Read Book of Remembrance: The Forgotten Gods: Book One for Free Online Page B

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.”
    Her face contorted in mock
confusion. “Yet, you do not ask the Masters? Surely they must have come across
the like before?”
    Her face turned serious. “No,
Kadin, you have not told anyone, because you know this is at the very least… unusual
shall we say. You are so desperate to be part of the Tretakai that you do not
want anything to taint their view of you. This is something that must stop. You
are not Tretakai. No, do not shake your head. Listen. The Tretakai, the
Navitas, the Hunt, the Seeking, all of it was preserved through the ages,
passed on from one generation to the next. Never taught to
anyone from the outside and this for the sole purpose of keeping these gifts
secret and away from dangerous eyes and ears. The Tretakai may have
forgotten what their purpose is, but the Guardians will never.” A fierce note
crept into her voice at the end and her golden eyes had the look of granite in
them.
    I was trying to make sense of
what she was saying. At risk of sounding the fool, I asked, “Do you mean to
imply that somehow I was meant to learn their secrets, but something different
has happened with me.”
    She shook her head, golden eyes
sparkling. “Not something different, something more. Much,
much more. It was your mother’s