Guardian of the God - Return from the Hard Journey - Part 1 Chapter 2 - The Wolves Draw Near

  Guardian of the God

-

Return from the Hard Journey

(Book 6 of the Guardian of the Spirit Series)

Author: Uehashi Nahoko

Translator: Ainikki the Archivist

 

  Part 1 - Wolf Killer

Chapter 2 - The Wolves Draw Near

     

    The blizzard did not stop for three days.

    Being confined for such a long time made everyone feel restless. There wasn’t another feast like there’d been the first night; the herders had to think about preserving their stores for the long winter ahead. No one went hungry--the herders fed Naka and his people before they fed themselves--but both the herders and the caravan members realized quickly that they would have to be frugal and share resources as much as possible. The herders shared unstintingly with their guests, asking only for their companionship and the distraction of news from the world.

    The members of Naka’s caravan did their best to help the herders whenever they could. They looked after and tended their animals for them. They helped secure their livestock inside the cattle pens with rope so that they wouldn’t wander off and get lost in the raging storm.

    The wind died down on the third night after the blizzard had started. The silence was unsettling after hearing the wind howl for so long.

    Everyone breathed a collective sigh of relief as the storm finally ended, but their relief was short-lived: the moment the wind stopped, a long howl echoed outside the walls of the hut. The howl was long and drawn-out; it seemed impossibly close. Everyone inside the hut froze as they listened to the wolf howl.

    “Shit,” one of the herdsmen said. “It’s because the blizzard lasted so long, I’ll bet. The wolves are hungry.”

    The herders took up pine torches and gathered their weapons, then went out to drive off the wolves. Balsa also picked up her spear and was about to leave when Asra called out to her.

    “Balsa.”

    “It would go badly for us if they got the horses,” Balsa said. “Asra, please look after the little kids so that they don’t get scared. I’m counting on you.”

    Balsa removed her cloak from her bag and put it on. She went out into the cold dark with the men of the caravan.

    The hut seemed far emptier and lonelier with Balsa and the herders gone. Mina was scared, so Asra held her hand and listened hard to what was happening outside. She heard the men call out to one another at intervals, but nothing else.

    Asra wasn’t sure how much time passed before she heard a wolf howl again. It sounded even closer than before.

    Mina started crying and clung to Asra.

    “Don’t be scared,” Asra whispered. “They can’t get in here.”

    Mina nodded uncertainly.

    The animals in the cattle pens bleated or neighed in fear. Asra could hear them stomping their feet and pressing against the outer walls of the pens. Asra looked at Marona and the other women and noticed their expressions of alarm. Outside, the men’s voices became louder and more desperate.

    Someone screamed--one of the men. Something terrible must have happened. Asra couldn’t bear to sit still and do nothing, so she rummaged around in Balsa’s bag for a pine torch. She grabbed it out of the bag and lit it, then said, “Miss Marona, I’m going to see if everyone’s all right.”

    “Thank you!” Marona called after her. “But, Mina--you have to stay here!”

    Mina ignored her mother and followed Asra outside. It was still completely dark; the air was as cold as ice. Breath steamed over her face as she huddled deeper into her thick coat. The freezing air made it hurt to breathe. She started crying again and couldn’t see.

    “Stop it! Go back inside! If you chase the wolves, they’ll kill you!” the leader of the herders called out. Asra could see men standing around the cattle pens with their torches.

    “If I lose the horses, the caravan is done for,” Naka called back. “Don’t try to stop me!”

    Asra sneaked silently toward the cattle pens. No one seemed to notice her. In the flickering light of the torches, she could see one of the cattle pens clearly. A wolf howled again, causing the horses in the pen to stomp and kick in fear--but they weren’t Naka’s horses. Apparently, those had broken away from the pens and run away. Naka was desperately searching for them, shouting as he ran.

    “Mr. Naka! I’ll go after the horses! You stay here, where it’s safer!” Balsa called out.

    But Naka didn’t seem to hear her. He mounted up on one of the herders’ horses and galloped into the trees. His younger brother’s family chased after him on their own mounts. Balsa smacked her lips together as she mounted her own horse and ran after them.

    The herders called after Balsa, telling her not to do anything stupid; more herders ran out of their huts to see what was going on. Two men were working to repair the broken wall of one cattle pen; they shouted to the other herders for more help.

    What should I do?  Asra thought.

    She should probably go back inside and tell Marona and the others what was happening. She turned around and saw the shadow of someone crouched down along the side of a cattle pen.

    “Mina!” she gasped in surprise. Mina ignored her in favor of climbing into the cattle pen and mounting her own horse. By bad luck, her horse was in the damaged cattle pen; the herders made a wall with their arms and tried to stop the horse from escaping, but Mina pushed past them.

    Asra sprinted up to Mina’s horse and seized the bit, which stopped the horse long enough for her to leap into the saddle behind Mina. She tried to grab the reins and stop the horse, but Mina refused to let them go.

    “Mina! I get it! I won’t try to stop us; just give me the reins so I can steer!”

    Mina handed the reins clumsily to Asra; she pointed the horse in the same direction Balsa and Naka had gone. She knew that what she was doing was stupid, but she couldn’t stand the thought of Balsa and the others getting lost and eaten by the wolves. She understood completely why Mina had taken her horse out of the cattle pen. Asra needed to make sure that Balsa was safe with her own eyes.

    “Dad? Dad!” Mina cried out over and over again.

    Asra knew painfully well what Mina was feeling. She remembered praying desperately for the safety of her own father when he’d gotten lost in the woods, but no one had heard her prayers then: when she and her family had found him, he’d frozen to death and had been half-eaten by wolves.

    Asra kept her bearings by staying within sight of the flickering pine torches held by the other riders in the woods. The horse broke into a gallop. The freshly fallen snow was still soft and light as the horse’s hooves kicked it up. In a few seconds, Asra, Mina and the horse were completely covered in snow.

    The horse kept running for a long time. The pale silver light of a half-moon shone through the branches of the trees. The shadows of tree branches stretched before her in a long line. Asra lost sight of the herders’ torchlight, but she kept encouraging the horse to run.

    A shadow like black water rose up out of the ground before her. And not just one: others swam up out of the darkness. Asra felt herself being surrounded by them; fear paralyzed her and sent goosebumps up her spine.

    Wolves.

    She couldn’t count all of the shadows in the dark, so this must be an enormous pack. She heard one of the wolves leap and latch on to something ahead of her: Naka’s horse. It was strange, but there didn’t seem to be much snow on the ground here. There were a number of tall, thick trees and two huge stones that towered above her. Naka’s horse must have stopped running here; that’s why the wolves had managed to catch it.

    Mina pointed out Naka in the dark. Asra turned the horse slightly so that they faced him head on, but the horse resisted going any further. Asra had to fight with the reins to get the horse to keep moving toward Naka. Asra’s heart was in her throat as she tried desperately to reach him.

    As the horse passed beneath the shadow of one of the huge trees, Asra felt something slap her hard in the face. In the middle of the dark forest, she could suddenly see the surface of a lake that shimmered in bright spring sunshine.

    Hasal Ma Talhamaya? Talhamaya ’s sacred river?

    She’d seen this lake and the river that flowed from it before, when she’d gone to the grave of Sada Talhamaya with her mother. The river flowed from this place into the rest of the forest. She felt something stir within herself, bouncing between her chest and spine.

    “Dad!” Mina screamed. Naka and the others that had followed him turned toward her. Asra could see their stunned expressions. Balsa brought her horse up alongside Asra’s and snatched the reins out of her hands.

    “What are you doing here?” she yelled.

    Her voice brought the forest to the front of Asra’s vision; the lake and the river were still visible, but seemed farther away. She realized that she, Balsa, Mina, Naka and the others were completely surrounded by wolves.

    Balsa knew that escaping this encounter with everyone alive would be incredibly difficult. She was prepared for some casualties, but she never expected Asra and Mina to follow her into such a dangerous situation.

    Balsa gave her rage and frustration free rein as she slapped the flank of Asra’s horse with the butt of her spear. As she galloped toward Naka, she passed one of the huge trees next to the boulders and freed her hatchet from her saddle. She dismounted and started hacking at the trunk of the tree.

    “Mr. Naka!” she yelled as loudly as she could. “Everyone! Take your hatchets and gather as much dry bark as you can! We need to make a fire!”

    Naka and the others attacked the trees around them with their hatchets. Making a fire with the wet outer bark of the trees would be next to impossible, but some of the inner layers might be dry. These were very old, very thick trees.

    The blue-white eyes of the wolves glinted in the darkness. They were closing in.

    Naka tried to set his own gathered pile of wood on fire with his torch. Some of the bark smoked and crackled, but the pile refused to light.

    “Asra! Mina! Get under that tree!” Balsa shouted.

    Asra slid off her horse and pulled Mina down, then took her hand and ran for the tree Balsa was pointing to. She wedged herself into the gap between the huge tree and one of the boulders with Mina.

    “Toshi, get behind me! Shoot the wolves from the cover of the fallen trees!”

    The expression on Toshi’s face hardened in determination. He and his family ran to the trees around Asra and Mina and readied their bows. Balsa ripped open her bag with her teeth so that she didn’t have to let go of her spear or the torch, then tossed it to the ground.

    The horses neighed and reared. The atmosphere was as tight as a rope about to snap. Two wolves burst out of the trees and dashed directly at Balsa. Snow went flying in trails behind them. Balsa faced the wolves squarely and threw her torch directly in their faces.

    The torch flew like an arrow; it landed on one of the wolves and set it on fire. The wolf yelped in pain and backed off. Balsa waved her spear aloft in warning, then gutted the other wolf when it sprang at her. She kicked at the disemboweled wolf’s legs and sent its body flying into the trees.

    Naka finally managed to set one of the fallen trees on fire, but the entire pack swooped in on them before the fire could grow. Balsa’s spear hummed as it slashed through the air; she spun like a tornado as she cut wolves down one by one. She moved so fast that those who watched her could scarcely believe she was human. She attacked relentlessly and prevented a single wolf from reaching the others from her side.

    But there seemed to be no end to the wolves. They attacked from behind Balsa and were shot down by Naka, Toshi and the others, but the wolves kept coming long after they ran out of arrows.

    There was a loud snapping sound: one of the packhorses’ lead ropes was broken. The horse shied and fell over almost directly onto Balsa. Balsa twisted her body away from the falling horse; she nearly lost her balance. One of the wolves used her brief moment of distraction to lunge for her throat.

    Balsa had no time to get out of the way or block the wolf’s attack with her spear. She balled up her left fist and punched the wolf in its wide-open maw. Faster than the eye could see, she grabbed the wolf’s tongue and yanked its head to the ground. She settled the wolf’s chest over her knee and pulled down sharply on the tongue, breaking the wolf’s ribs.

    Asra watched blood drip down from Balsa’s left hand to the forest floor. Naka was out of arrows; he screamed and called for help. The dark shadows of the wolves were getting closer and closer. She pushed Mina’s face into her lap so that Mina wouldn’t see.

    I don ’t want to die. Asra shook all over. God...please.

    She felt the sacred river flowing through her from her spine to her chest. She felt very odd, like  her body had just been bisected at the legs, but it didn’t hurt. A ring of light glowed around her neck, though she couldn’t see it. The ring smelled like blood. Asra heard the sound of water rushing within her and felt it when the water flowed out of her body.

    Her vision whited out from brightness and sudden heat. Light shot out from her chest to the ring of light around her neck; suddenly, Asra could see the ring there, glowing with a silvery light. She looked up. Shining like the silver scales of a fish in the darkness, she glimpsed the sharp, shining fangs of the god.

    Talhamaya was starving for blood. Her fangs shone like sharpened swords as they cut through the wolves surrounding Asra. Asra felt each and every cut that the god made as she attacked the wolves. The river flowing within Asra gushed forth; there seemed to be no limit to its force and power. As the river spilled out of her, it ceased to be water; it condensed and reformed into a mighty whirlwind. The wind was so strong that it was very nearly visible. Talhamaya’s smooth movements as she eliminated wolves resembled a swimmer’s; her range was limited only by Asra’s line of sight. The wolves burst open like rotten fruit the moment Talhamaya’s fangs touched them. Her power felt incomprehensible, huge and uncontrollable. Asra experienced an incredible feeling of safety and peace that was several times more intense than anything she’d ever felt before. It felt like she’d never be scared of anything ever again. 

    Drunk on this incredible power, Asra began to laugh. Every time another wolf fell dead in a gush of blood, she laughed. She drew an arc with her eyes and watched tall trees fall onto the backs of the wolves. The trees felt as soft and malleable as mud as they were chopped down. Splinters of wood scattered in all directions.

    Asra didn’t want Talhamaya to hurt Balsa or the other people, so she deliberately looked away from them and kept her focus on the wolves.

    Silence fell. Asra sucked in a deep breath. Talhamaya retreated back into Asra and swam in the sacred river of Noyuk again. No one moved or spoke for a while. The silence stretched and became oppressive.

    Balsa surveyed the corpses of the wolves under the light of the moon. Slowly, she turned and looked Asra in the eyes.

    Asra beamed at her in satisfaction and relief. The light dancing in her eyes made her appear bold and powerful--and entirely unlike the shy girl Balsa knew. Balsa looked at Asra and couldn’t move. She shook from head to toe. She stood stock still in the cold dark and could not tear her eyes away from Asra’s beatific smile.

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