The Twelve Kingdoms: A Thousand Leagues of Wind

somewhere.
    She turned another corner when a voice above her said, "Hey!"
    Thinking it was one of her pursuers, she ducked down. But then glancing up, she saw a man atop the parapets extending his hand down to her. Here the wall was low enough for him to reach her.
    "Here, grab my hand."
    Shoukei hesitated for a second, glanced behind her. She could hear the sound of footsteps approaching the corner of the wall she had just come around.
    "Hurry!"
    Shoukei grabbed the hand. The man was twenty-five or six. His strength belied his small size. He pulled Shoukei to the top of the wall with remarkable speed.
    Three soldiers appeared from the corner of the ramparts. "Halt!" they called out.
    She swallowed the pain from her practically dislocated shoulder, kicked her toes against the stone wall and crawled up to the wall walk. A soldier's hand reached for her foot and missed, clawing at her ankle. Her rescuer's hand still holding hers, she collapsed on the walkway.
    She fell to her hands and knees, gasping for breath. Behind her, a soldier climbed onto the wall walk. The man almost casually delivered a kick that sent the soldier sprawling. The soldier roared with anger. The next soldier appeared, holding a spear over his head.
    "Run!"
    The man grabbed the business end of the spear as it was thrust toward him. A tug of war ensued, ending several second later with the soldier losing the battle and just as quickly finding the grip of the spear planted in his throat.
    "Jump!" was the man's next command, as he whirled the spear like a knife through the air and positioned himself. The expression on his face was distant and dispassionate.
    Shoukei nodded. It was a good twenty feet from the edge of the parapets to the road below. Sandwiched between the walls was an alleyway strewn with garbage. Hearing the yells and screams of the soldiers, Shoukei jumped, or rather, slid herself off the edge and down the wall. The shock of impact shot up through her legs. She collapsed on the ground.
    She sat up, breathing hard. Above her, the man had seized a soldier by the collar and flung him off the far side of the wall. He threw the spear in the opposite direction, spun around and jumped down next to her.
    "You okay?"
    Shoukei nodded despite herself. He grinned somewhat mischievously and peered up at the wall. "The other girl made a clean getaway. She a friend of yours?"
    Shoukei shook her head. Her ragged breaths tore at her throat. She couldn't speak. The alleyway was empty, but at least she heard no one else approaching.
    "Can you move?" the man asked.
    Shoukei again shook her head. In a past few minutes, she had used up a day's worth of energy. She didn't think she could move another inch.
    "That so?" he said with a generous smile. He turned around and crouched down. "Climb on." Shoukei sat there, confused. "C'mon," he said, "hurry it up."
    Shoukei obediently clung to his back and the man stood up without faltering in the slightest. "For the time being, pretend you're asleep. I'll take you somewhere where we can rest."

Chapter 51
    A shadow approached the woods. "Your Highness," said Keiki, recognizing her in the cold and desolate twilight.
    "Sorry about that," said Youko.
    "What happened? The word was, you would be leaving the city sooner than later." Keiki pushed through the undergrowth as they climbed the slope. He abruptly stopped and grimaced. "You have a bad scent about you. I am not referring to you, personally."
    "You can smell that? Sorry. I had Hankyo bear the victims away from the square."
    Keiki sighed. Hankyo had come to the inn, said that he was to leave the city, and then guided him here. Keiki shrank back from the smell of blood. "So a youma appears in the city of Hokkaku."
    He glanced at her and found that she was scowling at him. A wry smile came to her face. "I was helping out hurt people. Don't give me that look."
    "Then I shall come to my conclusions after being informed of the details."
    Youko sat down and again smiled a deeply ironic smile.

    They had taken an inn in Hokkaku and stayed there for three days. There, too, Keiki noted the smell of death. With no other town nearby, they had to stay in Hokkaku. Youko strolled around the strange city. The hard toil of the citizenry built these wall, and all to suit the selfish needs of Gahou, province lord of Wa Province.
    The better way would be to build the walls as big as possible, at the reach of the city limits, and then build the city small and let it grow over the