Where the Wind Takes Us
Part 3 - The Wind's Direction
Chapter 2 - Attack
A flame-red bird soared through the sky, letting out a high-pitched call. Bright sunshine lit fields of noki grain golden. There was not a single cloud in the sky; it was like the previous night’s rain had never happened.
A shallow river cut through the waves of grain, babbling merrily over stone.
“I’m waiting for the lecture,” Kii said.
“What?”
“Every time we wandered into the tall grass off the road when I was a kid, you and Jiguro would always stop and remind us that visibility is poor in the grass and that it’ll be much more dangerous from here on out.”
Balsa’s mouth quirked up in a sarcastic smile. “Seems like you remember the lecture well enough.”
They had left Kemiru Hill the previous day. Eona was playing the water harp; they were on their way to Larago’s grave and planned to stop at the Aru estate. Each step forward reminded Balsa of what had happened twenty years before, when she’d tread this same path. Some of those memories of walking through the fields with Jiguro as they’d protected Sari were warm and comforting like a blanket, but most of her memories of that time were painful.
Jiguro was no longer of this world. His legacy lived on in her, a pale shadow. Some day her life would also end, and her only lasting impact would be on those who still remembered her. Her thoughts were dark and morbid as she walked.
The Rotan war with Talsh had left most of the northern provinces untouched by battle, but there were still signs of hard times here and there. The bandits had been bolder for the past two years, and they were more numerous than they had been before the war. Every city and village they’d passed through was suffering from food and supply shortages, to a greater or lesser degree.
But there hadn’t been any fighting on their way here. The Sadan Taram weren’t attacked on the road or in any of the inns where they stayed. In that way, at least, Balsa’s journey with them was easier than it had been twenty years before.
Sansa was walking out front, carrying a young girl piggyback. At the back of her mind, Balsa remembered practicing her archery not too far from this place. She remembered strategizing with Jiguro until late in the evening, and missed him. She even remembered what Kii called “lectures” with a fond smile.
Places like this really are dangerous, though. An attack can come from any direction, and we wouldn’t know until it was too late.
A glint of metal caught the corner of Balsa’s eye. She unsheathed her spear and brought it up just in time to deflect an arrow. “We’re under attack,” she called out as loud as she could. “Run!”
The Sadan Taram ran in the direction of the Aru estate.
“Not that way!” Balsa yelled.
Kii, who was keeping pace with Balsa, looked at her with an expression of confusion.
“There might be an ambush! Run around it!”
Kii pushed Eona’s back, encouraging her to move faster. Eona skidded to a halt when an arrow whizzed right in front of her. It missed.
Balsa shoved Eona to keep her in motion and started to put together the attack pattern. There were two archers, each stationed opposite one another. They were struggling to shoot now because none of their targets were stationary. Eona was their target; no one else had come under fire close enough to harm them.
Sticking herself to Eona’s side, Balsa caught sight of a stand of trees on the plain that would provide a good hiding spot and vantage point for the archers. The arrows stopped coming for a moment; Balsa identified an archer’s form in a tree to the left. Balsa vaulted her spear over her shoulder and threw it at the archer. He fell straight down out of the tree with a low cry.
Balsa retrieved her spear quickly and felt an arrow flash past her. She hastened toward it, scanning the other trees for the remaining archer. She deflected the next arrow with the tip of her spear and found the next archer, who was on the ground, crouched in bushes. She stabbed his arm to make him drop his bow, and he surrendered. She picked up his weapon and quiver.
The archers taken care of, Balsa returned to Eona and the Sadan Taram. Three men were coming up the main road from the direction of the Aru clan’s estate, armed and armored. The archers were a distraction, and probably expected to fail. As she ran, Balsa readied one arrow, then another, and watched as the closest two attackers collapsed like stones with arrows in their legs.
Her third arrow missed. One of the wounded men struggled to his feet. She was close enough to fight them face to face, then, so she threw down her borrowed bow and brought her spear to bear against them.
***
Balsa killed the first two attackers with sprays of blood that made Kii gasp. Then Balsa bent down to a wounded man and cuffed him sharply behind the neck so that he passed out. Jiguro used to move the same way. Kii took an involuntary step backward, awed and a little afraid.
Jiguro had been broader than Balsa, and taller. But when Balsa wound her unconscious prisoner’s arm around her own neck and started carrying him, Kii saw Jiguro in the set of Balsa’s shoulders and the firmness of her stride. Taking a prisoner this way was also something Jiguro would have done.
Balsa set the prisoner down at the edge of the Sadan Taram’s impromptu camp, then cleaned and sheathed her spear. The battle had been short; Balsa wasn’t even out of breath. “Kii,” she said, “can you carry Eona?”
“Carry me?” Eona asked, surprised. “I’m not hurt badly. I can still walk.” She was pale and trembling, but none of the attackers had reached her. There was a shallow gash on her arm where an arrow had grazed her.
“It’s okay, Conductor,” Kii said. “You’re light, so if Balsa says I should carry you for a while, I can.”
“But is it wise to stop at the Aru clan estate now?” Sansa asked.
“We’ll scout ahead,” Balsa said. “Sansa, follow me. The rest of you, follow more slowly. We’ll double back if we encounter any threats.”
Kii nodded. She wondered why Balsa wanted her to carry Eona. Ordinarily, Balsa would have carried Eona herself if she was so concerned.
Kii remembered the last time she’d seen Balsa in a fight against archers: her clothing torn, her hands moving fast as she worked to deflect the projectiles with her spear.
Kii asked Eona to hop on her back, then started walking.
“I really can walk, you know,” Eona mumbled.
“There might be danger,” Kii said. “Besides, I’ve carried you plenty of times before.”
Eona laughed. “Sure, but I was a kid then. I don’t need it now.”
Kii quickened her pace. They had to reach the Aru clan estate. Eona and the Sadan Taram would be safe and welcome behind the estate’s walls. She was burning with impatience to arrive.
The towers of the estate towered over the trees.
“My toes are asleep,” Eona said. “Kii, let me down.”
“Not yet,” Kii said. The estate was just ahead, so Balsa should be nearby. “Balsa!” she called out. “We’re here!”
Balsa ran up to them, all but silent. She nodded in satisfaction. “I’ll take over from here, Kii. Hold my spear for a moment.”
Kii set Eona down and accepted Balsa’s spear. Balsa picked up Eona and settled Eona’s weight on her own back. Then she took back her spear from Kii, using it as a walking stick.
Almost, Kii didn’t let go of the spear. The warmth of Balsa’s hands was still on it, providing something like reassurance. But Balsa wrenched it back, leaving Kii’s hands cold.
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