Episode 9 : The Valley of White Death - Part 5

"Aah--!"

 On the other side of the valley and on this side, Rak's warriors and Guin heard the young mercenary's screams, helpless.

"God of Moss--!"

 The rope was tightly knotted, but it was only a rope, and with the weight of more than forty young men of Shem already on it, it could not hold up under the weight of Istvan.

 At last, with the safe other end in sight, the knot continued to loosen from one place and then snapped.

 Instantly Istvan felt his body, stuffed like a trapped animal in a ragged net bag, falling into the horrible sea of id below. He groaned, and then, as if he wished to fight on without giving up hope of life until the last moment, and not to see the certain and tragic death that was at hand, he closed his eyes tightly, removed his hand from the rope, and covered his face firmly with it.

 A short, sudden, but to himself seemingly eternal, sensation of falling engulfed him, and then his body was thrown downward, with the fragile net that surrounded it.

 Istvan moaned even louder and rolled himself up weakly. In any case, such resistance would have been useless in the midst of the horrible Id, which crushed and digested every human and beast in its entirety.

 However, the shuddering sensation of death that he had expected, of having his whole body enveloped in that pale, squishy jelly and being twisted around by it, did not seem to come to him at all.

"...?"

 István opened his eyes, which had been closed tightly in his hands covering his face. He looked fearfully out from between his fingers, and then put down his hands in a panic.

"Oh, my God. Oh, my God.

 Completely dumbfounded and seized with disbelief and astonishment, he cried out in a feeble voice.

"By the light hair of Ilana, wife of Lure, my guardian goddess! What the hell is this? ..."

 He struggled out of the net bag and stood up on the soft earth of the bottom of the ravine without a single injury, not even a piece of id on his body.

 His dark, mischievous eyes rolled back in his head as he looked around. The Idols were no longer even in the area where he was standing.

"Oh, my God! They're on the move!"

 The Valakian cried out in dismay, then suddenly burst out laughing and broke himself in two.

"By the blue vase that spills the moonlight of Iris! By the fever carried by Thoth, God of Love, how can this be? No, it's not, but I've known it all along. I'm a Valakian Istvan, a mage, a red mercenary. Yes, I've always been the luckiest man in the world, the one who never gets hit by a stray arrow!"

 Perhaps he was right to say so - the Ides had begun to move away from their hitherto full valley with a rustle just as he had literally begun his perilous crossing.

 They move about the wilderness of Nosferus as if it were a tide of jelly during the night, and they digest all that their bodies touch. Sarai and the others, having made a few of the trampled Shem their prey, seemed to have dimly sensed that there was more food to be found to the southwest of them, and it turned its horrible, miles-long figure like a huge, irregularly shaped caterpillar, and headed for the other side of the valley. And when István's rope snapped and he fell down, it was just as the Ids were passing by.

 The mercenary looked around and saw that he was still too near the edge of the Ido to be so happy. In a panic he picked up his sword and swiftly ran up the valley.

 His eyes suddenly rested on something that had appeared on the ground after the Id had left like an undertow. It must have been the maw of the brave Sarai, who had sacrificed herself to let her companions pass safely earlier.

"Ugh."

 Even the fearless Red Mercenary wrinkled his nose. She had changed so much that she was almost unrecognizable from Sarai.

 This is what would happen if a giant anaconda were to wrap a human being in a cocoon, crush him to death, swallow him whole and digest him, and then cut open the snake's belly and pull out its contents. The bones of the asphyxiated victims were crushed and crumpled by the soft and unrelenting pressure of the Id, and they became mangled lumps of flesh. The bones of the suffocated victims were crushed and crumpled into a mangled mass of flesh, and the id had sucked up and digested every soft part of them. Istvan looked in horror at the broken bones, as white as if they had been washed, and thought that if Idd had not stepped back, he himself would have ended up like that.

"Well, it doesn't matter - it didn't happen anyway, and I'm still alive because of the white stuff of Iris."

 Shaking himself like a dog brushing off water, he jumped over the rocks and joined the raks who were anxiously huddled there.

"Ha! You're safe. Don't look at me like I'm a ghost, monkeys!"

 He did not understand Shem's words and the Rak's did not understand his words. Taking advantage of this, Istvan said in an arrogant tone.

 But his eyes would roll back. Raku and the others didn't pay much attention to him.

"Liard!"

"Liard--Ini, Reek, Rani!"

"Liard--!"

 He is looking across the valley, which he has just managed to cross safely, as if peering through the darkness, and is talking loudly.

"Guin--?"

 Istvan's brow furrowed, and he looked in the direction to which the Raks were pointing and whispering.

 And then he realized. Now that he'd managed to get here, Guin was the only one still left over there.

 And now the herds of the Id are looking out over the valley and moving like living waves towards their food - towards Guin!

 And the rope of life has been severed.

 Guin has no way to get to us!

"..."

 Istvan the Valakian squinted sharply and skimmed across the darkness, as if trying to get a clearer picture of the situation in his mind.

 There was a strange, pained expression on the wolf's face, but he shook it off with a cluck of his tongue.

"Hey, what's all the fuss--it's okay, Guin's okay. He'll make it through even if all the Ides of the world come crashing down on him. More importantly--"

 Hesitantly moisten your lips with your tongue,

"Besides, hey, monkeys, how long are you going to waste your time here? Which way to Lak's village? Guin will catch up with us anyway, so let's take our time getting there..."

 On the way he stopped talking. His words were not understood by the Rak, but even so, he realized that no one was even paying attention to his words. The Raks were chattering madly, pointing across the valley to where Guin had been left alone.

 They seem to be arguing loudly whether they should go into the sea of the Id, which they had finally passed through, in order to save Liard, the hero, who was to them a god of war. Sheba seems to be in a state of agitation, insisting that he must go back and burn the Id and save Guin as soon as possible, and is waving a torch in his hand and speaking passionately in the high-pitched language of Shem.

"Hey, no, no, no.

 Istvan shouted out.

"You're not seriously planning to burn the Idols to the ground, are you? Why do you think we just crossed the valley with that trick? It's because we're afraid they'll find the fire and draw the main force of Mongol's army straight to us. Look, Guin could have made it through somehow. ..."

 The Raks did not look convinced at all, but instead turned their angry, reproachful eyes on the tall Valakian.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa.

 Istvan was about to say this when he turned a little snide.

"Alfetu!"

 Suddenly, the rakus shouted in astonishment.

 Their round eyes widened in unbelievable horror and shock, and they screamed and tried to flee in all directions.

 István was stunned and fossilized as he gazed at the thing that had startled the Raks. His tongue was wet in his mouth and clinging to his upper jaw, the hairs of his body were standing on end, and even if he wanted to look away from that horrible thing which had risen out of the nightmare, he could not do so.

 And it came to them like a kraken that split the sea of night in two out of the dark and receding sea of the id, and it stretched out its hand toward them a mass of id in the shape of a man. And the hand that reached out to them was a clump of Ids in the shape of a man.

 No--

"G--Guin!"

 Istvan cried out and tried to run away in a panic, then stopped again in a panic and wrung his hands in a panic, not knowing what to do.

 It really was Guin. His leopard's head and his splendidly strong body were completely covered with a sticky id, so that it was hard to tell him apart, but it was indeed him. No sooner had Istvan looked round to see what was the matter, than Guin's id-covered hand suddenly stretched out towards Sheba, and snatching the torch from the hand of the screaming Sheba, he suddenly flung it at his own head!

 Immediately the figure was enveloped in the id, and then it was engulfed in flames and set ablaze.

"Whoa, Guin!"

 István screamed. The figure flailed its arms and legs several times in the flames, as if in agony, and then suddenly fell to the ground, rolling about with great speed, and soon had apparently extinguished most of the fire.

"Na--oh my God, ...."

 Even the [Demon Warrior] was so stunned by surprise that he could not speak for a while. Raku and the others forgot to even check to see if Guin was okay and stood there stunned.

 Guin - or rather, his incarnation - fell there, motionless for a while. He had finally put out the fire, and his huge frame was blackened here and there with bits of burnt id. Istvan gulped down his spit, and then finally managed to speak.

"Guin--Guin, did you ... burn to death, ...?"

 His voice was faintly shaky.

 A huddled figure like a mountain twitched. And then,

"No. ..."

 A muffled, familiar voice, faint,

"No, I'm not dead.

"Guin!"

 Only then did Istvan - and Rach and the others - begin to recover from their gold-bound astonishment. At the same time, they rushed to help Guin, panicking that he was badly burned and could not move.

 But..,

"It's okay. Get out of the way."

 Just as Guin's voice became somewhat clearer, his hand suddenly lifted up, and his black head was completely removed--

 Then, to the astonishment of everyone, a huge, round leopard head appeared, without a scratch on it anywhere.

"My goodness--even I would have choked if the flames hadn't gone out a minute longer than they did."

 The leopard-headed warrior said, his yellow eyes flaring even more yellow, and threw out what he held in his hand.

 It was the armor of the Black Knight of Gora, which Istvan had stripped off earlier. Guin put the body of that armor on his head and used it as a protective barrier, forcing his way through the middle of the id.

"How ..."

 Istvan said vaguely, dumbfounded.

"Janus, who is in charge of all the miracles in this world, are you really a flesh and blood human being? How dare you run through a crowd of Id's on your own and then set yourself on fire to get rid of the Id's that are stuck to you? ..."

"I've got some sense. It's not like I've crossed any dangerous bridges."

 Guin laughed in a barking voice and began to remove the things he had attached to his body. Istvan rolled his eyes and peered at him, then roared.

 As soon as Istvan had started to walk the rope, Guin took off the pieces of crystal that he had collected and tied them around his body, including the remaining bowstring and the reins of his horse. Then, after protecting his bare skin from the attraction of the Ids in this way, he put on Istvan's shin guards and gauntlets on his arms and legs, put his armor on his head, and, with his eyes open, he ran straight through the midst of the Ids.

"It was a close call."

 Guin admitted as he cleaned off the armor with the remains of the id stuck to them.

"Somebody get me a drink."

 He immediately drank from a canister handed to him, devouring it as he went,

"That Ido is much stronger than I thought. I had to squeeze every ounce of strength out of my body to keep from being crushed, and on top of that, I knew that it would be the end if he took my legs. Holding the torch of the sago in my hand, I burned the front of my foot to clear the way, but I lost it, so for the last 30 tad, I took a long breath, let the id come unsteadily, and rode with all my strength. If the idlers had continued for another five tads, I would have ended up either running out of breath or being tripped up.

"What a crazy thing to do! No matter how strong you are and how long you've been breathing, the fact that you're standing on the ground with your feet like that is just incredibly fortuitous."

 Istvan said in disgust. Guin laughed.

"In any case, my weight is too heavy to be supported by such a rope in any way. From the beginning, I knew that I would have to protect myself with something and trudge through the valley of the id."

"God of Moss--!"

 Istvan said softly. His dark, glittering, unserious eyes were fixed on Guin with a strange, uncharacteristic astonishment, and even - though he might never have admitted it - a glimmer of relief. and - though he might never have admitted it - a light of relief.

"It's true that you weren't unharmed, but this much is not so much as a bug."

 Guin said, examining his body. There were blisters here and there on his arms, legs, and chest, and the broken end of a crystolite was stuck in his side, clenched by the force of the id that had crushed his bones. As Shiva and the others applied herbs and first aid, Guin tried to move her numb neck and head.

"Huma and the others did a poor thing."

 He said, looking down at the valley floor, where the pale, shining sea of the Idols had gone and there was nothing but a dark abyss.

"I let him go, but he would have been eaten by Ido - I could barely take care of myself, let alone horse."

"What the hell is that--"

 Istvan made an irritated gesture. While he waited for them, Shiva and the others who had preceded him had lit a fire, so that all around them was a small noonday territory. Istvan looked at it and turned his head again. His dark eyes began to shine more sarcastically and sternly than usual, as if in reaction to a violent emotional turmoil. The huge leopard-headed warrior, who was being treated by a number of ape-men, sat down to take care of his body, a strange and fantastic scene.

"It's not about the horse. It could have killed us."

"But we're alive. And we didn't lose too many of them."

 Guin pointed out. He gently brushed away Shiva and the others' hands and stood up.

"Very well then, let us depart. We don't have a lot of time, and those idlers have cost us a lot of it. We should have let some of them enter the village of Rak before us."

"I made them do it, Liard-- they should be on their way from the village by now."

 Shiva shouted with pride.

"That's great. How did you find out, Sheba?"

 Guin praised him. Sheba looked happy.

"Then let us go. The village of Rak is not far now, is it?"

"Yes, Liard. One valley over, and you'll see it."

"I wish those Idos would just go down the mountain and annihilate the Mongol army."

 Istvan said with a straight face.

 And after that, they hurried on through the night without much danger.

 So preoccupied were they with defending themselves against the id that they had almost forgotten the great danger that loomed over their village and their race itself. Like a huge tiger with agile hounds at its heels, Guin led the way with bottomless stamina, and Sheba approached easily.

"Liard, is that black man really a brave man?"

 I've been wondering about it for a long time," he says, and asks secretly.

"Istvan is?"

"Black man, not like Leard at all. He screams like a woman and talks like one. Besides, we crossed the valley thanks to Leard, and now he wants to leave Leard behind. The Black Man, Leard's friend, we welcome him... but the Black Man, is he a hero, really?"

 Guin began to laugh aloud and everyone looked at him to see what was going on.

"That's the way it is, Sheba--you may not understand."

 Laughing, Guin says to me.

"There are more than one kind of brave. There are brave men like that-- the Red Mercenary is a rare brave man."

 Shiva's body is still somewhat unconvinced.

"Hey, what are you talking about, Guin--look, it looks like that's a pickup from the village of Rak."

 Istvan, who did not know what was being said, came up to Taiping and pointed to the bottom of a narrow path leading uphill.

 At the bottom of the valley, there was a flickering light, and at the top of the valley, there waited for them a group of Rak, holding up their lamps. They had arrived at the village of Rak.