Dragon Sword and Wind Child (25 page)

Masaki and the other guards, who had been frantically searching for them, raced up breathlessly. Asked if she was hurt, Saya shook her head and said, “No. I'm fine. I just got a few bruises . . .” Then, unable to bear it any longer, she broke down and began to sob.

Chihaya was in no condition to walk. He was placed, deathly pale, on a hastily prepared litter, but refused to allow anyone to touch his wounds. Walking quietly alongside the litter, Saya noticed that the black stallion, limping slightly, followed them hesitantly, like a dog worried about its master. But when he saw them enter the camp set up in the shade of the forest, he disappeared like the wind.

“
DO YOU FEEL A BIT BETTER
?” Lord Akitsu asked, sitting down beside her. Saya nodded. Even with the bright fire burning directly in front of her, she still felt a faint chill in her shoulders, but perhaps because she had been persuaded to drink the medicinal wine that she had at first left untouched, she felt warm inside and slightly light-headed.

“How's Chihaya?” Lord Akitsu asked.

“I think—I think he'll be all right. He's sleeping like the dead right now.”

“I had no idea that something like this would happen,” Lord Akitsu muttered as if to himself.

“What on earth was it? I've never seen anything so horrible in my life!”

Hearing the terror that still lurked in her voice, Lord Akitsu paused a moment before replying. “I can't say for certain, but I think that what you saw was one of the gods of the earth.”

Saya stared at him in shocked surprise. “That monster was an earth god?”

“Our task is to recover those gods that have been lost. The Children of Light captured the earth gods and sealed them in mirrors, then further confined them within the shrines they built. But if the mirror is broken and they are released, a strong god may even return. Many times we have freed the gods of the earth in this way, but never before has one of them borne us any ill will.”

He fell silent and the two of them stared at the flickering flames for some time. Finally, Saya spoke. “Are you saying that this happened because Chihaya is one of the Children of Light?”

“I can't think of any other reason,” he said bitterly. “And to make matters worse, Chihaya used the Dragon Sword to kill the god we strove so hard to free. He has obliterated it more completely than his brother or sister ever could.”

Saya turned to face him. “But we had no choice. Who wouldn't protect themselves if they were attacked by such a creature?”

Ignoring her question, he murmured, “I wonder if Lady Iwa foresaw this. It looks like things aren't going to go as smoothly as she thought. How on earth are we to make the Wind Child our ally if this kind of thing happens?”

chapter
five
S
HADOW

Should frost chance to fall upon the field

Where the traveler seeks haven,

Shelter him, my son, beneath thy wings,

O cranes that cross the heavens.

— The mother of a member of a Japanese

envoy to China during the Tung dynasty

Shadow

A
FTER HE WAS INJURED
, Chihaya slept for one full day, but by the next morning he seemed even better than before and, saddling Morning Star, rode off. From the day Lord Akitsu's men had captured the Asakura pastures, the two were as inseparable as lovers. The wild-spirited Morning Star would allow no one but Chihaya to approach him, while Chihaya never even glanced at another horse. The extraordinary pair, so conspicuously different from the rest, showed no interest in anyone else's affairs, creating an exclusive world of their own. At night they slept side by side, and as soon as the sun rose they set off for a morning gallop to drive the sleep from their eyes.

The weather became much cooler. Although the midday sun was warm enough to raise a slight sweat, sundown, which set the sky ablaze with color, brought with it a cool night. The gold-tinged clouds and red sky at sunset seemed to beckon to the trees on the mountains, inviting them to follow suit. And the trees, eager to comply, began to don their autumn colors. When the curtain of night fell, myriad insects set their wings humming in the meadows. Faintly but earnestly they sang of summer followed by winter. It would have been well for all to listen to their song, since in their own fashion they proclaimed that light is followed by darkness, and life, by death.

The army of Darkness remained in Asakura for a while to secure their hold on the pastures. Although this gave the soldiers a brief respite, Natsume flew about as she helped prepare food for the troops. Saya followed along after her, trying to help despite Natsume's protests. She was, in fact, much more comfortable being busy. It felt better to keep her hands occupied so that she would not have time to think.

Wherever she looked, she was confronted by unharvested crops trampled in the fields; by the blackened shells of burned storehouses, their winter stores reduced to ashes overnight; by grieving women laying their husbands to rest or trudging along with faltering steps, carrying their few remaining possessions on their shoulders and leading their children away by the hand. Although Lord Akitsu did his best to deal justly with those who lived within the occupied territory, hundreds of soldiers were now devouring the local food supply.

ONE AFTERNOON
, when they had some rare free time, Natsume said, “My lady, be so good as to behave like a lady sometimes instead of following me about like a serving woman.”

“Oh, I see. You want to meet with Masaki,” Saya replied. “Off you go, then. I'll just wait here by myself until nightfall.”

“What am I to do with you!” Natsume laughed, shrugging her shoulders, but then she added, “My lady, I know you truly care about everyone here. But it's all right to take it easy sometimes, too, like the other one. After all, I'm just a servant.”

Saya was surprised to be compared to Chihaya. “What? You mean you want me to copy him and be excluded by everyone? No thank you.”

Natsume burst out laughing. “I just meant it as an example. You know, the way he keeps aloof, as if he doesn't even see us.”

“He's a bit dense, that's all.”

“But he's very handsome,” Natsume said with admiration. “And recently he's become even more attractive—as if a light shines within him.”

Saya cast her an anxious glance. But there was no hidden meaning in her words; she was not implying that Chihaya was a Prince of Light. She could not know. It was true that Chihaya had changed since he was wounded. His face seemed more radiant than before, and Saya caught him smiling more often. However, there was still something strange about him that made him seem unapproachable. Lord Akitsu was not the only one who puzzled over how to treat him.

“I'll have to tell that to Masaki,” Saya teased, but Natsume remained unperturbed.

“He wouldn't be jealous, not of someone like that who's in a class by himself.”

After Natsume had gone, Saya leaned against the fence at the edge of the pasture and rested her chin in her hands. The gently rolling meadows spread out before her, stirred by the breeze. Far in the distance, wild grasses waved their feathered tips, undulating like silver waves. And there she caught a glimpse of Chihaya, about whom they had just been talking, galloping across the meadow on Morning Star. Man and horse were fused together, racing with extraordinary speed. They seemed to have become one with each other. Although Saya suspected that such a bond could only be the result of horse and man changing places frequently, they had caused no harm, so she let them be.

Suddenly she sighed.
What am I doing here?
she thought. She had never imagined that she would still be asking herself this question once she had returned to her people, to her roots. But finding herself swept up in the war, she was forced to think about it. She had come to the battlefront, borne along by the tide, but she still could not understand why. Surrounded by people who felt a burning sense of mission, people who had staked everything on the struggle, she continued, even now, to wonder what it was all for. She had been so confident when she had faced Prince Tsukishiro at the West Gate of the Palace of Light and insisted that she must return to her own people, but now she found her conviction wavering.

I made him my enemy so that now I must fight against him. What
a terrible blow I dealt him by luring Chihaya, his own brother, over to
the side of Darkness.

She kept remembering how her mother had lectured her about not thinking ahead. Yatame had scolded her thus for climbing trees, for sliding down steep slopes.

It's true. I never think ahead.

She looked up, startled by the sound of thundering hoofbeats. Morning Star was heading straight for her. Seeing the great stallion bearing down upon her at full speed, his dark flank glistening with sweat, she unconsciously stepped back from the fence, but Chihaya pulled on the reins, easily gentling the prancing horse, and jumped from his back. He looked over the fence at her and said, “The meadow over there is covered with wild roses in full bloom. Do you like flowers, Saya?”

She responded in a small voice, “What goes on in that mind of yours every day?”

But Chihaya continued unperturbed. “Or would you rather see the akebia vines at the top of the hill? They're loaded with ripe fruit. By tomorrow the birds will have eaten it all.”

“I like both,” Saya replied. “I can like more than one thing, you know.”

“Then let's hurry.”

Saya frowned at his serious face. “Hurry?”

“Don't you want to come?”

She stared at him in disbelief, then looked at the black stallion by his side and said faintly, “I can't ride Morning Star. I've heard a mountain of stories from people who've been bitten or almost had their necks broken when they tried to ride him.”

“But you've already ridden him!” This, she realized, was true. “It's all right. Morning Star likes you. He wouldn't do anything to hurt you.”

Still she hesitated, aware that she did not really like this horse and afraid that he would sense it. Surely such a sensitive creature would be able to read her feelings. Contrary to her expectations, however, Morning Star seemed taken with her. When the high-strung stallion flattered her by nuzzling her hand, she finally relented.

The black steed with the white star sped lightly across the fields with the two of them on his back. Unlike the full-speed gallop on the night they had fled desperately from death, it was an easy gait that brought a surge of joy to her heart. They flew along. The wind whipped at her hair until it fell loose and streamed behind her, and she finally laughed aloud. The meadows were bathed in sunlight, giving off a scent of dried grass, and buzzards wheeled lazily in the clear expanse of sky. Together they gathered the dark purple akebia fruit, ripened and splitting, at the edge of the hill and then set off for the field of wild roses. The meadow was a mass of flowers spreading as far as the eye could see, far surpassing her expectations. The hollow was buried in pale purple, and the slender fragile stems swayed in the breeze, creating such beauty that she felt a pang of sorrow. She knew then that she could not pluck even one stem, for such beauty could never be captured in a bouquet.

While she stood speechless in the midst of the flowers, Chihaya waited, silently stroking Morning Star's mane. Many clouds had drifted peacefully across the sky when at last she spoke. “Why can't we be like the trees or the flowers? Flowers bloom for no one in particular when their time comes, and trees bear fruit without ever knowing war. If only we could live like that, too.”

As if this was a new discovery, Chihaya asked, “Don't you like war, Saya?”

She looked back at him in surprise. “Do you?”

Chihaya thought for a moment. “Well, I don't know . . .”

Saya was about to scold him when he continued, “But if we hadn't come here, I would never have met Morning Star.”

Placing his hand on the horse's shoulder, he gazed at him tenderly. Morning Star lowered his head and began grazing on some thistle flowers, heedless of the prickles.

“And it doesn't matter to you that storehouses were razed and people slain so long as you have Morning Star?” Saya pressed him.

Chihaya paused and finally said, “To gain something, you must lose something first. I think that this is probably true for everyone. Just as I lost my other dreams the night that I found Morning Star.”

Saya gazed at him inquiringly. “You mean you can no longer dream?”

Chihaya nodded slightly, his expression hard. It was the first time she had ever seen him look this way, as though contemplating a bitter memory. “I will never dream again. For I can never again forget who I am. I realized that when I couldn't escape from the pain.”

Saya felt a stab of remorse. Knowing that Chihaya had the power of renewal, neither she nor Lord Akitsu had given him much thought. It had never occurred to them that an immortal would feel the same pain as a mortal when wounded. Although he had borne an injury that would have killed an ordinary man, he had had to nurse his pain alone with none to comfort him.

Saya asked quietly, “Are you sorry? That you came to join us?”

She thought that she could understand a little what he had lost. It was like the snow-white robe that he had been wearing when she first met him. After she had lured him out into the real world, it had become so soiled that he could never wear it again.

Chihaya, however, looked at her in surprise. “Why should I be sorry? Morning Star is here, and so are you.” Saya was somewhat relieved, although a little annoyed that he put his horse before her.

AS SOON
as he was certain that they had secured a sufficient foothold, Lord Akitsu resumed the advance. The army traveled south and captured Kamioyama Pass, a strategic point on the road running east–west. This road was a major thoroughfare, along which passed all tribute from the districts connected to Mahoroba. Moreover, they captured the pass just as tribute for the year's harvest festival was being hurried toward the capital, and all of it fell into their hands. At the same time, they had to destroy every shrine in the neighborhood and shatter the mirrors within them in order to delay the news from reaching the forces of Light. Although Saya felt that the anxiety she experienced each time a mirror was broken took years off her life, no other raging gods appeared, despite Chihaya's presence. It was unclear if this was due to her ability to pacify the gods, but she was content to believe that it was the result of her fervent prayers.