Pilgrim, p.20
Pilgrim, page 20
Danzen shook his head. “I need some reflective beads. I have seen them on some of the women’s clothing before in the First District, small mirrors that can be stitched onto fabric. Are you familiar with what I’m talking about?”
“Take off your mask, it’s bothering me.” The Elder paused as both of them heard something from below. “Sounds like Shedrup is up…”
Danzen removed his mask and placed it on the table. “I know what has taken Enkhmaa.”
“The books helped then, huh?”
“Yes, if you are referring to the two volumes on yokai.”
The Elder smiled. There was a cup of tea sitting before him, a curl of steam lifting off the surface of the liquid. “I figured you would find them helpful.”
“They would be most helpful in what I would like to do here in Genshin Valley.”
“I’m sure, but you can’t have them,” he said, still with a smile on his face. “You can, however, come and take notes whenever you please. These were given to me by my predecessor, who was given the texts by his predecessor. I can’t let you have them.”
“I’m not asking for them.”
“Good. In that case, you know where they are if you need them.” Elder Sonders cleared his throat. “Breakfast will be delivered soon, so if you would like to stay, I encourage you to do so. After that, you can head to the First District, I suppose, and get the beads you are referring to. The market there has a garment section. Surely you will be able to find something. But don’t go around town wearing a mask.”
“I won’t.”
“It’ll bring attention, and I can’t seem to shake this feeling that you’re the kind of guy that doesn’t like having attention brought to you.”
****
Danzen reached the First District of Suja Village, which ran along the side of a body of water known as Lake Green, named so because the algae beneath the surface gave the lake an emerald-like appearance.
Some of the nicer homes of the Second District spilled out into the First, taking advantage of the lakefront views, a boardwalk in construction that would wrap around the western-facing side of the lake.
The other side of the district featured one of the access points that led to Chutham. Because of its proximity, most of the markets had been set up here to take advantage of shorter traveling times.
Danzen hadn’t spent much time in the First District, only visiting the market, never bothering with the seat of local government or the lakeside spas and pleasure houses, one of which he’d heard was an extension of the pleasure house in Chutham, a place where they sent the courtesans that had seen better days.
At least that was a conversation he’d overheard once in the tavern.
As he passed the pleasure house, Danzen remembered Eva Yin, the woman who ran the main branch in Chutham. He hadn’t thought about her in a while, but whatever she had done with her form, going from an older woman to a young girl, had surely been accomplished by exploiting a remnant.
He couldn’t imagine that she had actually bent her echo enough to accomplish this task on her own. Then again, people of the valley had proved him wrong on several occasions.
The day was warming up, the main thoroughfare dusty from a few horse-drawn carriages making their way to the Third District. There was a hint of something sweet to the air, Danzen trying to figure out where it came from and discovering a confectionery.
He felt a bit more exposed in this part of the village, children shying away from him, a few men grumbling as he moved by, the locals wearing xenophobia on their sleeves as if they were arm badges.
He had experienced this the first time he’d come to the district and every time since, Danzen wondering if there would be a point that the things he had done would somehow reach the First District, paring some of their suspicions.
After locating the market, he weaved his way through it to the garment section, Danzen finally removing his hood after he came to a small booth that sold embellishments.
“I’m looking for something reflective,” Danzen told the girl, who couldn’t have been old enough to own the booth herself. No, by the looks of it she was likely running the booth for her parents or a relative.
“Excuse me?” she asked, looking up at him, startled by his sudden appearance.
Danzen repeated what he’d just told her.
The youth gestured toward a shelf with jewelry on it.
“Not jewelry,” Danzen told her. “Something that I can sew onto fabric that is reflective.”
She hopped down from her stool, and got a crate out from beneath one of the tables. The girl opened it, showing Danzen a swath of fabric that featured circle mirrors that were half an inch in diameter, stitched together by black fabric.
“Yes,” said Danzen. “I only need a little.”
“How much?”
“Enough to cover a mask.”
Surprisingly, the girl understood what he meant, measuring out the fabric with her hand. She retrieved a pair of scissors from the front of her robes, from a specially stitched pouch for shears.
After cutting it, she handed the fabric to Danzen, telling him that it would be just a few kip.
He paid her and moved on.
The faster he could get out of the First District, the better.
It took him almost forty-five minutes to go from the start of the First District to the exit of the Third, mostly because the main road that stretched between the two districts was heavy with traffic, more people out than normal, Danzen forced to walk slower than he would have liked and always keep his guard up.
The kind of people that were looking for him knew how to use large crowds as camouflage, which was something Danzen himself had used from time to time to kill a mark.
It was surprisingly easy to end someone’s life with hundreds of people around, all of them none the wiser.
Even though he wasn’t feeling like being very social, he stopped by Khamdo and Sarnai’s home, finding that the carpenter was gone. His wife was there, however, and as soon as she opened the door, she invited him in.
“I’m in a hurry,” Danzen told her.
“Nonsense. You should eat something.”
“I need to find Pancha’s home. I need to update him on…”
She gasped. “Is Enkhmaa dead?”
“Not yet,” he told her, even though he didn’t know if this was the truth or not.
“Come in,” she said. “Sit down before you leave. Talk to me. I just put Leegan down for a nap.”
“I really should be going.”
“It will only take a minute. I was just making something, a potato and carrot salad. I think you’ll like it,” the portly woman said, smiling at him, a few strands of hair falling into her face.
Danzen begrudgingly accepted her offer, figuring he could use the time to make his mask.
As she finished up in the kitchen, Danzen quickly went about sewing the circular mirrors onto the back of his mask. He used as much of the fabric as he could, and then placed it on the table.
He took a few steps back and looked down at the mask, noticing that he could clearly make out his reflection.
“What are you making?” Sarnai asked as she came into the dining room with a large bowl of potato and carrot salad, which she had tossed with fresh cream and green onions.
“It’s something I may need.”
Danzen knew better than to tell her what he had encountered in the Asura Forest.
He would need to see if he could kill the Mu-Onna first and save the girl. Even if he was able to do so, it would probably be a bad idea to tell people that these kinds of yokai were out there.
“I’ll just take your word for it,” she finally said once she realized that he wasn’t going to elaborate.
“Thanks,” he told her.
Sarnai did all of the talking as Danzen ate, Khamdo’s wife telling him about some of the rumors going around town, and about a rich man in Chutham whose older son had disappeared.
Danzen never commented on any of it aside from the occasional grunt, especially the gossip about the man’s son, Danzen pretty sure that he was one of the men who had gone after the fire chicken, the brute of the group known as Harsha.
He was just about to excuse himself when Sarnai cleared her throat.
“Yes?”
“Well, let me see it.”
“See what?”
“The mask.”
Danzen made a noise with his throat.
“Don’t be shy. I want to see what it looks like on you.”
Danzen placed the mask on, the mirrored section at the back of his head. Danzen turned the mask around his head, his eyes suddenly covered by the fabric.
“How are you going to see with that on?” she asked him.
“I have my ways,” said Danzen.
As if she wanted to test him, she slowly began to pick up the serving spoon, her movement causing the sound of her apron to rub against the sleeve of her robe.
While Danzen couldn’t see what she was doing, he did start to notice something he had experienced the last time he’d tried something like this, something Nomin the assassin had shown him.
Danzen could sense the outline of the woman standing before him, and as soon as he sensed her outline, he saw in his mind’s eye that she was holding the serving spoon in her left hand.
“You can see me?” Sarnai asked, waving the spoon at him.
Danzen looked to her waving hand, once again sensing the utensil’s outline, almost as if it were rimmed in electricity.
“You're holding a spoon in your left hand and waving it,” he told her.
“What are you?” she asked as she lowered the serving spoon.
Danzen pressed the mask up to the top of his forehead. “Thanks for lunch.”
He removed the mask and placed it in his satchel. Once he reached the door, he again confirmed the location of Pancha’s home.
It turned out to be in the direction of the Asura Forest, predictably on the far side of the Third District, just before the field that lay beyond the District’s end.
Sarnai followed him to the front door. Danzen knew she was watching him as he made his way down the lane. Feeling like she wanted something from him, he turned and waved to her, even offering her a rare smile.
Sarnai finally stepped back inside.
.Chapter Four.
Enkhmaa’s grandfather insisted on riding his horse down to the entrance to the Asura Forest alongside Danzen, the older, bowlegged man with a sword at his side, as if he were anticipating that Danzen would ask him to come along for the rescue.
At first, Danzen hadn’t told Pancha too much about what he had discovered in the forest, going along with the same pattern of reasoning that had shaped his explanation to Sarnai—Danzen didn’t want to scare the older man.
But Pancha would have none of that, even brandishing his sword at some point while they sat in the man’s dining room, pointing it at Danzen, glaring as he told him that he needed an answer.
Danzen didn’t take this gesture lightly; there was no question that he could have killed the elderly man in a flash, Pancha clearly unaware of what Danzen was capable of.
But in the end, this wasn’t his response to the man’s less-than-idle threat. No, Danzen understood by the way that his eyes quivered that Pancha was merely concerned for his granddaughter.
So Danzen told him what he had encountered, which had the effect of the man lowering his weapon.
Now, mounted on a different horse than he’d ridden the previous day, Pancha looked down at Danzen, his voice shaded by an apologetic tone as he spoke: “I’m sorry about my behavior back there. This is just…” He cleared his throat, glancing up momentarily as a raven moved over them, the blackbird settling in one of the trees. Danzen could have sworn it had three legs.
“Enkhmaa’s all we have. We don’t have any other grandchildren, and for that matter, we don’t have any other children. I would do anything for that girl.”
“I understand.”
“You say the word, and I’ll ride in there with you, Pilgrim. If this demon has my Enkhmaa, I’ll kill her.”
“Yes, you will,” said Danzen, recognizing in the man a demeanor he was all too familiar with. It wasn’t uncommon for assassins, especially when working in groups, to talk themselves up just to get a grip on the situation, especially less experienced ones.
Danzen had heard hours upon hours of self-assurances and boasting from both men and women, even from assassins that he generally thought of as strong and cunning enough to complete whatever task was presented to them.
The horse snorted, startling Pancha. “Sorry again, this just has me so riled up.”
“Return home,” Danzen told him. “I will do the best I can.”
“If not, I’ll talk to the Elders. We’ll get a whole army of men. We’ll burn this forest to the ground…”
Danzen looked to the woods, the way the trees held court above them, their shadows providing little light to the forest floor. He imagined the woods on fire, what the view would look like from his monastery, and finally shook his head.
“That won’t be necessary.” He stepped into the forest, and as he did, he went into his satchel and brought his mask out.
Danzen needed to orient himself before he took to the air, and he wanted Pancha to turn back to the village before he revealed one of the things he was capable of.
Moving deeper into the woods, he looked down at his mask, the mirrored circles reflecting small hints of light that cut through the canopy above, Danzen able to see his own face.
He almost didn’t recognize himself.
The former assassin had less of an edge to him now, something different about his eyes, his skin even. He hadn’t looked at himself much over the last two years, but it was almost as if some of the wrinkles that had taken shape on his forehead and in the corners of his eyes had started to fade away.
He still looked hardened, but less so in a way, less like a stone-cold killer and more like a man who had battled his inner monsters and lived to tell the tale.
Once Danzen was sure that Pancha had started to trot away, he placed the mask over his head. He pulled it down over his chin, everything going black.
He paused, sucking in a deep breath as he situated himself.
He didn’t have much time to get used to using this ability again, but now that he had recalled what it was like, mostly thanks to Sarnai asking him to put the mask on, Danzen quickly remembered the lessons that Nomin the blind assassin had taught him.
Everything was connected, and by bending one’s echo, a person could merely reach out to the strings of these connections, plucking at them. Since everything was connected, sight, while incredibly useful, wasn’t as necessary as one would think.
As long as a person could sense their environment, and totally place their trust into the remnants of Sunyata, of a heaven that had fallen and which moved through every person, they would be able to recognize these connections to their physical environment.
To prove what she meant, Nomin had instructed Danzen to fight her with a black blindfold over his eyes.
Predictably, his first attempt at this had been rather poor, but he’d grown better over the course of several days, and in the end, Danzen could see her outline rimmed in light, and was able to block her advances.
Of course, they hadn’t added weapons to the mix yet.
That came later, Nomin not the type to sugarcoat anything.
As the forest started to make itself clearer to him, the trees, roots, a few shrubs, rocks, everything with just a hint of light tracing along its outline, Danzen recalled his first blade fight with the blind assassin.
Even though she knew not to cut his flesh, that it would spawn something terrible, she came at him like this was her true intention.
Nomin performed a series of quick flashes on Danzen’s darkened field of vision, her speed and precision something to behold.
The sounds of their blades meeting had Danzen feeling like he was lagging, like he was going to finally miss her strike, and thus unleash a part of him that he preferred to hide.
But it never happened.
He was able to parry all of her attacks, Danzen overwhelmed by light once he removed the blindfold and saw the blind assassin standing before him.
She hadn’t even broken a sweat.
Now, as he moved through the woods, Danzen channeled what he had learned from her.
He could sense animals around him, perhaps yokai, and while he got tripped up a few times on roots or stones, he quickly fell into a comfortable gait, blindfolded Danzen growing increasingly confident as he moved deeper into the woods.
The power of sight was compelling, to say the least, but the other senses, the sounds, the textures of some of the trees he passed, the smells of everything from blooming flowers to animal droppings painted a picture in Danzen’s mind’s eye, one that he would need to maintain once he reached the Mu-Onna.
He continued like this for quite some time, his mirrored mask over his face, Danzen feeling closer to the environment than he had ever felt before.
Heaven had fallen, sprinkling her power across the land, which quickly became part of every living thing through their echo. And now, blindfolded in the middle of a forest that was considered forbidden, Danzen appreciated what Sunyata had given all of them, how it had in its own subtle way showed just how connected everything was.
Danzen could sense sunlight now through the leafy smell of plants around him, a glow radiating through the blotched fabric of his mask. He knew he was coming closer to the rocky outcrop where he had first encountered the demonic, one-eyed child.
Danzen slowly pressed his mask up to his forehead, keeping his eyes shut for a moment as a swath of pink painted across his eyelids.
He let his eyes adjust and finally opened them, Danzen confirming that he was about a hundred yards away from where he had first spotted the yokai.
After a deep breath out, Danzen crouched and shot into the air, leaping straight up and reaching a branch, which he then used to springboard even higher, until he was above the canopy, light as air as he started moving along the tree line toward the rocks.
