Read Online Son of Thunder by Murray J. D. Leeder - Free Book Online

to believe that the gift of Uthgar was meant for you. This is not so—the gift is for our tribe. You are merely the vessel. I know the burden you bear. Perhaps I alone can help you through it. I have spent my life serving the beast and Uthgar, and I know full well what you’re feeling.”
    Vell shook his head. “You say you know, but how can you?”
    “I should have left the world decades ago,” Keirkrad admitted. “I feel unnatural, an aberration. Some call me ‘Uthgar’s freak.’ My skin crawls with age. Sometimes,” he smiled grimly, “I wish I could just die, but if I live still, I must have some further function. I have not yet fulfilled my role for our tribe, for Uthgar. I must keep living until I do.”
    Vell looked Keirkrad square in the eye. “It’s not the same thing. I don’t know who I am any more. I feel the most precious part of myself slipping away.”
    “You have power, Vell!” Keirkrad shouted. “You’ve saved our tribe already, and you can save it again. Our tribe faces a crisis that goes far beyond a few Black Ravens with too much ambition. It’s what brought us to Morgur’s Mound. You carried the message—’find the living.’”
    “I don’t remember saying that,” said Vell. “But I do remember what happened at Grunwald. I remember exactly how it felt as my mind lost control of my body. The scales took my will with them. I don’t know who or what brought down the King’s Lodge, but it was not Vell the Brown.”
    “It’s a rare gift to have the Thunderbeast act through you. Such an honor to be our totem’s vessel!”
    Vell turned away. “Then the beast made a mistake. It chose too weak a vessel.”
    Keirkrad placed his ancient hand on Vell’s shoulder. “The beast makes no mistakes. Do not doubt yourself—place your faith in the divine. If it chose you, that must mean you’re strong enough to accept the burden. Pray to the beast for strength.”
    “I pray that it takes this power from me.”
    Keirkrad snarled. “It is not for you to question this! Sungar makes plans for our expedition into the High Forest. You cannot refuse your destiny any longer.”
    “Do you hate Sungar?” asked Vell.
    The question took Keirkrad aback. “What do you mean?”
    “Gundar made him chief instead of you,” Vell said, overcome with an inner strength that made him speak words he would never dare to say otherwise. “You scheme to take his place. This is known to all. But you’re too old. So you need a champion to become chief and act on your behalf…”
    “Insolent child!” Keirkrad shouted so sharply that it echoed off the valley walls. “Your gift is being corrupted by the wickedness in your mind. That is why you cannot bear it; you refuse to turn your will over to your totem. Let the Thunderbeast into your heart and you shall know peace again.”
    Each word cut Vell like a dagger and sucked away the strength he felt. He fell on his knees before the shaman, supplicant and weeping for forgiveness.
     

     
    In a way no one had expected, the trip to Grunwald proved worthwhile for the Thunderbeasts. Not only did it provide a taste of the warfare and the prideful thrill of victory that some of them craved—it also helped erase Grunwald from their collective memory. Everyone realized that it was not the place they once knew, and it would never be home again. They made the path back, some to whatever corner of the North they claimed as their hunting ground, most following their chieftain to a pleasant bend of the River Rauvin, east of Everlund. They were free once again to roam and move with the ebb of the seasons and the herds of deer and rothe, but mostly they stayed at the river, in what was inevitably known as Sungar’s Camp.
    Life slowly returned to normal. Tents were pitched again, children played among the meadows, and the hunting teams brought home elk, deer, and even a ghost rothe—considered a good omen for the upcoming expedition.
    Sungar met with Thluna in his tent. “I have