Volume 1 - CH 14

“What in the……ack!”

Renier used her hands —which were still tied up— to grab a bunch of dirt and throw it in the galtir’s eyes as soon as she’d tackled him in the chest and sent him tumbling backward. Ahh, ahhh! Then, as he began rolling over the ground while clutching his eyes, she picked up the knife that he’d dropped, spun it around, and sliced through the rope between her wrists.

The rope fell away with a swish. Her vision always became sharp, and her movements always became unbelievably swift in critical moments like this.

“Renier!”

“Catch that bitch!”

Three of the priests who had been drumming moved to grab Renier in unison. But they immediately yelped loudly and fell back. Bright red blood was pouring down their feet. Two of them had injured their arms, and the third had collapsed on the ground while clutching his throat.

— Was it wrong for me to hurt them when they were trying to hurt me first?

— No.

She could hear Gishzida’s answer in her ears as clear as day. His answer had been firm and conditioned upon nothing, and Renier was grateful that he’d answered that way with all her heart.

And she was ten times more grateful now than she had been back then.

Renier tore through her cumbersome skirt with the knife and began running with the knife still clenched tightly in her hand. The two injured priests ignored their colleague on the ground and began chasing after her.

“Stop right there, you bitch!”

“H-how could the sacrifice…the sacrifice…….”

The other priests and believers, who were still lost in the ecstasy of sex, were slow to react. Renier spotted the wagon that had carried her here and began running like crazy. Tied to the wagon was a horse that was only equipped with reins. She cut through the rope that tied the bridle to the wagon, climbed on top of the wagon, and clung to the horse’s back.

“Go! Go! Hurry!”

The horse reared when she kicked its flank as hard as she could, and then it galloped out of the plaza. The naked priests who had been entangled with each other slowly pulled their clothes back on and began chasing after Renier too.

“Catch her! Catch the sacrifice!”

The galtir’s hoarse screaming, the priests’ drumming, and the whistles they sent to each other quickly began crossing the forest.

Pow! Pow pow!

Flames finally began erupting around Renier. The galtir and the priests had begun attacking her. Pow, pow, pop pop pop pop! Things were exploding loudly around Renier, but she never looked back as she clung tightly to the horse’s mane.

Clop, clop, clop —the horse was galloping as fast as it could, but it was unsteady because it didn’t know where to do, and Renier increasingly felt like she was being cornered. The forest was a giant maze. All the trees looked unfamiliar to her, she couldn’t find any proper roads, and she had no idea where she was supposed to go.

The shouting of the people whom she had thought that she’d gotten away from grew closer as she dithered. They’d apparently split up after losing sight of Renier. The priests had been born in the forest and had lived in the forest all their lives, so there was no way that Renier could shake them while she was still here.

“She’s over there!”

Pow! A burst of fire finally exploded by the horse’s feet. Renier was thrown off and sent tumbling to the ground when the horse startled. She quickly scanned her surroundings as she rolled over the earth.

……I think I recognize this place?

“Over there! She’s over there!”

Renier saw several priests running toward her with their long clothes fluttering behind them, perhaps because they had heard the horse neighing. More balls of fire were sent flying at her again, but Renier was in so much pain that she couldn’t get back up to her feet in time.

“Zii, Zi, Ziii!”

A long and white sleeve fluttered in the wind. Someone was standing in front of Renier, and their long shadow was cast over her. A familiar voice, a familiar figure. Zii. That was the extinguishing ngak.

Gishzida cast the extinguishing ngak nonstop as he blocked the three priests’ attacks. His counters were quick and precise, unlike back when he had purposefully taken the galtir’s attack previously. His sleeves cut swiftly through the air every time he brandished his hands, and the fireballs that had been flying at Renier sizzled before they disappeared completely.

The priests hesitated, and Gishzida took the chance to turn around to Renier, who was still lying on the ground, and ask,

“What’s going on, Renier? Was it your turn today? And why are the priests chasing you?”

“Lord Gishzida!”

Renier gritted her teeth and swallowed back the cries that threatened to burst out from her.

Lord Gishzida knew. He knew that we were going to be offered up as living sacrifices when we participated in the festival as Armanu’s incarnations. Lord Gishzida knew from the very beginning that us foolish slave wenches, sold to him for as little as ten silver shekels, were going to get torn apart to death during the festival.

Oh, Renier finally understood why he had answered so vaguely before. When she had previously asked him to let her do fieldwork instead of participating in a ritual that involving laying with men, he had replied by saying that she would only need to endure it for a little bit. He’d meant that she’d only need to endure it for a little bit before she died.

And he had allowed her to dream the sweetest dream during the brief stretch of time before her demise.

“You, did you……escape from the galtir during the sex ritual?”

Gishzida asked sharply. Renier could see that beads of sweat had formed on his forehead.

Tears slowly formed in Renier’s eyes. She could clearly hear him asking, ‘Was it your turn to die today? Did you escape from there even though you’re the sacrifice who was supposed to die?’ beneath the kindness in his voice.

“I escaped immediately after the sex ritual was over. Though the galtir only pretended to perform because he wasn’t feeling very well…….”

“……Aha? Did he, now?”

Gishzida’s sapphire eyes glistened. Renier gripped the knife tightly in her hands and desperately climbed to her feet and stepped back as she asked,

“Are you going to take me back there?”

Gishzida was a priest, and he had brought her to the Golden Forest specifically to die. Renier finally understood why he had seemed so kind and caring to the slave girls and had doted on them until now. His kindness had been no different than the sugary fruits or honeyed goat milk that had been given to the sacrificial offerings in the few months they had before their deaths.

It was probably true that he cared about me despite the fact that I’m a lowly mudperson slave. As hard as it is to believe, it’s probably true that he had special feelings for me, and that’s why he endured so much humiliation and pain for my sake.

But Renier couldn’t trust anything anymore. After all, Gishzida had told her to simply bear with it for a little bit and die with the same mouth that he had used to smile so kindly to her and console her about all the hardship she had suffered in the past.

Even now, he may have saved me, but he could also decide to just hand me back over to the galtir too. After all, that’s his duty as a priest of the Golden Forest.

Renier tripped over herself as she stepped back. Her ankle hurt like someone was stabbing it with an awl with every step she took, likely because she’d sprained it, and her chest hurt so much it could’ve been on fire. But nothing hurt more right now than her heart.

Then, she suddenly heard people clamoring behind her,

“What do you think you’re doing right now, En-Ishib Gishzida?! Hand over the escaped sacrifice. I promise I won’t even tell the lord galtir about this if you hand her over quietly.”

“Then is it true that the galtir allowed the sacrificial offering to escape, En-Nugig Jada?”

“The ritual isn’t over yet. It won’t be a problem as long as we catch her and bring her back.”

“Didn’t he fail to perform during Kittu’s and Armanu’s union ritual too? Shouldn’t you know what it means for the Guardian of the Forest to fail to perform his marriage ceremony with Armanu and allow the sacrifice to escape, Lady Jada?”

This was the first time that Renier had ever seen his sapphire eyes glistening so cruelly and terribly. Pitch black fog started to spread out from him like blades immediately thereafter. Renier couldn’t breathe.

“Shut your mouth, Gishzida! Ich! Ganzer!”

Jada raised up her hand and promptly shouted an en. She probably intended to shut Gishzida up for good. Fire and wind began flaring up around them. Zii! Zii! Zi! Gishzida quickly extinguished Jada’s attacks with one hand, and then he suddenly grabbed his bracelet with both hands and yelled,

“Imhul, Ich! Du! Ganzer! Gaanzerr!”

All kinds of powerful en to summon fire and wind poured out from his lips in succession. His attacks were on a completely different scale than that of the other priests. A storm of fire whirled through the area like a tornado. It was the priests who had come chasing Renier who needed to dodge out of the way now.

“Sur Imhul Kichura Baj Pesh!”

Renier knew instinctively that Gishzida had just manifested an incredibly dangerous ngak. It was the same en he had used to cut off the fruit from very high up on a tree and to cut off strands of her hair without a single sound, but chanted together with the en that was used for summoning a very powerful gust of wind.

Argh —a sharp sounded erupted as Jada, who had been casting ngaks from the forefront of her group, clutched her arm as she screamed. Crimson blood was gushing out of her arm. Minnè and the other priests who had been standing behind Jada hesitantly began shouting back at Gishzida. The commotion was growing bigger.

“Tumudal!”

Gishzida was emitted a terrifying bloodlust from every pore of his being. Swoosh, whooo —a powerful whirlwind swept up several priests off their feet.

“Lord Gishzida! ……Ack!”

They screamed as they were hurled against the distant rocks. Renier clasped her hands over her mouth. The priests had probably died on the spot, or had been wounded so badly they wouldn’t be able to move, after being thrown from that height and with that much force.

Gishzida quickly spun around and shouted at Renier,

“Run, Renier! Leave the forest at once!”

“Lord Gishzida? A-are you saving me……?”

“There won’t be any second chances. I’ll try to stop them from chasing after you, but I probably won’t be able to hold them back for long. The galtir knows the forest well. He’ll be coming here immediately.”

Renier couldn’t tell right from left. She didn’t know who to trust in this situation —she didn’t even know whether she should trust Lord Gishzida.

“B-but then, where, where should I……?”

“Leave the forest at once! You’ll die if you stay here. You are the physical incarnation of Armanu and the offering that is to be sacrificed during the festival right now. The believers will cling to you like evil spirits and tear apart your flesh while you’re still alive! Hurry!”

“B-but Lord Gishzida…what about you, Lord Gishzida? You hurt the priests so badly!”

“You don’t have time to be worrying about me right now! Stop worrying about me and go!”

He grabbed Renier by the arm and tried to push her up on top of the horse, but then he suddenly seemed to remember something and froze. Then, he said,

“The brand……shit, the forest brand!”

“Lord Gishzida?”

“……Did they brand you when you were on the altar earlier, Renier?”

Gishzida pulled down Renier’s clothes and exposed her chest before she could stop him. Renier yelped and pulled her clothes back up, but he had already seen the crimson tree-shaped brand on her chest all too clearly. Shit! Gishzida scowled heavily and fell into thought for a moment before snapping his head back up and saying,

“……I forgot for a second. You were marked by the forest brand. Damn it all! The galtir probably cast a fire ngak on you while he was branding you. You can’t run away like this!”

A dark shadow fell over his face. Renier quivered as she asked,

“Why not? What is this brand?”

“The brand marks you as the sacrifice that is to be offered to the forest during the spring festival, and its purpose is to prevent you from leaving the forest. The galtir brands the slaves’ chests and casts a fire ngak on the brand so you can never leave the forest, since it would incur Armanu’s and Kittu’s wrath if the sacrifice were to escape.”

“W-what kind of ngak is the fire ngak?”

“The ngak is set activate immediately as soon as the sacrifice leaves the forest, and the brand will begin burning through your flesh. It will be agonizing, and it will melt your flesh all the way to your heart within three days.”

“Lord Gishzida! Does that mean that I’ll never be able to leave the Golden Forest?”

Renier’s vision was growing dark. She could hear Gishzida hissing through gritted teeth.

“You have to. We priests know the forest like the backs of our hands. They’ll find you no matter where you try to hide.”

Piii, pii. Renier could hear the priests whistling, and people were beginning to gather noisily around from afar. Gishzida grinded his teeth together and placed his hand over Renier’s brand.

“Tab Guea Esh Anba.”

Renier felt like the brand was burning her skin yet again as soon as the words had left his lips. Renier clasped her hands over her mouth so her screams wouldn’t leak out. Gishzida readjusted her clothes and secured them around her as he quickly continued,

“I can’t undo the galtir’s en. Only the person who cast the en can undo this one. Making it so that the en will activate three days late and not immediately is the best I can do. For now, you should be safe for about at least three days even if you leave.”

“Sniff, Th…sniff, sniff. Thank you. Thank you.”

“Come back after three days —no, within three days. I’ll figure out a way for you to be able to live here safely before then.”

Renier nodded back as she trembled. Many things had endangered her life before now, but this was the first time the danger was making her quiver from head to toe. She had a feeling that it would truly be a miracle if she somehow managed to survive this.

“Put on my clothes and wrap some cloth over your head. No one will be able to tell it’s you from afar that way.”

Gishzida quickly took off the clothes he was wearing. He gave her the long habit that high-ranking priests wore and a see-though linen shawl with gold embroidery. He wrapped his clothes over Renier’s shoulders as he urged her to move.

“Put this on quickly and get on the horse! There’s no time to waste!”

Renier saw Gishzida’s blindingly pale and smooth skin and the bright red scabs on his back when he turned around to bring the horse closer. Renier immediately squeezed her eyes shut.

Oh gods…….

She also caught a glimpse of his arm, which had been curious about for quite some time now. His arm had looked just fine before, but it was covered in ugly scars from wrist to elbow now. He really was hiding it behind a camouflage ngak so it wouldn’t bother me. Renier clasped her hands over her mouth as she swallowed back her cries.

“Hide outside the forest for three days —just until the festival is over. I’ll do everything in my power to figure out how to counter the galtir’s ngak by then. Renier? Don’t cry! Pull yourself together and look at me! Trust me! The fire ngak will activate in three days, so you must return to me before then without fail.”

“Lord Gishzida! Sniff, sooob! But what about you, Lord Gishzida?! What if the galtir kills you for helping me escape?!”

“Don’t worry about me! Just go!”

“Let’s go together, Lord Gishzida. We should run away together!”

Gishzida froze in his tracks just then. His eyes opened wide, and his sapphire pupils within seemed to swallow Renier whole. Renier could not read the emotions carried within them for the life of her.

“……I need to stop them from chasing you. And I need to do something about the galtir here so you can be safe after you’ve come back. Don’t worry about me.”

“I’m sorry, Lord Gishzida. I’m so sorry, Lord Gishzida! Because of me, you…! It’s all my fault!”

“I should be the only apologizing to you. I shouldn’t have bought you that day. You have no idea how much I…….”

He bit down hard at his lip and swallowed back the sounds that had been about to leave this throat, and then, through gritted teeth, he added,

“All this time……I’m truly sorry I was never able to tell you.”

Eventually, Renier grabbed onto his arm and began to wail. How could she had misunderstood someone like him so badly? How could she have ever distrusted him? Through her sobbing, Renier said,

“I’m sorry. I’ll come back to repay this debt without fail if I manage to survive today. I’ll give you my life and the rest of the time I have to live in return for everything you’ve done for me, Lord Gishzida.”

“……I see, thank you. I accept your promise. But you know that you have to survive in order to keep it, right?”

“I’ll came back after three days without fail.”

Gishzida wrapped his hands tightly around Renier’s damp cheeks and pulled her close.

“May Kittu, the great warrior of the heavenly realm, and divine Armanu watch over you……. Survive, and come back to me without fail, Renier.”

Then, he pulled her in and hugged her tight. Renier opened her eyes wide. Both his actions and the look on his face right now were so unfamiliar to her. His blindingly pale, icy blue, and deeply crimson features were boiling with a heat that Renier had thought hadn’t existed in him at all until now. She could feel his desire for her so unbelievably clearly when their bodies pressed against each other.

What on earth? Has Lord Gishzida been hiding this inside himself this entire time?

A chill ran down her spine. Renier was so frightened that she felt like she was going to be petrified. But she desperately stopped her limbs from defying him and pushing him away as hard as she could. He had always respected her and had been patient with her. She could not bring herself to struggle against him and reject the feelings that he was only briefly letting show while their lives were in danger.

It’s Lord Gishzida. I can accept him. After all, I…….

“Lord Gish……mmph!”

Gishzida pulled Renier’s face closer and kissed her. Renier had always thought that kisses were soft and sweet, but his lips were rough, dry, and hot. He squeezed his eyes shut and gasped for air as he devoured her lips.

And Renier’s tears and sniffles seeped into his lips in but an instant.

***

Gishzida made his way over to the rocks where the priests were lying once Renier had disappeared from view. He staggered because the wounds on his back were growing feverish, and he was dizzy. Every step he took made him feel like the earth below him was lurching upward. But he had work he needed to finish.

Minnè and two other ishibs whose names he did not even know had likely died after having their necks broken, and Jada was still breathing —as he’d expected of her— but she was likely to perish soon because she’d lost too much blood.

Gishzida looked down at Jada and coolly said,

“I’m sorry this had to happen, En-Nugig Jada.”

Jada’s lips quivered. Gishzida couldn’t hear what she was saying, but he didn’t need to hear her to know what she was saying. Gently, he whispered in her ear,

“Your ability to manifest ngak is unparalleled in the Golden Forest. You were more than skilled enough to challenge the galtir yourself, so why did you place yourself at his beck and call only to die such a vain death?”

‘Shut up!’

“Did you really believe that the galtir would look your way if you devoted your entire life to him? Galtir Kiros doesn’t even trust you or depend on you. He’s nothing but a distrustful old goat.”

‘Shut up, you wicked liar. Doubt and loneliness are the curse of every Guardian of the Forest —not even Kittu himself could escape it. Aren’t you trying to use that poor child yourself?’

The smile was wiped off Gishzida’s face. He grinded his teeth audibly as he replied,

“What does it matter to you what I may think of that child or what I decide to do with her?”

‘……What?’

“Shouldn’t you be worrying about yourself first before you start worrying about her? What the Golden Forest needs most right now is a sacrifice for the ritual. Don’t you already know this, Jada?”

‘Y-you bastard, what are you…?!’

“Sur.”

Buzz —the air vibrated and shook. Gishzida pressed his hand down flat against the air and smiled frigidly as he continued,

“It’s a shame that I have to crush your features when you were once one of the most beautiful individuals in the Golden Forest —even the galtir favored you for your beauty in the past. But you’ll be at least a little grateful to me since you won’t have to suffer for too long, right? May you become Armanu’s holy body, bless the forest, and find repose in Armanu’s embrace. You’ve worked hard, Jada.”

Crunch, creak. Bones were being crushed audibly. Jada’s mouth fell agape and her eyes opened wide as blood poured out from them. Her face began contorting bizarrely as Gishzida moved his hands. She stopped struggling altogether after a strange crunching and tearing sound escaped her lips.

“Dilib Pesh.”

Jada’s features were crushed beyond recognition, and her head suddenly flipped back. Swish, swish —her silky golden hair, which had been tied up neatly, was audibly cut away. Gishzida cut Jada’s hair so that it was around the same length that Renier’s had been, and then he waved his hand again and recited yet another en.

“Girikur Su Dilib.”

Jada’s shortened hair quickly turned the same shade of brown as Renier’s.

Then, Gishzida unclothed Jada, made a large burn scar on her left chest that reached all the way to her shoulder, and then dressed her in the clothes that Renier had been wearing. After that, he took the clothes of a dead priest and put them on.

“Gur.”

He lifted Jada’s corpse into the air and began walking toward the temple and the divine tree Armanu. His breathing grew increasingly ragged, and he felt like his back was exuding heat. He quickened his pace as he played as series of long and short whistles into the air.

Piiii, fweee, fwee, pii. Pii. I found the runaway sacrifice. I caught the runaway sacrifice.

Piii, pii. Who caught her?

Whistles sounded from all throughout the forest at once. Gishzida waited for a moment of silence before he replied.

Fweee. Pii, piii. Piiii, fwee, fwee. Pii. En-Ishib Gishzida. I’ve killed the rebellious sacrifice.

Everyone was already standing around the altar by the time Gishzida walked over to Armanu wearing torn clothing and with the corpse floating behind him. The incense was no longer burning, and everyone had come back to their senses. It was so quiet that even the birds weren’t chirping.

Gishzida laid the corpse down and bowed reverently to the galtir. The galtir was quivering as he looked down at the horribly disfigured corpse. He groaned quietly.

“How dare you, Gishzida?”

Gishzida had made an effort to disguise her, but there was no reason why the galtir wouldn’t be able to distinguish between the sacrifice, whom he had just concluded the sex ritual with, and Jada, whom he had once favored. But Gishzida only smiled nonchalantly as he explained,

“I caught the slave while she was trying to flee the forest on horseback. I needed to use fire and weaponry to suppress her because she was resisting too fiercely, but I judged that it was still better to drag her back here than to let the sacrifice escape.”

“I applaud your hard work, En-Ishib Gishzida. Bring the sacrifice here. I will resume the ritual.”

The galtir managed to rein in his fury even as he quivered in anger. Her face had been crushed, but finishing the ritual with a corpse was still the best way to cover things up. Gishzida simply grinned instead of handing the corpse over, and then he walked up to the galtir and loudly said,

“But what shocked me the most was that, before she ended up like this, the sacrifice told me that the sex ritual today failed to take place. I don’t believe her, of course, but isn’t this something we should verify?”

The people gathered around them began whispering quietly. The galtir gritted his teeth and quivered. The fact that the slave had run away was already enough to smear mud on the galtir’s authority and dignity, so to think that he had failed to carry out the sex ritual of the wedding ceremony to pray for a bountiful harvest too. The divine tree Armanu’s partner must always be the individual who was the healthiest and most overflowing with virility. Loudly, the galtir shouted back,

“Anyone who disrupts the ritual with their wicked lies will lose their heads where they stand!”

“Who is lying and who is telling the truth……?”

Gishzida took a step closer to the tree. Then, he raised his hand and slowly caressed one of Armanu’s branches before he suddenly clenched a long and thick branch that had started glowing. He continued,

“Why don’t we ask Armanu herself?”

The branch broke with an audible snap. Several people gasped. The blood drained from the galtir’s face.

“What is the meaning of this?!”

Gishzida brushed off the stray twigs that was attached to his branch before he pointed it at the galtir.

“Armanu does not desire a guardian who is too old to plow her fields and plant his seed, Kiros.”

“Gishzidaaa!”

The priests stopped stirring and instantaneously fell silent. No one had ever called Galtir Kiros by only his given name ever since he had become the galtir.

A challenger had appeared to challenge the galtir of the Golden Forest for the first time in a truly long while.