The Beast Player

by Nahoko Uehashi

  Elin rose. If there were survivors, then they would need help. And for that, they would have to bring the boat to shore. She walked slowly over to Leelan.

  4 HEALING

  The teachers rode straight to Salano and reported the news to the lord of Kazalumu. Then they and others from the manor traveled swiftly downriver by boat. By the time they reached the scene of the attack, however, an hour had already passed.

  While she waited, Elin made Leelan tow the Yojeh’s boat to shore, following the direction of the current. Then she climbed aboard. She considered riding Leelan back to the school to get supplies, but decided that her first priority was to bind the wounds of those who were bleeding profusely.

  She had ripped open the sleeve of a man whose arm was pierced by an arrow and had just begun staunching the blood, when she heard someone call her from the cabin. One of the Yojeh’s menservants was beckoning her from the cabin door.

  “Come quickly! The Yojeh’s hurt! Hurry!”

  Elin stayed to tie off the man’s wound from which blood was gushing. The servant, however, ran over, grabbed her by the arm, and yanked her to her feet.

  “I said, ‘Hurry!’ The Yojeh’s badly hurt!”

  The damage inside the cabin was pretty bad. A huge hole gaped in one wall. The Yojeh’s servants lay sprawled on the floor or sat crouched over, groaning with pain. They must have been thrown against the walls when the Toda had rammed the boat. The Yojeh lay on a mat, pale-faced, with her lips slightly parted and her eyes closed. Damiya sat beside her, his face chalk white and filmed with sweat. His left arm hung awkwardly and appeared longer than his right. He must have dislocated it, Elin thought.

  A maidservant knelt on the other side of the Yojeh, calling her. Elin dropped to her knees by the mat.

  “She hit the wall hard when the Toda attacked,” Damiya said, breathing shallowly. “I tried to catch her, but I was too late…”

  Elin brought her face close to the Yojeh’s mouth and felt a breath of air brush her cheek. Relieved, she sat up and took the Yojeh’s wrist in her hand to feel for her pulse. Then she raised her eyelids to check whether the pupils were different sizes and how they responded to the light. Closing the lids gently, she glanced around the room. Seeing an armrest lying in a corner, she asked the maidservant to fetch it. She was a young woman and seemed to be still in shock, for her hands shook violently when she handed Elin the armrest.

  Elin slipped it under the Yojeh’s neck as a brace and then turned to the maidservant. “Fortunately, the injury is not life threatening at the moment. But I must ask you not to move her head under any circumstances. Please keep her still.” She picked up a small blanket from where it lay on the floor and carefully covered the Yojeh. Then she stood up to leave.

  Damiya stared at her. “Surely you’re not going to leave without treating her?”

  Elin shook her head. “There is nothing more I can do for her right now. The teachers were watching from the hill, and I’m sure they’re on their way with the medicines and equipment we need.” She grasped the shoulder of the maidservant who was gazing up at her and said, “You must not let anything jar her. Listen to her breathing and if you notice any change, let me know.”

  The woman nodded, her face very pale. Concerned, Elin looked at her closely. “How about you? Are you all right? Do you feel any pain?”

  The young woman looked surprised, then smiled faintly and shook her head. “Thank you. I’m fine.”

  Elin turned to the manservant, who was standing behind them. “Damiya’s shoulder is dislocated. Will you help me fix it?”

  The man nodded. “He hit his shoulder against the wall when he tried to catch Her Highness.”

  Elin knelt beside Damiya. Leaning over him, she looked into his eyes. “Did you hit your head?” she asked.

  “Yes… I feel a bit nauseous.”

  She checked his pupils to see if they responded properly to light. “You probably have a slight concussion. When the doctors come, be sure to tell them that you hit your head.”

  “I will.”

  Elin glanced at the manservant. “Do you have something stiff that we can stabilize his neck with? Even thick paper will do.”

  The manservant looked around the room in a fluster, but the maidservant held up a book that had fallen on the floor. “What about this?”

  “Ah! That might work.” Elin placed it against Damiya’s neck. The width fitted perfectly between his shoulder and his ear. She placed it against the back of his neck to support his vertebrae, then wrapped it securely with a sash that the maidservant gave her. When she was finished, she turned once again to the maidservant and said, “Resetting his shoulder may be extremely painful. Do you have a piece of cloth we can put between his teeth so that he doesn’t bite his tongue?”

  “Don’t worry,” Damiya interjected. “I can use my sleeve.” He raised his right arm, bit his sleeve and grinned.

  Elin nodded. “Thank you. It may be very painful until the bone is back in the joint, but once it’s in, it should feel better. Try and bear the pain until we’re done.”

  Damiya let the sleeve fall for a moment. “I may not be a warrior but I believe I’m strong enough. If you fail, I’m not going to blame you, so you might as well go ahead and get revenge for yesterday.”

  Elin smiled in spite of herself. “All right then. Let’s begin.”

  The manservant supported Damiya from behind while Elin grabbed his left wrist with both hands. Relocating a shoulder is hard work, and Elin, as well as the white-faced Damiya, was drenched in sweat by the time she finished. When the bone finally slipped into the socket, none of them could speak for some time.

  Damiya spit out the gag and let out a long breath. “…Amazing… the pain seems to have almost disappeared.”

  Elin secured his arm with a sling made of some bleached cotton recovered from a trash basket, and said, “Don’t move your arm. And please remember to tell the physicians that you hit your head.”

  Damiya looked at her. “I understand. And thank you. We owe you our lives.”

  Elin bowed her head. “It was nothing.” She rose and looked around the room. Even those who had been lying prostrate when she came in were now sitting up. Although some held their heads in their hands, there were none with life-threatening injuries. The wounded on deck were in need of more urgent attention.

  As she bowed to Damiya and turned to leave, he said, “Is there really nothing you can do for the Yojeh? Surely you could use the secret powers of the Ahlyo.”

  Elin stopped and looked at him. “…I have no secret powers.”

  He gazed at her steadily. Although he said nothing, his eyes gleamed with a strange light.

  As Elin passed out the door, she almost collided with a man coming in from the deck. It was Ialu, the Yojeh’s guard. He seemed to exude a savage heat along with the smell of blood, sweat and Toda, and Elin shrank back instinctively.

  “How is the Yojeh?” he asked in a low voice.

  “The fall was severe, and she’s still unconscious. The fact that she hit her head worries me. Right now, however, all we can do is keep her still and warm.”

  Ialu nodded as he gazed over at the Yojeh. His right arm was blood-soaked from the shoulder to the fingertips. Even with a tourniquet tied round his right armpit, blood still dripped from his fingers. Elin suddenly recalled the man who had plunged his sword and arm down the Toda’s throat.

  “Were you cut by Toda fangs?”

  Ialu looked at his arm. “Ah, this? It’s just a gash. It should be all right. The bleeding will stop if I put pressure on it.”

  Elin frowned and gently raised his blood-drenched sleeve to examine the wound. Then she looked up at him and said, “Toda fangs are poisonous. If it isn’t washed with a brew of shilan leaves, you could lose that arm.”

  Expressionless, Ialu gazed down at his arm as if it belonged to someone else.

  “Please wait while I go and get some,” Elin said and turned to leave, but Ialu grabbed her arm.

/>   “Help my men first. Please.”

  Elin stared at him intently, but his face remained unmoved. She nodded and then went out onto the deck. Many men lay bleeding and groaning in agony. A life or an arm—Ialu was right. She should stop the bleeding first.

  Behind her, Damiya’s voice rose in fury. “Ialu! How could you let this happen? Why weren’t you aware of the Aluhan’s treachery?”

  She could not hear Ialu’s reply.

  She was busy tying a tourniquet when Ialu came out of the cabin. He immediately joined her, deftly using his good arm to help. By the time a ship bearing the Kazalumu flag drew near, first-aid measures were complete.

  “Did you bring stewed shilan leaves?” Elin called out as soon as the ship was close enough to make out the faces of those on board.

  The teachers looked dismayed. “We brought bandages and ointments for treating most injuries, but we were in such a hurry, we didn’t think of that. Have some of the injured been bitten by Toda?”

  “Yes, the wounds are mostly arrow wounds or lacerations from Toda fangs and scales, with some broken bones and bruising. Her Highness, the Yojeh, was slammed against the cabin wall and hit her head. She’s still unconscious.”

  There was a commotion as people boarded from the other ship. While the teachers could see the wounded lying on the deck, the true extent of the slaughter was not apparent, as most of the bodies had already been washed downstream.

  Quietly, Elin said to Ialu, “I’m going to ask Leelan to take me to the school so that I can get some shilan potion.”

  Ialu nodded. “Please. But don’t bring it here. Go to the lord’s hall. I’m going to have this boat towed there. The Aluhan is a clever general. If he has a second unit waiting to attack, we can’t possibly repulse them here.” Then he added in a low voice, “When you come to the hall, come by horse, even if it takes more time.”

  Elin looked at him in surprise. He was warning her not to let people see her riding the Royal Beast. She nodded. “I understand.”

  On her way back to Leelan, Elin had to pass the corpses of the Toda where they had washed against the shore. Whether she wanted to or not, she could not avoid seeing them. At the sight of their dorsal fins, however, she frowned. There were no notches. A chill ran through her as she realized what that meant.

  It can’t be…

  She glanced back to where Ialu stood on the ship. Should she tell him? But if she did, she would have to explain why she knew so much about the Toda. Still frowning, she walked over to Leelan.

  The Beast was grooming her fur, but she paused and looked up. “Fly?” she asked.

  Elin nodded. “Fly.”

  Leelan crouched down to let Elin mount as if it was the most natural thing to do, then, once Elin was on, she shot into the air.

  As he watched the Royal Beast dwindle into the sky, Ialu struggled to understand his own heart. He should not have let them leave—not if he were considering the best strategy for defense. With no one left in any shape to fight, they would be slaughtered should the Aluhan send a second wave of Toda. So why had he let the girl go? Why had he been so anxious that she leave as soon as possible?

  Remembering that he had told her to come to the lord’s hall by horse, he closed his eyes. While he knew what he had thought and the choice that he had made, he could not understand what had moved him to do so.

  *

  I must be getting used to this, Elin thought, for she had lost her initial fear of flying. With her cheek against Leelan’s neck, she could hear the sound of the Beast’s breathing and her mouth moving. At times she heard a clicking noise, like nails being clipped. For a while she wondered what it was, then she recognized the source. Leelan must have Toda scales caught between her teeth, and she was nudging them out with her tongue and cracking them between her jaws.

  The sound of Leelan tearing the Toda apart leapt vividly into her mind—a sound like shattering glass. Something twisted in her gut, and a shiver ran up her spine. The sensation was disturbingly pleasant. Realization dawned. When she had ridden Leelan, wild with the scent of blood, when she had felt her invincible power and heard her crush Toda hides like mere glasswork, she had experienced not just fear, but pleasure as well.

  Pressing her face into Leelan’s fur, she closed her eyes and did not open them again until they began to descend.

  When Leelan landed in the meadow beside Eku and Alu, Eku sniffed the air. His hackles rose, and he began to growl. He quieted reluctantly when Leelan responded in a low, soothing tone, but his fur still stood on end.

  Elin slipped off Leelan’s back and looked up at her with a heavy heart. She seemed as calm as if her killing frenzy had never occurred. And that very calmness alarmed Elin. If Leelan had been human, she could have talked to her about what their actions meant. But Leelan was not human. No matter how much Elin might wish otherwise, she could never share with her the fear, or the elation, that violence could evoke. Nor could she consult with her about what they should do next.

  Royal Beasts were beasts. They did not think like people. With a word, she had made Leelan fly and kill the Toda, and Leelan had done exactly as she had been told. Like a sword that fit perfectly in the hand, once tamed, Royal Beasts could become convenient tools to be wielded as their master pleased. And by using Leelan as a weapon, Elin had just demonstrated that fact to the world.

  Alu brushed up against her and licked her hand. Elin looked down at him, then squeezed her eyes shut.

  Royal Beasts must never become accustomed to people.

  Intoxicated with the joy of communing with them, she had trained them to respond to her. Now she could see all too clearly where this would lead. She buried her face in her hands. Although she had washed them in the river, they still smelt of blood.

  Passing through the back door of the school and into the dark hallway, she felt as though she were seeing it for the first time, despite its familiarity. All sound—the clamor of the students, the voices of people who spoke to her—seemed to come from very far away.

  Someone must have told the headmistress that she was back. With swift strides, Esalu approached, her face fierce with anger, but when she saw Elin’s expression, the fury in her eyes ebbed. She grasped Elin’s hands in her own. “Are you all right?”

  Elin looked at her in a daze. “Yes. I’m all right.” Even her own voice seemed to come from a great distance.

  “Well, you certainly don’t look it. You look like the walking dead.”

  Elin shook her head. “No, I’m fine… But some of the wounded were bitten by the Toda. I need to brew a potion of shilan leaves and take it back.”

  Esalu nodded and fell in beside her as they walked to the dispensary. “I saw what happened from the hill. Is the Yojeh safe?”

  Elin shook her head. “She was thrown against the wall and hit her head. She’s unconscious.”

  Esalu frowned. “I hope it’s just a mild concussion.”

  “I checked the pupils of her eyes, and she didn’t seem to have any internal bleeding. For now, at least…” She knew that even when nothing happened immediately after a hard blow to the head, bleeding could begin much later, and that could be fatal. But she could not bring herself to say something so unlucky.

  “I told the lord of Kazalumu to take physicians and sent our most experienced teachers,” Esalu said. “There’s nothing more we can do but leave Her Highness in their hands.”

  *

  As she helped prepare the potion in the dispensary, Esalu glanced frequently at Elin, as if there was something she wanted to say, but in the end she said nothing. Elin concentrated on her work, pretending not to notice. She was all too aware of the gravity of what she had done. But she was not yet ready to confront it.

  The finely chopped dried shilan danced in the boiling water. Her eyes were focused on the leaves bubbling in the pot, but her mind was racing round and round, seeking excuses for what she had done. Reasons why she had had no choice floated up one after the other.

  So this is how
the human brain tries to protect itself when exposed to shock, she thought. But none of the reasons her mind suggested could erase the coal-black darkness at the bottom of her heart. Quietly and coldly that blackness declared the reality. She had opened a door that must not be opened. If she acted now, she might still have time to close it with her own hands. But if she went any further, she would never be able to do so again.

  She watched the leaves dye the boiling water red.

  5 THE MARK OF THE TODA CLANS

  The gate to the lord’s hall was firmly shut and guarded by soldiers, but when Elin dismounted and told them why she had come, they let her in. Ialu must have warned them in advance. The hall and garden were surrounded by thick mud walls roofed with clay tiles. Inside, everything seemed to be chaos. Men hurried to and fro, many of them dressed in obviously makeshift armor.

  The scene reminded Elin of a hive of honeybees when a hornet approached. At least three times as large as their prey, hornets were ferocious, and, if they attacked in a group, they could exterminate an entire hive. But honeybees did not give in passively. Elin had once seen them swarm over a lone hornet, wrapping it in a ball. When the bees had dispersed, she saw not only the corpse of the dead hornet but also that of a tiny honey bee, crushed by its fellows with its mandibles still sunk in the hornet’s leg. In her mind’s eye, the tiny corpse merged with the figure of a man, and she shook her head to dispel this gloomy association.