Carnivores of Light and Darkness by Alan Dean Foster

Etjole Ehomba is a simple herdsman of the Naumkib tribe, a small tribe in the south, on the Semordrian Ocean. But when a strange group of pale-skinned Northerners wash up dead on the beach one morning, it will propel this man who questions everyone and everything, called the Catechist, on a journey across the known world to rescue a beautiful woman from an dark foe named Hymneth the Possessed.

One of the men, Taryn Beckwith by name, is still alive, and he begs Etjole to rescue a woman called the Visioness Themaryl from Hymneth the Possessed. Then, he dies in Etjole's arms, but leaves Etjole feeling that he is in some way burdened by the man's death, and would be less than true to himself if he did not so this Taryn Beckwith's bidding and rescued the girl. So, taking a few items from his village, and more that the woman of the village press on him, he bids farewell to his home and family. But before he leaves, he takes some beach pebbles from the beach near his home with him, so he can remember the smell of sea salt from his village.

He spends the first night with some intelligent monkeys, and helps them drive off their foes, the Slelves. He then goes on to encounter an entity who is actually corruption, and kills it with a sprinkling of pure, blessed dirt from his wife's garden. In doing so, he gains a companion, Simna ibn Sind, a mercenary swordsman who seeks gold and riches in life and cannot be convinced that Etjole is not also seeking the same things in his efforts to free the Visioness. Determined to share in the riches his new companion is seeking, Simna says he must offer his services to Etjole in return for saving Simna's life. Etjole, knowing he can do nothing to dissuade the swordsman, and already tired of his chattering tongue, reluctantly agrees.

He quickly gains another companion in the form of Ahlitah, a great cat who is half Lion and Half Cheetah. His fur is black with tawny rosettes, and he has a mane, and the long legs of a cheetah with a lion's body and tail. They meet him outrunning a tornado, and it turns out he boasted he could outrun the wind... and did for a day and a half when the tornado took up the boast and challenged him to race. But when he lived up to his boast, the tornado turned on him and tried to kill him. Since Ahlitah needed to eat and sleep, he was scarcely able to stay alive. Again, in thanks for saving his life, the cat agrees to aid Etjole in his travels.

But even as they encounter other perils on their long journey through the dangerous north, Etjole finds it impossible to defeat one thing: Simna's belief that Etjole is a powerful sorceror, concealing his true nature beneath a humble-seeming exterior. But when the companions encounter an Eromakadi, an eater of light, will Simna be proven correct about Etjole after all?

I like this series. I found the quiet and unprepossessing Etjole, whose people are apparently not above cannibalism in their harsh arid home, an interesting choice as hero. He is never arrogant or prideful, and in fact, he is extremely self-effacing. But he is also brave. He is told that he will die if he takes up his quest to rescue the Visioness Themaryl, but he continues on regardless.

He also seems to be the only ungifted individual in a village where everyone has some talent that is nigh on magical in himself. His talent beyond herding, hunting and keeping watch over animals in the night, is the fact that he is intensely curious and is always learning and striving to know more. It is this talent that helps him on his way, as much as the little gifts he brings with him from his fellow villagers. But it's not hard to see that there is more to Etjole Ehomba than he claims to be. But what is the truth, and will we ever find out?