Songreaver Read Online Free PDF Page A

silent for a moment. "I don't
remember it much now," he admitted, "I always meant to go back
someday... I just never got around to it." He laughed then. "I
certainly don't miss the slavers."
    "Slavers?"
    Cenick's lips curled into a sneer. "They took
me from my village when I was just a boy. They thought a shaman's
son would bring a high price. I hate to think what Uncle had to pay
to get me out of that nightmare where he found me."
    "What was Uncle Tinjin doing in the jungle?"
Garrett asked.
    Cenick laughed. "You know, I never asked him.
I was so glad to be free of it, and he was so kind to me, I just
thought the River Spirit had sent him in answer to my prayers. As
time went on, I suppose I didn't want to think about those
days. Perhaps I was afraid that, if I thought about it too much, I
would wake up from the beautiful dream and still be back in that
cage."
    "I'm sorry," Garrett said.
    Cenick shook his head. "The world is not
always a pleasant place, Garrett," he said, "I once blamed the gods
for that. I felt they must have abandoned us to the mercy of evil
spirits. Perhaps we had offended them, and so they turned their
backs on us. I cried out to the River Spirit and asked her to come
and cleanse my country of such evil men... That prayer was not
answered."
    "So, there are no gods?" Garrett asked.
    Cenick smiled. "I don't know, Garrett," he
said, "I've seen things that make me doubt. I've seen things that
make me believe. I believe now that, if they do exist, they do not
wish us to know with any certainty that they do."
    "That's not very helpful," Garrett said.
    Cenick chuckled. "No. It is not. Still, I
have come to the conclusion that it doesn't matter."
    "Huh?"
    "What matters is what we do with our lives,"
Cenick said, "If the gods sit in secret judgment of us, then let us
give them a show to remember. If there are no gods watching, then
the play is for our benefit alone. Let us live our lives without
fear of what is to come. Either the gods will welcome us into their
home at the end of our days, or we will sleep the dreamless sleep
and feel no more the pains of this life."
    "What if the gods are bad?" Garrett
asked.
    "Then they are unworthy of our worship in
this life or the next," Cenick said, "Still, I have seen too much
beauty in this world to believe that evil reigns supreme."
    "Then why don't they help us?" Garrett asked,
a little of his weariness finding its way into his voice.
    "Who says they haven't?" Cenick said, "Both
of us have survived terrible things, against great odds. Perhaps we
were not unassisted."
    "But Uncle helped us, not the gods."
    "If you are in trouble, and I send a servant
to help you. I am still the one who has helped you, am I not?"
Cenick said.
    "Are you saying the gods told Uncle where to
find us and made him go to us?" Garrett asked.
    "I'm saying that we are born into this world
with all the power and will we need to be men like Uncle Tinjin,
men who do the gods' work, whether they are told to or not. Where
evil thrives, the failure is ours."
    As they rode into the first small trees at
the edge of the forest, Garrett dried the sword blade on the leg of
his trousers and sheathed it. "It makes my head hurt thinking about
stuff like that," he said.
    "Mine too," Cenick laughed, "Garrett,
I..."
    He suddenly fell silent as Ghausse let out a
snarling growl. The dire wolf's hair bristled, and his muscles
tensed as he crouched, staring into the forest ahead. Cenick rose
up in his stirrups to look into the shadows between the trees.
Then, dropping back into his saddle, he heeled his pony forward,
leaving Garrett and the snarling, snapping wolf behind.
    "Stay here!" Cenick hissed, pulling a long
knife from his belt as he and his pony disappeared into the
shadows.
    Garrett opened his mouth to protest, but
Ghausse suddenly lunged forward, carrying him after Cenick into the
dark forest. Garrett could do no more than lean close to the big
wolf's back and dig his fingers into Ghausse's dark fur.
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