Brave Story - Miyuki Miyabe [57]
“It can to you, man-child, lost child.”
Wataru stood up on the rocky outcropping. All around him were rough stones, and his footing was unsure. “All of this desert that I can see from here? Every bit of it’s a fantasy? None of it’s real?”
“Well, I’ve never been to this ‘real’ place you speak of, so how could I know the difference?” The scarlet bird’s head twitched. “You’re quite sure that reality and fantasy are opposites?”
“As far as I know.”
“Well then if Over There is real, that would make Over Here unreal. A fantasy, as you say. Regardless, man-child, you must return to Over There immediately, and so the question is rather academic.”
“I have to go back?”
“Strays must not be left to wander. ’Tis the law.”
“But I followed a friend in here. I couldn’t leave him behind.”
“From what I’ve heard of your story, it sounds like this friend of yours isn’t lost like you. If he’s able to freely enter and leave the Porta Nectere, then he must be a Traveler, authorized by the Gatekeeper. You’ve no need to worry on his account.”
“But…” Wataru began as the scarlet bird spread its wings and took to the air, once again trying to grab him by the back of his shirt. “Wait! I don’t want to go back yet!”
Wataru ducked down and ran from the bird’s clutching claws. He jumped back to the edge of the outcropping, but his left foot landed poorly on the rough surface and he felt a sudden pain stab through his ankle.
“Ouch!”
Losing his balance, he tumbled down sideways off the edge. For a moment, a blue slice of sky flashed before his eyes, then he stopped falling abruptly and fell flat on his back on another slab of rock. Apparently, another ledge below the top of the outcropping had caught him before he fell all the way down.
Well, that was lucky, at least.
Wataru placed his hand on the lip of the ledge and hauled himself up. A shadow swooped over his head. The scarlet bird was curving about for another pass.
If I don’t get out of here quick I’ll be back in its claws again.
He would have to move deeper under the ledge. Wataru backed up, feeling his way with his hands while keeping an eye on the skies above him. His right hand bumped into something warm and furry.
That doesn’t feel like a rock…
Slowly turning to look, he found himself face-to-face with another screwwolf. Wataru ran screaming all the way to the edge of the rocky ledge. The scarlet bird’s shadow approached almost immediately.
So this is what they mean when they say, “Caught between a rock and a hard place.”
Wataru looked back fearfully, but the screw-wolf hadn’t charged. Wataru shouted at it again, and it didn’t move an inch. He looked closer and only then did he realize that he was looking at a screw-wolf’s head—the body was nowhere to be seen.
It’s dead?
Wataru looked around and saw more heads. Bits and pieces of skulls were caught in between the rocks here, and there, and over there. He looked down and saw bone fragments and fossilized flesh stuck to his shirt and his pants.
“What on earth?”
Wataru brushed the detritus off his arms and legs. Too late, he remembered his pursuer and, when he next looked up, claws caught at his neck, and his legs were dangling in mid-air.
“And now, it is time for you to go home,” the bird scolded, sounding for all the world like a strict teacher. “Laws are to be obeyed. I’m sure they taught you that where you’re from.”
Wataru didn’t struggle. He was more intent on getting the rest of the wolf bits off his clothing. “What is this mess?”
“Gimblewolf husks. You found a bone-pile.”
“Why would someone make a collection of that?”
“We would. Gimblewolves are good eating, for the most part, but the heads are quite inedible,” came the answer from above. “They’re also a bit violent, as you know. When we catch one, we bang their heads on the rocks to kill them. It’s an easy way to do