Dragon Sword and Wind Child Read Online Free PDF Page B

fight. We must prevent the God of Light from destroying all the gods of the land. He has no regard for or understanding of human feelings. He strives to purify the entire earth and to descend upon it. But he neither knows nor cares whether there will be any people left alive when all the gods of river and mountain have disappeared from the land. He cannot understand what this would mean to us.”
    Lord Akitsu raised his jet-black brows and gazed at Saya. “Water Maiden, come and help us fight. Though you may be weak, you are closest to our mother, the Goddess. You are even capable of grasping the Dragon Sword.”
    All five of them watched her intently from the darkness, awaiting her reply. Her heart was in turmoil, but she knew it would be useless to try to deceive them. At last she said what was in her heart. “I hate war. I can’t do it.”
    Their disappointment struck her keenly, and somehow she felt a need to defend herself a little. “Why didn’t you come sooner? I’ve lived here, in a village of the God of Light, for nine years. Every day I have worshiped Princess Teruhi and Prince Tsukishiro. It’s impossible for me to change now, so suddenly.”
    After a short pause, Lady Iwa replied, “In their youth, no one realizes that the trees that stretch toward the sky are, at the same time, sending their roots deeper and deeper into the earth. Because we’re granted a new life, we, the reborn, must each time experience the ignorance of youth. For this reason we can’t tell others of their mission until they are ready. It has been the custom to gather together when the time comes and seek them out. In your case, however, you’re right. You disappeared without a trace, and it took much longer than we expected to find you. But despite the danger, we have come into the domain of the God of Light to find you. Still, we can’t blame you for that.”
    She felt for something inside her robe and then stretched her tiny hand out toward Saya. “We must leave you now. Our pursuers will have found our trail by now. But this is yours. Whether in the end you use it or not, it belongs to you.”
    Without a word, Saya held out both hands to receive a small stone, a magatama no larger than the tip of her finger, still glowing faintly with the phosphorescence from the old woman’s palm. It was not round like a ball but slightly flat and curved like the outer rim of an ear. The larger end was pierced by a hole through which ran a thin cord. The stone was a smooth, milky blue, the pale, gentle color of a spring sky.
    Without warning, the murmur of voices and leaves rustling gently in the wind returned, and Saya realized that she had been in a space without sound. As if waking from a dream, she looked about her and glimpsed firelight from the glade between the black silhouettes of the trees. The musicians were gone. No doubt she would never see them again. The demons had materialized only to vanish just as suddenly as they had appeared, without trying to do anything. Clutching the magatama in her hand, she thought distractedly, “I must go. I have to get back to the Kagai.”
    But she had only taken a few steps when she realized that there was nowhere for her to go. Her parents were at home, and her friends had split up and were lost in conversation with their partners. The night was far advanced, and the sound of high-pitched laughter drifted across the glade from the banquet areas of each village. No one else was alone.
    A yawning gulf suddenly separated Saya from everyone else. Somewhere in her heart, she had always known that she did not belong, but, unwilling to accept it, she had managed to ignore it. Now, however, she could no longer deny the truth. The demons had been gentle, but only because they had indelibly impressed their mark upon her. Turning away from the brightly lit glade, she headed deeper into the forest. And as she walked, the tears she had held