Episode 18 : The Dawn Surprise - Part 2

 When he entered the house, it was dark, and Guin felt the cold heaviness that is characteristic of stone buildings.

 The building is a very primitive one, not far removed from the cave dwellings of Shem. Inside the house is a single room, with three windows in the walls that let white light into the darkness, and a furnace in the middle of the earthen floor, surrounded by furs and straw.

 The wise man, shriveled from the waist down, sat down on the floor in front of the fur-lined hearth, and greeted the leopard-headed warrior with his characteristic deep, glowing gaze.

 He asked Guin to sit down facing him, and waved his hand to the two squires, and without waiting for them to leave, he cut them off.

"Because you commanded it, Guin the Brave, we, the entire tribe of Ragon, will leave this village and go to the land you lead us to and vanquish your enemies there. But whether we win or lose, in any case, Ragon will never return to this Ragon Valley again, not this morning."

"It's--"

 Guin was about to say something when old Kerr calmly raised his six-fingered hand and stopped him.

"That's what often happens to Ragon. Ragon is not a people bound to a single land... because he has not yet found the Promised Land to which he belongs... every land is but a sham to him. Accra sends us messengers from time to time-- once in a generation, twice in a generation, three times in a generation. The last time was when I was a young boy. A lagon went out into the desert and brought back the sign of Akula. So the great migration began and we came to this mountainous land and founded the village of Lagon. Sometimes they would leave the village where they had lived until that morning, and travel all the way to the land where the sign had come from, and live there - sand for sand. If it is sand, they will live in the sand. If it is rock, they will live in the rock. And the mountains, they will dwell in the mountains."

"I see - that's why Ragon is called the Phantom People, isn't it?"

 Guin said with a sigh.

"Like water that runs away, a people that knows not where it is."

"That's right. And the land of which Accra speaks has not always been the last 'Promised Land'. At first it seems so, but then something tells us otherwise, and we know that the announcement was also a mere fiction, and not the final one, but at least we are one step closer to the final Promised Land. We will live our lives there, waiting for the next announcement."

 Guin gazed silently into the quiet old eyes beneath the white brow of this old sage. There was something in the life of this heroic race of giants that touched Guin, that they had lived for so many years in secret, waiting for a true revelation, and that every time they received an unreliable revelation, they would leave their familiar land and move on, believing that this time would be the last. In this life, there was something that moved Guin.

"We are a waiting people. The word "Ragon" means "one who waits. So we have long held that waiting is the mission of Ragon, the mission prescribed by Akula."

 As if to reinforce Guin's thoughts, Kerr the Wise said quietly.

"But if, at last, the mission is now coming to an end - that would be truly astonishing. For how long have we waited for the Promised Land, and fought against the heretical voices of complaint and doubt that were sure to arise, saying that it was not really there, that we should forget the favours of Accra, and settle down to a life that was really only for us, wherever that might be? But if this is the true sign, and you are the one who will truly lead Lagon to the Promised Land..."

 Sage Kaa nodded, folded his six-fingered hands together, and looked as if he were too deep and mysterious to express in words.

 Guin stared at it with a strange feeling of dread. A deep fear filled his heart that if it were not right that he was forcing Ragon to abandon his life in this village and go to war in the distant desert. He doubted his right to move Ragon. Ragon believes him to be the messenger of Akula he has been waiting for. But how could Guin know if he really was speaking the right words at the right time, as he was meant to do?

"The Sign of Accra might have been a revelation in itself, as it happened to come into his possession in the Valley of Salt, or he might be playing a huge trick. If, in the battle against Mongol's army, both Shem and Ragon's armies were defeated and annihilated, he would be nothing more than the messenger of the demon Dole, who had sent Ragon and his men to death, misery, and ruin, not the Promised Land.

"How do you recognize the messenger of Akula, Sage Kaur?"

 Guin asked, somewhat reluctantly.

 Kerr's answer was quite simple and uncomplicated.

"Only Akula has the sign."

"Like this one of mine--"

"Yes, sir. Sometimes it looks a little different, but it's pretty much the same."

"And how do they get it - through the revelation of Akula?"

 Fearing that he might lose the trust he had earned by revealing his ignorance of Akula, he asked again, unable to suppress his curiosity.

 But the wise man's answer frightened him terribly.

"Just as you have done. That is, they have seen it in the midst of the desert in its glittering light, or have grasped it in their hands when they fell down and rose up."

"Oh my God!"

 Guin exclaimed, unable to contain her astonishment.

"Did they simply pick it up?"

"Yes, indeed. That he came upon it was nothing less than the revelation of Akula. Wouldn't that have been the case with you?"

"No--"

 Guin finally admitted with a sense of horror.

"Then I must confess that I have never heard of or known anything of Akhla. Does the revelation of Akhla appear even to such a one - is it not necessary that the one who becomes the messenger of Akhla should know that he is the messenger of Akhla, Sage Kaur?"

"No, sir."

 Carr readily admitted.

"On the contrary... it is precisely for this reason that we, and especially I, believe that this revelation may be the last, the true, and the long awaited one. Many, many messengers have come and gone... and sometimes even ruffians have tried to sway Ragon. But in all the years of Ragon's life, I have never heard of a non-Ragon appearing as an emissary of Akula, much less an unworldly messenger with the head of a Leopard and the body of a man. I have never heard of it.

"..."

 Guin was lost in thought, unable to find the words to answer. The anguish of an old friend--who I am, why I came, where I came from, and what I was born to do--had seized him again.

 It was so great that he had almost forgotten for a time even this impatience that scorched his heart, whether he would make it or not.

 Even if it were not so, too many strange things happen to him, Guin. Every now and then, fragments of knowledge come back to him as if they were given to him by something. He could use the words of Lagon, Shem, and Nakahara at will, but he could not be sure that any of them was truly his native tongue. And then there was the fragmented but strangely lulling knowledge he had of Nakahara, whom he had not yet visited.

 Not only his own mind, but also the events surrounding him were very strange. Like the tornado that carried him to Mount Gutou, and the chance encounter with the old wolf king of Gutou... and also the fact that he happened to catch sight of this "sign of Akula", picked it up, and carried it out on his belt without any reason. And it just so happened that it was flung in front of Ragon and the others at the very right moment. That all of this is just a coincidence?

 But it was also frightening to think that, no matter how monstrous and strange the leopard-headed human body looked to ordinary people, the more so because it all seemed to be moving at the behest of something, at the will of something huge and beyond human comprehension. It was terrifying and shuddering.

 If that is the case, he is not an individual human being who has an independent will and moves as he desires, but is in fact a giant puppet of misery, a mere puppet chosen by heaven or earth only to carry out his destiny itself.

 And even though he knew he shouldn't think about it, he couldn't help it.

 Moreover, assuming that it was true, and that he was only a pawn of fate in the hands of something else, where is the guarantee that that something else is good? What guarantee do we have that this something is good?

 He does not know, nor can he know, what he is, and what the thing that gave him life and made him this way wants him to do.

 What if the giant who controls it is not Janus, or the old Yarn who controls fate, but belongs to the root of evil, Dole - or even Dole himself?

 Guin couldn't help a secret shudder. Kerr turned his piercing eyes on Guin and seemed to see immediately that he was horrified and upset.

"Men are used as instruments of fate - as men use instruments. If the revelation of Akula that you have given is not a good way for Ragon, and if Ragon should suffer great harm in the battle that you have ordered, we will not say that you are a messenger of slander for that reason."

 Old Kerr said soothingly. Guin looked up.

"It is essential that we obey the word of Akhla, and whatever the result of that obedience may be, it is of no consequence. For we are a people who have been given life only to obey the words of Akhla."

 These simple but supremely trustworthy words frightened Guin terribly. He groaned as he asked.

"What is it about Akula that makes him so powerful to Ragon? A god? A man. Or something that's never existed before. Tell me, why is it that Ragon is a people made for unconditional obedience to the word of Akra?"

"Soon, the whole village will be ready to go."

 Carr smiled slowly.

"What is it, O valiant Guin, that has been troubling you so much? What is it that troubles you so? - When we said we would go with you, you never seemed at ease."

"The truth is, I don't have a lot of time left."

 In the presence of Kerr's wise gaze, Guin could have confided in him quite naturally. But then he wondered if he had said it in vain to a people who did not know how to count time.

"I swore to my allies that I would return with Ragon's reinforcements before the end of the day. If I failed to do so, not only would I be in great danger, but the little princess and prince of Paro, my friends who had fled with me into the desert, would be killed by my allies. But even though the sun is now in the middle of the sky, we are still far away from Mount Gutou and no matter how hard we march, unless we use magic, we will not be able to return to the interior of Nosferus where the battlefield is by sunset today. It should take us at least four days by horse to get there."

 As if it were too late, impatience bit his chest bitterly, and Guin looked up to the heavens as if he wanted to be told what to do.

 The old wise man said nothing for a while. He seemed to be deep in thought, but then he nodded slowly, opened his eyes and looked at Guin.

"If that's the case--"

 He said it in a grave, oracle-like tone.

"We must hurry. Guin the Brave-- Ragon is a strange people. Many wondrous things happen to Ragon. Like the revelations of Akula, we know more about this Nosferus than all the other peoples combined. We may come in time - or we may not. That's the word of Akula. Guin the Brave, later, give me the best topography you can of the place you wish to go."

"Okay. But unless you're using magic, you won't be able to get there in less than ten days from here. So. The Lady of Mongol is right. No wonder they are in hot pursuit of the Paro twins, and if the secret of their transference is not within their grasp, they would kill to prevent any other nation from obtaining it. The secret the twins hold is tremendous... I would sell my soul a thousand times over if I could have that terrible secret that made the twins move from the burning Crystal Palace to the Forest of Ludes in an instant. I wonder how many generals and kings would be willing to sell their souls a thousand times if they could get their hands on that terrible secret!"

 The latter part of the speech became an inarticulate murmur in his mouth.

 The old wise man looked at Guin carefully, and then turned his attention back to where he had left off.

"Stop! We will do our best and only Akula knows whether we will make it or not. In that case, until we are ready to leave, I will tell you a few words about Akula and Lagon to clear the brave man's mind."

"Will you do that for me?"

 His curiosity had grown sharper and sharper during the last few minutes of the conversation, and he was glad to hear it. In any case, we can't move until Ragon is ready to go into battle, so it might be better to indulge his curiosity, if only to take his mind off things.

"Accra is not-- Accra is not God."

 The wise man, Kerr, had apparently seen the fluttering of Guin's mind from the beginning. He began to speak slowly.

"But also, Akula is not a person. Akula--what we call Akula--is a place."

"A place?"

 Guin couldn't help but shout in surprise.

"How can a mere place guide or enlighten a man?"

"Yes."

 Carr replied with unshakable conviction.

"Because Accra is so different from any other place. It is, as you said, impossible for a man to set foot there alive. If a man turns his face to the akra, he will die standing there. There is a story that has been handed down to us from afar of a man who had a glimpse of Accra, and it says that the area around Accra was covered with the white bones of men and beasts for hundreds of thalers, and that when he tried to step into it, the bones crumbled under his feet, and that he was reduced to the ashes of the bones as if he were in a white valley. The bones crumble under one's feet, and one's feet sink into the ashes of the bones as if they were in the White Valley.

 Akula has such a mysterious power, but we still cannot know what it is, because we cannot step into it.

 And whether the morning sun shines on it or not, the center of it, that is, Akula itself, always shines with a strange silvery light, and sometimes emits strange and unworldly sounds and voices all by itself. I say.

 And the first wise man of Lagon, Kaa, after him came hundreds of wise men, who sent word that the one who made the people of Lagon was none other than Akula. One night, Akula came down from the heavens as a white light and brought misfortune and death to Nosferus. Akula's power was so great that no one could escape it. Before Akula's coming, Lagon and Shem were as one people, no greater and no less. But at the time of Akula's coming, the fathers of Lagon and the fathers of Shem perished, and when they reappeared, they were Lagon and Shem. That is to say, Akra is the one who made Lagong, and Lagong is the people who were picked up from the dead to serve Akra and obey his command."

"..."

"And again - Akula will come again one day. At that time, Ragon will stand and greet Akra, and all the other peoples will die and be turned to bone by Akra's terrible power. But only Ragon, the servant of Akra, will be forgiven by Akra and will not be put to death by the miasma of Akra.

"Hmm ..."

 Guin let out a low exhale.

 It was a strange story and seemed to make too much sense to have been conceived in the mind of a barbarian. If Guin had been hiding in the tent of the Lady of Mongol, the two-handed mage of Kitai who had given rise to Mongol's expedition, and had only crossed Nosferus on foot If he had only heard the story of Kal-Mor, the two-handed Kitai wizard who walked alone across Nosferus, and who was the direct cause of Mongol's expedition, he would have been even more interested and deeply surprised.

 But the story of Kal-Mor, of course, was not familiar to Guin, and he was not sure how much of the story of Kaar was a trivial legend and how much was the remnant of a strange event from the past, hinted at symbolically.

"That's a horrible story. By the way--"

 Guin was about to say something else when suddenly two of Ragon's warriors came rushing in. Fully dressed for battle, they knelt graciously before Ká and Guin, and when they had told them that they were ready to go and that everyone was waiting for them, they stepped forward to place Ká in a palanquin.

"Let's go. We have to hurry."

 Carr's waving his hands around like he's forgotten what we just said.

"We must go to the wind tunnel."

"Fu-fu-an-ketsu?"

 Kerr was already leaving the room when Guin tried to ask him back.

 As he followed her out, Guin suddenly realized something that had been nagging at the back of his mind for some time now.

 Akula-- the word sounds strangely familiar.

 Aura--the only word in Guin's memory that is strangely similar to it--could it be merely the result of coincidence?