249: Doodle in the Woods

Doodle in the Woods

Bai Ye was right. Even with me beside the bed, the boy was still beyond disappointed when he woke up to the news of our early departure. But being the sweet child he was, he only nodded understandingly when his parents explained that the rest of the village needed our help as well. After soliciting a promise from us that we'd be back to visit again as soon as we could, he gave each of us a big embrace and longingly saw us off.2

"We can always come back here tonight if we finish the search early enough," Bai Ye said when he noticed the equally wistful look on my face. "Even if that means I'll have to sleep on the floor."

I chuckled at the reminder and peeled my eyes away from the house. "I'd be curious to see what his parents might think of that sleeping arrangement," I said, recalling the mother's nervousness and utmost reverence every time she talked to us. "Though from how many circles there are on the map, it doesn't look like we'll have any time left to come back before the entire village goes to sleep."

Our eyes landed at the same time on the map Bai Ye was holding. It was a rough sketch of the village and the woods, dense with circles and crosses scattered all over. The location of the markers didn't connect into any recognizable pattern, and I couldn't think of any spells that involved such unstructured symbols as this. We seemed to be off to a clueless start for this new puzzle.

The sky had fully darkened as we climbed our way up to our first destination. It was marked by a circle on the map, denoting the stacked artifacts, and the sight that greeted us was just like what Yang-Yang's father described: a pile of flat rocks stacked high amidst the snow. Each rock was smaller than the one below it, making the overall structure look like a small tower. Two pairs of shed antlers surrounded the pile, leaning against the slanted sides of the rock tower.

"This is … quite meticulously done," I marveled at the precise positioning of the artifacts. I could hardly believe that the villagers thought a hunter would be bored enough to put so much time into building something like this.

Bai Ye, on the other hand, narrowed his eyes. "Just like I suspected … This is an arrangement to draw spiritual power from the surroundings. An amplifier, typically used for enhancing the power of a ritual."

"Ritual?" I gasped. "You think the sword spirit is trying to invoke some kind of spell over the village?"

But a ritual always required a symbol. My eyes darted to the scattered markings on the map once more—where was the symbol in this heap of random circles and crosses?

Bai Ye took a ginger step to walk around the amplifier. "She wouldn't make it obvious, of course. Let's keep walking … There should be an etching coming up behind those cypresses. It might tell us more."

I followed him, and we soon came to a stop in front of a mound of snow in the middle of a small glade. This time, the art did resemble the work of a hunter or even a playful child—a vague shape dug into the snow that looked nothing more than a doodle. If not for the cross on the map, I would have thought it was simply an imprint made by a fallen tree branch.

Another power enhancer of some sort? I was about to turn to Bai Ye with questions when suddenly, a faint presence of spiritual power tugged on the edge of consciousness. It was coming from the symbol in the snow, and I stopped abruptly in my tracks. "Bai Ye!" I called in a hushed voice, crouching down to bring my fingers closer to the snow. "There's spiritual power left over here. It feels … similar to what I sensed at the cave …"

I concentrated on that feeling. Just like the way those portals at Misty Mountains called to me, there was a trace of power pulsing over my fingertip, whispering something in my ears that I couldn't put to words. "It's leading me somewhere," I said. Could these be the trail markings that the sword spirit left for herself? "I think I can follow it to trace a path … Will you help me label it on the map while I try?"

Bai Ye nodded and took a few steps back.  I stood up, closing my eyes and letting my power drift along in the directions that the sensation was guiding me. I didn't really know where I was going, only that I was reaching for what beckoned me in the distance, and I hoped that I wasn't going to trip over a stump or rock. One step left. Two steps back … I kept moving until that feeling faded, and when I opened my eyes, I found myself facing a tree, another symbol etched into its bark.

I repeated the process, and I forgot how much time had passed before I stopped in front of the mound of snow bearing the first symbol that I started with. "H-have I gotten anywhere?" I turned back to look at Bai Ye, hoping that those symbols didn't just lead me in a useless circle.

The look on his face was solemn as he passed me the map. On top of the original markings from Yang-Yang's father, new lines had been added to connect the circles and crosses. An intricate pattern flowed on the sheet of paper, stretching all over the woods and circling the village at its center.

"I just walked all that distance?" I gaped at the sheet in disbelief. It didn't feel like I had been walking very far at all. "Do you recognize this pattern?"

Bai Ye pressed his lips into a thin line, and I knew the answer might not be what I wanted to hear. "This is a symbol of sacrifice," he said. "A symbol that consumes the life of all living beings within its circumference and uses it to strengthen the summoner's power."

My heart stopped, and I finally realized that when the sword spirit threatened me with the sight of corpses lined up at the village square, she had meant it.

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