Earth and Stone

Chapter Eleven: Fate Cries Out



"My fate cries out,
And makes each petty artery in this body
As hardy as the Nemean lion's nerve."
-Shakespeare's Hamlet

In an instant, the firearm belched black smoke and livid orange flame. The blast resonated through the relative stillness of the forest, the noise bouncing off of the trees, until it was magnified to a horrific roar.

Ashitaka wrenched his body around, hoping to catch the bullet in a non-fatal place, but Hiasu was faster. The stallion reared violently, trumpeting loudly as he did so. Ashitaka was thrown off as he attempted to twist away from the deadly projectile and he hit the ground hard, a sharp knife of pain ripping through his back from the still-healing wound. He cried out, but was drowned out by the human-like scream of pain from his loyal stallion. Ashitaka rolled to the side as the horse tipped backward, the bullet meant for his master buried deep in his stomach.

"NO!" Ashitaka barely had time to take in the horror before a second burst of gunfire broke the air. Simultaneously throwing himself sideways and grabbing his bow, he sent a shaft whistling through the air toward the man who was aiming a loaded rifle at him. The arrow sang through the air and connected with a sickening thud. The gunman, dressed as a monk, screamed in pain as the shaft buried itself in his left shoulder before slipping sideways off of his horse.

"Finally, the true colors of noble Ashitaka!" Kataki snarled, a mirthless, mocking smile on his face. His men kept up a steady stream of fire, necessitating Ashitaka to dive behind a boulder for cover.

While they stopped to reload, Kataki continued his jeering. "'To see with eyes unclouded by hate,' right? Isn't that what you preached when my father was holding his fortune in his hands?"

Ashitaka didn't reply.

"Those are mighty words indeed, but I see now you have no remorse in breaking this peaceful vow!"

Ashitaka didn't move, breathing erratically from his position behind the boulder. The gunfire had stopped, he presumed as the men started to reload. There was no way he could escape Kataki and five others, especially with Hiasu dead. He doubted the man would listen to reason, but he couldn't see any other options.

"Your father did not see what he was doing! He would have perished, along with thousands of innocents had he not come to reason!" Ashitaka shouted. "In the end he saw his folly, and his choice was to live— you and I have no quarrel!"

"I shall decide that." A bullet smashed into the rock, sending splinters of granite cascading onto Ashitaka's head. Grimly, he retrieved an arrow from his quiver and knocked it to the string. He could only hope that the wolves heard the fighting and kept San far away from the hunters. He tensed, ready to dodge gunfire as he prepared to shoot.

"Dear Gods, it's that demon again!"

The shooting began again, but it was no longer directed at him. The sounds of terrified horses and the vicious snarling of some beast filled the small clearing and Ashitaka chanced a glance over the top of the chipped granite rock.

A jackal was lunging at the horses and men. How it had the energy to do so Ashitaka had no idea, for the beast was skin and bone, its matted coat clinging to each protruding rib. Blood, some of its own and some of its victims, covered its muzzle and forehead. Open sores festered on its legs, the pads on its feet torn to shreds by continual movement. The stench of it threw the horses into a nervous frenzy, bucking and shying beneath their riders. Deep within the eye sockets, the beast's filmy glare burned as if lit from within by hellfire.

It had already taken down one of the horses. The animal lay gasping in a pool of its own rapidly gathering blood, the throat torn out by the jackal's vice-like jaws. The horse had been carrying tow riders, the ones unhorsed from the jackal's first attack. One of the men was screaming, his thigh indistinguishable in a mass of flesh and blood, ripped to bloody tatters. The second man had scrambled away, hastily packing powder into his weapon.

A bullet shattered more of the boulder, striking inches away from Ashitaka's face. Kataki Bou hadn't forgotten him. Ashitaka aimed quickly and fired; Kataki's horse shied away as the arrow sliced the saddle girth and scratched the horse's side. Kataki fell with a curse as the gray charged off into the thick woods.

Another roar from a gun snapped Ashitaka's attention back to the jackal. The man who had been injured was dead, and two more horses were gone, one dead from the jackal's jaws and the other had fled in terror, bearing its helpless rider along with it.

The jackal had the same crazed look as the animal who attacked Ashitaka before and it didn't seem to notice the bullet wound on its shoulder and on its back; its burning eyes were focused on one of the terrified, unhorsed men.

Ashitaka stood and put another arrow to the string. He wasn't sure if he should run now and risk the jackal following him, or stay and kill it, but still have the danger of Kataki's homicidal intentions. He could see the man kneeling behind a tree, methodically preparing his weapon. The hawk-like eyes betrayed no terror or sorrow as the jackal bore down on one of his men, whose screaming was cut short to fade with a gurgle as the wicked yellowed teeth went about their awful work. Ashitaka hesitated a moment longer before turning on his heel and dashing off into the undergrowth.

The noise seemed to follow him as he ran, and it hurt to draw in breath. His lungs protested every step, and the wound on his back throbbed. Ashitaka grimly ran on, taking only enough care as to not leave a blatant trail. Another popping round of gunfire went off behind him, and the jackal's snarls followed, along with another terrified whinny.

Three men down, only Kataki and two left, Ashitaka turned abruptly to his left and started back north toward Iron Town, though the city was at least day and a half walk away. The terrain started to slope downhill, and underneath the noise of the battle, he could hear the faint rush of water. The river, Ashitaka breathed a sigh of relief. He could follow it back toward the wolves' den, without leaving tracks for the murderous Kataki to find.

Kataki Bou was furious.

Ashitaka had gotten away.

He turned the body of the jackal over with one booted foot, surveying the thing with distaste. The final bullet he had delivered had mangled the creature's neck, almost severing the head from the body, but it was still distinguishable as to what it was.

Hatara and Gira were the only two of his men that remained— the rest were dead or lost in the forest. Hatara was bandaging the wound Gira had sustained on his forearm from the jackal, but looked up at Kataki spat on the creature's corpse.

"I've never seen a demon close up afore, an' I don't think I wants to again." Hatara regarded the body with a look that was half-reverence, half-revulsion.

"Now that I've seen it and killed it, I don't think it's a demon." Kataki turned away from the body and went over to where his saddle lay with its severed girth. "What my father described to me were beasts twice as large as normal, with otherworldly attributes and ferocity. This creature, though clearly ferocious, isn't large or strong enough. I remember seeing a dog in my village act something like this, after it was bitten by a fox. Foam at the mouth, viciousness, just like this. The jackal probably had a disease."

He motioned for Hatara to come over beside him. Once he had, Kataki spoke in an undertone that Gira couldn't overhear. "If he was bitten by this creature, it's safe to say he'll be dead within the week."

Hatara paled. "But it's barely even a scratch."

"It'd be enough. Enough to get into his body, and eat him from the inside."

Hatara shuddered, unconsciously rubbing his hands together as if to wipe away a contamination. "Do we leave him here, then?"

Kataki said nothing, but took a sheathed knife out from his saddlebag. He weighed it in his hands for a moment before passing it over to Hatara. "We're leaving shortly. I don't want that brat Ashitaka to get too much of a head start."

Ashitaka waded along the bank of the river with his sword belt slung around his shoulder with his quiver, and his bow looped around his neck to stay dry. He wasn't able to move as quickly, but the rushing water erased all signs of his passage. Every now and then he would spring up onto rocks that pushed up past the surface of the river, using the stepping stones for speed.

Over the rush of water he heard a distressed whinny, a sound that made his heart twist with grief over Hiasu and his stomach clench with nerves. He dropped quickly, squatting in the river holding his weapons above water, eyes searching the bank for Kataki and his men. Instead, he saw Kataki's gray horse at the edge of the river tossing its head nervously, the reins of its bride tangled hopelessly in the underbrush.

Ashitaka relaxed. He stood and waded over to the injured animal's side, putting a comforting hand on its neck. It was a mare, and a beautifully bred one at that, with fine lines and a well-muscled body. She arched her neck under his hand, swinging her head toward him as far as the tangled reins would allow, nosing at his arm beseechingly.

"I know, lady, I know," he murmured, running a hand along her side. The arrow had barely scratched her and a scab was already forming where the stone-tipped arrowhead had grazed her. "You'll be fine."

He yanked the reins free from the bush, and looped them over her neck again. "If you'll allow me, lady…" Ashitaka rubbed a hand down the mare's nose, then stooped and blew into her nostrils in a horse-greeting. The mare flipped her lip up for a moment, capturing his smell, and then returned the greeting with a puff of air. Ashitaka smiled, rubbed her forehead again, and then swung onto the mare's back.

The mare took off at a trot at Ashitaka's urging, navigating her way between the trees. Ashitaka reached down and patted her neck gratefully. The mare carried him along the riverbank at twice the speed he had been traveling, putting more distance between himself and his hunter.

"San, there's nothing alive here." Usi-Kai padded around the site of battle in disgust, looking at the bloodied remains of man and beast. "I do not smell your human, though."

San slid wordlessly off of Yama-Inu's back, and knelt by the body of a familiar-looking bay stallion. Hiasu lay were he fell, blood leaking out of the gunshot wound in his belly. San let her hand slide gently along his exposed throat, fingers caressing the soft coat for a few moments of silent grief. Biting her lip, San stood up and looked at her two brothers hard. "Are you sure Ashitaka is not here?"

"I know the smell of the human's blood. Our den reeked of little else for days after you brought him there. He is not among the dead here." Usi-Kai growled, glaring over at the corpse of one of Kataki's men. "These humans are not from the town in the north. Why are they here?"

"We'll find out." San looked down at Hiasu again before swinging up on Yama-Inu's back once again. "Find Ashitaka's scent. Follow it. I have a feeling when we find him, we'll find these humans."

"They went north of here." Yama-Inu sniffed a chipped and battered granite boulder. "Maybe three- I can only smell two horses, though."

The wolves took off down the path made easily visible by the passage of Kataki and his lone soldier. Twigs were bent and the deep forest loam had been disturbed; no animal, save a mounted horse, would make such a mess while traveling.

The wolves ran for an hour, steadily, and the sun dipped down below the mountains to the west. The sky was shot with reddish-orange streaks, sending the tree tops into stark, black relief. They followed the river for a few miles, noting where Ashitaka's unobtrusive path met with a horse's shod hooves, and it was San's sharp eyes that saw the scrap of cloth clinging to a tree branch. Suddenly, both wolves slowed, their hackles rising almost simultaneously. San ducked low on Yama-Inu's neck, peering through the foliage to where the outlines of a pair of horses and riders were visible through the underbrush.

Even with her weak human nose, San could smell the stench of blood coming off of the two men. The first was hunched and evil-looking, dressed in dull red robes. He was corded with muscle, but his pate was hairless and grubby-looking. The second made her recall a hawk; straight-backed and stiff, riding a dark bay horse as quickly as the terrain would allow. Both of the horses were lathered with sweat, and the bald man's mount was breathing laboriously as it trotted after the bay.

Before the wolves or San could think to attack the two men, an arrow zipped through the air to bury itself deep within the bald man's right arm. He fell backward off of his horse with a cry, clutching at the wound. His chestnut gelding shied around at the motion, and its nostrils flared as it caught the scent of the two demi-god wolves less than a hundred feet behind them. It turned tail, sharp hooves landing squarely on the fallen rider, silencing his painful sobs as it galloped into the woods.

Ashitaka rode forward, the gray mare dancing sideways underneath him, clearly terrified of the two wolves. Only Ashitaka's skillful horsemanship kept her from running after the chestnut. Ashitaka slipped another arrow from his quiver, setting it to string while staring Kataki Bou down. The other man was fighting to keep his bay under control, let alone gather his firearm and load it.

"Leave us alone," Ashitaka said harshly, exhaustion and anger written plainly on his face. "Or I will kill you. I do not want to hurt anyone else this day, no matter how you deserve this arrow in your heart. Leave this forest and never return."

Kataki sneered at him, and without warning, he pulled a small, compact version of the regular firearm out from one sleeve. Swinging the weapon around, he pointed at San and fired.

Usi-Kai and Yama-Inu were much faster than Hiasu, and both jumped sideways, Yama-Inu bearing San to safety on his back. The wolves began to snarl and bark, circling back around to attack Kataki. The man spurred his bay into action, taking off through the woods, Ashitaka, San and the wolves hot at his heels. Ashitaka's first arrow was deflected by a sturdy tree trunk, and the bay, driven by terror, outraced the two wolf gods.

San heaved her spear with a yell; Kataki ducked at the noise and the spearhead missed his shoulder by mere inches. The bay horse kept galloping, following an animal trail that lead away from the river, and after a few moments' more of chase, the wolves began to pull back.

"Ashitaka!" San called, and suddenly he understood. He checked the mare's speed, and the gray nearly sat on her haunches as a break in the tree line revealed the high edge of a sheer drop two hundred feet down the mountain. Kataki's mount was not so prompt, and together, horse and rider thundered off of the edge.

There was a moment of silence that seemed to stretch the length of a day, and then the bay let out a terrified bugle that was cut short by a horrifying crash. The sound of bones snapping cut through the air, and gingerly, Ashitaka leaned over the edge. He pulled back, half disgusted, half relieved. He slipped off of the gray, who stood next to him obediently, trembling a little with fatigue. San appeared at his side, and melted into his open arms.

"It's over." He mumbled into her short-cropped hair, feeling his limbs start to shake from exhaustion. "Over."

End Chapter

First of all, I AM SO SORRY. I never meant to leave this story alone for so long. Life gets in the way, right?

Second, only one chapter left. Hooray for happy (albeit a wee bit bloody) endings!

Thirdly, reviews are good. Good reviews, bad ones, indifferent ones. Let me know you exist!

Fourthly, it's time for bed.

Cheers,
Pen