While listening to the rain coming down on her grim thoughts, Vierra heard a sound that broke her out of the gloomy prison of her mind. There was a racket coming from the woods, as if something big was moving through the forest. It could not be any of her tribe; even Rika, who was the worst hunter, did not move so clumsily. Vierra went through the options in her mind. Maybe a bear or a moose? An autumn-bear would have a lot of fat under its skin, but killing it all by herself would be another matter entirely. Even if she succeeded, the bear spirit would also have to be appeased properly or misfortunes and accidents would be sure to follow. And Eera, who knew the words of appeasing best, was far away in the tribe’s camp hitting the death-drums, and wouldn’t leave to sing to spirits while this work was unfinished.
It was no bear, as Vierra soon saw while peering between the twigs, but a man: a man tall and slender, with hair yellow as swampweed burned by summer sun. He looked strange to Vierra, not sturdy like the Vikings although nearly as tall. He staggered towards her, stumbling along the uneven path. When he came closer, Vierra noticed the reason: a black-quilled arrow had gone through his thigh, its tip protruding viciously from the front. Finally, a large tree root tripped the staggering man, and he fell headlong into the bushes. Vierra realized that the man was completely spent and could not continue his swaying trek through the forest.
Before she could decide what to do, she heard another sound and realized why the man had tried to run through the bushes wounded and exhausted. An older man followed, one who moved with a light step. This one was cast from a different mold than the man he was following: short, black-haired, and of good strength. When he saw the man he was pursuing, he drew from his waist a sharp-looking blade, as long as an arm. The blade was black and ended in a hook-like, nail-sharp point. Only a few steps separated him from his prey, and all signs were promising the yellow-haired man a quick trip to the fires of the underworld.
Why Vierra then took part in the showdown between these two unknown men completely escaped her. She would ponder that very thing during the following days, but at that moment, she did not hesitate. She pulled an arrow and armed her bow in one smooth, fast movement. In the blink of an eye, she let go the beak of death and it struck the pursuing man in the shoulder. It stuck out grotesquely, and the blade slipped from the man’s grip. His face was distorted by pain and amazement, and he fell on his knees to the damp heather.
“One more step, and the next will go through your heart,” yelled Vierra, as if her opponent could have continued the battle. Vierra was dazzled with the surprising situation as much as her own, explosive actions. The dark-haired man started a flood of foreign words, which Vierra knew to be Turyan.
Turyans lived in the north, even though sometimes they wandered in the forests close to the Kainu’s heartlands. Every Kainu knew stories of the Turyan people. Most of them painted the picture of feared Turyan witches and their grudges and blood feuds that lasted for generations. True to their image, this wounded Turyan gathered strength from somewhere. He got up, took the blade from the ground, and turned away. As he left and slowly vanished into the forest, his voice could still be heard, swearing and cursing in a multitude of languages. The yells echoed in Vierra’s ears long after he had disappeared among the trees.
Vierra was snapped out of her thoughts when she realized the light-haired man was trying to get up. She approached him cautiously, her hand ready to grasp a knife or a bow if the situation demanded. His pale blue eyes were filled with pain and fatigue, and it helped Vierra put her mind at ease.
“I am Vierra, known as the Fargoer. Hunter and of the chieftain’s blood. I walk my mothers’ paths as my own. Who are you and why are you pursued by the Turyans? Are you banished or a slayer of innocents?”
About Fargoer (2013)
Vierra is a strong-minded girl of the Kainu tribe. When she, along with her cousin, heads for a journey toward her adulthood, the forces that are to direct her life are set in motion.
Can Vierra break her path painted in stone, a path leading her toward a life filled with great turmoil? Can she find her place among her tribe, or will she fulfill her destiny as the Fargoer?
Fargoer begins the series of fantasy novels that draws its power from the harsh, yet beautiful nature and folklore of Finland. Its roots are at the same time in mythology and in the ancient, unwritten history. Fargoer’s foundation has been laid on the wonders of the ancient world, and the fast-paced storytelling is colored by poetry, the age-old tradition of self-expression.
Amazon USAmazon UKB&NGoodreadsAbout Petteri Hannila
It all began when I was eight years old. I found out that there were books of Tarzan, my childhood hero. My mother started to read them to me, but censored them – all of you who have read them know why. Annoyed by this, I started to read them on my own. Dreams and legends have followed me from those days, as companions on my voyage through life.
Only few years after that I thought about writing for the first time, but for a long time I pushed it away from my mind for supposedly more important things. Finally I understood that none of my stories would ever see the daylight until I got started, and I did.
From the days of Tarzan, exciting adventures and fantasy stories set in the past and the future have been my interest. Thus, the natural choice for me was to start writing science fiction and fantasy. Some years ago the idea of Fargoer made its way into my consciousness, and it hasn’t loosened its grip of me since.
New Fargoer stories and paths of Vierra’s future circle in my thoughts until I write them out. There are so many stories to tell until the end, and that end is painted clearly on my mind.
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