The trip south from the Toga Mountains to Yukata had also been a journey from winter to early spring. In fair weather, it would have taken well-provisioned horsemen only about ten days, but it took much longer for Van and Sae, who had to wait out blizzards and forage for food. Even so, they managed to arrive not far behind the Lightning Squad.
This was partly because the Ahfal Oma had not brought their hounds, which meant that Van and Sae could keep pretty close without being detected. It also helped that the Ahfal Oma were forced to follow narrow game trails to avoid encountering Zolian guards on the main roads. This slowed them considerably.
When they reached Yukata territory, the Lightning Squad split into two groups. Van and Sae debated whether they should separate and follow both, but ultimately, they elected to stick together as they had no way of keeping in contact. Besides, two would stand a better chance than one if they were discovered.
They followed the tracks of the larger group, which led toward the capital of the Yukata mountain clan.
An owl hooted.
Van looked at Sae, and she nodded. With her face smeared in mud and her eyes narrowed, she was barely visible in the darkness. Van also lay concealed by the night, his face covered with mud. He kept his eyes trained on the bushes the Lightning Squad had vanished into, leaving silence in their wake.
The owl call had come from that thicket. Only moments before, several lanterns had appeared on the path ahead, their faint glow catching on metal. Soldiers were trudging down that narrow trail through the forest toward Van and Sae.
Seconds after the owl’s cry, the Ahfal Oma burst from their hiding place. Someone shouted that it was an ambush, and the lanterns waved wildly. White swords flashed, and voices cried out. Metal clashed against metal, sending sparks into the air. There was a dull sound, like a sandbag being cut. Van caught the reek of sweat and blood.
The fight ended swiftly. In the light of a lantern lying on the ground, Van saw several warriors grab one of the collapsed men, bind his hands behind his back, and haul him to his feet. He walked off surrounded by Ahfal Oma. A warrior picked up one of the lanterns, and the light revealed the prisoner’s face.
Sae gasped. She clearly knew him. He was about to ask her who the prisoner was when something else seized his attention. A familiar scent rode the night wind as it ascended the slope.
And with that smell, the image of a man entered his mind. Van’s pulse began to race.
Nakka.
There was no mistake. It was the scent of the little man, the Yusula Oma, who’d kidnapped Yuna. Heat rushed through Van’s body, and he closed his eyes. As he did so, everything changed. A world in which smells and sounds formed shapes wrapped itself around him and spread outward. Odors that didn’t belong to the forest stung his nostrils—candle wax, metal, human blood, and sweat. Everything that moved left tracks of scent trailing on the air.
Van opened his eyes to the barest slits and began to run. He slipped through the thickets like a wild beast, following the trail of Nakka’s scent. Close behind him came Sae’s smell. He knew she was there but didn’t look back, focusing instead on Nakka’s trail.
Nakka tagged along behind the warriors with his head lowered. They walked for a long time until they emerged at the bottom of a cliff. The moon, half-full, had already risen. Its hazy light revealed black holes here and there in the gray stone—caves.
As the warriors approached with their prisoner, shadows stirred. A flurry of motion erupted at the foot of the cliff. The two bands of fighters were reuniting. Several men led the prisoner into one of the caves while the rest stayed outside, gathering around a bonfire.
Nakka joined the latter group and seemed to talk to them. Van crept to the edge of the forest with Sae beside him. Keeping his eyes fixed on Nakka, he whispered in her ear, “You see that man? The short one on the right side of the fire?”
“Yes.”
“That’s Nakka.”
Sae gasped. “Really?” Van nodded, and Sae frowned. “You can see his face from here?”
“No,” Van answered in a low voice, his eyes never leaving the man. “I can tell by his scent. That’s him for sure.”
The man turned and walked a short distance. “You’re right,” Sae breathed. “It’s Nakka.”
They looked at each other, and Van grinned. It had taken them long enough, but they’d found him at last. Their key to Yuna was only a short distance away.
How Van longed to hold her in his arms, to see her eyes light up and hear her cry “Ochan!” However, he forced down the feelings that rushed up inside him. It would not do to hurry. First, they had to find out what was going on. If all his attention was focused on Yuna, he might make a mistake.
“Do you know the man they took prisoner?” he asked.
Sae nodded. “That’s Master Tohlim.”
Van’s eyes widened. “Tohlim Sufolsam? The king’s right-hand man?”
He was the most influential man in Aquafa. Once entrusted with distributing salt, even after Zol took over the mines, he was still the kingdom’s linchpin, with ties to all the frontier clans.
Staring at the bonfire flames in the distance, Sae muttered, “He commands the Molfah.”
With those words, all the pieces fell into place. Van’s face tightened. “So Kenoi knows.”
Sae nodded, her expression grim.
Perhaps they’d realized when they caught Sae. Or maybe a Molfah had surrendered the truth under torture. Either way, the Ahfal Oma knew that the king had abandoned them.
Van shuddered.
Ohfan and his men would be consumed with rage and despair. They would never stand by and let the king squash their rebellion before it began.
So they struck first.
The Ahfal Oma had sent out their Lightning Squad and taken the king’s right-hand man hostage. By doing so, they’d declared their intent. Their next move was obvious.
After trekking through the dark forest, the warmth of the fire was a welcome relief. Out of deference to the Ahfal Oma, Nakka kept his head lowered and kept a respectable distance from the flames. He was still shaken inside. It was his clan’s duty to obey the Ahfal Oma, but deceiving Master Tohlim had filled him with dismay.
He’s a good man.
Tohlim had helped them after the toxic grain incident when the Ahfal Oma rose up against the settlers. Nakka’s cousin had been sentenced to death for aiding the uprising, but Master Tohlim had gone out of his way to meet with the Zolian officials and explain the ties of obligation that bound the Yusula Oma to the People of the Fire Horse. Thanks to him, Nakka’s cousin escaped execution and was sent to the salt mine as a kitchen slave instead. And that wasn’t all. Tohlim had arranged permission for Nakka’s uncle to take food and clothing to his daughter. The Yusula Oma were astonished and deeply grateful that a man of such high station as Tohlim would aid members of a humble frontier clan.
Nakka remembered the days that had followed well. His uncle had been sick with grief after learning that a slave driver raped his daughter. After the child was born, he’d traveled to the salt mine whenever he could, taking lapateh made with fire horse milk and Oki laputa that he bought in Kazan to his daughter, hoping the foods might restore her health after it declined from childbirth.
Lapateh, cheese mixed with chopped dried fruit, was common, but not often made with fire horse milk. Since the settlers moved in, the mares bred by the Ahfal Oma produced less milk, and now the Ahfal Oma rarely shared it with Nakka’s people. His uncle could only have obtained some at great sacrifice, but in the end, his daughter had given it all to her baby. “If only she would eat a little herself,” Nakka’s uncle had said. Nakka still recalled the sadness in his eyes. He’d passed away last year, and, in a strange twist of fate, Nakka brought the child back to her mother’s village.
When the Ahfal Oma attacked the settlers’ community, they forced Nakka to serve as a lookout. Fortunately, the Zolian officials never found out, but there were some in his village who knew. Torn by guilt at being the only one to have escaped punishment, Nakka found it increasingly hard to remain in the settlement and moved to Oki after his parents passed away.
It gave him a strange feeling to know that choice brought him and Yuna together. He’d been stunned when the Ahfal Oma ordered him to kidnap the little girl. He’d refused at first, but the Ahfal Oma had sneered and told him, “She’s your cousin’s daughter from the salt mine. Wouldn’t you rather take care of her yourself than leave her to us? You should be grateful that we’re giving you the opportunity.”
That was how the god Kinma worked.
And now Yuna was inside that cave. When he learned that she’d been taken with the female doctor from Otawalle, he’d rushed over to retrieve her from the prison. But the warriors claimed she was a valuable hostage and refused to let him take her home.
What should I do?
Yuna’s grandparents had died last year, so Nakka had asked their daughter, Yuna’s aunt, to take care of her. Unfortunately, Yuna was exceptionally stubborn, even for a child her age, and she made no attempt to fit in with the family. She slipped away every chance she got and would disappear for the whole day. She returned when it got dark, but after finishing dinner, she curled up in a corner and fell asleep. Her aunt complained that it was like taking care of a stray kitten. She had lots of kids of her own and no need for another. When she found out what had happened to Yuna, she’d likely be relieved. However, Nakka didn’t have the heart to abandon the child in a cave and leave without her.
Maybe I’ll just say good-bye before I go. Timidly, Nakka asked the warriors around the bonfire if he could see Yuna. After conferring among themselves, they gave him permission to look in on her, but only after she was asleep.