Brave Story - Miyuki Miyabe [354]
Wataru’s eyes swirled with the sudden motion. How can he have so much strength after today? “Okay, okay! I saw it, Kee Keema! I saw it! Now let me down!”
Kee Keema didn’t cry when he heard about the death of Kutz. But now tears streamed down his face.
“You’re a Traveler too?” Lady Zophie said, almost staggering in surprise.
“Yes. Mitsuru and I—we come from the same place in the real world. We were friends.”
“Then you, too, will follow Mitsuru to the Tower of Destiny?”
Wataru’s momentary elation quickly cooled. He still lacked the final gemstone. His Brave’s Sword was not yet complete. Mitsuru had already found his—the Gem of Darkness—in the mirror room of the Crystal Palace. If his was there, then where could Wataru’s be hiding? Did he even have enough time left to find it?
The wind whistled through the wreckage once again.
Meena’s ears shot up. “What’s that sound?
Fweeew…
“That’s not the wind! That’s something calling…”
The four tensed, looking around, trying to determine the direction from which the strange whistle came. On top of the city wall? Beyond the mountain of rubble? Hidden in the night grasses?
Just then a cloud moved away from the moon, and the night brightened around them. Something small and swift darted under the clear moonlight, slicing through the wind.
They heard the sound of wings flapping nearby. But before they could react, a bird of pure white appeared suddenly, perching on Wataru’s shoulder.
“Now, now. No need to be so startled,” the bird said, its red beak snapping open and shut.
“Wh-what’s that? A bird?!” Meena practically shouted in surprise, forgetting where they were. Zophie slid behind Kee Keema’s back. The waterkin’s big mouth was wide open.
“Why it’s me,” the bird replied, and the next moment was enveloped in a cloud of white smoke. Wataru leaped back.
Wayfinder Lau was standing before him.
For the space of several seconds, no one said anything. Wayfinder Lau stood with his jaw firmly shut, obviously expecting someone else to break the silence.
“Well, say something,” the old man said at last.
Wataru’s jaw moved, but no words came out of his mouth.
Wayfinder Lau’s long eyebrows lifted, then sank. “Is this all the greeting I get? I would think such a reunion deserving of a bit more fanfare.”
“F-f-fanfare?” Wataru squeaked. His heart was doing somersaults in his chest. “Wayfinder Lau? What are you doing here?!”
“What, this old coot is the Wayfinder?” Kee Keema snorted.
“This is the guy who guides all the Travelers?” Meena asked incredulously.
Wayfinder Lau lifted his staff and gave Wataru a sharp crack on the head. “You ask me why I have come? I came because you called for me! But if you’ve no need of me, I suppose I’ll be on my way.”
“I-I called you?”
“You wanted to know where the last gemstone might be found, didn’t you?”
At once, a palpable tension spread over Wataru and his friends’ faces.
“You’d tell me?” Wataru asked, his voice cracking. His heart did another somersault, refusing to settle back into place.
“If you have the will to continue your journey, then I shall,” the Wayfinder said almost casually, looking up at the night sky. “Yet you must hurry, or the demonkin will pick up your scent for sure. Now is no time to tarry.”
Suddenly, time lurched back into motion. The clock was ticking. Wataru felt a chill run down his spine. “Tell me! please!”
Now that he wanted him to hurry, Wayfinder Lau stopped, staring long into Wataru’s eyes. Wataru remembered when he first met the old man at the Village of the Watchers. Then, as now, the Wayfinder had looked at him long and hard, as though judging him, measuring his worth…
The way he’s looking at me now, it’s even harsher than when I first came here. He’s measuring me on a different scale. Have I become heavier somehow? Is the old scale not big enough to measure me anymore?
“Will you confront Mitsuru again?”
“Huh?”
“Listen up, boy.