my head.”