Warrior(The Dragon King Chronicles)(17)

Inside, she avoided the others and went to lie down in her room. Sleep would not come, but she needed to rest her aching head. She began to shake. Had she not snapped out of the strange fog she was in, she would not have stopped. She would have wandered far into the blizzard. They would not have found her.

The next day saw her on patrol duty again; this time she vowed not to listen to the voice. She would stay vigilant. She would not let herself be taken under the Demon Lord's spell.

She was circling the outer boundary of the village when she heard the plaintive cry of a young child.

"Mommy! Mommy!"

The wind had died down, letting Kira hear the child's cry clearly.

"I'm scared, I'm so scared."

"Where are you?" Kira shouted.

The child began to weep again.

It wheeled her around, racing from building to building searching for it. The wind began to howl again, muting the child's voice. Kira kept shouting for the child, following the voice as it led her farther and farther out of town. Until it led her to the end of the village where the vastness of the snowstorm left no trace of civilization. Already, the path she'd taken from the tavern was completely gone, no trace of her footsteps anywhere.                       
       
           



       

The lack of sleep, the exhaustion and the constant murmuring of the evil voice had led her here to the verge of death. She slowly turned around and could see nothing but the driving snow. The sky, the air, the ground was a sea of white. She heard the cries of the false child rising in a shrieking crescendo, but Kira ignored it. Wind buffeted her, nearly knocking her down. She lowered her head and concentrated on putting one foot in front of the other. Frostbite was setting in on her extremities and she was tiring quickly. She should never have wandered so far from the town center. Exhaustion crept over her and eyes closed as she swayed on her feet. She just wanted to sleep. Her knees buckled and she slipped down into the snow.

There was another sharp burning sensation in her chest, just like the day before. She placed a hand against her heart and felt heat radiating from the tidal stone.

Get up. Keep walking. You mustn't sleep.

Kira had to slap herself in the face to try and shake off her drowsiness.

Just move your feet, I will guide you.

She rose with great difficulty, her hands pressed against her treasure. The stone was hot against her frostbitten fingers, causing them to tingle with sharp pain. It helped keep her awake as she plowed through the deep snow. Heat was now coursing throughout her body, even her legs. When she moved, snow melted all around her. It was as if she were on fire. Water pooled around her and she could see the frozen ground. No longer cold, Kira was sweating under her heavy coat. She could feel her feet again, although she almost wished she couldn't, they hurt so much. The tidal stone guided her through the storm. Kira had no idea where she was. She kept her eyes on the ground before her. It felt like an eternity of walking before she finally reached the tavern. Relief made her knees buckle as she held onto the wall, exhausted tears sliding down her face.

"Thank you," she whispered to the tidal stone. With one last pulse of heat, the ruby returned to its normal state.

She stood for a long moment pressed against the wall before composing herself and entered the building.

Jaewon came over, his face relaxing with palpable relief.

"Thank the heavens you are back! Why were you gone so long?" Jaewon asked. "Your brother went out searching for you."

"I got a little lost," she said. "The storm is getting really bad. Where is the prince and Sunim?"

"They're sleeping," Jaewon said. "Otherwise they'd be besides themselves with worry also."

Seung brought over a warm bowl of vegetable stew. "Eat this, it will warm you up again."

Kira sat gratefully by the fire and ate the stew. Not much later, her brother returned in a foul mood.

"You scared me to death! If you can't be smart about patrol duty, then I'll pull you off," he shouted. "Even Major Pak couldn't find you in that blizzard!"

Kira apologized but didn't mention anything about the hallucinations she was having. She was too scared to talk about it. The one good thing that had come out of nearly getting lost in the blizzard and being saved by the tidal stone was that the voice of the Demon Lord had vanished for now.


That night, Kira decided to pamper herself by washing her hair thoroughly. Kira opened a small satchel that she always carried with her. It contained a comb, her tooth rag, and a small round cake of precious perfumed soap wrapped in a hemp cloth. In the far side of the tavern, there was a bathing room with a large wooden tub. Kira took with her a hot kettle filled as well as several buckets of cold water. By adding some hot water to the cold, she was able to bathe herself at least with lukewarm water.

First she built up the fire in the fireplace, letting it burn strongly before she began her bathing ritual.

Lathering her face with the soap's fresh essence of ginseng, honey, and soybean oil, her senses were awakening from the dulled effects of her headache. The pain faded as the voice that had become an incessant drone disappeared. She peeled off her jacket. Underneath, she wore only a quilted cotton bust cover wrapped tightly around her chest. She had not removed it in several days and she was itchy and uncomfortable. She untied the wrap and breathed a huge sigh of relief. Her chest and stomach were marked with deep impressions where the band had cut into the flesh. She rubbed herself down with a small cloth, enjoying the cool water against her skin.

She took out a clean bust wrap and tied it tightly around herself. Using her two remaining buckets, she quickly washed the rest of herself and then her hair and changed into new clothes. When she was done, she washed all her dirty clothes in the buckets and hung them on a folding rack.

Refreshed and happy, Kira sat before the fire and ran her fingers through her hair before using a fine-toothed ivory comb. Her fingers tightened around it and for a moment she pressed it to her chest. The comb was a present from her mother and the one truly feminine item Kira carried with her. She remembered how when she was little, she would sit in her mother's chambers getting her long, dark brown hair brushed and braided. Her mother would sing as she gently worked the knots from Kira's hair.

Mother that hurts. Why can't I cut my hair off? Then I won't have any knots in it.

Cut off this beautiful hair? I would be so sad, her mother had said. As long as I am here with you, it is my pleasure to take care of you, my child. Would you take away my joy?

No Mother, I wouldn't do that to you.


Kira opened her eyes and found her hair was almost dry. She must have dozed off by the fire for over an hour. Sitting up, she brushed her hair until it crackled with sparks, causing it to fly about her like silky fine threads of a cobweb in a friendly wind. The rhythm of steady footsteps and a sharp rapping on the door brought Kira's head up. Before she could answer, the door opened and Jaewon stood framed in the doorway.

For the space of a moment, both froze. Jaewon's eyes were locked on to Kira's hair. Self-conscious, she braided it with quick jerky movements. She packed up her belongings and her wet clothing and headed for the door.

"I'm so sorry, I thought you were done hours ago," he stuttered.

"I fell asleep by the fire," she said, brushing past him.

"It's beautiful," he called to her.

She turned around, a puzzled look on her face. "What are you talking about?"

"Your hair," he said with a bashful smile. "It's beautiful."

Kira suppressed a smile, embarrassed and yet happy at his remark.





15





They'd been in Hushan village for over five days before the snowstorm passed and they were finally able to head back onto their route. Jeong the guide was quiet and jumpy. His uneasiness was contagious. There was something unreal and terrifying about the situation they found themselves in.

For five more days, they rode without sighting another human being. Whole villages stood empty. It was eerie.

"We discovered a village ahead." A soldier had returned from scouting. "It's inhabited. We saw several smoking chimneys."

"That would be Numa," Jeong said in relief.

But as they approached the village, Kira sensed something was wrong. She breathed deeply. She could smell nothing, and yet her stomach felt queasy.

"We need to stop," Kira called to the Major. They were right outside the village limits, next to a wooden jangseung welcoming them to Numa. Kira observed smoke spiraling into the air.

"I don't like it," she said.

"What is it? Demons?" Major Pak said.                       
       
           



       

"I don't know. But we can't go in there," Kira said, pointing toward the settlement.

Jindo began to act in a peculiar manner. He kept sniffing the air and circling before stopping and sniffing again. Suddenly, he turned and bounded away.

"Jindo!" Taejo yelled, but the dog kept running.

"I'll go after him," Seung said.

Brother Woojin looked at Kira with a curious expression. "I, too, shall follow the dog." He took off after Seung and Jindo.