Book of Remembrance: The Forgotten Gods: Book One by Tania Johansson Read Free Book Online

final gift to you. Do you not see, Kadin?
Her gift to you was the Talent of Charming .
Because of this, you drew Markai to you. I know you were wondering whether your
Navitas shaped her, but it did not. She is of the Fae. Your Navitas combined
with the gift of Charming simply called her. She, and others like her, are creatures of great power and Markai is bonded to you for
life now. She is a mighty ally and before the end you will come to realise that
you could not accomplish what must be done without her.”
    I frowned. “What must be done,
Quiniewa?” I looked over to her and saw that she was once again a young girl,
her golden hair blowing in the breeze.
    She smiled her enigmatic smile.
“That is a lesson for another day. Come, you must rest now.” She stood up and
set off. I started to follow when mighty thunder cracked across the clear sky.
    I sat up with a start and looked
around in confusion. I was sitting in my bedroll in my camp. It was still full
night outside and a storm was raging. Exhausted, I fell back into bed and was
asleep within moments.

  CHAPTER 4 –
Sunder

 
    I woke
the next morning with my head once again feeling thick and foggy. The sky had
cleared and the sun was already higher than I expected.   I empty stomach asserted itself with a loud
grumble. I dug through my saddlebag and started chewing on some dried meat. I
had a drink of my water and poured some over my head in an attempt to clear it.
    Memories of the previous evening
were trickling in. It couldn’t have been a dream. It hadn’t felt like a dream.
The implications of what Quiniewa had told me were still a bit unclear to me.
She seemed to imply things that could not be. I must have misunderstood.
      After a while of sitting there gathering my
thoughts I decided to move on. I saddled Balder and set out once again in an
arbitrary direction. I enjoyed the quiet rhythm of riding through the trees, listening
to the birds and catching glimpses of small animals scurrying for cover as I
approached.
    Eventually I came upon a
clearing in the forest at the edge of a large stream and decided to go for a
swim. After unsaddling my mount, I undressed and waded in. The water was cold
but refreshing. Lacking any sort of soap, I scrubbed myself down with some sand
then waded over to the shallows. Prea had shown me how to tickle fish. Although
I had only been moderately successful at it, with my stomach still rumbling I
decided to try. After many frustrating attempts, I managed to catch a sizeable
tench.
    I made camp next to the stream.
I gathered firewood and once my fire was going, started cleaning and gutting
the tench, putting it over the fire to roast. I was itching to sketch Quiniewa,
but as I had only been allowed to bring what I was given, I had none of my
materials. I was lifting the fish off the flames when the feeling of being
watched crept over me. Balder was whickering and snorting,
raking at the ground with a hoof. She turned around sharply and cantered
away.  
    A prickle ran down my back like cold
water, making the hair on my body stand up. I set the fish down and stood up
looking all around me. A soft growl rumbled out from the surrounding forest,
then two more.
    I snatched up my bow and nocked
an arrow. Two wolf-like creatures appeared from the brush, teeth bared and
snarling. Two more appeared at their flanks. I had seen some drawings of wolves
during my natural studies with Master Freahy, but these only vaguely resembled
those. Their heads looked too large for their narrow grey-speckled bodies and
they had shaggy manes surrounding their heads making them appear even larger. I
could see a forked tongue dashing in and out between massive fangs. Their short
black tails had the same bushy look as their manes.
    My heart was hammering in my
chest. They were only about forty paces away and I had no doubts about how
quickly they would cover that distance with their powerful legs.
    I was about to reach for Navitas
when to my right a huge