Paradox - Progeny Of Innocence (bk2) (Paradox series) Read Free

quickly appeared, a silver-haired girl scurrying dutifully behind her. Abaddon studied the girl as she came to an awkward halt beside Temulun. The appearance of this girl mystified Abaddon. Such an exquisite little creature, he mused.
    Unlike Temulun’s Khitan coloring of yellowish skin and black-brown almond eyes, typical of her Mongol heritage, Keyla’s skin was porcelain white, almost translucent. She was tiny, a good two hands shorter than Temulun, and her waist-length hair was a cascade of glossy silver strands, decorated with an assortment of tiny colored bells and ribbons. Around her slender neck was a string of shiny red beads. She had the bluest of eyes, Abaddon could tell, although she did not raise them to meet his penetrating gaze, but stood silently behind Temulun.
    A Bakhna Rakhna child, Abaddon concluded, raising his eyebrows in surprise.
     
    * * *
     
    The Bakhna People had all but become extinct from the Imperial city of Altair during The Great War, eons past. Those few who had survived the brutality of The Great War had fled empty-handed and on foot in the dead of night. Clothed in fine silks, leather sandals adorning their feet, they began the long, arduous journey in a bid to reach their homeland in the southern mountains. Firstly, the journey would take them through a mystical realm, the Forest Of Doors, where the enemy, superstitious in the ways of old, would not follow.
    The Forest People, whose bloodlines spanned thousands of centuries, were both revered and feared. Their magic was powerful and their abilities were many. The Goddess Danu, the divine mother of all Celtic Gods, wisdom and wind, ruled the Forest Kingdom and its people. Her people protected and nurtured all things flora and fauna, from the tiniest bug to the grandest of trees. They respected and lived as one with Mother Nature, and reverently protected her vast Kingdom. In return, Mother Nature provided food, clothing, and shelter for the Forest People.
    The Forest People welcomed the Bakhna Rakhna as their ancestors had once done. They taught the Bakhna the ways of their forest and its people, the living and the dead. They taught them the magic of the massive Oaks, Ash, Apple, Goat Willow, and Yew, the sacred trees of the forest: which ones provided nourishment, and which ones were lethal and would kill in a heartbeat.
    During the day the village men tended fields of potatoes, barley, carrots, and onions. They herded cows, sheep, and pigs. The women gathered nuts and fruit from the forest. Wild berries, melons, and roots from the Dandelion were plentiful. Herbs were gathered for healing and magic. The village centre, built on a grassy knoll on the edge of the surrounding forest, was dotted with squat stone huts, with thatched roofs that provided shelter at night. In the evenings, men, women and children, their arms full of fresh produce and other wares, would meet in the village center to trade. Long rows of timber tables and benches were arranged under a high thatched roof. In the centre was a kitchen, where pots bubbled over open fires as goose and chicken eggs bobbed up and down in the boiling water. Various others were filled with lamb stew, fish, and vegetables. Sweet breads, bacon and cabbage pies were baked in stone ovens. The women busied themselves smoking fish and goats’ cheese with wood chips from the Oak. Some of the older women nursed babes, knitted woolen tunics, or darned clothing manufactured from the pulp of the Beech tree. The menfolk tended their stills, discussed the day’s news, the next crop due, a cow in labor, the change of the weather, or simply gossiped. Tall wooden goblets were filled with warm, freshly brewed beer, wine, or goat’s milk for the children. After the evening meal, the Bakhna and Forest People huddled together around fires fueled by branches from the Beech tree, and told spirit stories of the time before time. Young men sang and played tunes on small timber flutes, drums, and fiddles. Couples