Chapter 4 – Determination

One of the shrine guardians that was not Yaheem brought him his dinner. The next morning it was still the same man, in the midday another, but Mono did not come.

He inquired the latter after her condition, relieved when he heard that she had got much better.

The boy stayed in the cabin until afternoon, sweeping dust and cobwebs to make a comfortable living place for him. He found where some tools and equipments were stored, although they were quite old and somewhat rusted. He also found something he wanted Mono to see.

In a wooden box the former owner of the cabin probably made, Wanderer found small wooden dolls. Most of them were animals that girls would consider adorable – birds, deer, and rabbits – and a doll made after someone he knew.

It resembled a little girl with long hair and a plain dress, like the one Mono wore everyday. He couldn't help but wonder what she would say if she saw it.

A few knocks on the door called him, followed by the voice of the person he was thinking of.

"Wanderer, it's me."

The youth put the doll back in the box and went to open the door.

The girl was still in white dress and with the rattan basket over her shoulder. She gave him a bright smile despite a thick bandage on one of her legs.

"Are you all right?" he asked.

She quickly nodded. "I'm fine. I'm sorry to frighten you yesterday."

"Don't mind it. I was being careless. I didn't see the snake at all."

Mono shook her head.

"Well, please forget about it anyway. It ended well." She changed the subject. "I'm going to fetch some water. Would you like to come along? We can return to the shrine together and talk after that."

"Will it be all right?" Wanderer gazed at Yaheem, who was standing crossing his arms some distances behind her. Mono seemed to understand.

"I don't think there'll be a problem. Lord Emon has ordered him to escort me all the way," she lowered her voice. "When we talk in the shrine, he'll be with us too, but not so close that he hear what we talk about."

The boy was speechless. The priest Emon had shown his trust in him when they talked yesterday, but to order Yaheem to accompany Mono was supposedly another way of protection – so clever that it could be read that he was not to be completely trusted.

"I got it." Even so he nodded. It couldn't be strange for Emon to do this; he came from another land and believed in another religion, anyway. He did not have any inappropriate thoughts with the girl, and was ready to prove that he just wanted to 'satisfy her curiosity' – as she put it.

And so they began the silent, uneventful trip, with Mono straggling in the lead, followed by Yaheem and Wanderer.

After she prayed and fetched the water, Wanderer saw that the girl became absent-minded like the previous day. Yaheem seemed to have gotten used to it and just stood guard for her. So he said nothing.

After a while, Mono stood up, and they started back to the shrine.

Yaheem told the Arslan youth to wait before the main hall, while he went inside with the girl. Other shrine guardians, taking their break, approached him and kept him company. They asked him about his journey, how he liked the village, and one even suggested that he should find some time to practice archery and fighting with them.

The quite lively conversation ended abruptly when Yaheem came out with Mono. Mono said apologetically that she had to take Wanderer from them, but the other guardians smiled and bowed to her before leaving. They were polite to her, but obviously more amicable than Yaheem. The boy guessed that Yaheem's solemnity was probably his own attitude, rather than the custom of shrine guardians.

Mono led him to the side to the main building, where there was a beautiful garden with blossoming trees and flowers, and rows of tombstones at the further back.

She seated herself on a stone bench. Looking around, Wanderer saw that another bench was quite a distance away, so he decided to keep standing instead.

"You can sit here," Mono said, moving to the side.

"I shouldn't," Wanderer replied. "I don't think it's appropriate to sit beside you."

The girl let out a sigh and lowered her face.

"So Lord Emon talked to you, too?"

"You could say that."

"I understand his concern, but it's too much," Mono nodded toward Yaheem, who stood quite far away. "He's troubling Yaheem with all this unnecessary escort thing."

"Well, isn't it his duty to serve the shrine," Wanderer reasoned. "And ensure your safety?"

"Now that you mention it, it is, but…" Mono said, displeased. "…I don't want him to stay near me this much. I think I make him feel very uncomfortable."

The boy found it hard to perceive how that could be. Wasn't it supposed to be the other way around, that Yaheem's silence made the joyful girl uncomfortable?

"Why?"

"Well, you've seen how I was at the pond. Didn't you feel worried?"

"A little, I have to admit," He thought of how she didn't seem to be herself, gazing blankly at whatever was before her eyes without seeming to acknowledge its presence.

"That's how I often am, at that place. I don't want others to see it and get worried about me. So I told Yaheem that he didn't need to come with me; I could go back here by myself," she explained. "Yesterday, I thought that if it weren't Yaheem – but you – I'd be fine. But still…"

"But I think Yaheem looked normal today."

The girl sighed again.

"He knows how to hide his feelings and never shows them. But I know he has a lot of worries on his mind. If only he learned how to share them with others, that would be better for him."

"You seem to care so much about him."

"Why wouldn't I?" Mono swung her legs like a child. "We grew up together…No, it'd be more exact to say that I've seen him here ever since I was a child. He's just five or six years older than me, but it looks as if he never wants to get to know me."

"Maybe you worry too much." Wanderer tried to comfort her. "As far as I see, Yaheem doesn't look like he wants to get to know anyone else either."

"I guess that's also because of me," the girl said more worriedly. "I cause him to carry more responsibility than the others."

"How?"

Mono was silent for a moment. Then she spoke slowly.

"Actually, Yaheem was supposed to escort Lord Emon. But because I am here in the shrine too, he has to escort me instead. He's the only one Lord Emon trusts with protecting me. But because I'm…a woman, he doesn't know how to act to me. I even thought how better it would be if I were a man. Perhaps he'd be more comfortable around me that way."

"Well, you're woman anyway. That can't be changed."

The girl nodded.

"I know. I can't do anything about Yaheem, and you too…"

The boy began to wonder what she wanted to say.

"Don't you feel uncomfortable knowing that you're being watched?"

"Not that much," replied Wanderer. "I told Lord Emon I was ready to do as he saw fit."

Mono shook her head tiredly and remarked.

"I just don't understand. Why do people always think that 'inappropriate' things can happen when a man and a woman are together by themselves?"

"Maybe because, chances are, they do happen," answered the youth.

"So is there any chance between you and me?" Mono met his gaze, asking so honestly that he was taken aback.

"Of course not." Wanderer looked away to hide the heightened color on his cheeks, surprised at how the girl could ask such a question. However, he tried to think that she was unaware of how far that 'impropriety' could get in the worst case. "I never have any of…such thoughts with you, honestly."

The girl gave him a faint smile.

"And I trust you."

For a moment she looked down silently. Then she continued.

"I never think of falling in love with a man," she said stressfully, not looking at him. "It's better for me if I don't."

"But why?" Wanderer asked, surprised.

"Because someday I have to become…a priestess. And from that day onward I must remain in the shrine for the rest of my life," she said plainly.

The boy was shocked. He knew she grew up in the shrine, but from her joyful outlook, he could never think of her as a sober priestess like the priest Emon.

"I'd never think that…"

The girl laughed softly.

"You can't picture me as a priestess, can you?"

He shook his head.

"Well, I'm still not one anyway. That's why Lord Emon allows me some freedom to do what I want, given that it's not against the codes of the shrine," she continued. "Because, when the day comes for me to become a priestess, I won't be able to have such fun anymore."

"So you want to make the most of this time?" Wanderer said thoughtfully.

"That's right."

"But do you really want to become a priestess? Please don't think that I'm being nosy or trying to interfere with your life, but you don't seem the type to fit in with a strict monastic life."

"I'll just have to bear with it. It's my fate," Mono said, her voice void of any happiness or sadness. "And if I become a priestess, then I'll be able to help a lot of people. I want to be of help to others."

The youth went silent, unable to think of what else to say until she spoke again.

"Well, let's talk about your tribe. I must have bored you with all of my senseless complaints."

Wanderer smiled, trying to keep the light mood. Then he told her about his tribe: where they lived, how they roamed the Great Plains while raising livestock and hunting.

Mono was an enthusiastic listener. She gave comments from time to time and asked quite a lot of questions that he was more than glad to answer. When he noticed the sky again, the sun was about to set. Yaheem approached them and said that it was time for Mono to join in the evening mass.

So Wanderer parted with her for the day, and they saw each other again the next day to continue the conversation.

And it became almost a daily routine for him for three months, before the flooding season came to pass.

Wanderer, on Agro's back, followed the light of the sword back northeastward where he saw the long bridge again. It was now almost directly over his head, stretching over the waterfalls and sea.

The beam pointed to the other side of the abyss, gradually lowering itself to the sea level. Reaching the edge of the chasm, he saw a pair of decaying stone columns that were supposedly parts of an arch; between the columns a bridge extended to the other side.

The bridge was neither as big nor long as the one high above, but it was equally fascinating, as it looked surprisingly like a natural rock path more than a manmade one. On it was even dirt and growing grass.

How strange this land was. There were not only massive structures like the long bridge and towering deserted shrine, but also convenient natural paths such as this one!

At first he did not trust how lasting the earth bridge would be, but seeing no other way around gave him no choice. Fortunately, the bridge was more than sturdy and could bear the weight of both the rider and his steed.

Approaching the other side of the sea, he saw a stone slab on the cliff face, just a distance away from the sandy beach. It was shaped like a doorway, as if to cover something.

Is that the seaside cave Dormin mentioned?

The sword proved this to him, with a light that shone directly to the stone slab.

He went down to the beach, and was greeted with a rumble.

The stone slab shook violently and crumbled, revealing the gigantic body of the second colossus.

Agro reared up in fear. Wanderer clutched tightly at the reins, staring at the beast.

It looked like a bull, covered with brown fur. Its face was composed of a stone mask like the previous giant he encountered, but with a protruding mouth and two horns on its head. One of the horns had broken off.

The young hunter maneuvered his horse to circle around the beast from a distance away. Like what Dormin said, it could only turn to face him slowly – even more slowly than the first one. Perhaps it was due to the fine grains of sand that caused it to sink slowly at every step, so the overgrown bull to lift one of its hooves and shake the sand out from time to time.

He unsheathed the sword and raised it, discovering two vital points on its head and its behind, just before its short, stone point of a tail.

He had to get on it first to reach either point anyway.

The beast had fur all over its body, but the fur on its legs ended at the knees, higher to jump to unless something could be done to trip it. The best choice he could think of was to shoot at its leg, if a glowing vein was there, and hope that the arrow could hurt it like the ancient sword.

But as he examined it, he could not find anything that looked like some glowing blue lines. It was then Dormin's voice rang in his mind.

The place that emits light is its vitals...

Even as the entity spoke, the colossus reared up on its hind legs and trampled the ground with its front ones.

Agro neighed frantically as it fell down. Wanderer tumbled to the ground, covered in sand. He had to roll away from the beast as fast as he could to avoid its next stomp.

What am I doing?

The question came to his mind, involuntarily and against his will. What was the point of asking?

Is this what she would want?

That he risked his life – or even died – for her? That he could not bear to live in the world without her?

He shook his head, straggling to his feet.

Thinking won't bring me anywhere!

Thanks to its recent attack, he had glimpsed a flicker of light underneath its front hooves. The Arslan youth ran a distance away from it, took out his bow and waited.

When it was about to trample him again, he quickly let go of the bowstring. The arrow met its mark.

The beast howled in pain, falling to its knees.

Running to his oversized prey, Wanderer dropped the bow and took off the quiver of arrows. He grabbed hold of the fur on its injured leg and began to make his way up to its shoulder.

The climb was not so hard, due to its long fur and sluggishness. Yet he later found it a tiring task; he had to scale along its side all the way to its behind, as its shoulder was – surprisingly – without any hair.

He reached the vital spot just above its tail and struck.

The colossus growled and squirmed, blood gushing from its wound. The boy rushed to its head, across its hairless back and stony ribs that obstructed his way.

Its flat head was broader than that of his first kill. A large mystical pattern spread out across it. Wanderer thought it would be easier to hold onto, but he was not quite right. Despite the increased space, it could shake its head more violently.

But he had only one choice: clinging to it until it gave up struggling. Then it was time for him to counterattack.

As soon as he buried the blade in its skull, it jerked and shook its head furiously, no different from a desperate wounded bull. Wanderer stabbed it again and again, while holding his breath from the burnt-corpse-like smell of the black blood.

Finally, the sigil flared up and faded slowly.

The enormous creature dropped dead like some slaughtered cattle. Wanderer still held onto it for a moment. Then he slowly climbed down to the beach.

Looking back over his shoulder, he saw the black mist expand and cover the colossus' lifeless body, and black tendrils that swam through the air. The youth ran without any further thought, hoping that he would be safe if he could get away from them in time.

However, the next moment they pierced into him and brought him the same indescribable pain.

…And he fell to the ground, unconscious again…

A/N: You may have noticed from the first and this colossus fight that I changed some attributes of the sword's light: it shows major vital points but not minor ones. I consider minor ones to be where a clear sigil is not shown, but are presented glowing blue or yellow. I think the change give Wanderer in my story more difficult times with the colossi and enable us to get more into how he thinks of the solution for each one.

Another change I made from the Thai version is that I've cut out some unnecessary details of the sceneries and actions, trying to make it shorter and more concise. However, the past events are not much affected. Apart from the absence of some trivial details here and there, the conversations and major actions remain the same for both versions.

Forty-eight chapters and two epilogues left…I have a long way to go, but I will try my best.