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

hulking figure came crashing out of the brush,
screaming indiscernibly and brandishing a massive metal staff. He smashed the
staff into the side of the lead wolf. With a yelp, the wolf flew several feet
through the air. He swung his weapon in a wide arc over his head and with a
loud cracking sound smashed it into the jaw of the second beast. The first one
was staggering up, it gave an angry growl, but turned tail and ran off with the
rest of the pack following.
    Once they had vanished from
sight, the huge man turned toward me. He wore his beard in an odd fashion with
his chin clear of hair. His thin lips pulled into a grin and there was laughter
in his light eyes. “Ye almost had yesself a bit of a situation here, now didn’t
ye?” he said.
    I realised I still had my arrow
nocked and with shaking hands I put it back into my quiver and slung my bow
over my shoulder. I tried to give him a smile. “I must admit I was getting a
little nervous.   Thank you for your help.
What were those things anyway? They did not look like any wolves I had seen
before. I mean, not that I have seen a wolf. I mean I’ve seen a drawing of a
wolf.” I realised I was babbling. Not wanting to sound like a scared child, I
clamped my mouth shut.
    He gave a bark of laughter and
sat down next to my fire. “Ay, no wolves they weren’t.   Ancient brother of Wolf, they are called
Dyrrendrel. I have not known them to come this far east .
Folklore says Dyrrendrel are no mere beasts, but slaves to a master. Who their
master is and how he came to be master of such creatures varies from tale to
tale.”
    Seeing the look on my face his
grin broadened. “Of course, ye realise that these are stories told rand cook
fires to scare small children. Frightful they are, ay yes, but no more’n beasts.” He held out a massive hand to me. “I’m
Grer. Pleased to be meetin ’ ye .”
    I smiled and gripped his hand. “Kadin. Not as pleased as I am! You will of course share my
meal with me.”
    Nodding, he said, “Ay, I could
do with some food in me belly and that does smell good.”
    I shared out the fish between
us. Between mouthfuls, he looked me over. “Ye don’t look like ye’re from rand here. What’re ye doing on yer own out here?”
    As I was not to speak of the
Seeking to anyone, least of all to an outsider, I gave a shrug. “I just reached
a point where I needed to leave home. Discover a few things on my own. I guess
I will just see where the road takes me.”
    “Ay, don’t us all.”
    “So how
about you, Grer? What are you doing out in the woods?”
    “I’m the Keeper of the King’s
forest. Me calling is the wild. I’ve a home in
Hefrnea, but most of me time I’m out ‘ere. I keep
track o’ the numbers of animals in the area and I keep them safe from poachin ’. We had some trouble with the sort. Can ye believe
talk has travelled of our Jurpa here and some ignorant outlanders have come ‘ere
specifically to hunt them and take their horns as trophy! O’ course they run
into some trouble with actually killing the Jurpas, but they be devious and
somehow found a way, a weapon or some such that’ll do the job.”
    I was aghast. “Killing
Jurpas for sport? For some trophy? For blood’s
sake, they are bringing curses down on themselves. It’s unheard of. What weapon
could they have that can penetrate the Jurpa’s hide?”
    He lifted his eyebrows and
pulled his mouth into a tight line. “Ye would be surprised what evil men can do
if they be driven by their greed or need for glory.”
    We fell into a comfortable
silence. My thoughts circled back to the Dyrrendrel. If Grer were the keeper
here, he would certainly know if creatures such as these did not belong. “Where
do the Dyrrendrel come from, Grer? You said they don’t normally come to these
areas.”
    “ Ay, that they don’t. Their natural prey is waterbuck and such and we don’t really have dem here. Dyrrendrel have been known to follow a migrating
herd of bucks, but I ain’t