Seirei no Moribito - Volume 1 - Chapter 1.6

CHAPTER VI: THE HUNTERS AND THE HUNTED 

Balsa slipped a wooden sheath over the tip of her spear, which she had just finished sharpening. It fit perfectly, as if glued to the point. The sheath never fell off by itself, yet it would drop away with a single flick of her wrist to reveal the blade’s wicked edge when needed. 
Chagum hoisted a knapsack filled with dried meat, oiled paper, and various medicines onto his back. Although not heavy, it was the first load he had ever had to carry for himself. Balsa nodded. “That’s your share, Chagum,” she said. “I’m counting on you.” She swiftly finished packing and swung the rest of their gear onto her back, leaving her hands free. 
“The leather scratches,” Chagum complained. Under his clothing, a thick piece of tanned hide covered him from chest to waist, matching the one Balsa wore under her own clothes. She laid a hand on his shoulder. 
“Listen carefully,” she told him. “Think of your body as having a belt, about the width of your neck, which stretches straight down your middle, from the top of your head to your crotch. Most of your vital points lie inside that belt.” 
“What do you mean by ‘vital points’?” 
“Weak points. If someone hits one, they can knock you out or even kill you.” She pointed her finger at his body, moving it slowly downward as she spoke. “The top of your head, between your eyes, your nose, your upper lip, your chin, your Adam’s apple, your heart, the center of your chest, the pit of your stomach. For men, the private parts are also a weak point. There are many others — I’ll teach them to you when I have a chance. Just remember, protecting those points can make a big difference — those plus your back. If you’re attacked from behind, the weapon will go right through because there are no ribs guarding your heart. But your knapsack will protect you from any arrows, and that strip of hide may feel a little uncomfortable, but it’s a lot better than dying, right?” 
Chagum nodded reluctantly. 
“Let’s go, then,” Balsa said. “Toya, Saya, thank you for everything. If luck is with us, we’ll meet again.” 
“Why don’t I go with you to the foot of the mountains?” Toya offered. “I could keep watch and let you know if you’re being followed.” He and Saya knew this might be the last time they would see Balsa, and tears trembled at the corners of their eyes. 
Still, Balsa shook her head emphatically. “Thanks, but it’s enough to know you’d do that for us. If anyone was following me, they’d kill you with one blow before you even noticed. That’s what they’re like. I’m sorry I had to involve you in the first place…. From this point on, you have no obligation to us whatsoever. If they come to find us, tell them everything you know, understand? I’ve been in this business a long time, so even if you tell them, it won’t matter. I’m sure we can get away. Okay?” Toya nodded. “All right, then. It’s time to go. Say good-bye, Chagum.” 
Chagum looked up at them and whispered, “Good-bye.” 
Outside, the half moon cast just enough light to shimmer on the surface of the river. Balsa stood still for a few moments, listening with all her senses. She felt nothing, but this did not mean that they were not being watched. The men loosed by the Mikado would not be so incompetent as to let her detect them, and even if she did, they would not dare to attack her in the middle of the city. Too many people lived here for a fight to go unnoticed, and hemmed in by houses, they would lose the advantage of numbers. No, she decided, if they were going to attack, it would happen when fields alone surrounded them. She took Chagum by the hand and started walking. 
 
From his hiding place behind a water barrel, Yun spied two shadowy figures climbing up from under the bridge. He remained motionless, watching them move off toward the east. Mon had ordered his men not to attack in the town or near water. When Yun was sure that the two were far enough away, he signaled Jin, who was waiting on the opposite bank. The hunt had begun. 
The four Hunters fanned out to the right and left, forming a large semicircle with their quarry in the middle, and began following them slowly. Each one varied his pace, sometimes slow, sometimes fast, never catching up but never letting them out of sight. This made the Hunters much harder to detect than one man stalking on his own. 
Balsa and Chagum finally reached the edge of town, where nothing but the recently harvested fields stretched out in front of them. The Hunters followed them silently for about a mile. Then Mon stopped at the edge of the road some distance behind them and waited for the other Hunters to catch up. Once they had gathered silently at his side, he whispered, “There is no place left to hide. It is time.” 
 
From the moment she stepped onto the path, Balsa’s tension intensified. There was no longer anything concealing them from view, nowhere to hide and no one to see. If they were being followed, their pursuers could no longer remain hidden either. This would be the place to attack. 
She pushed Chagum in front of her to protect him from arrows or other flying missiles and removed the sheath from the short spear in her right hand, stowing it inside her jacket. In the palm of her left hand, she held five shuriken at the ready — sharp metal throwing darts with blades that bit through flesh. 
The moon cast a faint white glow over the fields. Only the sound of their feet padding along the beaten dirt path could be heard. Just when she had begun to make out the dark outline of the forest beyond the fields, Balsa felt the hair on the nape of her neck rise. Shoving Chagum roughly out of the way, she threw herself to the ground as a blow dart whistled over her head. 
Quickly she shrugged off her pack so it would not encumber her; she knew it would take her attacker a moment to reload. Before he could send a second dart, she turned and hurled all five shuriken toward him in one throw. They thudded hollowly against the blowgun as he fended them off. 
Three figures leapt out of the darkness and rushed toward her, tall and spidery. A streak of white light flashed from one of the shadows. Balsa’s spear whined, knocking the shining blade aside with a ringing clash. Without stopping, she swung the spear full circle to repel another sword as it slashed at her from the right. Fighting them off as they attacked from three directions at once, she lunged with her spear, twirled it in a figure eight, or spun it so fast it whistled. Each time she parried a thrust, she angled her spear so that her opponent’s blade slipped off harmlessly. 
But while she wielded the spear with lightning speed, she could not create an opportunity to attack. She could only thrust toward one assailant, sliding her spear across the palm of her hand, and if she tried to do that, the other two would kill her. Any one of these men would have been formidable enough, but three of them was impossible. 
In the end, fatigue was her undoing. She stumbled over Chagum, and in trying not to step on him, she leapt across his body, leaving herself wide open. Somehow she managed to parry Yun’s sword, but Chagum now lay between her and the Hunters, cowering on the path where she had pushed him. One stroke, and he would be finished. 
But in that desperate moment, the Hunters altered their positions ever so slightly to focus their attack solely on Balsa. With a shock, she realized this could only mean one thing, and she gambled everything on the chance she was right. 
Instead of protecting Chagum, she launched herself straight at Zen. He twisted his neck aside, barely in time to avoid being impaled on her spear, and the point sliced his left shoulder open. Balsa charged straight into him, applying her full strength to the wound, and the pain was so excruciating that he faltered for an instant, letting her speed straight past. 
She kept on running, the footsteps of the two others pounding behind her. Something thudded into her left shoulder as if she had been punched. She stumbled, but while she knew that she had been struck by a shuriken, she did not stop. The footsteps behind her grew louder; the trees of the forest drew nearer. 
Finally she was upon it. To the Hunters, it looked as if she had run right into the forest, but instead she grasped the trunk of a tree and swung herself around it to face them. Taken off guard, Yun raised his sword a fraction too late: The point of her spear sliced across his face and headed straight for Mon beside him. Mon, however, had not earned his place as leader for nothing. He ducked beneath the spear tip, and as Balsa spun the shaft to ready another blow, his blade whistled through the air, slashing across her midriff. 
Heat seared through her stomach, but thanks to the strip of hide she wore, the wound was not as deep as Mon had intended. She did not allow the blow to check her momentum. Sliding the spear shaft through her hands, she gripped it just above the hilt and swung it out sideways. Mon sensed it coming and instinctively twisted his head away, but the hilt landed just beneath his temple, with a stunning blow that knocked him senseless. Balsa did not even pause to see him fall, but turned on her heel and ran into the forest. Yun started after her, ignoring the throbbing pain from the gash in his face, but Jin caught up with him and pulled him back. 
“I’ll go. You help Mon and get the prince.” 

They had made a disastrous mistake. It had never occurred to them that Balsa would be able to withstand the assault of three Hunters. No matter how great her reputation, she was, after all, only a woman; no one had imagined she could be so strong. 
The forest was dark, dense leaves covering the sky. Jin stopped, stilled his breathing, and listened for noises. In the darkness, ears were more useful than eyes. The sound of Balsa’s footsteps would give her away. But the forest had fallen silent. Startled by the invasion of such sudden and brutal violence, even the birds and wild creatures held their breath. All he could hear was the rustling of the leaves. 
Where can she be? Where is she hiding? Jin was impressed. The woman had rightly judged that her best hope for escape was to remain still and silent. Even knowing that to be true, most people would find it impossible to resist the urge to run. Jin had seen the shuriken sink into her back, and Mon’s sword must have done considerable damage as well. Despite this, there was no sign of movement. She was obviously used to laying her life on the line. 
What should he do? Should he wait for her to move, or help the three others, who were wounded, to take the prince back? He could not make up his mind, and this uncertainty disturbed his concentration. He heard a body being dragged out of the forest behind him; Mon must still be unconscious. 
Jin began to lose his nerve. We’ve got the prince, he reasoned. We’ve completed the most important part of our mission. Even if Balsa escapes, what can she do? She’s just a lowly commoner. He made his decision. The others were so badly wounded they would draw attention; he would have to deliver the prince to the Master Star Reader himself. He left the forest, his ears still pricked for any noise. Yun was hoisting the inert Mon onto his back. 
“I’ll take the prince,” Jin said. “I can go straight from here to the Torinaki River without passing through town and enter the Star Palace from the bank. You and Zen bring Mon and follow us at an easier pace. Don’t go through the city, though — you’ll be too obvious.” 
Yun nodded, gritting his teeth against the pain. Although the cut was shallow, the spear tip had sliced his face from one ear to the other, just below the eyes, and injuries close to the brain always hurt more. Zen walked toward them, carrying the prince. He must have drugged him, for the boy was unconscious, arms and legs splayed awkwardly. Jin took the boy from him and told him his plan. Zen shifted Mon off Yun’s back and onto his own. “Damn that woman!” he spat. 
His words expressed how they all felt. If it had been one on one, they might have succeeded in killing her. But it had been three against one, and overconfidence had made them careless, something they could not afford to be. 
 
Once she was sure Jin had left the forest, Balsa yanked the shuriken from her back. She would lose more blood this way, but leaving it in would slow her movements when she needed speed. She placed a folded cloth against the wound and bound it tightly in place to stem the bleeding. She did not bother with the gash across her stomach; it throbbed with a searing pain, and blood dripped down her leg, but there was no time to take care of it. She had an important job to do. 
When she saw one of the men leave the other three behind and head off toward the river with the prince, she knew that luck was on her side. She began to jog slowly toward the river, skillfully threading her way through the brush underfoot. 
 
Jin trotted along with the unconscious prince on his back, unaware that he was being followed. The sound of flowing water grew louder until he emerged onto the bank of the river. The water’s surface gleamed faintly in the dark. He turned north. If he followed the river northeast until it bent to the west, he would come to a secret passage leading to the Star Palace. He slowed down to a walk so as not to miss the marker, which was hard to find. The smell of the river was strangely overpowering — it seemed to cling to him — and the sound of the rushing water was so loud he could hardly stand it. What’s wrong with me? Is it just nerves? What an amateur! 
He clicked his tongue in disgust. But at that moment, a different sound sliced above the noise of the water, and he leapt aside. Sparks flew from the rock at his feet, and the air rang with the sound of metal hitting stone. A second shuriken shot through the air as Balsa burst out of the forest, rushing straight at him. He dodged the shuriken, dropped the prince on the bank, and whipped out his sword. A spear struck at him with dizzying speed, but he parried each thrust with ease. Rather than meet the spear straight on, which could shatter his sword, he angled the blade slightly to turn each blow aside, waiting for a chance to slip under her guard. 
Balsa could usually strike five blows with each breath, but with her injury, she was not fast enough to get past his sword. Watching her face twist in pain, Jin thought smugly, Fool! You might have stepped out and asked to be slaughtered. As she pulled back her spear, he thrust forward under her guard, aiming for her neck. She twisted aside and parried his blow. Ordinarily, she would have followed through with a kick to his stomach, but pain shot through her midriff and she could only reel away. His sword arced through the air in a flash of white, and she barely managed to turn it aside with her spear. Fighting the pain, she moved around to his left and thrust her spear at him again. As he stepped back to avoid it, he tripped and fell over Chagum where the boy lay on the ground. 
Balsa did not miss her chance. She struck, and when Jin twisted away, she slipped the shaft of her spear under his left armpit and wrenched it in a circle, wrapping his arm around it as firmly as if it were glued. He cried out as she flipped his body over with a twist of her spear and slammed him face down onto the ground. His left arm broke with a sickening crack. 
To Balsa’s disbelief, however, he immediately pulled his legs beneath him and sprang back to his feet, without regard for the pain it must have caused him. Not fast enough to avoid the one-handed blow he aimed at her from below, Balsa saw blood spurt from her left arm. Now they both stood with one arm useless, gasping for breath, poised to strike and watching their opponent for a chance. Neither had any intention of giving up. 
But then a silent darkness surrounded them, and a strange, choking smell filled the air. They froze in amazement. The prince, who had been lying unconscious on the bank, rose and walked into the river. Both he and the water were enveloped in a pulsating blue light, and the river appeared to climb his body, clinging to it. 
Balsa was the first to move. She threw her spear down on the bank and ran into the river as fast as she could with her injuries. Once in the water, she recoiled in shock: It clung to her legs like thick glue, making it difficult to move forward. Jin, who had raced after her, raised his sword and brought it down toward her head. The blow would have split her skull in two, but at that moment, the water pulled her legs from under her, and she fell into the river. In the next instant, the water caught Jin’s legs and dragged him into the river as well. 
In a space filled with blue light, so silent it hurt her ears, Balsa saw Chagum curled up in a ball, like a baby asleep in its mother’s womb. She clawed her way over to him and grabbed his arm tightly. 
As if an invisible membrane had been broken, the sound of the water returned instantly. Balsa felt its coldness rush against her body, and shaking her head to clear it, she stood up, still clutching Chagum’s arm. Chagum shook his head as well; he seemed to have regained consciousness. Balsa climbed out onto the bank, supporting the stumbling prince, and turned to look at Jin. He was back on his feet but had lost his sword and was feeling desperately about in the water for it. 
She picked her spear up off the ground and hurled it with her good hand. It sunk into his right shoulder and flung him backward by its force, so he lay face up in the shallows. She walked back into the river, put one foot on his chest, and yanked the spear from his body. This was too much even for Jin: He managed to drag himself out onto the bank, but there he rolled his eyes and lost consciousness. 
Balsa decided against dealing him a final blow in front of Chagum and chose instead to leave as quickly as possible. If she wasted any more time here, the other three might catch up, and she was in no condition to fight. 
“Balsa,” Chagum said, his speech slurred. “Are — you — all — right?” he asked anxiously. Her wet hair was plastered to her face, and she was covered in blood. 
“Yes. How about you?” 
“I am all right,” he said. He was still dizzy from the drug and his head ached, but at least he could move. 
“Can you walk?” she asked, and he nodded. “Then we’ll cross over to the other bank. But be careful to pay attention, and don’t let the river call you. If that happens again, I don’t know if I’ll be able to save you or not.” 
He was not sure what she was talking about, but he nodded anyway. Leaning on each other, they picked their way across, seeking out the shallow spots until they reached the other side. She pushed him onto the bank, but she continued walking in the water for some time, to avoid leaving a trail of blood for their pursuers to follow. 
Then they entered the forest and struggled to keep going. Though Chagum did his best to support the staggering Balsa, he was not used to walking in the dark and stumbled frequently. We’ll never make it like this, Balsa thought. She was fading in and out of consciousness; her body did not seem to belong to her anymore. She must do something before she collapsed. 
“Chagum, listen,” she whispered in his ear. “Can you still walk?” He nodded. He was afraid of the dark, but his strength was returning, perhaps because the drug was wearing off. “Then you must help me…. Follow the river through the forest until you come to a big rock that looks like a bear. Take the path behind it until you come to a little cottage. Tanda lives there. You must tell him … what has happened and ask him for help.” 
Everything was growing dark before her eyes. “Listen carefully. Never leave the forest … and always keep the river in sight. When you come to the path … behind the rock, walk along it slowly, looking up at the sky. Even if it’s too dark to see your feet … you’ll know where the path is … because the trees are thinner, and you’ll be able to see …” She crumpled to the ground, unconscious. 
Chagum, close to tears, shook her gently where she lay on the forest floor. Then he rose shakily, fighting back his sobs. He did not want her to die and leave him all alone. Repeating to himself what she had told him, he stumbled off in search of the cottage.