Volume 1 - CH 7.1

Part 1

Renier climbed down the cliff after she had sent Kuhn on his way, cut off the nose and ears of the man from Minotos’s frozen corpse, and threw them before the people inside the cave.

“The fucking asshole tricked me and ran. After everything I’ve done for him. So I hunted him down and killed him, just like I promised. I didn’t bring his corpse back because it was too heavy. But I can bring you to it if you want to see it for yourselves.”

Renier knew fully well that no one would take her up on that offer because corpses off the side of the road were destined to become food for the eagles and wild dogs anyway.

Renier fell sick that day. She clutched the black stone hanging around her neck as she boiled with a fever. Both her body and her heart hurt like crazy, and he was the only thing she could think about regardless of whether her eyes were open or closed.

Renier waited. She waited endlessly, despite having told him not to come for her. Should I have just closed my eyes and gone with him, if this was going to happen anyway? No, I mustn’t do that. I must never do that. But, what if the rascal really does come back like he promised? Wouldn’t it be okay for me to have a little courage then?

Her hope that he would come back for her like he had promised and her resolve to never allow herself to go with him clashed fiercely inside her. Would he come? Would he not come? What would she do if he didn’t come? No —what would she do if he did come?

I miss him, I miss him, ……I miss him.

She dreamt of him every night. In her dreams, he confessed his feelings for her, kissed her passionately, and held her all night long. She felt like her body was on fire wherever his lips had touched her even after she awoke, and she eventually began hallucinating about him during the day too.

Renier thought that she would lose her mind every time his voice filtered into her ears. During the day, she climbed up tall trees to stare blankly toward Salt Mountain, where his home was.

Something’s strange. Something’s really strange. This isn’t me. Renier cackled as she rubbed her cheeks against the wool blanket he had slept on.

“You idiot, you gods-damned moron. It wasn’t inside his heart that something peculiar was growing. It wasn’t his.”

Renier finally began pulling her hair. She grinded her teeth because she regretted ever telling him not to come back for her, and she shed tears of disappointment at the idea that she might never see him again. She tried so hard to forget about him, but one look at even just the pieces of rock salt that were scattered all over the place was enough to make something surge up from within her.

His rich and quiet voice began to echo around her again.

— Why is your city called Salt City? That’s no fun.

— It’s called Salt City because it’s located on Salt Mountain. Why must a city’s name be fun?

— What do you mean, why?! It’s always better to have a cute and fun name. You could’ve called it Snow City because it’s white and bright and glittery, or you could’ve called it Milk City too. It’s not even like the actual city itself is made out of salt.

The two of them had often chatted in whispers after the grave robbers had fallen asleep. The fire had crackled and sent sparks flying as it burned out, and the light illuminated a hand’s span-sized space between them as their voices circled around them like they were tangible things they could catch with their hands.

— There is one beautiful room that’s made entirely of rock salt. My mother’s boudoir.

— Wow, really? It’s seriously made entirely out of salt? Have you ever tried licking it? All the way from ceiling to floor?

— ……I-I have not. But I could try it if, if you’re curious.”

­— Try it, promise me you’ll try it! It must be so convenient to be in that room while you’re eating. You can just lick the walls if the food isn’t salty enough!

— I-I’ll try it sometime, and I’ll tell you about it after I do.

Did he really lick the walls once he made it home? That fool’s as straight as an arrow, so he probably really did. He probably licked everything —the walls, the floor, the chairs, and even the ceiling. He’s such as awkward fool, after all.

Renier covered her mouth a giggled for a while before she started crying again. She barely ate or drank as she stared blankly into the direction where Salt Mountain was all day long. She felt like she was gradually losing her mind.

She was sick for two days, and her fever continued to linger faintly. She had already been on the skinnier side, but she had practically lost half her size.

The grave robbers inside the cave were wistful that they couldn’t have free meat anymore, but they didn’t seem to be particularly suspicious of her otherwise.

Hmph, damned idiot. How did he not know that the Northlander bastard was going to betray him eventually? —but he still chased the bastard down and killed him despite growing close to him and acting like they were real brothers. The brat’s still as spiteful as ever, but it looks like he’s pretty shocked too. He’s sick in bed. Shh, don’t provoke him —the brat’s probably still feeling super spiteful, so who knows what he might do to you if you loiter around him right now? The grave robbers whispered amongst themselves as they deftly avoided Renier.

It slowly grew warmer after the blizzard had passed, and it was suddenly spring and the equinox was drawing closer.

Renier forced herself to her feet and staggered her way over to the cypress forest located at the border between the two mountains —the place where she had parted ways with Kuhn. All the snow had melted away, and the moss, grasses, and small wildflowers were slowly peeking out.

Salt Mountain looked like a beautiful bride because the red, yellow, and white flowers that were in blossom. A bride with a rainbow-colored crown of flowers wearing a gorgeously decorated shawl and a long skirt made of crimson linen and seven layers of woolen ornaments fluttering in the wind was standing and smiling before her.

Renier sank down where the snow had melted away and stared blankly into space for quite some time.

“……Urtur.”

The axe. The gigantic axe he had been wielding, the one with the faded dark patterns on its handle, was lying strewn about on top of the grass.

Renier dragged the axe back with her. She left it in the crack between the rocks where she had used to hide her dried meat and wine, and then she spent another endless stretch of time just staring at it. Sometimes, she grew so angry that she just wanted to hurl the damned axe off the cliff, and sometimes, she missed the bastard so much that her eyes welled up with tears.

Why did I bring this damned thing back with me? I should just cleanly forget about him. But, in the one-in-a-million chance that he really does come back for me or we just so happen to see each other again by chance, wouldn’t he be happy if I gave his axe back to him? It’s a weapon made out of bronze, so it’s probably really valuable.

“Thank you for finding this for me. I thought I’d never get to see it again. It’s uncomfortable to be without a weapon that your hands have gotten used to wielding. How would you like me to repay you for this debt?”

Renier’s lips twisted as she tried to mimic Kuhn’s strange way of speaking, but then she suddenly stopped and lowered her head. Ugh, shit. Her nose wouldn’t stop running.

Kuhn returned to the cave almost immediately after the equinox had passed.

Renier woke up at down and felt a chill slowly creeping down her back. She didn’t sense any animals nearby, and the people around her weren’t moving about yet. Her surroundings were quiet, but the chill running down her spine only grew stronger and stronger.

It wasn’t as though anyone was exuding bloodlust from nearby, but something still felt off. And Renier knew that her instincts were never wrong.

She needed to get out of here for now.

Renier slipped out of the cave on all fours like a wildcat without bothering to wake any of the grave robbers and quietly walked outside. The pearly light that signaled the dawn was starting to climb up the Whitesalt Mountains.

She stared at the sky for quite some time before she suddenly frowned. She had spotted some kind of strange movement inside the darkness. It looked like a flock of birds were flying her way, but they didn’t move like any of the nocturnal birds, like bats or owls, she had seen often in the Southlands.

Are they some type of eagles, considering how fast they’re flying? Wait. Do eagles normally fly around in groups at night? Renier pondered for a while before she suddenly shot her eyes wide open.

“Are those……sky chariots? Are those anmars?”

The chills running down her spine only grew sharper.

‘Anmars’ were round chariots found only in the Northlands that were pulled by six or seven giant eagles each. It was said that Northland horses or dogs pulled sleds over the Northland plains, and sky chariots —anmars— soared through the Northland skies.

The Northlanders raised nu’umma eagles, a breed of eagles with particularly large bodies and wings, and trained them to pull sky chariots, but even they, who were said to have a natural gift in rearing beasts, said that it was difficult to raise nu’umma eagles and drive anmars.

Of course, some of the high-ranking priests of the Golden Forest, where Renier had briefly stayed as a slave, could also use ngak —the power of the divine stones— to lift and move objects or human bodies through the air.

But levitation ngak that allowed people to fly through the sky were very expensive, and it was difficult for people to control levitating vehicles while they were levitating. It was practically impossible to see anything flying so high and freely through the skies because of the problems that came with levitating, such as horrible airsickness, terror, and the risk of falling and injury.

The circular object attached to several giant birds became more visible as it came closer. Renier turned around to see whether there was any smoke or light coming from the cave. There was neither. The cave’s small entrance was hidden behind large rocks and trees, and it should have been impossible to tell that the cave was even there from all the way up in the sky. But the anmar was undeniably coming straight for the cave.

“Maybe…?”

Renier’s heart began racing like crazy.

­— Then wait. I’ll come back once I’ve finished what I must do.

Maybe, just maybe, was it Kuhn?

— I’ll come back after I’ve come of age, and I’ll come back after thinking a lot more about you, just as you wished. And then, I’ll tell you everything I want to say to you without fail. Will that work? Will you wait for me?

But Renier decided to climb up a tree that was covered thoroughly in leaves instead of waiting where she was. Her heart was screaming that it was surely Kuhn inside that sky chariot, but she still had to prepare for the off chance that it wasn’t. The chill running down her spine was so ominous that she figured that it couldn’t hurt to be cautious.

The nu’umma eagles came all the way to the cave entrance and cawed noisily as they flapped their wings. The person who was driving the anmar used the ropes tied to the chariot and a series of whistles to skillfully land the anmar over the grass.

Renier saw the large man with the powerful bow and large quiver on his back jumping lightly down from the chariot and instantly knew that he was the boy she had so been waiting for. ‘You really, really came.’ Tears threatened to spill from her eyes.

“Are you really planning to embrace my curse? Why would you do that, you moron? —you stupid, stupid fool.”

Renier rubbed her eyes against the back of her hand and was just about to climb down from the tree. But then she saw Kuhn walking up to the cave entrance and tilted her head to the side.

“What……is that?”

Something reminiscent of black smoke was blazing from Kuhn’s being. Renier hid herself between the branches and opened her eyes wide. There was no way that she didn’t know what that blackish smoke meant. Her entire being froze solid on the spot.

The bloodlust that he was exuding was so vivid and forthright that she couldn’t possibly mistake it for anything else, and it was larger and more violent than anything she had ever seen before. Now that she thought about it, his profile looked ferocious and menacing even from a distance.

“The hell’s with all the noise? And where the fuck did that shitty little brat run off to without saying a word to any……huh?”

Sedek walked outside when he heard the birds cawing and flapping their wings. Kuhn ran up to him in an instant and swung his arm. It was like a giant black panther had jumped out from nowhere to ambush his prey.

“……What?”

His movements had been so swift and light that even Renier, who had good vision, hadn’t seen what had happened. It was only after Sedek’s head fell to the ground and rolled a couple of times that Renier clasped her hands over her mouth as the blood drained from her face.

Did you really……just kill him without bothering to check if it was me first?

The other people inside the cave came outside as a group after they heard Sedek’s short cry. The number of grave robbers living inside the cave had grown to thirty after spring had come.

Kuhn readjusted his grip on his axe with one hand. New bloodlust surged blackly from behind him. Was this the source of the ominous premonition Renier had sensed at dawn? She felt like the aura pouring out from his being alone was enough to suffocate her to death.

He brandished his axe without a single word at everyone who came outside the cave. He held the incredibly large and heavy axe with just one hand and wielded it as if it was as light as a feather. His each and every swing was powerful and concise —there was absolutely nothing wasted in his movements—, and he swung, blocked, and slipped away as quickly as lightning so his prey barely even saw him as he attacked them. Only the buzzing, swooshing, and splats of destruction resounded after the fact. The grave robbers rushing at him with weapons drawn had their heads and limbs severed from their bodies and scattered about each and every time he swung his arm.

Renier quivered like a leaf as she saw what was happening below.

……You can’t be doing this, you know, Kuhn?

You don’t know anything about me —not what I look like, not my name, and not even my age. If you’re really here to take me back with you, then, at the very least, you should leave them alive so you can ask them where I am. At the very least, you should be hearing what their voices sound like so you can make sure it’s not me.

……You can’t just kill everyone like this, not unless you intend to kill me too.

Despite Renier’s pitiful hopes, however, Kuhn slaughtered every last grave robber who ran outside the cave without a moment’s hesitation.

Renier’s vision spun as a white fog crept up from the ground. She clutched the branches hard. She had no doubts about what the chill that had been running down her spine was about anymore. Her pitiful hope that had bubbled up from within had almost blinded her for just a very brief moment, but her ability to sense the blackish bloodlust had saved her life yet again.

Kuhn went inside the cave and did not come back out for a very long time. Loud screams resounded from inside the cave. Every last grave robber inside the cave was being massacred too.

The grave robbers had recently created a lot of new stone and steel tools to mine with. Either they or Kuhn —one of them would not come out of the cave in one piece. Renier covered as her ears as she trembled.

Finally, someone walked out from the cave. It was the flippant grave robber whom everyone called Kish because he hailed form Kish City. He used the corpses of his comrades as a shield to slip out of the cave and quickly began fleeing down the path leading down the mountain.

Kuhn followed him out the cave and nocked an arrow. He pulled back the string of his large and thick bow, the likes of which could never be found in the Southlands, and released it immediately. The arrow pierced through Kish’s thigh, and Kish tripped on the spot.

Kish knelt where he was as soon as Kuhn walked up to him. Kuhn brought his axe to Kish’s neck and began interrogating the latter. Did he remember how horribly Kish had used to beat him? Renier could see how Kish was leaking from between his legs and moistening the ground below. It wasn’t long before he lost his head too.

Kuhn stepped over Kish’s corpse and whistled loudly. Piriri, piii, pii, piriri. Pii, pii. It was unmistakably different from the distress signal Renier had heard him sending previously.

A loud ruckus stirred up in the sky before not one, two, or three, but six sky chariots landed in front of the cave. Ferocious warriors wrapped in the fur of black panthers and carrying powerful bows and scimitars jumped down from the chariots, followed —surprisingly— by several large dogs.

Kuhn held out something for the dogs to sniff. Renier shivered as she realized that the yellowish thing he was holding was the wool blanket that she had been using as a bed.

Gods. Are you really trying to find and kill me too?

The dogs sniffed the wool blanket, barked loudly, and began sniffing around the cave entrance as they began their search. The blackish bloodlust around Kuhn was still there as he went back inside the cave to search too.

Renier curled into herself on top of the tree. She desperately forced her brain to work even as she quivered.

No, it’s still possible that he’s not here to kill me —it’s still possible that he only wants to find me to bring me back with him.

Right, he might just be here to bring me back with him! After all, he definitely, definitely…….

Renier clasped her hands over her mouth and laughed like she was crying. I only have one life —are you really going to risk it? You still think that even after feeling that dark and bloodthirsty malice coming from him? Are you serious?

Renier desperately steeled her heart. I can’t go there right now. At the very least, I need some kind of guarantee that he won’t try to kill me. I’ll just end up like Sedek or Kish otherwise. Get your wits together, Renier.

Kuhn stayed inside the cave for a very long time even as the dogs from the anmars searched the area like they were combing for lice. The cave was deep and had a lot of branching paths, so it would take time to search through it carefully. His subordinates began clamoring.

“There are a lot of smaller caves in the area, and she might be hiding in one of them. Search them thoroughly.”

“She hasn’t been gone for long. Find and drag her here without fail!”

The warriors’ voices were also filled with bloodlust. Renier flattened herself against the overgrown tree and squeezed her eyes shut.

The warriors searched until the sun was high in the sky and reported to Kuhn that they hadn’t been able to find anyone in the vicinity once he had finally come out of the cave. Kuhn surveyed his surroundings one last time with a bloodthirsty look in his eyes before he climbed into his anmar. Piriri, pii, pii. The warriors lined up before him with the dogs in tow and bowed as Kuhn whistled sharply.

“Everyone inside that cave deserved to die.”

“It is as you say, Lugal!”

“They trespassed onto our sacred lands and dug up the earth where our forefathers’ blood, flesh, and bones are buried. Anyone who disturbs the rest of our forefathers forfeits their own right to repose, so we shall tie them up on poles and let the beasts of the land and skies take them as they will.”

“Yes, Lugal!”

They stripped the corpses of their clothes and weapons before skewering them nude on long poles, erecting them before the cave, and taking to the skies.

Renier stayed in the tree and quivered for a very long time even after they had left. The bloodlust that Kuhn had left behind was still pressing down on her and making it difficult for her to breathe.

He was a much more terrifying and crueler warrior than Renier had ever imagined. It was like he didn’t feel anything at all even as he killed. The boy’s hoarse and dry voice echoed belatedly in Renier’s ears.

— You can never undo the act of taking another’s life. And so, there must be an appropriate reason to do so.

— And who gets to decide whether a reason’s appropriate or not?

— I do.

No one inside the cave had survived. No one, not a single soul, save for herself because she had been hiding in a tree.

Would I be hung up on a pole too if I hadn’t woken up early today?

No, he surely wouldn’t do that to me!

She could deny it as many times as she wanted, but she couldn’t guarantee that she was right. She could not deny the black bloodlust that had enshrouded Kuhn’s entire being, nor could she deny the reality that she had clearly seen him brandishing his axe without bothering to check what the grave robbers’ voices had sounded like.

But Renier refused to accept it. She didn’t believe that the boy had been deceiving her as he cried out for her when she left him behind. She didn’t believe that the foolish and tactless bastard could possibly deceive her so cunningly.

Sure, I’ll make a hundred concessions and accept the fact that his feelings could have changed as the days passed. Human hearts are fickler than you’d think, and he could have met some beautiful girl while he was gone, and he could have started feeling dirty and ashamed whenever he thought about what we did together that day.

But that’s not something you’d go out of your way to find and kill me over, is it? I told you that you didn’t need to repay your debt to me. You could’ve just stopped caring about me and lived out the rest of your life. Why would you need to go out of your way just to find and kill me?

I mean, at the end of the day, I still saved your life…….

Renier hurled the black stone that she had been clutching in her hands. It fell over the blood-splattered earth with a quiet thud.

Renier looked down at the black stone that she had thrown to the ground. She felt like a hole had suddenly opened up in her chest now that the stone was no longer hanging from her body.

The hole seemed to eat away at the flesh surrounding it and grow bigger as she continued to stare in silence. Renier slowly climbed down from the tree and picked it up again because it hurt so, so much. And now her hands hurt because she was gripping it so hard.

Stupid Renier. Why can’t you even throw it away?

She’d had a hundred reasons why she had refused to go with him back then. The biggest among them was that she didn’t want to transfer Inanna’s curse to him. And yet, there was just one single reason why she had waited for him even still.

I just wanted to see him.

……Because I missed that fool like crazy.

Stupid Renier. Don’t you remember what the great and mighty Inanna told you? There’s no way that any man would actually offer to make me a roof over my head.

But that wasn’t the only oracle I was given.

Utu, who presides over light and justice, speaks.

You who are the most beautiful and valorous woman in the world.

Utu, the Glory of Day who presides over justice, speaks.

Without fail, there shall be one man whom you shall love.

And there shall be one man who loves you.

Without fail, there shall be one man whom you shall save.

And there shall be one man who saves you.

You shall ultimately choose the path of light at the crossroads between all things, for you are a warrior powerful and wise.

You shall beat back misfortune and walk the path of happiness.

May all this surely come to pass, for I have spoken in the name of Utu, the great sun god who presides over light and justice.

Renier lowered her head and began to shed tears. Kuhn had been unquestionably sincere. There was no way that his feelings had been fake, not when he had wished so ardently and had even made a forced oracle. He had, at the very least, been sincere at the time.

But his oracle couldn’t negate Inanna’s. I don’t know why, but he’s changed, and now he came here to kill me.

“That’s why I told you not to come. I told you not to say stuff like that and to just forget about me, so why did you have to come after me like this? You wicked bastard.”

Did I ask you to repay your debt? Did I ask you for this stupid token? I told you that I didn’t need it! I don’t need any of it!

Renier returned to the cave and packed her things. Kuhn knew where the cave was located, and there was no telling when he might come again. She needed to move her hiding place to a deeper gorge, a smaller cave. Renier took everyone else’s earthenware, bronze tools, and even their spare clothes with her as she left the cave.

She had been pondering over what she should say when Kuhn thanked her for returning his axe to him just last night. She had foolishly been pondering over whether it would really be all right to go with him as they had promised or whether she should persuade him into returning home without her, and how she should go about consoling him if he was sad.

“I should’ve just left him to die…….”

But Renier couldn’t finish her sentence. Saltwater was dripping down over her feet. Renier cried beneath the skewered corpses for a very long time because her heart suddenly began hurting so much, as if it was being ripped apart, as soon as she entertained the thought of him bleeding out in the snow and freezing to death, and because her heart astoundingly and tenaciously mumbled about how glad she was that she had managed to save him even still. The eagles were flying about all around her because they had smelled the scent of blood.

***

“Lugal Kuhn is the new high priest of Utu, the sun god, the new chief of our Salt City, the strongest and bravest warrior in all the Northlands, and the firstborn son of Huwatu and Kahala.”

The warriors standing guard at the gates to Salt City were overflowing with pride as the recited their praiseworthy leader’s many titles, and they clenched their hands into fists as they continued,

“He subjugated all twelve —I mean, eleven— tribes and unified the Northlands not too long ago. Which tribe do you hail from that you didn’t know about this shocking news?”

Renier stared back at the gatekeepers instead of opening her eyes wide in surprise. Hadn’t he only said that he was going to be the next high priest? But now he was the new chief of Salt City too? And he had unified the eleven tribes of the Northlands? There was so much to take in that Renier wasn’t even shocked anymore.

“Oh, I guess I didn’t hear since I live really deep inside the mountains.”

Renier had wandered through several different caves over the course of a few weeks as she fled for her life until eventually, she decided to make her way directly to Salt City with Kuhn’s axe in tow. The grave robbers had been systematically eradicated from the Whitesalt Mountains after Kuhn had slaughtered Sedek and the others.

Renier suffocated as she felt the noose tightening around her neck as he continued to search for her. Anmars soared in the sky no matter what time of day, and his subordinate warriors came intruding inside even the deepest caves without warning.

It felt like the scale and scope of the search party was growing by the day too. Renier had keen senses and had a track record of successful escapes, but it had been more than once or twice that she had only barely managed to slip away mere seconds before she would’ve been found.

I’ll be caught by his subordinates and end up dying like a dog at this rate.

There had been a time when she had welcomed the sweet embrace of death too, but the very idea of being skewered naked on a pole to become food for the eagles was dreadful to her.

Renier had contemplated endlessly as she wandered from one cave to the next. I’m sure I’m wrong. There’s no reason for him to be so desperate about killing me. He’s just trying to eradicate the grave robbers, right? I would’ve given up by now if I was looking for me, even if only because it’s too annoying to continue. No, he might really only be trying to find me to take me back with him. He even gave me this necklace when he asked me to wait for him.

Oh, I’m growing sick and tired of trying to persuade myself now too. Her heart was so stubborn and obsessive as it tried to force her to look away from the reality before her eyes that it failed to convince her.

Fine, if I’m going to die anyway, then I at least want to know why first.

Renier wrapped Kuhn’s axe —Urtur—, which she had hidden in a crack between the rocks deep within the cave, in cloth before she heaved it onto her back. She could vaguely make out Salt City, the distant white city located at the center of Salt Mountain.

Renier looked up at the tall white ramparts behind the gatekeepers. The leaves were lush around them because spring had ripened, yet the white ramparts in the midst of the green were shining so blindingly that it hurt her eyes. Blankly, Renier muttered,

“When were the Northlands unified? And how?”

“Our tribe, the Salt Mountain Tribe, went through a lot of hardship last winter because the Golden Forest’s schemes resulted in the Blackrock Mountain Tribe betraying us. But they say that the young master of Salt City, who’s our new lugal now, solved that problem in an honorable manner too!”

“You must really be an ignorant country bumpkin if you somehow managed to miss this shocking news.”

The large men who spoke with Kuhn’s accent deplored at and censured Renier for not knowing about the ‘legendary event’ and began to regale her with the tales of their tribe chief’s great feats.