Ayami and the Miyamizu sisters came running to the small waterfall at the back of the shrine that marked the boundary with the mountain.
The three women paused for a moment trying to catch their breath, as they looked in all directions, not sure which way to go.
"What do we do now?" Kaori asked anxiously, looking at the older girls.
Hanako was arranging her newborn brother between the ombuhimo's cloths, and turned towards the shrine, which was a few meters lower in height than the place where they were.
From that higher vantage point, Hanako watched in horror as the darkness of dusk was illuminated by the fire that already surrounded the shrine on three sides. The first buildings closest to the stairs were already in flames. Between the smoke and the hot air that they received in the face by the wind that did not stop blowing, Hanako heard the desperate screams of the servants trying to save everything they could from the shrine buildings. She could only see their silhouettes illuminated against the flames surrounding them.
Kaori looked at her sister, and seeing her shocked face, she also looked back, and anguish immediately swept over her.
"Dad's going to save Mom, isn't he?" Kaori asked sadly, looking at her sister.
Hanako's throat was so tight that she couldn't respond. Her desire to cry was so intense that she began to growl out of despair and helplessness.
"Hanako-sama, we have to be strong now," said Ayami, her eyes watering, but still retaining some of her temper. "Your father told us to go down the waterfall's watercourse to safety. We'd better obey him."
"But why don't we wait for him and mom here, Ayami-san?" Kaori asked.
Hanako came out of her trance of fury when little Toshiki started crying again. She started to move with little hops to soothe him by cradling him with her arms. As she did so, her mother's words came back to her mind: "Save your sister and brother".
"No, Kao-chan. We have to get out of here like mom asked us to and like dad told us to," Hanako answered resolutely. "I know they're going to be safe. Dad knows what he's doing."
"Then let's go down the waterway," said Ayami.
The creek was shallow, no more than a meter deep in the deepest places, and it ran down between a ravine without much inclination. A dense mass of trees lined the walls of the creek, shadowing the riverbed.
Ayami tried to see her way across the course without success. The dense layer of trees surrounding the creek barely let the moonlight through. Next to her stood Hanako, trying to do the same.
"It's too dark, I can't see anything out there," complained Hanako.
"Me neither, but we have to do it. We're going to make it," Ayami replied, trying to reassure the girls.
Ayami entered the stream. The water was very cold, but she didn't stop until the water was above her knees. She stretched out a hand to help Kaori into the stream.
"Come, Kaori-sama, I'll help you, we have to be careful not to slip on the stones."
The girl entered the water and barely took a couple of steps into the river, when something caught her attention out of the corner of her eye.
"Look, it's lighting up!" said Kaori in surprise, pointing to the trees in the creek downstream.
Hanako and Ayami looked in the direction that Kaori was pointing, and saw how the tunnel of trees that was once a pitch-black lobe now made out the silhouette of dark trees thanks to a clarity that began to increase at the bottom of the ravine.
"Is it the fire?" Hanako asked fearfully.
"It can't be!" Ayami shouted as the glow turned into flame light that began to set fire to the trees a hundred meters away from where they were standing.
In the distance the three of them could see how bright fireballs were jumping from tree to tree, setting them on fire.
"The fire is coming this way! We can't go down that way anymore!" Hanako shouted, terrified. "We're going to get trapped!"
"We have to go back!" Kaori shrieked.
"No! The shrine is surrounded by fire, we can't turn back, we have to find another way," Ayami shouted.
The woman turned, looking in all directions.
"Let's climb up the rocks of the waterfall! We have to climb up the waterfall!"
Kaori and Hanako turned and gazed at the sheer rock mass about twelve meters high behind them.
"Do we have to climb?" Hanako asked incredulously.
"We have no choice, if we keep waiting here, the fire is going to reach us! Come on, move!" ordered Ayami pushing the girls.
The women crossed the water bed to the other bank and came to a group of rocks that were as big as barrels, piled up by time and erosion with such a slope that, with some effort, it was possible to find some foothold to climb up.
"Come on, get in, step in there," Ayami motioned for Kaori to begin the ascent.
Kaori began to climb up the rock, trying to steady herself with legs and hands as best she could, but as she climbed no more than five feet up, she stopped dead in her tracks.
"I can't, I can't, I'm afraid of falling!"
"You can do it, Kaori-sama, you can do it," Ayami tried to encourage her from below.
"No! I can't, I can't, I can't!"
Ayami desperately began to climb up past Kaori, looking for easier footholds. When she had climbed high enough, she reached out a hand to Kaori from higher up.
"Come, watch where I put my feet and hands and follow me."
"I can't!" Kaori continued to complain with fear in her voice.
"You can do it, Kaori!" Hanako still shouted from the rocky base, watching her sister's slow progress, nervous and ready to hold her up if the girl slipped. "Come on, do it, Kaori!"
Kaori, crying in fear, reached out and was grabbed by Ayami, who pulled her to a higher foothold where the girl could stand more securely.
"Good, keep it up Kaori-sama, don't look down and follow me wherever I step," Ayami shouted.
Ayami and Kaori kept moving forward and managed to climb at least about five meters from the base of the waterfall.
Hanako was relieved that her sister was now moving forward more safely and she herself set out to begin the climb. She realized that with baby Toshiki on her chest it was much harder to climb because she wouldn't be able to press herself against the rocks without crushing him. She started to look at where she would have to do it when she heard a desperate cry from higher up.
"Hanako-sama, come up immediately! The fire is advancing towards you!" Ayami shouted.
Hanako turned around, and saw how the fire was setting trees on fire in the creek less than thirty meters away from her. But surprise turned to terror when she realized that the fireballs she thought were being blown from tree to tree by the strong wind were actually acting as if they were animals, like mountain monkeys made of fire, jumping from tree to tree.
"The fire is alive!" Hanako shouted in terror.
"Hanako-sama, start climbing now!" Ayami shouted desperately from the rocks.
But fear paralyzed Hanako. She watched as the fire monkeys seemed to have heard them, and stopped following the direction of the wind, beginning to advance straight towards where she was.
"Hanako-sama, the fire is running towards you, get out of there, run, run!" Ayami shouted as she watched from above as a dozen glowing fire beings made their way from tree to tree straight towards Hanako.
"Sister, run, run!" cried Kaori in desperation when she saw Hanako in danger.
"Ayami-san, save Kaori, get away from here, get away from here!" shouted Hanako for the last time, with no more time to start climbing before the fire beings reached her.
Not knowing where else to go, Hanako ran towards the shrine, crossing back over the river, seeking to go around the waterfall from the forest that rose to the left of the base of it. On that side the forest terrain climbed less steeply than the rock wall, but it was a desperate race against the fire monkeys that were already less than ten meters away from her, and the fire that kept advancing from the wind blowing from the shrine, trailing smoke and fire. Hanako could only pray that she wouldn't be hit by either of them.
"Hanako-sama, run!" Ayami shouted for the last time, seeing Hanako running away from them.
No longer able to do anything else for Hanako, Ayami decided to obey Hanako's last order, and save Kaori at all costs.
"Come on Kaori-sama, let's keep climbing or those things will catch up to us!"
"But... my sister... she's gone!" said Kaori as she watched in dismay as Hanako disappeared around the rock wall, followed closely by the glowing fire beings.
"Kaori-sama, obey what your sister said! Keep going upstairs, now! Now!"
Kaori could barely see the rocks because of both the darkness and the tears of fear and despair that filled her eyes, but the panic from the fire that was encircling them was stronger. She began to climb towards Ayami, who grabbed her and pulled her to another higher rock, continuing her desperate escape.
"Hanako... Hanako... Hanako... Hanako..." was all Kaori could repeat softly, between whimpers, as if it were a mantra of protection. The girl went into a kind of trance: holding on, grabbing the rock and climbing, climbing out of pure survival instinct.
§
Goro Mayugorô sat on his knees in front of what had once been the bathhouse of his home. His eyes were fixed on the burning remains of the building, but he was unable to process what was happening; watching his mother and sister die, buried by fire, had broken him with grief, and his mind had succumbed to helplessness and shock.
Goro was so absent minded that he didn't notice when his father was approaching him, shouting in a broken voice.
"Sayuri! Sumi! Where are they? Sayuri!..."
Yamazaki saw his son, and began to stumble toward him.
"Goro! You're here... You're here..."
Hearing his name, Goro slowly turned his head, almost like a reflex. Only then did he see his father approaching him.
Yamazaki's clothes were in tatters, showing burns on his hands and arms. His face was swollen from the heat. In his arms he hugged some tools from the workshop, and a few pairs of zori shoes and getas salvaged on the run.
"Goro... you're alive!" he exclaimed with a broken voice.
The man dropped the things he was carrying and took the last few steps to fall to his knees beside his son. He put his arms around Goro's shoulders and began to speak between whimpers.
"...we lost... everything... the workshop... the house... they're gone... we... we lost everything..."
Yamazaki tried to pull himself together. He lifted his head and grimaced in pain as he tried to wipe his face by rubbing his face against the sleeves of his battered kimono. Then he started looking in all directions, searching for his family.
"Sayuri!... Sumi!" the man continued to shout in desperation, struggling to his feet.
Goro continued to gawk at him. Slowly his mind began to come to. The thick fog of shock began to dissipate and he regained consciousness enough to realize where he was and what had happened.
A pang of pain pierced the boy's chest again, as he remembered the reason his mother and sister were dead, and he began to cry uncontrollably.
"What's wrong with you?" Yamazaki asked, turning to Goro in alarm.
"They... they..."
Unable to stop crying, Goro could barely point his hand at the smoldering remains of the bathhouse.
Yamazaki stared at Goro's hand in disbelief, and then followed his gaze to where it was pointing. All he saw were the flames and smoke still rising from the remains of the collapsed and consumed roof.
"No... no!" shouted Yamazaki, bending down to Goro and grabbing him by the kimono from around his neck, pulling him to look at him. "What do you mean? Where's your mother?"
"She... she wanted to save Sumi... and I couldn't... stop her. -I couldn't! And... she went in! She went in there! I couldn't! I couldn't stop her!"
Yamazaki looked at him in horror, and he let go all at once, falling backwards in a sitting position. And his gaze turned back to the pyre of fire.
"AAAAAAhhhh! SAYURIIIIIIIII! NOOOOOOOOOOOoooo! AAAahh-haaa-haaa-haaa! AAAaahh!" the man shrieked, grabbing his head and screaming uncontrollably. "SAYUUURIIIII! SUMIIIIIIII!"
Goro felt like he couldn't breathe. He had lost everything, his home, his daily sustenance, his family... now he was truly alone. His mother and sister, those women who loved him, had died because of his own selfishness; his ambition for power had been the bait that had doomed his family. He had nothing either. All he had left was...
Hanako.
The image of the girl appeared in his mind like a flash of lightning. Her face. Her smile. The tenderness with which she looked at him... Miyamizu Hanako was the only thing he still had in this world.
Then the dragon's admonition struck him as so stupidly obvious that it made him grind his teeth: "I will give you power to wipe out those who oppose you."
The dragon god had tricked him, and had exploited his fear to use him as a tool, as a simple toy to vent his hatred against Itomori and the Miyamizu.
Against the Miyamizu.
Goro looked up and saw how the fire was going up the mountain, being pushed by the wind, in the direction of the Miyamizu shrine, where Hanako was supposed to be.
If the dragon carried out his revenge, he would lose everything. He had to save Hanako. He had to find her and save her from the dragon's fury.
Goro stood up with the strength born of despair. He began to walk up the mountain, leaving his father alone, who was still screaming and crying, desolate, in front of the remains of his burning house.
Goro could only think that he had to save Hanako. And that thought alone was pushing him, step by step, towards Miyamizu shrine. He had to find her. He had to save Hanako from the fire of Ame-no-Kagaseo's vengeance, a fire that he himself had set.
§
Jisuke Kusakabe and his group were very nervous. Night had already fallen and the wind was still blowing with notorious intensity.
They had spent the last hour trying to sharpen their senses as much as possible to detect any danger of fire. But though they had not smelled smoke, they still did not feel safe.
"Jisuke-sama, I think we should camp over there, where that grove begins," said Masao, pointing to a small bend in the road where a small tree-covered hillock enclosed the road.
"Yes, that's a good idea, Masao-san," the leader replied. "Besides, the animals are tired."
"We're all tired," Masao replied.
"That's right, we should all rest," Jisuke agreed. He turned to the man leading the ox.
"Tetsuo-san, take the cart under that tree, I don't want it exposed to view."
As soon as they reached the place the men dismounted and led the horses and ox into a corner of high grass, and tied them to a tree nearby to eat and rest. Then they began to unload from the wagon the things needed to set up camp.
"Are we going to sleep out in the open?" Kiyo asked, not moving from the top of the wagon, looking worriedly at the ground around her, as if some wild beast was going to leap out of the grass at any moment.
"Welcome to the traveler's life, sis," Jisuke replied with some derision. "That's why we brought the blankets you carried, remember?"
"But... weren't we going to that... shrine?" the girl asked disappointedly.
"Yes, but we're not there yet. We may be too close to the place, but as long as Takeda-sama doesn't return, we won't risk going any further. We might get trapped by the fire. Or would you rather we keep going?"
"No, no," said the girl, frightened. "We'd better stay here, then..."
"Then help set up camp.", said Jisuke. "Tetsuo-san?"
"Yes, boss?"
"Why don't you go with Kiyo-chan to get some water and firewood? I think I hear a spring nearby," said Jisuke, pointing to the nearby grove of trees.
"Yes, sir. Kiyo-sama, come with me."
The girl reluctantly got down from the cart, and they both went into the trees, carrying a copper pot to fetch water.
After a short while Kiyo and Tetsuo returned from the forest. The girl's original fears seemed to have vanished.
"Brother! There is a beautiful pond fed by a river flowing down some rocks. That's what you hear. It's only a minute from here, I could even take a swim if the water isn't cold."
"Believe me it must be very cold, but now we'd better warm up and eat something. Take the water to Masao-san," Jisuke ordered.
Masao had fetched some stones and prepared a small hearth for a fire, which was already lit with a few branches. Tetsuo arranged the firewood he had brought from the forest, and they put the pot to heat to prepare a stew with the vegetables they had brought with them.
An hour later they had finished their supper, and gathered round the fire with their blankets, ready for the night. They all watched the fire in silence, so weary from their journey, that none of them noticed the sudden silence that suddenly enveloped them: the wind, which had been blowing steadily, had stopped as suddenly as it had started.
"Jisuke-sama, what's the plan for tomorrow?" asked Masao.
"I hope we make it to the shrine," Jisuke replied, still staring at the fire. "We will deliver the Daimyo's letter to the high priest. I hope it is good news for him, so he will be interested in buying some of the goods we brought."
"Or her family might be interested. The fabrics we brought are very attractive to the ladies," Masao said, remembering the contents of the shipment.
"That's right, we'll have to talk to the women at the shrine. There I hope you can help, Kiyo. You must convince them of the goodness of our fabrics."
"Me?" said the girl in surprise.
"Yes, those are women's things, and I don't doubt your tastes."
"All right, I'll do it," Kiyo said excitedly, thinking about meeting the priestesses she'd heard so much about.
"And we'll ask them for lodging for a couple of days," Jisuke continued. "We can use the shrine as a base to contact wealthier farmers or landowners, to offer our products to them as well."
"But will they be fine in the sanctuary? I mean, because of the fire," the girl thought, remembering what the fire looked like from a distance.
"I hope they are, or our journey will have been in vain. The important thing is that at least we are... huh?" Jisuke stood up, looking around. "The wind stopped!"
Masao and Tetsuo also stood up, looking around in amazement.
"I hadn't noticed," Masao finally said. "I guess this is a good thing, the fire won't spread so fast."
"But the wind could reappear and change direction," Jisuke said with some concern. "I think we'd better stand guard tonight. It wouldn't be good if fire or wind came in our direction and caught us sleeping. Kiyo, you'll take the first watch."
"Why me?" the girl protested.
"Because you've been sitting comfortably the whole trip, the rest of us need to rest. Then I'll relieve you, in the middle of the night when…" Jisuke looked up at the sky, and held a hand in front of his face, closing one eye and calculating. Then he pointed a finger at the grove.
"Look, when the moon is touching the tip of those trees, you wake me. And wake us at once if you smell smoke, or if the wind reappears."
"Fine, fine. I'll do it," the girl said reluctantly.
The men chatted some more about some travel topics that Kiyo didn't pay much attention to, and before long they settled down and fell sound asleep.
Kiyo settled into a sitting position with the blanket over her shoulders, watching the fire. A while later she had to stop to place some of the pieces of wood to stoke the fire.
"This is no life for a lady," Kiyo said to herself thoughtfully. I want us to get to that shrine soon.
§
Hanako was exhausted. She had run through the forest for a long time until she managed to outrun the strange fire monkeys, but the darkness of the forest had led her astray. She could only see fire in the distance more than a hundred meters away from her, but she was disoriented and did not know where to escape to. Her visibility was further reduced by the windblown smoke that made her cough every time thick layers of smoke enveloped her.
Her brother Toshiki was still in the cloths of the ombuhimo that kept him cradled to his sister's chest. He had been crying as she ran away from the waterfall, but calmed down when she stopped.
Hanako couldn't stop gasping for air. She felt suffocated by the toxic smoke. Worried about her newborn brother, she had covered him with the blanket as much as possible, trying to leave a chamber of clean air that would allow the baby to breathe without the smoke from outside reaching him. But she was totally unprotected.
Trying to reorient herself, she suddenly felt heat behind her. She turned and saw with alarm that the fire had advanced to within thirty yards of her. The wind was moving the fire on her right side and behind her, threatening to pin her against the rock outcropping.
"No, no, no, no... Musubi... help me!" she begged, settling her brother back down, who started crying again as she began to run.
"Shh, shh, Toshiki-kun, we're coming out... we're coming out," she tried to reassure him, looking at him through the blanket for a second, then covering him again and starting to walk away from the fire.
But as soon as her brother began to cry, she felt a strange crackling to her right. She turned and with fear she saw how several fire monkeys had once again started running towards her, jumping from tree to tree, setting them on fire instantly. She realized that they were guided by the baby's cry.
"Shhh, Toshiki-kun, don't cry, don't cry!" pleaded Hanako uselessly, starting to run as fast as she could, trying to advance through the inhospitable terrain without stumbling or falling in the darkness.
But her run soon began to become more difficult. The ground began to close in on a small ravine that was not so steep, and the fire and smoke carried by the wind were advancing rapidly towards her, enclosing her.
Hanako had no way to climb up the walls of the slope, and if the fire closed her way in front of the path, it would be the end of her.
The girl began to run as fast as she could until she felt the hot wind begin to reach her. The smoke was thick and she felt surrounded by a heat like she had never felt before.
In panic she tried to keep running holding her breath, but she was too agitated and within seconds she suffocated, until she reflexively had no choice but to exhale all the air from her lungs, and then reflexively took a sharp intake of the hot, poisonous air that surrounded her. As she breathed in, she felt as if her throat was on fire. The heat of the air was such that she felt as if the fire itself was burning in her chest.
Hanako tried to cover her nose with her arm, but the heat was such that even with every breath her chest burned.
Without stopping to run and cough, the dense and hot smoke was suffocating her, feeling with each breath how her throat and lungs were invaded by that hot and dry air that burned her inside.
"I'm not going to make it... I'm not going to make it" she began to think in a panic, as she reached the end of that gully of land. There was a tree with many roots at the top that she could use to climb, holding on to them. With an effort driven by desperation, she managed to climb up and out into a flat area of trees.
As she looked out, she saw that the forest was less dense, with trees about five meters apart. And about thirty meters away, in the background, Hanako could see an open pasture.
But the trees in that clearing were already in flames swept by the insistent wind. She had no escape but to run through the flames.
Hanako pulled the blanket over her nose and mouth, took a painful breath, held her breath and started running with all the energy she had left, trying to get through the burning trees in the shortest time possible. But halfway through she was completely suffocated, and had no choice but to breathe to keep from passing out.
The air that entered her lungs was so hot she felt as if her chest was liquid fire. Pangs of pain in her throat almost took her breath away, and she felt her vision blurred with pain. But she had to run, and with all her might she kept running, until seconds later she made it out into the open, into a dark pasture only illuminated by the fire of the burning forest behind him.
With difficulty she managed to keep running another thirty meters, panting and trying to take in the fresh air, finally free of smoke and the intense heat. But every breath she managed to take was a stab in her chest. The cool air failed to soothe the pain in her throat and lungs, and each breath seemed to bring less air for her.
And suddenly, the wind around her stopped. It was as if whatever was driving that wind had suddenly dried up.
The sudden silence that followed was broken by nothing more than the crackling of the burning forest behind them.
Hanako couldn't take it anymore. She stopped and felt her body faint. She managed to rest one knee on the ground. She held baby Toshiki with one arm, while falling first to her knees and then with the other hand she braced herself on the ground, her arm trembling and barely supporting her so she wouldn't fall on her face.
Hanako felt like she was going to collapse, and her consciousness began to waver. "I can't fall, I have to save my brother. I have to save my brother" she thought.
She got to her feet with great difficulty and began to stagger along. To the pain she felt in her chest with every gasp she managed to get some fresh air into her lungs was added a choking sensation that would not stop despite breathing as deeply as she could.
Suffocation was gaining pace, and she felt that little by little her consciousness was becoming cloudy. Hanako kept walking, driven only by the determination of the promise she made to her mother. "I have to save my brother" she thought over and over again. That single idea was the only thing that kept her on her feet.
After walking for an indeterminate amount of time, she heard water running a few dozen meters in front of her. Her throat burned so hot that the thought of taking a sip began to drive her mad. She began to move towards the sound of the water, taking erratic steps, until she reached a small grove of trees on the other side of the pasture.
Among thin, young trees she found a small waterfall that formed a pond no more than two to three meters in diameter. Hanako saw a moonlit rock next to the water. Almost stumbling she managed to reach it and sit down. She reached for the pond water with one hand, and took a few sips into her mouth. The relief of thirst was as intense as the pain she felt as the water ran down her throat.
Then she realized that the darkness around her began to increase. With the last thread of her consciousness, she managed to move her body just enough to lean against the rock without dropping into the pool, and the darkness sucked her in.
§
After reaching the top of the waterfall where they had climbed, Ayami and Kaori started running to get as far away from the fire as they could. They reached a point where they came out of the tree zone, but they both kept running without looking back, in a trance-like state, thinking of nothing but getting away.
They continued walking for a long time without knowing in which direction they were advancing. The moonlight was not enough to help them orient themselves. Only when they reached a rocky promontory that blocked their path did their tiredness make them stop.
As they looked back, they realized that they were so far away that there was no longer even a trace of the firelight. Only a distant column of smoke barely illuminated by the moon showed where they had started from.
Then, the two women broke down. Kaori approached Ayami and hugged her in sobs.
"I want to see mom and dad. I want to be with Hanako, where are they? Where are they?"
"Kaori-sama, I don't know," Ayami answered in tears.
"We have to go back! We have to find them!"
"No, Kaori-sama, we have to wait, we can't keep walking like this, it's dangerous for us to keep walking at night," Ayami tried to reason.
"I want to see them! I want to be with them!" the girl answered between sobs.
The chill of the night began to take its toll on Ayami. She noticed that both of them had their kimonos wet almost up to their thighs from crossing the stream. She looked around, not knowing what to do. She wished she had a fire to warm herself, but she didn't know how to make a fire.
Ayami looked at the girl who was still crying inconsolably. Not knowing what else to do, she took Kaori by the shoulders.
"Kaori-sama... Kaori-sama, listen to me! Your parents and your sister entrusted me to get you to safety, and now we're far away from the fire, but we have to find shelter for the night. In the morning we'll return to your family, I promise?"
Kaori could only nod her head in response, unable to stop crying.
"Well, then help me find a place..."
Ayami took the girl by the hand, and began to take a few steps around the rocky promontory. In the moonlight they could see enough to recognize its shape. They discovered a large rock several meters high that had a natural hollowing not too large, but big enough for the two of them to fit inside it.
Ayami searched for a branch in the nearby bushes and provided herself with a rod. She then approached the hole in the rock, feeling around and tapping the dark interior with the stick to make sure there was nothing dangerous there. After seeing that nothing was happening, she was convinced that it was a safe place.
"Kaori-sama, come with me, we'll take shelter there, do you have your blanket?"
The girl looked at her in confusion for a few seconds, then looked down at her body as if the blanket would magically appear from it.
"I... I... I think... I lost it. Forgive me, Ayami-san, it wasn't my fault!"
"We'll share mine," Ayami answered, stroking the girl's head to reassure her. "We'll stand very close to keep each other warm."
The girl nodded and they both cautiously entered the hole, groping fearfully with their hands.
The hole in the rock was dry and only sand and pebbles could be felt in it. They both settled down on the blanket and Ayami then covered them both with the extra part, while she hugged the girl for warmth.
"I'm scared, Ayami-san," said Kaori snuggling into the woman, "What's going to happen now?"
"Now we are going to rest. We'll sleep and get our strength back. Tomorrow we'll find your family. They will be very happy to see you, I'm sure of that."
"I'm hungry."
"Me... too," Ayami acknowledged ruefully. "But we didn't bring anything... we'll just have to hold on, let's be strong, Kaori-sama."
The girl settled in a little more, hugging Ayami's waist, closing her eyes as her hiccups slowed as tiredness and sleepiness made her fall asleep.
But Ayami couldn't fall asleep right away. Where was her sister Amane? Would she be alright? She hadn't seen her since the afternoon when she went to Kyomi-sama's room. She closed her eyes and began chanting the prayer of protection she had learned from the shrine, thinking of her, until little by little, sleep overcame her as well.
§
Kiyo had been awake on watch for a long time. She got up several times to put more wood on the fire, and each time she settled back under the blanket, but as time passed the warmth of the fire began to relax her. First, she began to nod off, and then she could stand it no longer, and fell asleep sitting in front of the fire.
At some point she woke up startled, feeling that she had heard something, but didn't know what. She looked around, seeing nothing abnormal. The men were still asleep, and Tetsuo was snoring as if he slept in a comfortable bed.
The fire was almost alone in fathoms, so she realized that it had been a long time. Reluctantly she stood up to put more wood on the fire.
Kiyo looked up at the moon and realized it was already reaching the trees just as her brother had told her. She was about to wake him up, when she felt the urge to go to the bathroom. For a moment she debated what to do, and realized she was embarrassed at the thought of having to relieve herself in full view of her brother or her traveling companions. After a moment's thought, she decided it was best to wander off into the trees. That way she could open her clothes and relieve herself out of sight of everyone. She remembered that a little higher up was the small pond, so she might even have some privacy and fresh water if she needed to wash up.
Silently she began to move away from the campfire, and with the help of the moon she repeated the steps she had taken at dusk when they had set up camp. Almost reaching the pond she found some bushes behind which she made herself comfortable and did her business, always sharpening her senses, fearful that some fox or some beast of the bush might surprise her.
When she finished, she came out from behind the bush, straightened her clothes, and went over to the stream that drained the pond to wash her hands. Then she managed to take a couple of steps back to camp when, from behind her, out of nowhere she heard a noise like a baby's whimper.
Kiyo felt every hair on her neck stand on end and felt a chill of dread run down her back. She felt paralyzed, unable to move.
A second, slightly louder groan told her it was not her imagination. Fighting the paralysis of fear, she slowly turned around until, as she finished turning, she saw a whitish figure lying motionless on the rocks. And suddenly a faint cry of a baby began to come from it.
Kiyo screamed and ran back to the camp with all her legs.
"Jisuke, Jisuke! Help!... A yōkai! A yōkai!"
The men sleeping around the fire were startled awake by the shouts. Jisuke jumped to his feet, looking around, and was surprised not to see Kiyo.
"Kiyo, where are you," Jisuke cried desperately, looking in all directions.
Jisuke still couldn't figure out what was going on when the girl came running out of the trees and jumped into his arms, terrified, and then stood at his back seeking his protection, pointing an accusing hand towards the grove.
"Th-there's a yōkai in the forest! I saw it, I saw it!" Kiyo shouted from behind Jisuke.
"But where did you come from, Kiyo? What were you doing over there?" Jisuke asked in annoyance, trying to understand what was going on.
"I-I went to... need to go to the bathroom, and I walked away a little bit, and I saw that... thing... crying like a baby, it's a yōkai!"
Masao and Tetsuo stood next to Jisuke, not quite understanding what was going on.
"Is it some wild beast?" Tetsuo asked worriedly.
"Maybe we should check, lest some animal attack the horses," Masao suggested.
"You're right, check them first," Jisuke asked.
Masao disappeared for a while and returned with an anxious face.
"The animals are restless, but fine. I don't know if it's because of something else or because of all the screaming... from your sister," Masao explained with some discomfort.
"Are you sure you saw something, Kiyo? You weren't asleep or sleepwalking?" Jisuke asked his sister with doubts about her sanity.
"Of course, I'm not crazy! I know what I saw and heard!"
"And you say you heard a baby crying? That's weird... let's see, shh, quiet, everyone."
The four of them stood petrified on the spot, trying to maintain complete silence, and straining their ears.
To their surprise, in the distance, a faint, distant cry of an infant was heard for a second.
"Did you hear that!?" Jisuke asked in alarm, taking a step back.
"Yes, I heard it too," Masao replied in fright. "W-what do we do, Jisuke-sama?"
"We have to... we have to figure out what's going on. Come on, we're three grown men, we can't just pee our pants like we're brats! Masao, get the oil lamp from the wagon," Jisuke ordered.
Masao fetched the lamp, then walked over to the fire, lit it and stood next to Jisuke.
"We should bring something to defend ourselves, right?" Masao suggested.
"Let's take the hoe, wait," Jisuke agreed.
Jisuke went through the camp's things, until he found a hoe that was tied to the side of the wagon. After struggling with the knots for a moment, he pulled it out and made his way back to the group.
"Masao-san, you carry the hoe and I'll carry the lamp. Tetsuo-san, you stay here with Kiyo and protect her. We'll go check it out."
"B-brother, please be careful!" Kiyo asked in fear.
The two men disappeared into the trees. Tetsuo moved back to stand behind the campfire, and Kiyo in fear stood behind the man, hiding and barely peeking over his shoulder to see into the forest.
A while passed in complete silence, where Tetsuo and Kiyo were left in a wait that seemed to last forever. And then they both jumped in fright when they heard a loud scream from Jisuke in the distance.
"Kiyo-chan, Tetsuo-san! Come here at once!"
"A-Are you alright?" Tetsuo shouted back with his hands like horns.
"Come now, we need your help!" Jisuke shouted back.
Tetsuo and Kiyo looked at each other, and both nodded with a swallow of saliva. The man began to walk ahead, and the woman behind, not knowing what to do.
Guided by the light of Masao's lamp, the girl and the wagon driver were approaching Jisuke. And now they heard the clear cry of a baby.
More fearfully than ever they moved on and as they circled around some thick bushes they saw that Masao was carrying a bundle in his arms, and Jisuke was trying to lift a fainting woman in his arms.
"Tetsuo-san, it's a woman and she's hurt, help me, quick!" said Jisuke when he saw them coming.
After a couple of seconds of stupor, Tetsuo approached and between the two of them they took the woman between their shoulders.
Kiyo, embarrassed, approached Masao.
"Is that a real baby?" asked the girl.
"Yes, it's a child who looks almost like a newborn, please help me hold him, Kiyo-sama," Masao asked, handing the baby to the girl.
"Kiyo, you carry the baby, Masao-san, light our way, and let's hurry back to camp," Jisuke ordered.
The four began to retrace their steps, carrying the unknown girl, totally unconscious.
When they arrived at the camp, the baby began to whimper and cry faintly.
"What do I do now?" Kiyo said nervously, fidgeting, not knowing what to do.
"Check the baby, he might be cold, or hurt," Jisuke ordered, who was carefully laying the woman he was carrying on one of the blankets.
"Come with me, Kiyo-sama, I'll help you with the baby," Masao suggested.
"Do you know about babies, Masao-san?" asked the girl incredulously.
"Yes, we recently had a baby girl with my wife... although...".
The man couldn't keep the words from getting stuck in his throat.
"Oh, no... no need, Masao-san," Kiyo interrupted him, remembering that Masao's daughter, a baby no more than six months old, had recently died.
"That's fine, thank you," the man replied. He motioned for her to hand him the baby. "Give him to me, and please bring the lamp and a blanket."
The girl obeyed, and then they placed the baby on the cart. The two of them were busy examining the baby, while Jisuke and Tetsuo tried to revive the woman.
"Ma'am, ma'am, can you hear us? Ma'am..." Tetsuo insisted, trying to gently move the woman by the shoulders.
"I think she's not reacting, and she's breathing hard," Jisuke observed. "Look, her clothes are sooty, and she smells like smoke."
"Is she a victim of the fire?" Tetsuo asked, standing up and looking at Jisuke in surprise.
"I have no other explanation... besides, look at her clothes."
Tetsuo looked at the woman blankly. Jisuke then reached down and tried to loosen the light cloak the unconscious woman was wearing, opening and revealing the clothes underneath.
"She's a Miko maid!" Tetsuo exclaimed when he saw the clothes the girl was wearing. "How did she get here? We're still supposed to be far from the shrine."
"The only thing I can think of is that the fire reached the shrine and this girl escaped with her son, perhaps running through the forest. That's why she's so hurt."
"But there's something strange," said Tetsuo.
"What is it?" Jisuke asked.
"She looks very young to be the mother of such a small baby."
"Mhh, that's right."
Jisuke stood up and fetched a piece of cloth from the cart, wet it and brought it over to the woman, beginning to gently wipe her face, which was dirty and blackened with smut from the smoke.
Wiping the girl's face, both men were amazed at her beauty. And they realized that she was barely a teenager.
"Maybe she's the child's sister," Jisuke concluded.
"And who will their parents be?"
"It must be someone from the shrine, but we'll have to find out tomorrow."
The girl began to cough, wincing and scrunching up her face in pain. She was beginning to regain consciousness.
"Miss, are you alright? Can you hear me?" Jisuke asked, lifting the young woman to a half-sitting position and resting her on his arm.
The girl opened her eyes weakly, and tried to say a few barely audible words, but coughing prevented her from saying anything.
"Tetsuo, get me some water to give her to drink," Jisuke ordered.
The man brought a bowl to Jisuke, and Jisuke placed it on the young woman's lips.
"Here, it's water, drink a little, carefully."
The girl drank some water, but closed her eyes and winced in pain as she swallowed.
"Calm down, it's going to pass, it's going to pass," Jisuke tried to calm her down, not knowing what else to tell her. "You are in a safe place, we have the baby, we are checking him if he is well."
The girl opened her eyes and weakly raised one of her arms and gripped Jisuke's clothes tightly, trying to speak, but her voice wouldn't come out.
Jisuke brought his ear close to the girl's face, trying to understand him.
"S-s-save him... p... pl-please... save... my... brother..." was all the girl could say, before losing her strength and fading away again.
Jisuke noticed that the girl's arm lost strength, and he despaired.
"No, no, miss! Don't leave me, listen..."
But the girl did not respond.
"Is she still alive?" Tetsuo asked in fear.
Jisuke put his hand over the girl's nostrils, and he could feel that she was still breathing weakly.
"She's breathing, but she's very weak," Jisuke replied.
"And what did she tell you, Jisuke-sama?"
"That we... save the baby. He is her brother."
Jisuke arranged the blanket under the girl to improvise a pillow under the girl's head, and let her lie down.
"Masao-san, Kiyo-chan, how's the baby going?" Jisuke asked.
"He was dirty, we cleaned him up and we are keeping him warm. He looks fine, but he must be dehydrated. Let's give him some milk," suggested Masao.
"And where are we going to get milk in the middle of nowhere?" Jisuke complained bitterly.
"Can't the mother breastfeed?" Kiyo asked.
"She is his sister. She regained consciousness for a few seconds and asked me to save her little brother. Since she's not the mother, she can't breastfeed him," Jisuke replied bitterly, not knowing what to do.
"We must give him something. Even if it's just a few drops of water so he doesn't get dehydrated, or the baby will die," Masao recommended.
"You're right. Please do it," Jisuke agreed.
Masao took the baby in his arms and reached for a clean cloth and dipped it in water, and then dripped small drops into the baby's mouth, who began to react, swallowing them gratefully, and whimpering anxiously for more.
"Look, he's thirsty! I was right, poor child," said Masao. "But he must be hungry, too. He needs milk; we must get this baby to the village as soon as we can, and find his mother, Jisuke-sama."
"We'll do it in the morning. Now, I need us to take care of this girl and the baby, to take them back to their family. We'll take turns resting. Kiyo, you go to sleep now, I'll stand guard for a while and keep an eye on the wounded girl and the baby, the rest of you settle down and keep sleeping."
"No, Jisuke-sama, I will see the baby. Please you see the girl," replied Masao.
"I'll keep an eye on her then," Jisuke said, shrugging his shoulders and pointing at the passed-out girl.
"But what's wrong with the Miko girl?" Kiyo asked approaching the girl who was lying on the floor.
"She must have smoke poisoning," Tetsuo explained. "When we found her, she had the baby covered with a blanket, and that's why the baby is better off than she is, but she had a lot of smearing on her face and clothes. It looks like she couldn't protect herself from the smoke and the hot air from the fire."
"I've seen people like that," said Masao.
"Really? Where did you see them?" Kiyo asked with interest.
"When I was a teenager, I saw a fire in some houses near where I lived. Several people had been trapped inside the houses, but the neighbors managed to rescue them alive because they broke through the walls. But when they were pulled out, they were also unresponsive and unconscious, just like this girl."
"And what happened to them?" Kiyo asked.
"Several of those people had no visible burns, but they had breathed in a lot of smoke and the burning air... and had been burned from inside..."
Masao remained silent, staring at the girl, saying no more words.
"So... what happened to them?" Kiyo asked again, worried.
Masao looked at Kiyo, then at the other two men. He sighed and looked sadly at the unconscious girl.
"They didn't make it. They died before the next sunset."
The four looked at the Miko priestess with concern.
"I hope the gods of Itomori that this Miko serves at her shrine will take pity on her and let her live," said Jisuke. "This girl asked me to save her brother's life, but I don't want her to die. Let's do everything we can to let them both live."