Guardian of the Spirit

by Nahoko Uehashi

  Tanda turned to Balsa and said, “We should reach Aoike Pond around noon. The shigu salua will be blooming there at this time of year.”

  “Shigu salua?” Balsa murmured. Something stirred in her memory.

  Chagum’s pace quickened. The other three glanced at each other. He seemed to be headed for that very pond and broke into a run when they caught their first glimpse of it through the trees. Ordinarily, they would have stopped him; running made it harder to detect an enemy. But they had seen no signs that they were being followed, and they were so distracted by Chagum and their curiosity about what he would do that even Torogai neglected caution.

  A grassy glade surrounded the large pond, and just as Tanda had predicted, the water near the banks was covered in small white shigu salua flowers, floating on their round green leaves. They gave off a peculiar and overpowering smell — the heavy scent of water, like the wind after a summer downpour. Instantly, Balsa remembered: It was this scent that had clung to Chagum when she had stopped him from stumbling out Toya’s door — the scent of shigu salua.

  The scene that Chagum saw at that moment was very different from the one his companions saw. Before him in Nayugu lay a body of water as big as a lake, with a surface like a deep blue mirror. Superimposed on this he could still see the pond in Sagu. Faint ripples disturbed its surface whenever a breeze passed over the lake in Nayugu.

  Chagum rushed over to the flowers and inhaled deeply. Their fragrance was intoxicating. From among the many blossoms floating on the pond, he found the one that bloomed in both worlds, the one that spanned Nayugu and Sagu simultaneously. Plucking it, he shoved it into his mouth and devoured it with rapture. The nectar was far more abundant than he had expected from the size of the flower. As it trickled down his throat, an odd warmth spread slowly through him, and he sat down abruptly on the bank, as if he were drunk.

  The others watched him wordlessly from start to finish. Suddenly Balsa gripped the spear in her hand tightly. She knew intuitively that they were surrounded.

  “Balsa, don’t do it,” Torogai whispered. “I know. We’ve been trapped. But you mustn’t try to cut your way through with your spear.”

  “Why?” Balsa asked sharply, her eyes still fixed on Chagum so their enemies would not realize they had been discovered.

  “This trap was set before we even got here. That can only mean one thing. The Star Readers have found some record of how they destroyed Rarunga two hundred years ago. I want to know how they did it.”

  “But I can feel their hostility. They may not mean to harm Chagum, but they most certainly intend to kill us.”

  “I know. So we’ll just have to make Chagum our hostage.”

  Balsa looked at Tanda. Although slightly tense, he looked ready to meet whatever might come their way.

  “There are eight of them,” he said. “Torogai has already tricked them once, and I doubt they’ll fall for that again. I guess we have no choice but to do as she suggests.”

  Balsa nodded finally and then bent toward Chagum. “Can you hear me, Chagum?” He looked up at her, his eyes glazed. “The Mikado’s men have found us. It looks like they don’t mean to kill you, but they do plan to kill the rest of us.” Apprehension finally registered in his eyes. “So we’re going to make you our hostage. Will you trust us?”

  Chagum pressed his lips together tightly and nodded. Still drunk on the nectar, he stared blankly at the trees and saw several figures appear. Four Hunters surrounded them, their short bows held at the ready. Although they had a limited range, the quick bows could be fired in rapid succession, which made them an ideal weapon in a forest such as this, where there was not much space.

  The other four Hunters moved toward them slowly. Jin held a blowgun; his wounds had already healed. Yun carried a long sword in one hand and a dagger in the other. The scar Balsa’s spear had scored across his face was still livid, and he glared at her, making no attempt to conceal the hatred that seethed inside him. Zen was empty-handed, but she could see by the way his knees were braced that he would not be caught off guard. They knew her ability only too well now; there was not a trace of overconfidence in their stance.

  At Mon’s signal, Jin, Zen, and Yun began to close in. They walked so as not to obstruct the archers’ line of fire, and it was obvious that they knew every inch of ground, the location of every rock. While Balsa had no intention of disobeying Torogai’s warning not to wield her spear, she still probed carefully for some way to break through their line. But the magic weaver was right; it was impossible. Although she might have stood a chance on her own, as a group they had no possibility of winning against eight men like these.

  Torogai waited until the Hunters were about to pounce before she yelled. “Stop right there!”

  The very air seemed to freeze. The Hunters, still poised to strike, halted in their tracks.

  “Magic weaver, your tricks won’t work anymore,” Mon said in a strong, clear voice.

  Torogai grinned. “I’m not so foolish as to use the same trick twice.” She looked so perfectly at ease, it made the Hunters uncomfortable. “Listen carefully! We have no intention of fighting. To be honest, we have no time for that right now. We must meet with the Master Star Reader as soon as possible.”

  Mon had not foreseen this turn of events, but he was too smart to let it show. “Enough of your nonsense!” he barked. “We’re the ones in charge here, not you.”

  “Fine then. Get on with it! But I should warn you that the instant one of us is either injured or killed, the prince’s heart will stop beating, regardless of whether he sees it happen or not. As long as you understand that, we’ll do whatever you say.”

  “There’s no use bluffing,” Mon retorted.

  Torogai grinned wickedly — a smile so gruesome it made them shudder. “If you don’t believe me, why don’t you check it out as we talk? Go ahead. Try it and see what kind of magic old Torogai has woven around the prince.”

  Mon realized they were at a disadvantage; these three knew the prince’s value. “You think you’ve won, magic weaver,” he said quietly. “Feel free to think that. Our job is to return the prince to the Master Star Reader. You’ve said that you’ll come quietly, so come. You’ll save us a lot of trouble. But remember: The Star Palace is a sacred place, where your dirty magic tricks are worthless.”

  He signaled the other Hunters to surround the captives, leaving no room for escape. They began walking. Balsa gripped her spear in her right hand, while with her left arm she supported Chagum, who was still unsteady on his feet. The Hunters, who had come expecting to take revenge on her, ground their teeth in frustration, but they were not so foolish as to let their feelings show.

  Everyone, including Balsa, was sure that they would arrive at the Star Palace without incident.

  They continued walking, Jin in front, Yun and Zen on either side, and Mon behind them. The four other Hunters were nowhere to be seen. Balsa knew they were probably shadowing them through the forest on all four sides, an extremely difficult feat in this rugged terrain. The cicadas’ chorus beat down upon them, a constant buzzing in their ears.

  Chagum was still in a daze. Although he was aware that he was moving along the mountain path with Balsa’s hand gripping his arm, at times the scenery of Sagu vanished so completely that all he could see was Nayugu. His body reeked so strongly of shigu salua it was almost nauseating, but the scent could only be detected in Nayugu; not even Balsa, who was right beside him, was aware of it. It lingered on the ground with every step he took, leaving a clear trail behind him.

  Suddenly Balsa felt her flesh crawl, the hair rising on the nape of her neck as if she’d been doused in cold water. She braced herself, thinking at first that Mon was about to attack her, but she immediately knew she was wrong: Everyone had come to a stop. While the Hunters, Torogai, and Tanda clearly sensed something as well — a presence that seemed to seep like vapor from the ground — none of them could pinpoint its source. The thunderous racket of the cicadas hushed instantly, a
nd the sudden silence was unbearably shrill.

  Chagum’s heart constricted with terror. Something in Nayugu was watching him. He knew he should look into that other world with a steady gaze, but his fear was so great that he shut it out instinctively.

  “Ba-Balsa!” He cowered, clinging to her. She pointed her spear at the ground. Malice seethed beneath her, not from just one place, but many! Yet she could see nothing. Something gleamed at Chagum’s feet — there! — and Balsa stabbed it with her spear. The point struck something hard, but whatever it was vanished instantly. Her spear stuck in the ground, and she had to stop to pull it out again.

  Suddenly, claws as tall as a man appeared around them. Slicing through vines, shrubs, even tree roots, they rushed straight for Chagum. At once, Balsa grabbed him by his belt and threw him up into the air. One of the claws barely missed him as he flew through space. His outstretched hands caught a thick branch overhead and he clung to it desperately, but it bent under his weight as if it would break.

  Balsa’s speed astounded the Hunters. One moment she drove her spear into the ground, and the next she vaulted into the air. Stepping on the spear’s hilt, she leapt onto a limb above Chagum’s head, then reached down and grabbed him by the collar, hauling him up into the top of the tree. Beneath them the claws closed in on all sides, clumps of earth flying through the air toward the trunk.

  Then they suddenly disappeared. They did not sink back into the earth, but simply vanished, leaving an ominous emptiness behind. Yun lay screaming and writhing on the ground, his right leg ripped open. His sword had shattered from its impact with the claws.

  Tanda and Torogai chanted under their breath. When they opened their eyes to Nayugu, they saw a soft, muddy swamp that stretched as far as they could see. A creature resembling a giant spider scuttled toward them on six legs. On its back, a ring of six claws surrounded a mouth from which thin tentacles waved like whips, making a hissing sound. This was Rarunga, and it was far more horrible than either of the magic weavers had imagined. Returning their consciousness to Sagu, they shouted, “Get up into the trees! Hurry!”

  But Jin stood rooted to the ground, uncomprehending, his sword still held at the ready. As Tanda ran toward him, the claws suddenly reappeared. Just before one of them could slice Jin in two, Tanda shoved him out of the way.

  Blood spurted from Tanda’s side. Balsa’s face paled as she watched. “Chagum, hold on tight to this branch and don’t move, all right?” She leapt to the ground and ran over to Tanda. Sticking her arms under his, she hauled him up to a standing position. He groaned and looked back at her.

  “I’m all right! I’m all right! Leave me alone! You should be guarding Chagum!” He tried to push her away, but she ignored him. From her perch in the tree, she had watched Rarunga’s movements and seen that its claws always appeared in a circle with Chagum at its center. Guessing that it would not bother to pursue anyone besides Chagum, she hoisted Tanda over her shoulder and ran.

  But in those few minutes, a third and drastic change had come over Chagum. Nurtured by the nectar of the shigu salua, the egg was almost ready to hatch. For Chagum, this transformation was far quicker and more terrifying than anything before. He noticed with surprise that all sensation was receding from his hands and feet; soon he could no longer feel the bark where his hands gripped the tree. He tried to scream, but no noise came out. The sounds around him grew distant and his vision darkened; the five senses that linked him to the outer world faded away until he lost touch with them completely. His consciousness shrank into an endless expanse of darkness, and in its place, some other will began to move his hands, his feet, his body. At first, he was so terrified he thought he would go insane, but gradually he even lost the sensation of fear, until his mind fell into a state closely resembling sleep.

  Still he struggled to keep his own consciousness as though fighting off drowsiness. His efforts were rewarded, for he seemed to reach some form of understanding with this other will. Although his perception was disjointed, he glimpsed snatches of what was happening around him, like someone bobbing to the surface from deep underwater. He saw the ground below him sway as it flashed out of sight behind him. He glimpsed his right hand grasping a vine-covered branch, then it vanished and the river rushed up at him, the rocks jutting out of the low water. Water sprayed into the air. In response to its smell, hot power rose from the depths of his being, and Chagum’s mind entered a strange world in which he was destined to wander for some time.

  Balsa laid Tanda down where she thought he would be safe. When she finally looked back, she saw Chagum receding rapidly into the distance as he swung through the trees like a monkey, flying from branch to branch with incredible agility. For a brief moment, she stood there stunned. His movements were not human; even she could never have swung so lightly through the forest. And he was hurtling away …

  She pulled herself back to her senses and raced off in the direction in which he had disappeared. Without warning, a huge claw towered above her, blocking her way and raining clods of earth down upon her. Holding her hand before her face to protect her eyes from the dirt, she nimbly dodged to one side and ran past it. Behind her, she heard the Hunters’ screams. Even such seasoned warriors stood little chance against a monster that could vanish at will, and Rarunga seemed to have recognized that it must kill them all before it could eat.

  Balsa followed doggedly after Chagum, but as she had to watch out for claws that attacked unexpectedly and tentacles that tried to entangle her, the distance between them rapidly widened. She clenched her teeth and kept running. Suddenly she noticed that dirt no longer flew through the air. She seemed to have escaped beyond the circle of the claws. Behind her, the monster was still thrashing about wildly. Rarunga doesn’t know Chagum has escaped, she suddenly realized. Maybe it can’t follow someone who has left the ground. She peered through the gaps between the trees, searching for Chagum, but he was nowhere to be seen. She calmed her breathing and probed for him using all her senses. Far in the distance, she thought she heard something splash into water. Of course! He must have been running toward the river!

  She raced through the trees until she burst out onto its banks. There she stopped in surprise. A veil of mist, as thick as smoke, rose above the river, hiding everything under a white fog all the way upstream. It obscured her view so completely that she could see nothing at all, let alone Chagum.

  “Chagum!” She shouted his name until she was hoarse, but the mist absorbed the sound and no answer came.

  She had only taken her eyes off him for a minute. That was all. How could she have known it would have such consequences as this? She stood motionless, stricken with remorse.

  Mon gazed wordlessly at the awful sight before him. Yun’s leg was badly gored. The other Hunters had been scattered in all directions. Two were seriously wounded by the claws, while another two had suffered more minor injuries. By the time Rarunga had vanished for good, only Mon, Jin, and Zen were left unscathed.

  Torogai took out a bottle of strong spirits to use as a disinfectant, sterilized a needle and thread, and deftly sewed up the gash in Tanda’s side. Then she turned her attention to the other wounded men. Fighting the searing pain, Tanda rose to help her.

  “I don’t see Balsa or Chagum, Tanda. You’d better go look for them,” Torogai urged him, but he shook his head.

  “I’ll look, but not until we’re done with these two. They’ll die if they aren’t treated now. Balsa will get along without me for a while longer.”

  Torogai did not press him any further. Jin, Zen, and Mon split up, each helping one of their injured comrades. When they had done all they could for the time being, Tanda heard someone stalking toward them through the forest. He stood up hastily and saw that it was Balsa. Looking very grim, she strode quickly over to her spear and yanked it from the ground.

  “Balsa! What happened to Chagum?” Tanda asked. “Isn’t he with you?” She gave him a sharp glance and shook her head shortly. “What happened?”

 
; She walked over to him, frowning, and then sighed. “I don’t know. He just ran away.” She told him everything from start to finish. Torogai and the Hunters drew near to listen.

  “He must have manipulated the water,” Torogai said. “You told me he did that before, remember?”

  “Yes. But it only happened when he was asleep or unconscious.”

  Torogai’s eyes narrowed. “Then perhaps he’s not conscious.”

  “What?”

  “In the beginning, the egg of Nyunga Ro Im only took over Chagum’s body when he was asleep or unconscious, right? But when the second change took place, Chagum felt the egg’s impulses as his own actions, even when he was awake, and he could see Nayugu with ease.”

  “So you think that another change has taken place,” Tanda said.

  Torogai nodded. “There is just one day left until midsummer — one day until the egg hatches. The egg has probably taken over his body and is controlling his actions to make sure it’s safely born.”

  Balsa slammed the butt of her spear on the ground. Everyone jumped and looked at her in surprise. “Who the hell does this Nyunga Ro Im think it is?” she shouted. “I don’t give a damn about the cloud spirit! If anything happens to Chagum, I’ll smash that egg before Rarunga can eat it! How dare it mess with someone else’s life like this!”

  Torogai glanced at Tanda as if to say that it was his job to make this crazy spear-wielder calm down. She did not wait to see him shrug, but instead turned to look sharply at the leader of the Hunters. Mon returned her gaze boldly.

  “You there!” Torogai said. “You saw those claws. I don’t know what orders the Master Star Reader gave you, but that’s the monster Mikado Torugaru supposedly killed off long ago. It’s after the cloud spirit’s egg, which is inside the prince.” Briefly, she explained what had happened so far and the worlds of Sagu and Nayugu. The Hunters listened intently without uttering a word. It was an astonishing tale, one that dispelled all their doubts. “And that,” she concluded, “is why I must see the Master Star Reader and find out how they defeated it. But I’m worried about the prince. Balsa and Tanda are a hard pair to beat, but the more fighters they have, the better. Would any of you be willing to help them find the prince?”