Brave Story - Miyuki Miyabe [353]
“Stop what?!”
“It’s not like you, Meena, to talk this way.”
The fire went out of Meena’s eyes as though doused with water.
“She might be the empress-in-waiting,” said Kee Keema, “but how is she supposed to do anything all alone like this, huh?” Meena turned her back to him, whipping her tail around so fast it slapped into Wataru’s side.
Kee Keema looked up at the wavy top of the wall. “How far do we plan to walk tonight? I still think it’s too dangerous to go inside.”
“It would be nice if we could climb up somewhere—get a view of the city.”
“We won’t be getting up the wall here. Too high. There must be a place where it’s fallen down a bit.”
They began walking along the wall again. After a while, they heard a faint noise, like a person weeping. They all stopped and perked up their ears. After a moment they realized it was only the whistling of the wind.
“Still, that’s an odd sound. I wonder what it’s blowing through. Maybe something up there?” Kee Keema pointed up ahead to a place where rubble had spilled out through the city wall. Burned beams jutted out of the wreckage like leftover fish bones after a meal. “Maybe we can climb up on those?” Kee Keema walked over and tested one with his foot, but it crumbled almost immediately. Though it looked solid, it was like trying to climb a hill of sand.
“That’s funny…” If these were the remains of a house or some building, they should be a bit more solid, Wataru thought. And what’s with all the sand and rock?
Then it hit him. It’s a golem. This mountain of rubble was the remains of a giant golem.
Mitsuru’s words rose fresh in his mind. Each golem required materials: sand, rock, and a person. The stone giants that wreaked havoc in the city were themselves more sacrifices to Mitsuru’s cause.
“Wataru,” Meena said, grabbing his sleeve. “Do you see something glimmering in there?”
Wataru looked in the direction she was pointing, and there, in between the lumps of sand and earth, he could see a tiny shining light.
Could it be? But how…
Still uncertain, Wataru put a hand on the hilt of his sword. The light flared brighter, shining on his face.
There was no mistaking it. Wataru calmly drew his Brave’s Sword and held it up before his eyes.
The spirit in the gemstone spoke to him.
—Alone I waited a long time in my prison for you to come, Traveler.
A pure curtain of light began to spread before Wataru’s eyes. The curtain opened, and the figure of a tall man stepped through, wearing long-sleeved robes of platinum, and a veil of the same color over his hair.
The fourth gemstone. Even now, when all seemed lost, and Wataru himself was nearing the depths of despair, the gemstones still hadn’t given up hope on him.
—I am the one who honors what is true in people, the spirit of mutual grace and friendship. Though many of flesh and blood lived here in this northern land, they had long forgotten to honor life. They had long forgotten the true path. I was buried in the frozen earth, embraced by stone, and made to sleep.
Wataru knelt on one knee before the spirit and lifted his eyes.
—Do not waste your life in vain, or take life in vain. Where there is faith, there is also kindness and forgiveness, and where there is forgiveness, there will you find true balance—the most coveted prize of all. It is easy to stray, misled by one’s own greed, or by easy pleasure. Men are weak, and many step off the path never knowing it. It is nothing but a gentle lie to say that most will find heaven when they die. Traveler, by your faith, forgive those who stand in your way. Yet, if they should seek to betray truth, then wield justice to bring their journey to its rightful end.
The fourth gemstone came down, like an angel descending from on high, and found its place in the hilt of Wataru’s sword. The Brave’s Sword glimmered once, sending a wave of energy coursing through Wataru’s body.
“D-did you see that, Wataru?!” Kee Keema gasped, then quickly knelt on the ground and bowed his head low. “It’s a sign, a sign from the gemstones!”
Then he leaped to his feet, picking