Moribito: Guardian of the Spirit by Nahoko Uehashi

Author:Nahoko Uehashi [Uehashi, Nahoko]
Language: eng
Format: epub, pdf
Publisher: Scholastic Inc.
Published: 2014-11-14T16:00:00+00:00

Fly, nahji, fly!

Fly to the sea and make the rain fall;

make the rice grow tall.

He remembered four wooden posts drenched in oil that were set ablaze on both banks of the river — how black they had burned; a play in which warriors used burning torches to fend off and corner a wildly dancing papier-mâché demon that was then slain by a hero; the sound of people singing an incantation to bring the blessed rain. Something tugged at his mind, but before he could grasp it clearly, Torogai began to talk again.

“I don’t think those Star Readers could have forgotten something so important. The written word can be very powerful at times like this. If the way to beat Rarunga is preserved anywhere, it will be in their records. Of course, they’ve been so busy trying to run the country that they’ve forgotten their true purpose! It’s been two hundred years, so insects might have chewed up all their books…. Even so, unless they are total fools, they’ll realize something important is going on. They won’t kill the prince if they don’t have to.”

“That’s right,” Balsa interjected. “Even when they attacked us, they weren’t trying to kill Chagum.” The boy looked at her in surprise. “That’s why I was able to rescue you,” she said, turning to him. “You didn’t notice, but they had a perfect opportunity to kill you. If that had been their goal, they would have done it then. But instead, they changed their positions so they wouldn’t hurt you and attacked me instead. I ran away from them so I could come back and rescue you when they split up and there was only one of them with you.”

Chagum leaned forward eagerly. “That means, then, that my father — the Mikado — he’s not trying to kill me?”

Balsa glanced quickly at Tanda. Before Torogai could open her mouth, he said, “Of course your father doesn’t wish to kill you if he can avoid it. That would only be a last resort. But that doesn’t mean you can relax. The Mikado is not an individual. He must think of the country first, of keeping it stable, before his feelings as a parent, so you must still be careful.” He spoke with compassion, and Chagum accepted his words readily. “At any rate,” Tanda added, “We can’t go wrong if we prepare for the worst. I think we should move to the hunting cave early this year.” Torogai and Tanda kept firewood, dried food, and other provisions in a cave deep in the mountains. Even in the midst of winter, when everything was buried in snow, they could live there without freezing to death.

In the end, they decided to leave the hut as soon as possible in order to make the cave livable before the snows came.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.