Brave Story - Miyuki Miyabe [110]
Nor could he find a convenient stick such as the wizard had advised him to pick up. The only things on the ground were flower petals and pine needles.
Wataru was all by himself, and that made him feel very small and vulnerable.
As promised, the path really was as straight as it looked on the map. But in places it was overgrown with grass and brush, making it hard to see. Sometimes it would disappear altogether for several yards, and he would have to search between the trees to find it again. Wataru assumed that few people knew about this route.
After he’d walked about ten minutes, he came upon a large mound of gray rock sticking out like a boil from the ground. This, he guessed, was his destination.
So where’s the cave?
Wataru looked around. The village was far out of sight. He turned three hundred sixty degrees, and all he could see was trees. A light breeze blew, rustling countless leaves.
Wataru scratched behind his head. Then he stepped forward and placed his hand upon the rock. Above him, he heard a bird singing.
Here-for-trial? Here-for-trial? Here-for-trial?
Wataru looked up and answered, “Yes! I’m searching for the Cave of Trials! Is it here? How do I get in?”
From the trees around him he heard a sound like many ocarinas blowing in beautiful five-part harmony.
If a trial you would take, guard your life.
For every question, an answer.
For every answer, a question.
The Wayfinder’s yawning.
Hop on home.
Never will you solve it—not in a thousand years.
When the birdsong died down, the wind started up again. The ground beneath Wataru’s feet began to rumble. And before his eyes, the lump of stone split in two.
The entrance!
It was a dark, narrow hole, barely wide enough for Wataru to pass through.
I’m supposed to go in here?
Suddenly, he was frightened. Why do I have to go into this place, anyway? he wondered. That wizard better not be tricking me. He couldn’t remember anyone in a Saga game having to go in a place like this.
As he hesitantly stood by the entrance, a gravelly voice spoke to him from the depths of the cave. “Fret out there, and it’ll close,” it said.
Wataru jumped back, away from the cave.
“I said stay out thar ’n it’ll close. Don’tcha understand what I’m sayin’, boy?”
The voice was accented, a southern sort of drawl—just like the old man at the fishmarket in Wataru’s neighborhood.
“I ain’t got no time to stand ’round waitin’ on a whelp like you all day. Hurry it up, or I’m liable to tell the ol’ Finder.”
“Are you…from the south?” Wataru called down the cave.
Here? In Vision?
“Either yer comin’ in, or yer not. Which is it?”
“This is the Cave of Trials, right?”
“If I said it weren’t would ya leave?”
“Well, I’m not saying that, but…”
“Then leave. Go home, boy. If y’can’t trust the Finder, there’s no point in ya comin’ in here. Ain’t got a lick of sense, do ya?”
A lick of…what?
“Fine. I’m coming in.”
“’Bout time. If ya plan on doin’ sometin’, next time, do it quicker, ’kay? Dumb kid. C’mere.”
Wataru took a half-step forward. Suddenly, from within the dark cleft in the rock, a large, filthy hand snaked out and latched onto the top of Wataru’s head, gripping him like a claw.
“Augh!”
His scream echoing through the woods, Wataru was dragged into the dank cave. Now gone, Wataru was unable to hear the bird’s new chorus.
Who has come?
A Brave has come?
Who has come?
A Sorcerer’s come?
Who will come back out?
Through the woods, beneath the singing birds, the old wizard arrived. He carried a staff in one hand and an ancient tome of magic in the other. He walked slowly. Coming to stand before the cave that had so recently swallowed Wataru, he stretched his wizened frame.
“I’ve a feeling this newest arrival will take a bit more effort than Mitsuru. Quite a bit more,” he said with a sigh, leaning his staff against the rock and rubbing the small of his back. “Well now, to business,” he muttered, then picked up his staff and began to utter an incantation. Suddenly, his form disappeared, leaving a whisper of dim smoke in