Chapter 3 – Black Blood

Wanderer found himself in a glade near the sunlit pond. A figure in white that seemed to glow was kneeling at its edge.

He was first reminded of Mono, but then he saw that it was not her.

That was a boy with short dark hair, looking slightly younger than the Arslan youth. His attire consisted of a plain white shirt and pants, and he had a water basket slung over his shoulder, similar to the one Wanderer saw with Mono.

The boy in white did not seem to acknowledge his presence. He looked down at his own reflection, before the water surface rippled slightly with a drop of his tears.

And a voice rang in Wanderer's mind, a voice so old that it would be impossible to belong to the youth he saw, yet he could not see the speaker in this place.

Do not be angry with us. It is necessary. For the survival of all people, a sacrifice must be made…

You should be proud to be given such an honor to serve our Lord…

Wanderer felt as if he could sense how sad and desperate the boy was with those words. Then he heard the boy spoke.

"I know. I know you have to do this, not out of anger or hatred. I know that for the majority to survive, a sacrifice must be made…

"But why?

"Why does it have to be me?"

Wanderer was about to ask the youth what he was talking about, but then he felt a force pulling him from his surrounding. The pond disappeared before him, replaced by black and white.

Everything was pitch-black, save for the brilliant whiteness ahead. It was as if he was looking out to the exit of a long, dark tunnel, while his body was drifting toward the light.

Then, there was a soft sound of breathing.

A gasp… Once… Twice… Then it stopped, completely. He knew it came from a dying person who instinctively attempted to hold on to her life, even though fate would not allow it…

He knew it belonged to Mono…

Wanderer extended his hand to the girl, helping her get down from Agro's back when they reached the pond.

"Thank you," Mono said softly. She released his hand and stepped to the edge of the water. Then she knelt down, clasped her hands before her, and bowed her head as if in a prayer.

The boy silently looked at her for a moment, as the girl dipped her basket into the clear water, which did not take long. After she filled it, she placed the water carrier at her side and looked at him.

"Are you done?" Wanderer asked.

"Yes. But we don't have to go back yet. Let's stay here for a while," she answered without looking at him, her gaze fixed at the beams of sunlight that came through the leaves. Her expression was of a thoughtful one.

He stood looking her for a few moments, until Mono realized and turned to him with a weak smile, patting the grass beside her.

"Why don't you come here and sit with me? I'm sorry. I had many things on my mind."

Wanderer approached her as offered, and sat a distance apart from her. Then he saw that the girl seemed to be lost in her own thoughts again, her eyes drifting on the water surface. He followed her gaze, realizing that the pond was so clear that he could see there were only white pebbles inside. There were neither plants nor animals in it. So he could not help but remark.

"It's strange."

"Huh?"

"I just notice that there're no living things in this pond. There should be some if the water is clean."

"That's why it is considered the sacred pond. The water here is clean and clear, but nothing lives in it. Even in autumn, a fallen leaf never lands in the pond, and in winter, the water is still warm and never freezes."

"That sounds quite scary," said Wanderer. He felt strangely uneasy as he continued looking at it.

"Maybe it's because this is the purifying water, particularly given to our village by the Sun God for our ritual," the girl said slowly, her voice sounding eerily absent-minded. "So that He can subdue…"

The boy suddenly thought of something.

"Wait. Is that why I don't see villagers fetching water from here?"

Mono looked slightly startled.

"Huh?"

"I don't see villagers coming here for water. Is it because the water in this pond is reserved only for rituals?"

"…Yes, it is," she replied softly.

"Why didn't you tell me yesterday? Wouldn't it be wrong if I drank the water and filled my drinking bag with it?" Wanderer said. Not that he was afraid the water could harm him, or it would lose its holiness; he was more worried that Mono would be scolded if anyone at the shrine knew.

"Should I drive a thirsty traveler away only because the water is sacred?" the girl simply asked. "The pond wasn't tainted anyway, and no one knew that you drank from it except us. So please forget it."

Wanderer said nothing more. He only looked at Mono, who did not seem to collect herself for some moments, and was waiting for her to start.

Finally, the girl shook her head. She gave him another faint smile and stood up.

"I was wrong. Let's go. If we stay here, I'll probably be lost in my thoughts that I don't know where to start talking to you."

She stepped toward Agro, but the next moment he saw her fall down screaming. Wanderer quickly came to her. He was frightened when he saw a black snake against her white leg, its jaws still locked in her flesh, just below the rim of her dress. It had probably hidden itself in some tall grass, so Mono hadn't seen it and unknowingly approached or stepped on it.

The boy cut its head from the body with his dagger. Then he pried away the snake's head and pounded it with the handle of his dagger until it was surely dead.

Next he examined Mono's leg, relieved as he saw marks of small teeth, not only two fang marks as he had feared.

"You'll be all right. It's not a poisonous snake."

Still, her leg was soaked with crimson blood. He could not tell if it were exactly the blood of the snake he had killed, or from Mono's wound.

"Does it hurt?" Wanderer asked. The girl shook her head, but she bit her lips as if to suppress a cry.

I need to wash the wound, the youth thought. Grabbing the basket, he poured some water on her wound faster than she could object.

But the girl suddenly winced and shrieked, struggling like a desperate trapped creature in pain. One of her hands fumbled blindly to his back, clinging so tightly at his shirt that he was surprised. In between the gasps that shook her small frame, she cried "don't…don't…"

"I'm sorry. Does it hurt?"

"Don't…use…that…water!" Mono got each word out with difficulty. Her dark eyes staring at him looked as though they were two bottomless pits. What she said was not a plea, but an absolute command.

Wanderer remained still as if mesmerized by her eyes, which did not seem like those of Mono's.

But how could that be?

Suddenly, the girl's eyes widened in shock. Then she released him and lied in the fetal position while she struggled against the pain in her body. It took a moment for her to gaze at him and said softly.

"Please…take me back to the shrine…Lord Emon knows what should be done…"

"Certainly." The boy gave up on washing her wound. He took off his bandanna and wound it around her leg. Her blood was still seeping out, dying the fabric dark. He slung the water basket over his shoulder, then carried the girl in his arms and called Agro.

Mono was sweating, and was so weak that she could not even sit by herself on horseback. He had to ordered his steed to stand still, and put her down on the saddle. Then he got up behind her and gently laid her head on his shoulder.

As he glimpsed at the blood on the grass, Wanderer felt that he saw a drop of strange black liquid among the crimson ones. But he thought it was only a trick of the light…

A while later, Wanderer found himself waiting anxiously in the hall of the shrine, with Yaheem stood silently in a corner far from him. Lord Emon was examining Mono in her room, which was one of the rooms in the basement corridor on the way to the library.

A small commotion almost occurred as soon as he and Mono entered the village. The villagers' eyes widened as they saw Mono's limp, unconscious form on the horse with him. A few shrine guardians, informed by the villagers, hurriedly came to block his way even before he reached the shrine.

At first they thought he had hurt 'Lady Mono', but after he explained the situation, they opened the way so he could get to the shrine as fast as possible.

Then he had to explain it again, this time to Lord Emon and the masked guardian Yaheem, who stood like a statue beside the priest.

When Emon learned a snake bit Mono at the pond, his face turned pale even though the boy affirmed that it was not a venomous snake.

He went even paler when Wanderer told him he had washed her wound with the water from the pond. He said that he would have to examine her condition, and hurried into the back of the shrine, after a maidservant who had brought Mono to her room. The youth was left with only Yaheem and the tense atmosphere.

The hall was so silent that he could hear the other man's breathing. To pass the time, the boy let his gaze wander to the details of the structures and the idols he had not seen clearly the previous day. Then he noticed that Yaheem was clenching his fists, and he could not help but think that the other was reproaching him for what had happened to Mono.

But the shrine guardian said nothing. Not even a single word was exchanged between the two until Lord Emon returned.

"She'll be all right," he told them. "What she needs is some rest."

Wanderer nodded, relieved. Then he said, "I apologize, Milord, that I let such a thing happen."

"It wasn't your fault," Emon replied with a faint smile. "In fact, we have to thank you. If you hadn't been with her at that time, there wouldn't have been anyone to help bring her back to us."

Yet the old man's expression grew grimmer before he continued.

"But from now on, we will have to be more careful. Even at the Sacred Pond, a beast can still lurk about." He turned to the shrine guardian. "Yaheem, resume you duty of escorting Mono to the pond. I'll talk to her about this myself. Even though she can be so stubborn, she's not unreasonable."

"Yes, Milord."

Then the priest turned to the Arslan youth. "I have something to say to you as well."

"Yes, Milord?"

"Mono told me that she went to you because she wanted to ask about your tribe. I have nothing against that. You seem a trustworthy young man, and I think it'll be good for Mono to have someone to talk to, instead of being cooped up in the shrine all the time," he began to speak like a worried father, and Wanderer could guess what the old man wanted to tell him.

"But it's…inappropriate for both of you to be alone with each other. I think you understand what I mean."

"Yes, I do."

"It's not that I don't trust you. But the villagers will regard your conduct as suspicious, and the shrine lax of discipline," Emon explained. "So I think that she and you should see each other within the walls of the shrine. I have spoken to Mono and she has agreed to this."

"I understand," Wanderer simply answered. "I'm ready to do as you see fit."

"I'm glad to hear that. Thank you so much," the old priest patted him on the shoulder. "Everyday after she brings back the water, Mono will be free in the afternoon until the evening mass, and she will see you at that time. But I'm afraid you'll have to let her rest today."

"I understand, Milord," Wanderer bowed to him. "Please excuse my leaving, and give her my regards."

He left the shrine and rode Agro back to Yorei's cabin, hoping that the next day Mono would get better enough to see him and talk to him.

A light…

So bright that he could not see anything…

…except for…

Someone that stood over him. He tried to make the person out, but what he could see was only a black profile. When he blinked, it was gone.

Wanderer got up, patching fragments of memories together as to what had happened to him. Gradually, he saw that he was in the deserted shrine. But how could he get back there? He remembered that he managed to kill the colossus, but then the black tendrils from its corpse pierced into him and he lost his consciousness. For a moment he had thought that he was going to die.

Anyway, he was still alive, and he still had to accomplish his task. There was no time for him to speculate in this strange land.

His eyes met the girl's body on the altar. The boy slowly approached her, until he realized that he was holding the sword tightly and sheathed it. He also noticed that his bow and quiver of arrows were lying against the base of the altar. Perhaps the entity Dormin had helped bring him and his belongings back.

However, the figure on the altar remained still, unchanged.

He swiftly turned back as he heard a rumble from behind. One of the two sculptures nearest to him was shaking. Blue light glowed from the carvings, and then flared up suddenly.

The idol exploded, sending pieces of rock and dust all around the alcove it was situated in.

The idol fell as the first colossus was slain.

Now there were fifteen left.

Thy next foe is... In the seaside cave... It moves slowly... Raise thy courage to defeat it. The voice of Dormin reverberated through the shrine.

Wanderer listened until the voice faded away. Then he picked up his bow and arrows, and was about to leave the shrine when he remembered another thing was missing.

Agro…

He had told his horse to wait at the cliff. How would it be now? He guessed he had to walk back there and find him.

But then he heard a whinny behind him and turned.

"Agro!"

The black steed came back to him, and he patted it on the shoulder. If Agro had not found the way back all by himself, perhaps Dormin brought him back with the same way he found himself and his bow in the shrine.

But their task was far from over, he thought as he glanced at the rows of idols in the dark of the shrine.

The second colossus is next.

Telling that to himself, he got on Agro's back and left the shrine. The light reflected from the sword in his hand pointed to the north.