The female elder continued to drag me up behind her. I stumbled and tripped but she did not relent. Eventually, we reached an ancient traditional wooden house. One of the rooms with sliding doors had the doors opened wide, allowing the elders and Shigure's family to sit and drink tea while they waited.
A cheer went up when we were spotted.
"The silly couple were standing at the first gate saying that they couldn't enter," the female elder released my hand snorting in an elegant manner. "Could it be that they were overcome with awe? I brought them up. They both kept trying to leave and go back down the mountain."
What she said made me think and frown in confusion. And then something strange happened when she blinked. I saw a reptilian membrane cover her eye and her pupils become slitted for a split second. It was so fast that I thought that I had imagined things.
Shigure and I backed away in a hurry.
"We can't have that," the elders said, coming down to flank us. The men took a hold of Shigure, while the women took a hold of me. "Come greet the shrine priests and shrine maidens who maintain the god's shrine and our family shrine."
We were forced to stand in front of a group of people dressed in white shrine kimonos and how. The shrine priests and maidens also bowed to us with a strange, slightly eager smile on their faces. A stinky, demonic gas surrounded them with a rank smell that nobody else seemed to be able to see or smell.
"After the long journey, you must be thirsty. Come, drink tea."
A cup was thrust in my face and I was forced to drink.
"I think they're still thirsty. Give them another cup."
"Excuse me," said Otōsan, looking worried, "but what is…"
Bells chattered on a ceremonial stick.
Otōsan didn't finish his sentence. His eyes had glazed over. He along with a few of the elders with glazed eyes were sat down to one side.
"Traitor," the chief shrine priest slapped Shigure's cheek.
I jerked, wanting to fight him, but was held tight. Shigure shook his head with confusion. He frowned.
"You took another inheritance and betrayed our clan and all its traditions," the chief shrine priest slapped Shigure on the other cheek. He shook the ceremonial stick again and I saw Shigure's eyes beginning to glaze over. I tried to help him fight it, but this type of conditioning had been buried in his childhood memories, making him especially vulnerable now.
"No!" I gasped, fighting to break free only to be slapped as well. I felt my cheek swelling up and tasted blood.
"Be silent, you dirty child of foreign dogs," the chief priest snarled at me.
He circled Shigure and I felt his mental probe attempting to break in to examine Shigure's mind. I hurriedly helped shield Shigure from his prying eyes, resulting in me being slapped again. Even harder this time. If people hadn't been holding me up, I would have fainted.
"He is very strong. Very gifted. He should have belonged to us from the beginning," the chief shrine priest snapped. "We should have harvested his seeds long ago. Take him away and milk him. I want to see his children being born before this time next year."
"No!" I lunged but was held back and slapped again.
"Your bond with him is strong," the chief shrine priest held my jaw tightly with his stinky fingers, "and you have the smell of a foreign god on you." He probed me far more roughly than he had Shigure. "You are also very gifted and very strong. No wonder the rebel chose you."
I gritted my teeth in pain as he increased the strength of his mental probing. Although I was definitely stronger than him, it still hurt. Through the link, I was desperately trying to wake Shigure up from his hypnotised daze and find the key that would shake him out of the strange fog that had fallen on him.
"Very well," he smiled nastily at me. "Let us present you to the mountain god and let him decide what to do with you."
I was dragged over to the other building. It was a very big but strangely shaped looking shrine. It smelled of snakes and reptiles. The dark stinky gas seemed to dwell inside.
The door was slid open and I was held still, although I was still fighting to escape.
"Come give her another two cups of tea," the chief shrine priest ordered.
Four more cups of tea were forced down my throat rather than two while I choked on the hot liquid that kept going down the wrong pipe while I tried to refuse. I felt my limbs growing soft.
A gong was sounded and its sound reverberated through the forest.
There was a slithering and a hissing. From the back of the shrine, a huge snake head emerged to stare at me, tongue flickering. The snake head alone was the size of a school bus. Who knew how long the rest of its body was. While I watched, the rest of its body slid out of the shrine in an endless stream. I couldn't even begin to guess how long it's body might be, but it was likely much longer than ten metres.
*"More food,"* I heard the snake's sibilant speech. *"Or not. The female looks like a fun toy."*
*"Not food! I'm not your food!"* I shouted back at the snake through the wavelength it was talking in. *"I'm not a toy either!"*
The snake tilted its head at me upon realising I had heard and understood it. Its tongue flickered in my direction. The size of its tongue was frightening. If I was hit by it, I had a feeling it would probably knock me over.
*"You already have a mate, but that doesn't matter,"* the snake smiled. *"I can smell you. Taste you. You will be mine now. My toy. Your mate is being taken by my food to produce more tasty treats. I really look forward to all the excitement. When I'm done with you, you can also birth more tasty treats for me."*
The snake turned to the chief shrine priest and nodded its head, looking at me.
The chief shrine priest and all his people knelt down to bow their heads to the ground as if they had received an order.
"Unclothe her," the chief shrine priest ordered.
Immediately, my clothes were removed piece by piece, piling up in another elder's arms. The clothing was all thrown in a pile inside the priest's house. I cried and screamed but was only met with more slaps. Some strikes to the abdomen had me gasping for breath and barely able to stand..
*"I didn't want you to come up here,"* said a hissing voice that was reminiscent of nails screeching down a blackboard. I glanced over at the fat, black figure standing inside the shrine. *"You've invaded my territory and brought that disgusting holy aura of the Most High with you. Since you're here, I may as well have some fun before I throw you out. You've tainted one of my toys. I can't let the two of you have anymore."*
So that was what was going on. It was really an evil demonic influence controlling the snake and all the people.
I prepared to shout but a flickering, forked tongue entered my mouth. It became thicker as it entered, so that even if I wanted to close my jaw, I couldn't. The size had dislocated my jaw. The tongue prevented me from speaking and intruded down my throat a short way, so that I choked and gagged. Being held still, I could only listen while the snake's tongue later whipped and wound around me.
*"I should throw the both of you out,"* the fat demon said, rubbing his nose. *"It's too dangerous to let you stay here. Even if I'd like to disgust the Most High, I can't really touch you. This family under my control will be destroyed by the two of you if I'm not careful. Then I'll lose my entertainment."*
Using my spirit, I shouted at it in the Creator's name, making the stinky demon shudder and glare at me.
It was just a stinky worm. How dare it cause trouble.
At the same time, the big snake writhed and I was struck, flying through the air and into the trees, tumbling down the steep mountain slopes. Rocks and trees and bushes flashed past. I fell off small rocky cliffs and was impaled by dry branches or rocks when I landed, but my momentum tore me free, so that I continued falling. The world flashed past me in brief and painful slashes until all my momentum was exhausted. The long spines of a thorn bush pierced me in welcome when I finally came to a stop in the embrace of the thick thorn bush.
I couldn't move to escape the thorns. I could barely breathe. The scent of my blood filled the air and I heard the dripping of my blood trickle down the thorns that were holding me tight.
I had just recovered and gotten better. I had just started walking again and now this. Tears mixed with the blood on my face and I wondered if my face had been disfigured. The bloody wounds on my face stung. I couldn't believe I had been injured so severely in such a short time again. If I was left here, I might bleed to death.
My consciousness faded in and out. I couldn't seem to reach Shigure. It was as if he was asleep. His side of the link was shrouded in fog.
It was twilight when I saw a figure walk over to me. I recognised Shigure. He looked battered and beaten, bleeding from several wounds, although not as many as me. His face was likely as swollen as mine. His side of the link was still foggy and there was a dull look in his eyes as if he wasn't really awake. He was still under that hypnotic spell. His clothes were tattered as if he had been in a fight.
He dragged me out of the thorn bush, not caring that my skin was torn. And then setting me against a rock, he began to kiss and make love to me. Really. It hurt. It really hurt. However, I couldn't resist. Most of my focus was on making sure I kept breathing. I couldn't even make a sound. This wasn't the right time for this type of activity. I had broken ribs and other broken bones, but all I could do was cry. It seemed like he had been ordered to do things to me. Maybe through this, I would be able to connect with his spirit more firmly and hopefully wake him up.
It wasn't fair. The pain and injuries and reinjuries. How many more times was I going to have to go through this? Who could help me? I searched my mind and finally remembered the Creator Father. Why hadn't I remembered Him earlier?
*"Creator Father,"* I cried. *"Please help Shigure. Wake him up."*
*"It's about time you asked,"* I heard a sigh of relief. *"You should have called on me earlier."*
Shigure woke up just as his body finished the job. He looked down into my eyes with shock. Then there was fear, anger and pain. He withdrew in a hurry and saw all the blood. All the wounds. Through our link, he saw how hurt I was and how I was still losing blood. There were too many open wounds for him to deal with and he wasn't wearing his vest with a myriad of pockets to take anything out.
"No," I felt the breaking of his heart as he recalled and realised what he had done while still under the influence of the chief shrine priest. He collapsed on me with tears. "No. Not again," he whispered. "Not again. I'm sorry. I'm so sorry, Uki-chan. I've failed you again."
He was beating himself up inside, hurting himself. It was almost as if he had fallen off a cliff, robbing of rationality.
*"Don't,"* I whispered. *"Stop that."*
"They wanted to use me to abuse you," Shigure cried. "I was almost going to maim you for them so you wouldn't be able to run away. I hurt you just now. Look at you. You're covered in blood and I still… How am I a qualified husband, like this? I can't even protect you. You keep getting hurt. I can't take it. I can't. I can't," he sobbed, repeating himself. "I can't. I can't…"
*"Creator Father,"* I prayed, feeling almost too tired to speak. *"Help. Shigure. Me. We need help. Please."*
*"I'll send help. But the family elders and snake are coming to find the two of you under the demon's orders,"* the Creator Father said. "Junichi, now is not the time to fall apart. Pick up your wife and follow the messenger I've sent you. You can't go back home. The two of you should have immediately left when I called you earlier. Junichi, listen to me. You can cry later. Pick up your wife. NOW. The snake is coming."*
Shigure couldn't seem to hear us. I tried to pluck at his clothes and shook him through our link. He received a shock on his side of the link through the Creator which gave him enough awareness to be be able to react. Slowly, still sobbing, Shigure stumbled upright, trying to get a hold of himself. Carrying me carefully, he staggered into a tree before regaining his balance. He took a few deep breaths.
"This way," a guardian spirit's shadow showed the way, setting a fast pace and Shigure almost had to run in order to keep up. I supposed he was the messenger.
Behind us, I heard the sound of something big sliding across the ground and moving. Trees creaked and cracked. Shigure ran while my cracked ribs and injuries were jolted by the run. I tried to take my mind off the pain by thinking of something else.
*"How did the snake get that big? How old is it?"* I asked Shigure.
*"They say it's over two hundred years old,"* Shigure replied while he tried to keep up with the guardian spirit that was leading the way to safety. *"Don't know how old."*
*"That's old,"* I said. *"How is it still alive? Being so big, it must be difficult for it to move."*
The messenger swept aside some vegetation and pointed to a small cave hidden behind the plants. Shigure entered first and then pulled me inside, while the messenger cleaned up our tracks and then replaced the vegetation. He held his finger to his lips to tell us to keep quiet and then disappeared.
Watching through the gaps between the plants, Shigure and I watched the snake slither past us, crushing everything in its path. For some reason, it couldn't smell us. It just continued down the path. A long time later, people with powerful electric torches swept beams of light to and fro, searching the area.
"Junichi," they called. "Junichi's wife. Where are you? Are you hurt? We're coming to take you home. There's no need to hide."
"Hypocrites. Liars," Shigure spat. "They took advantage of my family. I don't even know if Otōsan and Okaasan are still alive or whether they are ok. I don't know if my brother managed to escape when I was able to briefly wake up and rouse him. They made everything sound so good. 'Tradition,' they said. I forgot that all the couples that underwent the test with flying colours always eventually disappeared. They were said to have been accepted and taken by the mountain god. A blessing. A privilege."
Shigure spat again.
"I'm such an idiot. I longed to have my family and belong again so much that I conveniently forgot a lot of things. I should never have let down my guard or let my parents convince me to register our marriage in the family shrine. The clan elders were pressuring us, and yet called me a traitor and you all sorts of names, saying we were not worthy. It didn't make sense. I was blind. Blind. How could I have been so stupid? After recovering, we should have left. I'm sorry. I'm so sorry, Uki-chan. This is all my fault."
I could only send Shigure my love and reassurance, while my consciousness faded. He was so caught up in his anger with himself that he didn't notice.
Vaguely, I felt the ground tremble and shake. There was the popping sound of gunfire in the distance. It seemed like there was a big fight out there. Perhaps it was the help that the Creator had promised coming. That would be good.