Earth and Stone
Chapter Five: A Sickness Spreads

The bay stallion trumpeted to the sky as his rider urged him from the dark doorway of the town stables. Ashitaka had to restrain himself from crying aloud with excitement like Hiasu; every nerve in his body tingled with a palpable sense of destiny. He had hardly left the fortified walls of Iron Town in seven years, and now he had a concrete excuse to explore the mountainside that kissed the edge of the town's gardens. He couldn't contemplate why San would choose today to venture that close to other humans, but some irrepressible part of his mind screamed that she'd be there, if only he would venture out into the dark forest.

Townsfolk called out cheerful greetings to him as Hiasu trotted through the streets at an eager, brisk pace. Ashitaka felt a smile tugging at the edges of his mouth, until a much more urgent voice cut through his thoughts.

"Lord Ashitaka!"

With a deep sigh, Ashitaka reined in Hiasu. The stallion tossed his head impatiently, and Ashitaka stroked his proud neck in a silent apology. A dark-haired youth only a few years younger than Ashitaka ran up to Hiasu's side, where he doubled over, panting for breath.

"What's the matter?"

"A-Another attack," the boy wheezed. "In the orchard, the jackal was back. My c-cousin tried to make it go away by throwing stones and it fell upon him. It didn't bite, thank the gods, but it gouged my cousin's chest with its claws. We pushed the brute away with our shovels before it bit him."

"Where is your cousin now?" Ashitaka asked sharply.

"A number of our men had him taken to the wise woman who cares for our apple trees, Lord. We didn't trust our speed and his condition to make the journey back to Iron Town."

"Come with me." Ashitaka held out his hand. The boy complied, swinging himself up behind Ashitaka. With a silent cue to Hiasu, Ashitaka swung the stallion around and they thundered towards the gate.

"What happened to the jackal?" Ashitaka shouted over the pounding of shod hooves on the hard earth.

"It went back into the forest, to the northwest!"

They had sped through the gate and down the path to the orchards. The workers gave a ragged cheer as Ashitaka pulled Hiasu up in front of a lean-to where the laborers could get cool water and their midday meal. Inside was a gnarled woman, who was leaning over a groaning man. Ashitaka could see from Hiasu's back that the man's wounds were deep and serious. The youth behind him moaned at the sight and slid off of Hiasu's back.

"Will he live?"

The old woman didn't look up. "By my art, I say these wounds will not kill him. But what I cannot say is if the poison of the demon had overcome his soul."

Ashitaka nodded, grim. "Is there a bow and a full quiver in the stores here?"

Another worker slipped his own bow and quiver from his shoulder. "'Ere, Lord. Take mine, though Oi don't knows what good they'll be again' a demon."

"You're not thinking of going after that beast on your own, are you, Lord Ashitaka?" The youth who had run to find him cried, tears making clean trails down his dirty cheeks. "You'll be killed!"

"I am going, and no one else is to follow me." Ashitaka tested the worker's bowstring before selecting an arrow and peering down the shaft to check the straightness and the fletching. "These are fine weapons, my friend. Thank you for the loan."

"My Lord, the boy is right." An older woman spoke, face tight with anxiety. "There is not a one among us who doubts your strength, but there are many who would attend you in a hunting party later. Give us four hours, and my husband could muster twenty riders armed with firearms."

The crowd around her murmured their assent. Ashitaka resolutely shook his head. "I thank you for your concern, but it is best if I venture into this forest alone. It is not by our mercy that we live in peace with these woods. We all have seen how speedily the forest has returned; there is magic here yet. If I brought a host of armed men into the realm of the beasts I doubt we would find them peaceable."

"But my Lord-" Another worker began to protest, but he fell silent as Ashitaka's eyes found his. Without any other words, Ashitaka turned Hiasu and galloped towards the imposing tree line.

Usi-Kai trotted at her side, sneaking looks at her when he thought she wasn't looking. San didn't blame her wolf-brother; she knew she looked and smelled a mess. Vomit and blood and fear filled her senses still, even though she had traveled miles from the scene of the battle. At first her brother had been furious that the Sky Tribe hadn't allowed her time to alert Usi-Kai and Yama-Inu so that they could help, but now he was complacent with the fact that San was unharmed.

"There are others, my brother, and it worries me." San chewed on her bottom lip pensively. "Rumors of the badger, and a fox told me that a jackal was acting in a similar manner to the south of our borders when I was traveling back here. Surely we would have known earlier if a group of demons were coming?"

"That puzzles me also, my sister. I would have thought that the Sky Tribe-" he growled slightly- "would have some knowledge of a pack of these demons moving to our forest. They usually have alerted us in the past."

"Unless-" San shuddered slightly, remembering dark, undulating coils of hatred radiating from an awful curse-mark- "they are being created from one source. Perhaps one demon slipped past our knowledge and now innocent creatures are being swayed by the allure of that one."

The big wolf was silent in thought. "I fear you are correct, little sister," he said after a pause. "And in that event we must eradicate them from our forest."

San nodded, silent in her own thoughts. She knew that with her brothers by her side, a conflict between another one of the strange beasts wouldn't be as dangerous… unless one of them was infected with the curse. She shuddered again. Usi-Kai was unaware of her discomfort, and he stopped beside her.

"Get on, little sister. We shall travel south and see if we cannot kill the jackal that you spoke of. I don't know where our brother is…"

"He is on the hunt in the east," San responded. She hesitated to mount; Usi-Kai eyed her with concern.

"What is the matter?"

"My weapon…" San gestured helplessly. "I have not your teeth and claws, brother. I need my spear."

"Where is it?" Usi-kai nosed her gently. "If you didn't have it with you, then how did you kill the wolf-dog?"

San reached up to her throat, where the crystal dagger hung from the retied ribbon. "I almost didn't survive the encounter."

Usi-kai paused, clearly torn between journeying all the way back to their den to find San another weapon and going on to deal with the demon jackal. San gave him a small smile.

"I will stay out of your way if you wish to leave now."

The wolf gave a bark of approval, and as soon as San was seated on his broad back they were off like wraiths through the trees.

Hiasu sensed his master's urgency, and ran as if outpacing the wind. Ashitaka guided the stallion with his knees; he needed his hands free to keep an arrow to the string. Being under the dark canopy of the trees sent a thrill of foreboding down his spine-though he did not feel afraid, there was a menacing feeling in the air.

Fortunately, the jackal's retreat had left a visible trail, a fact that Ashitaka found just as unnerving as the dark forest. Most animals could maneuver the underbrush without as much as a broken leaf, but his quarry had broken branches off and left tufts of matted fur on snags and twigs.

Without warning the jackal came into view as Hiasu turned around a stand of trees. The creature looked like it was at Death's door and a powerful odor of rotted flesh filled Ashitaka's nose. Hiasu slowed nervously, blowing and tossing his head.

The jackal stared at its hunter for a moment before baring its yellowed teeth. The golden eyes were clouded over, but an intense hate radiated from their filmy depths. It gave a low, hoarse bark before pouncing at Hiasu's chest.

Ashitaka used his knees to wheel the stallion around, firing an arrow at the brute as he did. The arrow gouged into the jackal's shoulder, causing it to fall onto its side. Ashitaka slowed, pulling another arrow from his quiver as he did. The jackal wasn't showing any signs of pain; instead, it staggered to its feet and bit at the wound. The arrow, along with a chunk of its own flesh, was ripped away by the fearsome yellow teeth. Ashitaka stared in horror, mentally thanking the fates that the orchard worker hadn't been bitten by this monster.

He didn't have time to stand around for much longer, as the jackal rushed towards him a second time. Hiasu reared away from the attack and as the stallion rose onto his back legs, he struck out at the jackal's head with his sharp front hooves. There was a sickening crack as a hoof connected with the beast's foreleg instead; the limb dangled uselessly. Again, the jackal gave no notice to its atrocious injury and pushed itself up on its hind legs to jump at Ashitaka.

Ashitaka jerked backwards and lost his balance; flailing uselessly, he tipped off of Hiasu and fell to the ground heavily. The quiver of arrows fell beneath him, and with an agonizing pain he felt an arrowhead pierce the bamboo quiver and into his lower back. A half-heartbeat later, he felt another jolt of red-hot pain as his head smashed into the ground.

The world slid in and out of focus to the throbbing agony in his head and lower back. Through his haze, he felt the sickening weight of the jackal fall on his legs, and he heard the panicked bugle of Hiasu. Then, a horrible roar that may or may not have come from the jackal split his head apart; unable to stop himself, Ashitaka half-rolled over and vomited from the pain.

Suddenly the weight of the jackal was gone, and someone- a human- had their hand on the side of his face. The skin was rough, though the touch itself was gentle, and warm. His vision slid back into focus long enough to focus on the features of a person he had visited often in his dreams.

"San…?" Ashitaka asked thickly, and then his world went black and he knew no more.

End Chapter

Authoress here.

Cookies to all who has it figured out that the animals aren't demons- they're just rabid. Hence the foaming and sickness and other nasties they're exhibiting.

So, that wasn't quite the reunion Ashitaka was hoping for, but hey- a reunion is a reunion.

Again, sorry about the wait, but you know- life is life. Thank you for the reviews, they're truely a motivation.

Cheers,
Pen