CHAPTER VI: NANAI’S MEMOIRS REVISITED
Mon gazed wordlessly at the awful sight before him. Yun’s leg was badly gored. The other Hunters had been scattered in all directions. Two were seriously wounded by the claws, while another two had suffered more minor injuries. By the time Rarunga had vanished for good, only Mon, Jin, and Zen were left unscathed.
Torogai took out a bottle of strong spirits to use as a disinfectant, sterilized a needle and thread, and deftly sewed up the gash in Tanda’s side. Then she turned her attention to the other wounded men. Fighting the searing pain, Tanda rose to help her.
“I don’t see Balsa or Chagum, Tanda. You’d better go look for them,” Torogai urged him, but he shook his head.
“I’ll look, but not until we’re done with these two. They’ll die if they aren’t treated now. Balsa will get along without me for a while longer.”
Torogai did not press him any further. Jin, Zen, and Mon split up, each helping one of their injured comrades. When they had done all they could for the time being, Tanda heard someone stalking toward them through the forest. He stood up hastily and saw that it was Balsa. Looking very grim, she strode quickly over to her spear and yanked it from the ground.
“Balsa! What happened to Chagum?” Tanda asked. “Isn’t he with you?” She gave him a sharp glance and shook her head shortly. “What happened?”
She walked over to him, frowning, and then sighed. “I don’t know. He just ran away.” She told him everything from start to finish. Torogai and the Hunters drew near to listen.
“He must have manipulated the water,” Torogai said. “You told me he did that before, remember?”
“Yes. But it only happened when he was asleep or unconscious.”
Torogai’s eyes narrowed. “Then perhaps he’s not conscious.”
“What?”
“In the beginning, the egg of Nyunga Ro Im only took over Chagum’s body when he was asleep or unconscious, right? But when the second change took place, Chagum felt the egg’s impulses as his own actions, even when he was awake, and he could see Nayugu with ease.”
“So you think that another change has taken place,” Tanda said.
Torogai nodded. “There is just one day left until midsummer — one day until the egg hatches. The egg has probably taken over his body and is controlling his actions to make sure it’s safely born.”
Balsa slammed the butt of her spear on the ground. Everyone jumped and looked at her in surprise. “Who the hell does this Nyunga Ro Im think it is?” she shouted. “I don’t give a damn about the cloud spirit! If anything happens to Chagum, I’ll smash that egg before Rarunga can eat it! How dare it mess with someone else’s life like this!”
Torogai glanced at Tanda as if to say that it was his job to make this crazy spear-wielder calm down. She did not wait to see him shrug, but instead turned to look sharply at the leader of the Hunters. Mon returned her gaze boldly.
“You there!” Torogai said. “You saw those claws. I don’t know what orders the Master Star Reader gave you, but that’s the monster Mikado Torugaru supposedly killed off long ago. It’s after the cloud spirit’s egg, which is inside the prince.” Briefly, she explained what had happened so far and the worlds of Sagu and Nayugu. The Hunters listened intently without uttering a word. It was an astonishing tale, one that dispelled all their doubts. “And that,” she concluded, “is why I must see the Master Star Reader and find out how they defeated it. But I’m worried about the prince. Balsa and Tanda are a hard pair to beat, but the more fighters they have, the better. Would any of you be willing to help them find the prince?”
“As if you needed to ask,” Mon growled. “I’ll go with them myself.”
But Jin stepped forward. “Let me do it, sir.”
“And me, sir,” Zen added quietly.
Mon nodded. If there were two, at least one of them could always contact him, and his first duty was to report immediately to the Mikado and the Master Star Reader and let them know what had transpired. Once that decision was made, everything fell rapidly into place. “We’ll leave the badly wounded here,” Mon said. “Taga, Sune, you stay with them through the night. I’ll take the magic weaver to the capital. As soon as we reach it, I’ll send help. If her story is true, that thing with the claws is after the prince, so it shouldn’t attack those of you who stay here. All right?”
The Hunters nodded. Jin and Zen set off silently with Balsa and Tanda while Mon and Torogai started off at a run toward the capital. Theirs was an amazing journey. They were more than thirty miles from the capital at Kosenkyo, separated from it by rugged mountains that would normally take even the Hunters half a day to travel; but they raced through the crags as if they were running across a flat plain. While Torogai was amazingly strong for someone over seventy, she could not run all the way without resting, and when evening approached and she began to tire, Mon carried her on his back.
Mon could not stop thinking about the First Prince, who was still critically ill. It was all very well to talk about this Nyunga-whatever and its egg, but if anything should happen to the First Prince, then Chagum would be the Mikado’s sole remaining heir. He must be protected at all costs. As he sped along the mountain path in the pitch dark, Mon suddenly wondered if his own ancestors had once run through the mountains like this, hunting the same beast two hundred years ago.
It was almost dawn when they finally reached the capital. Torogai, who had slept most of the way on his back, felt greatly revived, but Mon was so exhausted he thought he would collapse. They were guided to the secret room under the Mikado’s chambers, but the Master Star Reader was unable to meet them: The First Prince had taken a turn for the worse, and he could not leave his side. Torogai had just cursed him roundly when a young Star Reader entered the room.
It was Shuga. Mon was startled by his appearance; he looked like an invalid who was wasting away, his face pallid and his cheeks sunken. Still, he listened attentively to what Mon told him, nodding at the end of his report. “Thank goodness you made it in time,” he said. “Sending you on ahead to Aoike Pond was the right decision. You did well, Mon. I’ll send word as soon as the Master Star Reader returns. In the meantime, you should get some rest.”
Mon hesitated for a moment, wondering if it was all right to leave this young Star Reader alone with the magic weaver — he looked so drawn and frail. But the Master Star Reader obviously trusted him to act in his place, and the firm set of his jaw and shrewd expression convinced Mon that he could handle Torogai. He bowed. “Thank you,” he said. “I appreciate the opportunity to rest.”
When Mon had left the room, Shuga turned to the old magic weaver and said, “You must be Torogai. I’ve wanted to meet you for a long time.”
She snorted derisively. “What about Rarunga?” she demanded. “Did you find out how to destroy it?”
Shuga shook his head, his face grave.
“What?” Torogai exclaimed. “Don’t tell me you don’t know!”
A flicker of anger passed across Shuga’s face, but it vanished quickly into an expression of deep anxiety and fatigue. “No, I don’t know. Or rather, I could not find out — because Nanai and Torugaru didn’t destroy Rarunga.”
Torogai’s mouth dropped open in surprise. “They didn’t destroy it? Then how could the egg have hatched safely?”
“Magic weaver of the Yakoo, Nanai’s memoirs are written in ancient Yogoese. There are parts I cannot completely comprehend. I was able to decipher up to where the egg was born, and I also gathered that Rarunga is a kind of creature that lives in the mud of a land called Nayugu. But there are too many letters and words that I don’t understand.”
Torogai leaned forward eagerly. “Perhaps it uses a lot of Yakoo names for things. Tell me that part and maybe I can help you.”
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