Traveler of the Void Part 3 Chapter 4 - Hosorou Cape

  Traveler of the Void

(Book 4 of the Guardian of the Spirit Series)

Author: Uehashi Nahoko

Translator: Ainikki the Archivist

 

Part 3 - The Night of the Ceremony

Chapter 4 - Hosorō Cape

    The full moon shone down on the surface of the ocean, illuminating the rugged cape in dim outlines. The royal procession for the Soul Return Ceremony arrived at the very edge of the cape.

    An altar had been erected in between the rocks. To one side of it was a huge bonfire. The priests lit a second large bonfire on the other side of the altar. This was the signal to the palace that the Eyes of the Nayugul Raita had arrived at the site of the ceremony. The bell ringer at the top of the watchtower would ring the bell one final time.

    Two priests stood on each side of the altar, praying in low voices to the mother of the sea. Behind them were the attendants that guided the Eyes of the Nayugul Raita by the hand, followed by the King. Some steps behind the King, the Island Guardians lined up to observe the ceremony. The women of the royal family stood a small distance away from the altar, chanting prayers.

    The King's personal guards and the ones that Karina had prepared especially for this occasion had been switched out with Prince Tarsan's personal guards. They formed a ring around the site of the ceremony. Footing was poor on the dark rocky cape, so the guards took their places and stood very still as they watched the ceremony unfold.

    There was a low platform in the center of the altar. The two attendants of the Eyes of the Nayugul Raita gently took her hands and lifted her so that she stood on the platform. Her loose hair danced in the sea breeze. Soldiers brought a rope to tie around her too-thin waist; the other end of the rope was knotted around a large stone. The girl's body swayed as the rope fastened around her. It was sad to see.

    Not yet.

    Karina watched and waited for the decisive moment. She was thoroughly nervous. Adol and the other Island Guardians didn't know it, but having Tarsan's demoted men on duty tonight had been a trap that Karina had orchestrated by removing the Island Guardians' soldiers from them and making Tarsan's men such an attractive target for fomenting unrest. They were hoping to use Tarsan's men against the King, but the men had been pulled into an entirely different kind of scheme.

    Karina had seized on the chance to use Tarsan's men for her own reasons. Their numbers were not great, but they had all vowed undying loyalty to Tarsan. Leaving them in the King's military service would be dangerous... or so she'd said, to justify herself. She wouldn't have been able to switch their duties without a reason. Karina measured their risk of volatility against the success of her plan and thought that the benefits outweighed the risks.

    If all went well, she'd be able to throw away the antiquated warrior code of extreme loyalty to an individual that had been with Sangal since its pirate days. Karina had no use for soldiers that were loyal to one man. She needed them to be loyal to the nation of Sangal.

    Do it, soldiers. Commit treason. I'm waiting.

    The signal for them to move was when the King formally announced that Tarsan would be executed—right after the ceremony ended. They were in a solid formation surrounding the King's bodyguards, poised to stab the King at the Island Guardians' orders. They'd doubtless been ordered to eliminate the King's bodyguards as well, but they lacked both the advantage of numbers and experience.

    Everyone waited in tense silence for the sound of the words that would bring the ceremony to an end.

 

 

The retainers holding the line of rope wrapped around the Eyes of the Nayugul Raita approached the King. The King stood directly in front of the girl and spoke the words of farewell for the ceremony.

“Attack!” Adol called out shrilly. All the Island Guardians drew concealed daggers from their clothing and rushed toward the King.

Adol ordered Tarsan's men: “Subdue the bodyguards! Break past them!”

The King stood stock still, then removed a short sword that had been hidden in his ceremonial robes and prepared to face his attackers. Karina steeled herself and waited for the King's bodyguards to demonstrate their skill.

Tarsan's soldiers moved to obey, but in that moment, an unexpectedly loud and clear voice called out of the dark: “Dalgana!”  

Adol was at the head of the Island Guardians attacking the K ing. He whipped his head around, lost his footing and somersaulted head-first into the rocky ground. Adol' s eyes lost focus as his limbs sprawled out. He saw something glinting out of the corner of his eye and received a shock like a blow from a heavy club in his right shoulder. The strikes kept coming, over and over again.

    He tried to move, but it felt like his limbs were sewn to the ground. The other Island Guardians ceased fighting and stared as the motionless Adol was repeatedly struck by the blunt end of a spear.

Adol tried to focus and looked up. Above him stood a man with a spear. The light-bearers gradually moved closer, having heard the commotion of the fight, and Adol was able to identify his attacker: Prince Tarsan.

Everyone gasped.

“Does that hurt, Adol?” Tarsan asked. “I will never call you my brother ever again. Here, have a taste of what my brother Karnan must have felt!” he said in a voice as cold as ice.

Adol groaned as Tarsan towered over him. Tarsan looked up at Karina and said in a voice loud enough for everyone to hear: “ This whole evening's been a terrific success, hasn't it? Because I attacked Karnan with that spear, you were able to unravel this whole plot. At first I thought this plan was too uncertain and reckless, but things really turned out well, yeah? ”

“Uh...” Karina struggled to form words.

“It was all Saluna's idea. Isn't she amazing?”

To say such a thing, in such a place! Saluna had found a way to clear her and Tarsan's names. When Karina realized she'd been outplayed, she shook from head to toe.

“ Come, men! Come, my brothers of the sea! If you were deceived, I forgive you. True enemies of the King, declare yourselves! I thank you from the bottom of my soul for following my orders and always believing in me! ” Tarsan's powerful voice boomed so that all the people gathered on the cape heard it.

Tarsan's men sent up a cheer. The sound was so loud that it shook the ground beneath their feet. Tarsan stared directly at Karina the entire time.

The King was greatly bewildered by this unexpected turn of events, but he wasn't the King of Sangal for nothing. He soon grasped the current situation and regained his composure.

The King put his short sword away, cleared his throat, and addressed Tarsan. “That was incredible, Tarsan. As expected of my son.”  He looked over at the Island Guardians. “Adol. All you others. The crime of attempting to murder the King while the country is in crisis is—”

His words were cut off by another voice: “Don't move, King of Sangal. If you so much as twitch without my say-so, I will kill you instantly.”

The voice was that of a feeble young girl, but the tone was undoubtedly that of an adult speaker's. Everyone stood still as if their legs had been encased in ice. Standing on the platform of the altar directly behind the King, the Eyes of the Nayugul Raita lifted something small and shiny and thrust it into the King's neck.

The blindfold covering the girl's eyes was ripped away, revealing her face fully. She was smiling, but the smile was warped and twisted. “ The dart you have embedded in your neck is connected to a vial of poison decocted from the rajul fish. I'm sure you have full awareness of this poison in Sangal...don't you, Your Majesty?”

Karina trembled in fear as she listened to the girl's voice. She’ d been outmatched more than once tonight. No one could have expected that the Eyes of the Nayugul Raita would change so fundamentally in the space of an instant.

 

 

Eshana's soul looked down at the ceremony from above, but she was still trapped in the void between worlds. She could see everything that was happening, but she couldn't do anything. Such terrifying words were coming from her mouth! She felt like a spear had pierced her through.

She comprehended very little of the events she witnessed, much less why it was all happening in the first place, but she did know that she didn't like whoever was riding around in her body one bit. They were creepy. She knew they wanted to kill other people. She was scared and there wasn't anything at all that she could do.

“Mommy!” she cried out, “save me!” Eshana burst into tears. As loudly and strongly as she could, she screamed, “Mom!”  into the void between worlds. It was a cry that shook her soul. She called for her mother over and over again. The bright blue water that surrounded her rippled from the force of her screams; the ripples formed wider rings with every new cry.

Eshana's scream crossed the void, and someone heard it.

 

 

Sharp pain ran from Chagum's forehead into his eyebrows and nose. The overwhelming scent of Nayugu's water washed over him. He heard a voice cry out. He calmed himself and rolled to his knees on the floor.

“Your Majesty?”  Shuga hastily supported his limp body as it fell to the ground, but Chagum didn't feel the support of his hands at all. Eshana's bloodcurdling screams echoed through his mind and heart.

I said, that's enough. Chagum gritted his teeth. Too many people have died already.  He saw a solitary light shining from the void between worlds. It was like susuki fire, flickering and brightening. It seemed like it would go out at any moment. Chagum's anger flared up and became rage. The magic weaver was using an innocent girl's body as his tool. Karina was more than willing to sacrifice her if it would save the royal family. She had been abandoned and left to die.

Chagum opened his eyes and whispered, “Shuga, I'm sorry.”

Shuga started in surprise. “Your Majesty?”

Chagum closed his eyes. His Soul Thread emerged from his forehead as a shining shaft of light. In an instant, his soul stretched and shot out the window of the banquet hall, leaving a long white trail behind it.

Shuga was so stunned that he forgot to breathe as he watched Chagum's soul disappear from view. The moment his soul vanished in the distance, Chagum's body became astonishingly heavy. Shuga had to use all his strength to prevent him from falling.

I should follow him, as quickly as possible.

If he didn't catch up to Chagum's soul soon, Chagum might encounter the magic weaver alone—and Shuga did not believe Chagum capable of prevailing against the magic weaver.

But even though he had to hurry, Shuga couldn't bring himself to move. He felt numb, like he'd lost control of his own body. His stomach roiled. He'd never left his body as a soul before. Shuga swallowed and called out to a guard, “The Crown Prince has entered this state to protect himself from corruption. I must follow after him to protect his soul. While our bodies are defenseless, please protect us!”

Shuga pulled Chagum close to him so that their backs were against the wall, then sat down and leaned against the wall behind him. He chanted the words of a spell that Torogai had taught him, but nothing happened.

He heard screams and groans of pain around him and found it impossible to concentrate through the noise. “Only focus on the spell,” he muttered. “The spell is all that matters.”

Shuga closed his eyes and chanted the words to the spell until he felt something strange. His body felt hot, as if it were on fire. He seemed to shrink down until he became a ball of incandescent light. He tried to focus his eyes and realized that he was looking at something odd: the bridge of his own nose, viewed from above.

As soon as he understood what he was looking at, he felt something like a breeze propel him through the air away from his body. The guard standing over him looked at him as if he was a puppet whose strings had been cut.

The bell was still ringing. Its echoes reverberated into the night.

 

 

The wind blowing from the site of the Soul Return Ceremony carried a cacophonous din to the the rocks below the cliff where Surina sat, crouched and waiting. She had no idea what was going on above her, but the sounds relayed to her by the night air were not reassuring. Surina cleared her ears and tried to hear better. She felt like she'd just fallen into a freezing current in the middle of the ocean with no one to help her. What was happening up there?

When the bell rang to signal the end of the ceremony, Surina took her jar of sandworms and placed it carefully down, being careful not to slip on the rocks. She read the wind' s direction, then scattered the insects in the jar in an even layer around the bottom of the cape. The black waves took on a pale green cast  and gradually became brighter. The entire time she worked, she could hear Eshana's voice crying out, calling for her mother. Surina was devastated for her.

“Eshana, please don't cry. I'll bring you to your mom soon. I promise,” she said as she stared into the lightening waves.

 

 

Rasugu was drunk on the victory of trapping the King of Sangal with his poisoned dart. All he had to do was push down, and the King would die. It's always better to do things with your own hands. I may have chosen the wrong man to negotiate with.

Rasugu said in a tone of intimidating authority: “Prince Tarsan, soldiers, I command you to throw down your weapons. Right now. If you don't, I'll release the poison and kill the King. ”

Tarsan gnashed his teeth, but it didn't seem like he had much choice. Eshana's body was concealed behind the King's bulk, and behind them was nothing but the edge of the cliff. He told the soldiers to lay down their arms and placed his own weapon on the ground.

“Good. Now, Prince Tarsan, Princess Karina—come here.” They each came a little closer. Rasugu said, “ Stop right there. Now put your backs to me, and face the Island Guardians.”

Tarsan and Karina were perhaps three strides from the King. They did as commanded and faced the Island Guardians.

“Good. Island Guardians, the time has come to prove your loyalty. Show me the sincerity of your word.”

The Island Guardians, faces pale, looked up at Rasugu.

“I have condemned the King and his family to die at your hands. Show me.” The order was delivered in the light, sweet voice of a little girl.

As the Island Guardians looked on in shock, bright light shone before their eyes. It was so bright that Rasugu stumbled, but he quickly righted himself on top of the altar. He felt strange, like someone was knocking on the door of his mind. He tried to tighten his compulsion over the girl's flesh, but found himself dragged out of her by some coercive force.

Rasugu was yanked into the void between worlds. The soul of a boy stood before him, burning and seething with uncontrolled rage. Rasugu was shocked when he recognized his face. You bastard...

Rasugu was briefly stunned, but he soon recovered. “ You are a cheeky little upstart, I'll give you that. Clearly, someone's taught you to project your soul, but do you really think you stand a chance against me ?”

Chagum wreathed himself in the flames of his anger. The power of the soul was the power of the heart and mind. If he faltered here, he would die.

The magic weaver gave him an unsettling smile and rapidly swelled up in size so that he covered the sky above like storm clouds. His face split open, revealing slimy fangs that swiped directly at Chagum. Saliva coated Rasugu's mottled transmogrified face and mouth. A red-black tongue darted out of his gaping maw. He was so huge that he blotted out Chagum's line of sight. The stench of blood clung to his body.

He wants to swallow me up! Chagum was terrified, but at that moment he recalled what Tanda had told him: Changing your shape changes the capabilities of your soul. It takes power, but it also frees you from limitations. He knew how to change his soul's shape.

Just as Rasugu's foul-smelling mouth engulfed him, Chagum closed his eyes and changed into a falcon. With a strong flap of his wings, Chagum aimed for Rasugu's red-black tongue and used his beak and talons to tear it to pieces.

Blood sprayed everywhere. Chagum heard screaming. As he watched, Rasugu's terrible monstrous face was shredded to ribbons, revealing the real face of the magic weaver underneath.

Why you little...

Rasugu hesitated at being so unexpectedly countered by Chagum. He hadn't considered the possibility before since Chagum was a prince, but he clearly knew and had been taught by a magic weaver. But all the monarchs of Yogo, in both the old and new kingdoms, despised magic weaving—so why did the Crown Prince know it?

Although Rasugu was thoroughly confused, he wasted no time preparing another attack. He changed his hands into fire and seized the falcon, attempting to crush Chagum to death.

My entire body's burning!  Chagum shrieked in pain. But then, the fiery hands crushing him vanished completely. His surroundings became pitch black.

“Your Majesty.”

Chagum shook as he opened his eyes. Shuga was holding him up. He still remembered vividly how it felt to be burned alive, but when he looked at Shuga's face, strength came welling up from within him. The two of them helped one another stand up straight. They faced the magic weaver together.

 

 

The people standing on the edge of Hosorou cape were completely unaware of the struggle to the death that was occurring between the three souls locked in combat. The King felt the hands of the Eyes of the Nayugul Raita loosen suddenly and rapidly stepped away from the terrifying girl, removing the dart from his neck as he moved. The dart fell from the girl's limp fingers as he stepped away.

The girl swayed on the altar platform, then collapsed and fell to the ground like a wisp of cloth blown away by the wind.

“Kill her,” the King commanded the surrounding soldiers. “Throw her body into the sea!”

 

 

Eshana trembled as she looked down at the battle between souls. When the King spoke, she turned her attention to him and saw soldiers lifting her body up as if it were a rag doll. They'll throw me over the cliff! Eshana screamed and rushed back to her body.

 

 

Rasugu noticed when Eshana reclaimed her body and when the King escaped the threat of his poison. Thanks to this frankly irritating distraction by the Crown Prince of New Yogo, he'd been away from her body for too long; he felt his control of it slipping away.

It would be worth killing the Crown Prince here, but although he was inexperienced, he had the help of another magic weaver. Rasugu was not certain he could prevail against both of them. This was the nature of his work: every situation presented potential risk and reward. He'd been ordered to make an immediate retreat if his mission failed.

Rasugu crouched down and decided definitively that he couldn't win here, no matter how much he wanted to. The fight was over—for now. He chuckled. “Crown Prince, look. They're going to kill that little girl.”

Rasugu changed himself into a small flame and disappeared into the void.

    Chagum looked down at Eshana in surprise. She struggled weakly against the soldiers holding her up. One of the soldiers lifted a large stone. At the same time as the soldier holding Eshana, the soldier holding the stone threw his burden over the edge of the cliff.

Eshana screamed as she fell. Chagum lined himself up with Eshana's body and flew after her as fast as he could, but he wasn't able to grab hold of her as a soul. He felt her hand pass through his as she kept falling. In her utter terror, Eshana's soul passed into the void. Chagum seized her hand before she could slip out of reach.

Something was glowing in the ocean below. Chagum felt the shock of Eshana's body hitting the water as if it were happening to him personally. He felt like he'd been slammed into a board at great speed; his body felt like it would shatter and break apart. He suddenly found it very difficult to breathe. Pulled down by the weight of the stone, Eshana's body became increasingly heavier as she sank.

The darkness of the ocean floor spread out around them. That dark world drew closer and closer as Eshana neared the very bottom of the sea. Chagum struggled to hold on, unable to breathe and about to black out from the pain when he felt someone seize his arm.

“Your Majesty! You must let go of Eshana!”  He heard Shuga's voice echoing in his ears. “ She can't be saved, but you don't have to die! Let her go!”

Chagum watched Eshana's pale face stiffen and turn blue, but he refused to let go of her hand. Shuga didn't let go of Chagum, either. Three souls fell connected into the darkness.

 

 

Prince Tarsan leaned over the edge of the cliff as Eshana fell and noticed something glowing in the ocean below. “ Huh... Are those sandworms?”

Sandworms weren't naturally occurring on the shore of Hosorou cape. As he stared down at the dancing light shimmering in the water, he identified the shadow of someone standing among the rocks. As soon as he locked eyes on them, the figure dove from the rocks into the water.

Shivers ran up Tarsan's spine. The form of the dive was beautiful, graceful and perfect: the exact same as Yata's, Eshana's father. Tarsan spun on his heel and retrieved his spear from the ground where he'd dropped it, then faced the cliff again.

Some of the soldiers around him seemed to know what he intended and called out to him as he made a running start toward the cliff. He vaulted upwards when he reached the edge of the cape, using his spear for leverage to leap higher, then dove directly into the ocean, still holding his weapon. The dive was impressive: worthy of any experienced fisherman on any of Sangal's islands. Despite the presence of his spear in one hand, his dive described a perfect arc.

 

 

When Eshana's screams echoed in her ears, Surina knew that Eshana's soul had finally returned to her body. Surina dove into the dark water in the direction of the screams.

The waves were choppier than she'd expected. Though she dived down as far as she could, the tide was too strong and kept pushing her back toward shore. She watched Eshana's limp body, which was faintly illumined by sandworms, as it drifted farther and farther away from her. Surina swam desperately forward with all her strength to reach her.

There was a terrific splash somewhere ahead of her. She saw the shadow of a diving figure sink beneath the waves. The light of the sandworms rippled around the impact point of the diver; bubbles swirled around them in a tiny whirlpool. Each time the diver's strong arm strokes cut through the choppy waves, they churned up sandworms that created a glowing trail pointing directly to the diver in a straight line.

Surina traced the diver's progress as she swam forward. The diver looked like a snake made of light. The two of them chased relentlessly after Eshana.

 

 

Surrounded by pale green light, Tarsan took Eshana's body in one arm and cut the rope binding her to the stone with the tip of his spear. The stone continued sinking, leaving a trail of large bubbles behind as it descended to the ocean floor.

Eshana's body was as light as a feather as he took her in one arm and swam rapidly toward the surface. When his face broke the surface of the water, he felt someone else next to him that helped support Eshana. He had no time to look at the swimmer's face, but the two of them managed to keep Eshana's head above water as they swam to shore.

When they reached the rocks, they rapidly lifted Eshana onto solid ground and began chest compressions to get Eshana to cough up any water she'd swallowed.

 

 

Eshana felt herself breathe.

At the same moment, the darkness engulfing her soul faded until it completely disappeared. Chagum and Shuga's souls were still linked to hers. With that single breath, the darkness was beaten back, causing strength to return to them all.

Eshana writhed and coughed up water. Chagum and Shuga felt the chill night air as if they were standing right next to her on the rocks beneath the cape. As her Soul Thread connected firmly to her body, the two souls linked to hers felt themselves lifted upward by the wind.

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