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

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