Excerpt from Chapter 1
Balsa stood on a rocky ledge beside a cave, the overlapping ridges of the Misty Blue Mountains dropping away beneath her. A stream rushed from the cave mouth and thundered into the basin far below, wrapping her in the tingling scent of freshwater. The hot, dry summers had passed, and the green foliage was beginning to fade. Within a month, the mountain slopes would be covered in a blaze of autumn leaves.
Balsa closed her eyes. The setting sun burned a red circle against her eyelids. She had stood on this shelf once before, after her foster father, Jiguro, had led her weeping through the caves. Just six years old, she had trembled to see the foreign land spread out below her; she could not begin to imagine the life that awaited her there. Years later, she was a bodyguard by trade, her black, weathered hair bound carelessly into a ponytail and her belongings slung over the end of her well-used spear. Those mountains to the south now separated her from everyone she loved in New Yogo, while to the north, through the cave, lay her native Kanbal, whose very name stirred bitter memories within her.
And yet now that was where she must go.
With her eyes still closed, she gently ran a finger over the long, twisting line carved into her spear shaft. Right at the first branch. Right again at the second branch, left at the third… She could hear Jiguro’s deep voice reciting the route that the mark represented.
The rugged land of Kanbal followed the contours of the Yusa mountains, “the mother range,” which hid a deep labyrinth of caves. Parents constantly warned their children to stay out of the caves, telling them stories of the darkness ruled by the Mountain King and the terrible hyohlu who guarded his kingdom. Despite these warnings, however, probably every child in Kabal ventured a little way inside at least once in his or her life. While the rock near the surface was limestone, it soon gave way to smooth white hakuma stone. A piece of hakuma was the highest badge of courage among Kanbalese children, for it proved that the bearer had gone into the darkness beyond the reach of daylight. Every few years, one or two children who snuck into the cave failed to return. Perhaps they were eaten by the hyohlu as their parents claimed, or perhaps they simply lost their way in the complex maze of tunnels.
Balsa too had been taught to fear the caves, and though she had survived countless battles through strength and bravery alone, she felt the familiar terror rising in her stomach as she stood before the dark opening. She could have entered Kanbal through the official border gate like other travelers. Rogsam, the king of Kanbal who had hunted her for fifteen years, had died a decade ago. She was the only person alive who knew how he had seized the throne; she did not need to fear reprisal, even if she strode boldly across the border. But she wanted to return through the same cave. Somehow she felt that it was the right thing to do — to walk alone through the darkness, chasing her steps to her native land.
She had tried so hard to forget Kanbal. Thinking about it hurt like an old scar, tender to the touch. Physical wounds healed over time, but the more she tried to ignore the pain in her soul, the deeper it seemed to fester. There was only one way to deal with it: she must confront it head-on.
Opening her eyes, she took a deep breath, bidding a silent farewell to the Misty Blue Mountains and everyone she loved in New Yogo. Then she turned abruptly and stepped into the darkness.
About the Author: Nahoko Uehashi is a writer of fantasy titles, whose books have sold more than a million copies in her native Japan. She has won numerous awards, including the 2014 Hans Christian Andersen Award, which she received for her contribution to children’s literature throughout her life. She has a Ph.D. in cultural anthropology and has studied indigenous peoples in Australia. She lives near Tokyo, Japan.
About the Translator: Cathy Hirano lives in Shikoku, Japan and has translated a variety of books including best-selling authors Marie Kondo and Nahoko Uehashi.