Read Pilgrimage of the Sacred and the Profane Online
Authors: Hideyuki Kikuchi
Tags: #Fantasy, #Fiction
Tae was just about to disappear behind a dune. Seeing the way the girl collapsed completely
made Lance’s eyes bulge out of their sockets.
“D—how’re things over there?” Granny cried out.
“Better for the moment.”
Apparently it was no exaggeration, as the Hunter’s cyborg horse had gotten back up
and was shaking off the grains of sand.
“In that case, go! The girl’s out cold.”
The figure in black dashed off, coat fanning around him.
“What did you do, old lady? What the hell is that sand, anyway?”
Granny turned and smiled at Clay’s query. “That’s a trade secret,” she replied.
“Don’t give me any of that crap!”
“It is, just as sure as your little tricks are.”
By that, she clearly meant the way he did battle. The gazes of the two—ferocious and
cruel—collided in midair in a shower of unseen sparks.
D scooped up Tae. The reason she’d collapsed so suddenly surely had something to do
with the crone’s mysterious skill, although D didn’t know exactly what that was. Judging
from the way Tae’s hair stood on end, she must’ve been hit with some sort of electric
shock. However, D had seen with his own eyes that nothing had passed between the old
woman and the girl. How, then, had it happened?
A light tap on her cheek, and Tae quickly opened her eyes. “D?” she said.
“Don’t move. What happened?”
“I don’t know,” Tae replied, her eyes tinged with terror. “I was talking with Mr.
Lance, when I just got this feeling that I had to get out of there. This voice was
telling me to go outside—”
It was clear then that the desert had indeed returned to the way it had been.
D reached out with one hand to pull the girl up, and behind him a flume of sand shot
up unexpectedly. Not simply sand, this had a humanoid shape. Tae’s eyes were wide
open now, and they caught the silvery flash of light that shot through the air. The
outline of the figure that’d pushed just its upper body from the ground suddenly crumbled,
and a heartbeat later it was again a golden pile of sand melting back into the desert.
Tae gave a scream.
To either side of them the sand rose in one place after another, taking human form
everywhere it did. The forms almost looked like the miasma rising from a solidified
swamp. Pole-thin arms reached for D’s neck.
The silver flash that shot up diagonally took the limbs off at the elbow. When all
of their arms had fallen to ground, the shapes flopped backward in what seemed like
pain and slowly sank back into the earth.
“There’re still more of them,” Tae said, her eyes reflecting the countless round heads
springing from the sea of sand around them. Would they be able to get back to the
wagon? A hundred yards seemed completely hopeless.
A powerful arm wrapped around the girl’s waist. As Tae gazed at the gorgeous visage
of her sturdy guardian, his name came to her lips. Her anxiety burned away like a
fog.
“Here we go,” said the Vampire Hunter.
“Okay,” Tae replied. She was no longer afraid.
A cloud of dusty creatures was closing in on them. Their heads lacked eyes or noses
or mouths. Their bodies were like short, fat rocks with a couple of logs stuck in
them, but completely smooth. These unsettling interpretations of the human form were
more than six feet tall and born of the sand.
A black figure raced like the wind between those sandy shapes. Any hand or body that
threatened to block his path was promptly severed, with some of the would-be assailants
turning to dust on the ground and others doing so in midair.
Having already covered more than twenty yards at full speed, D artlessly slammed his
blade into the right shoulder of yet another foe that stood in his way. True to the
strange feel of what it was cutting, the blade hacked halfway through the creature’s
chest before stopping. As the Hunter pulled his blade free, his foe pounced, turning
back into sand over D’s head.
Ignoring the sand men that were springing up all around them, D quietly inspected
his longsword. Black grains clung to the blade—iron dust—causing his weapon to lose
its edge. If it stuck to steel it had a powerful magnetic charge, and that had to
be what helped the sand men keep their humanoid shape. But understanding the reason
did nothing to help the irrefutable fact that D’s offensive might had dropped considerably.
Sand creatures were packed all around them. Tae clung to D’s waist while D gazed at
his blade without saying a word. It was a cold, clear gaze that seemed to suggest
that this young man would greet life and death, joy and sorrow, all with the very
same look.
The wind snarled loudly.
As an eerie shudder climbed her spine, Tae saw the sand men stop . . . and then back
away immediately. When the girl looked up at D again, she learned the reason: his
eyes were giving off a red glow.
D dashed forward, carried by the wind. He landed right into the heart of the sand
men. With the coolness of an artist raining destruction on a group of standing sculptures,
the Hunter swung his longsword in wide arcs. His blade was already thick and black
with the iron particles that clung to it. As if to demonstrate the power of his Noble
blood, he left a few of the sandy monstrosities split from head to crotch, while others
were sliced clean through the torso. Without exception, they all returned to their
original material. As the wind blew the dust from the crumbling bodies into D’s face,
his crimson eyes gleamed beautifully and with ineffable mystery.
Someone was shouting in the distance. D leapt into the air and over the edge of a
nearby sand dune. Off to his left, the upper body of another sand man stretched from
the ground.
Tae was about to scream when right before her very eyes D’s left hand snapped closed
on the featureless face of a sand man. Dust spilled from between the Hunter’s fingers,
and the creature’s head broke apart like a clod of dirt.
But the sight that greeted them next was like some sort of miracle. The countless
sand men crumbled to pieces in a matter of seconds and mixed with the dusty clouds,
as if some titanic hand had wiped them all out of existence.
.
I
.
As the Hunter and the girl returned to the wagon, they were met by Granny’s wrath-filled
visage. Despite having defeated the sand men by some means even D didn’t understand,
she didn’t seem confident in herself. There would be more trouble related to Tae,
it seemed.
“The water’s shot,” Granny said, pinning Tae with a reproachful gaze as she did so.
“Before she ran off on us, the girl left the spigot on the tank open. We’ve shut it
again, but given the number of us, what we have won’t last half the day. If we spread
it thin as possible, we’d still only get three days.”
“If there were only half as many of us, it’d last six days,” Clay interjected with
amusement from high in the saddle. “Care to see who’s gonna get to drink that water?”
The space between all of them was strung with invisible threads of tension.
“You’ve got a point there,” Granny said, looking as she did at Lance from the corner
of her eye. “I suppose we can’t let those that aren’t pulling their own weight drink
our water.”
Lance lowered his eyes. He was well aware of where he stood.
“How long would it last between four people?”
At that abrupt question, Granny stared at the young man in black with astonishment.
“Well,” she replied, “barely a day and a half, I suppose.”
“Make it two.”
“I suppose we can manage that. But traveling by day should be a lot more painful for
you than it is for us.”
“The night makes up for it. He can have my share.”
The old woman turned and exchanged glances with Clay. “Now, this is a surprise. I
didn’t know you were one to worry about anyone else. And here
I
thought you had liquid darkness flowing through you instead of blood. That’s very
kind of you, but me and Tae will take it instead.”
But Granny was in for yet another surprise.
Sulkily, Clay said, “I don’t want any either.”
Not only did Granny have her mouth agape, but Lance didas well.
Gazing steadily at D, Clay said, “If he ain’t drinking, there’s no way I’m gonna keep
wetting my whistle. If anybody could accuse me of taking the easy way out, I’d never
live it down.”
“Oh, dear me, if that’s not enough to bring a tear to my eye,” Granny said, bowing
her head as if deeply touched. “I’ve lived a good long time, but I’ve never heard
anything as fine as all that. Yes, indeed—you men can be mighty impressive. Good enough.
I’ll give both your shares to Tae.”
It was just like the crone to make no mention of what would become of her own share
of the water. But just then a third shock was delivered to Granny.
“That won’t be necessary,” the girl declared.
“How’s that?” asked Granny.
Everyone turned to the girl, who met them with a distant look in her eyes. She was
staring off in the same direction she’d headed during her escape. The fact of the
matter was that Tae had someone to guide her.
“What do you make of this?” the old woman said to D.
“Apparently there was no need to bring her back,” the Vampire Hunter muttered in a
low voice from the back of his horse. A weary shadow hung on his gorgeous countenance.
The sunlight and scorching heat of the desert were foes of the highest order for those
who descended from the Nobility. Even for the greatest of dhampirs, the physical exhaustion
was far more intense than it was for human beings.
Tae leapt down from the driver’s seat. Granny reached out for her with one hand, but
D stopped the old woman.
“The desert’s definitely calling out to the girl,” the Hunter said. “Given how it
wrecked our water supply, it could be calling us, too.”
“What do you suppose it’s up to?”
“We’ll just have to go see.”
“Isn’t that dangerous?” asked the old woman.
“There’ll be danger no matter where we go.”
“Okay. I can’t very well let my merchandise run off. I’ll follow along right behind.
Right behind
you
, that is. Otherwise, you’re liable to say none of this is any of your concern and
keep right on going.”
“Would I?” D muttered, tugging on his reins.
Tae was already walking away. The footprints she left in the sand were pathetically
small. As if guided by those tiny tracks, the rest of the party advanced. The moment
the girl disappeared behind a massive sand dune, D turned and looked back.
“Worried about the sandstorm?” Granny asked.
Needless to say, she got no reply.
Clay passed his vigilant gaze from left to right. While he was on his guard for sand
men, it should’ve come as little surprise that a mischievous grin lingered on his
lips. Even matters of life and death were little more than a game to this warrior.
.
The group continued for more than three hours. The sun had risen even higher, burning
deep black shadows of the party into the sand.
“Say, mister,” Lance called out to D from the driver’s seat of the wagon, where he’d
taken Granny’s place. Having cowed him with threats about his share of the water,
the crone was now stretched out beside him with the canopy shading her face—her concern
for Tae keeping her from going inside. At first, Granny had been quite worried about
the girl as she headed off so purposefully, but after seeing the steadiness of Tae’s
steps, the old woman complied with D’s instructions not to interfere. She refrained
from calling out to the girl as she walked away, however, anxiety about protecting
her merchandise kept her countenance stiff.
“What is it?”
On hearing D’s reply, Granny was more surprised than anyone. Having this Hunter actually
reply when someone called out to him was like seeing the whole world turned upside
down.
“How about you switch with me and come take the driver’s seat?” Lance suggested. “It’d
be a lot easier on you. There’s shade from the sun and everything.”
“Don’t worry about it,” D replied.
“Yeah, but—”
“I’m used to it. Have you ever ridden a horse before?” the Hunter asked.
“A little. I could handle one if it was just walking along like that.”
“Your job is to make the wild places green.”
“I’ve lost my faith in doing that,” Lance confessed.
“Why?”
Granny had been silently listening to the pair’s conversation, but her eyes bugged
out then. Anyone who knew D would’ve had exactly the same reaction. The very thought
of D—the great Vampire Hunter D—wanting to know anything about anyone else boggled
the mind.
“All you folks have these incredible abilities,” Lance replied. “By comparison, I’m
just a plain old farmer. I can’t do anything but reclaim soil and plant things. And
then, when I found myself out here in the middle of the desert, I couldn’t even save
myself without help from all of you. I’m pathetic. You know, I’m twenty-five now.
Do you suppose there’s still time for me to become a Hunter?”
D’s head didn’t turn, but his eyes slid to the side. “What do
you
think?” he said.
Finding himself at the end of D’s question, Clay clucked his tongue. “Sheesh. If it
was that easy for every sodbuster and his brother to become one, we’d be up to our
asses in Hunters. Guys like you should be Vegetable Hunters or Piglet Hunters,” he
told Lance.
“That might not be bad,” the man replied.
“Bah,” Clay said, spitting in disgust. “You’re completely hopeless. You could die
out here and I bet there ain’t a single soul who’d miss you.”
“You’re right. My mother and father were both carried off by a flood.”
Sitting there beside Lance, Granny donned an expression that seemed to say, “Heaven
help us.”
“What sort of things did you plan on planting?” asked D.
“Anything. If it’ll grow with fresh air and water and sunshine, then anything at all.”
“Well, that’s what you should do.”
“Damn straight. That sort of shit suits you,” Clay said spitefully.
“It’s a job we can’t do,” D remarked, putting a sullen look on the younger Bullow’s
face. “I can swing a sword, but I don’t know how to plant seeds. I can kill Nobles,
but I can’t raise a single vegetable. There wouldn’t be a problem if all the Hunters
were gone, but people can’t live without food.”
“Maybe in theory that’s true . . .” Lance conceded. “But a Hunter gets some appreciation
when he takes care of something, right? No matter how much of the earth we’ve made
green, no one has ever thanked us for it. Yeah, I sure wish I could use a sword a
bit more like a dhampir.”
His envious remark was rocked from the air by an explosion of laughter.
“What’s so funny?!” asked Lance.
Holding her belly, Granny said, “How could you
not
laugh at that? You’re the only person I ever met who wanted to be a dhampir. I get
it now. Seems farmers don’t know a whole lot about the world. You’d best stick to
planting seeds for the rest of your days.”
“What’s so funny about dhampirs? That’s a pretty good thing to be, isn’t it?”
“Take a good look at our young friend here,” Granny said, staring at D with a fierce
look in her eye. Her gaze seemed to harbor what could be taken for hate, which surprised
Clay as well as Lance. “Absolutely perfect from head to toe,” she continued. “What
more could you ask for? Any woman—any man, for that matter—can take just one look
at him and get lightheaded. But he treads a path that’s painful as hell.”
Lance didn’t know what to say.
“Tell me,” the old woman said, “have you ever fished off a river-bank? Fun, isn’t
it? I’m sure you’ve picked flowers and seen sunlight sparkling in the breeze, too.
Everyone does those things, but he can’t. Sunlight burns his flesh like a blowtorch.
If he fell into running water, he couldn’t even move his limbs properly. Touch a rose,
and he’d scream and wither away. A gentle breeze? If it blew against him, it’d rip
the skin and muscle from his bones. Did you say something about people appreciating
dhampirs?” Granny asked. “Let me give you some facts about just what sort of rigmarole
goes on when one of them comes to work for a village. For starters, while the dhampir
is there, no women or children are allowed to leave their houses at all. In cases
where it’s really bad, they’re all locked up in one spot and don’t come out again
until business is taken care of. Any hand or foot that comes into contact with the
dhampir gets scrubbed and dis-infected until the skin comes right off it, and in the
case of livestock, the animals are put down on the spot. That much they could stand.
But the whole time they’re in a given village, not a single person will ever look
them in the face . . . and that’s hard to do.”
The words came like flames from the crone, but D listened without comment. Stunned
by this bombshell, Lance and Clay both gazed at the woman’s wrinkled face in disbelief.
As if she’d just noticed them, Granny snapped back to her usual self. “Goodness me,”
she said, pressing her hand to her mouth as if she’d just told a joke. “That was terribly
rude of me. Let’s just pretend I didn’t say any of that. Okay, everyone? Is that all
right, D? Don’t make such a stern face,” she told the Hunter. “Oh, I’m sorry,” she
added, “That’s the way you always look, isn’t it? Well, at any rate, tell me you don’t
hold it against me.”
The Hunter said nothing.
“Oh, come now. You can’t take the hysteric outburst of an old lady that seriously.
Please. Just say this one thing for me. Tell me you don’t hold it against me.”
“It didn’t bother me,” said D.
“Don’t tell me it didn’t bother you; say you don’t hold it against me. As a special
favor to an old woman.”
“I don’t hold it against you.”
“Thank you kindly,” the old woman exclaimed, breaking into a grin as she raised one
hand in thanks.
Wearing a look that absolutely defied description, Lance gazed at D.
“I guess dhampirs got it pretty hard, too,” said Clay, who sounded unusually introspective.
Ahead of them, a few low mountains of sand appeared. They were perhaps twenty feet
high or more, but the inclines were gentle. Tae began climbing them with a regular
gait. Granny switched her wagon into low gear.
Tae and D were the first to reach the summit; next came Granny’s wagon. Then Clay
galloped up last. All halted there. There was no wind to welcome them.
“I see,” Granny said, sounding deeply impressed. “I suppose that’d make anyone want
to give up farming.”
About two hundred yards off, the desert underwent a remarkable transformation. No
trace remained of the boundless sea of sand. Lush green filled everyone’s field of
view, and it stretched off without end to either side. The scent of cool ozone tickled
the nostrils of all. The towering trees seemed to reach heights of easily four hundred
feet. The desert had chosen to greet the party with a massive forest.
.
II
.
Though they all recalled what this had to be, it was Granny that said its name. “So,
this is the moving forest—it has to be a trap, right?”
“More than likely,” the Hunter replied. “But at least we should be able to find water
here.”
“It’s a damn good trick. Never seen an oasis like this before,” Clay said, his eyes
sparkling with admiration. But this was no mere oasis. It was a vast forest the likes
of which couldn’t be found even in the heavily wooded regions of the north. The vista
was more than just magical . . . it was close to miraculous.
“What do we do, eh?” the crone asked.
“Unless we want to roast here, we have no choice but to go on. We have a guide,” D
said, turning his gaze to Tae, who’d stopped a few yards ahead of him.
“You have to do something for her,” Granny said. “If you don’t wake her up fast, she’ll
wind up serving the desert for the rest of her life.”
“There’s nothing we can do for her at the moment. We’ll have to take the desert itself
out of action. For the time being, our hands are tied.”
“Hmph!” the old woman snorted. “Here you are, a dhampir, and you’re completely useless.”