Go to sleep! EDo suddenly grabbed his sword and plunged it into the ground to the very hilt. Youre on duty tomorrow! Therefore, you have to sleep! Thats an order!
All thoughts left DoAyves head at once. Thats what was good about the Itoshin philosophy. At the exact moment that you are unable to act by the Code, you will be put in place by an order!
DoAyve received this order from EDo, and then gave himself the order to fall asleep. This time, the power of the udoğans word overcame his own emotional sufferings. He had to obey.
5
The next morning DoAyve woke up in a disgusting mood. He felt that black circles had crept out under his eyes. His temples felt as though someone was squeezing them. But even more, so the young warrior was amazed at EDos face. Not only could the traces of obvious insomnia be read on it, it seemed the udoğan had aged in one night, as though throughout the entire night there was some sort of inner struggle, much more powerful than fighting against demons.
There was also a struggle going on in DoAyve, but he understood that the scale of his struggle was much smaller.
What was the reason for theudoğans struggle? What is his secret? What lies in his heart? What did he hide from his loyal warriors?
For several days, DoAyve did not talk to his commander. And every day, he saw EDo grow more and more grim, and in turn became gloomier himself.
My question awoke some of his inner turmoil that which had almost been won over by the udoğan. But what had I said?
The Itoshins made five similar crossings with five stops.
They walked as a black column along the long path, enveloped in white fog. Their swords clanked against the steel protection on their hips. Shoulder and breast shells seemed to absorb all the cold of the stale mist and transmit it to the body. But a true warrior couldnt be scared of the cold!
On the sixth day, there was an event that became a landmark for DoAyve.
About a dozen demons rushed at them from nowhere. It was as though they had long taken them into a ring, slowly crept up and suddenly decided to attack.
Lado struck the first one, thanks to his lightning-fast reaction. With an easy movement, Ğan-Iolai took off the clawed nipper of another one. Todo ran up and finished the third demon with a stabbing blow. Joe screamed wildly and rushed towards two at once. He waved his sword in all directions and soon turned the monsters into a bloody mash.
DoAyve rushed forward, exposing the blade in front of him without shouting a war cry or making any drastic, unnecessary movements. While he was emitting as much fury as Joe in that moment, the fury was directed more towards himself and the inability to overcome his passions. DoAyve simply cut the first demon in half, evaded the attack of the second, and quickly slashed the third, which let out an ominous screech. He then returned to the second, pushing the blade into its mouth to the very hilt. But he miscalculated the demons strength.
While pulling out the strip of steel from the flesh of the monster, DoAyve felt his legs tied by an unknown force. He lowered his eyes and saw a disgusting tentacle curl around his limbs. He wanted to slash it with a sword, but it was tightly stuck between the teeth of the previously murdered creature. And the tentacle had already started to drag the warrior. As DoAyves let go of his sword and fell, he got a glimpse of the huge jaw, ready to swallow him.
At that moment, the mighty figure of EDo jumped out of the fog. Hanvet danced a semicircle from shoulder to earth and the tentacle tying the legs of DoAyve was cut off. However, another dozen tentacles on the huge monster immediately rushed towards the udoğan. The speed of EDos movement was incomparable. Simultaneously, the commander did not lose composure, doing his job clearly and confidently. Soon the ominous jaw no longer made any sonorous squelching noises; instead it roared with extreme pain. Its two huge eyes filled with red and quickly died out as Hanvet crashed down between them.
DoAyve was on his knees breathing heavily.
Any demons left? EDo screamed into the fog.
No, answered Lado.
No! confirmed Todo.
This is my first one! This is my first one! a sonorous girls voice babbled joyfully, which DoAyve recognized as Leerie.
Well done, apprentice! EDo approved. Today you took a great step towards becoming a warrior! After that the udoğan came up to DoAyve, who was burning with shame. Bad, warrior! Very bad! he began, quickly jumping to quotes from the Code. The essence of the warrior is not in a rage, but in fearlessness! Fearlessness is not the absence of reason, for mind is necessary to the warrior in battle. And the mind of a warrior must be cold. The essence of the warrior is not in anger, for anger obscures the mind. The essence of the warrior is in the veridical power that is hidden in him!
DoAyve knew the Code by heart. But these words would forever be stuck in his head. Throughout the following days on the way to the Valley, he repeated them over and over again, whenever he began to experience emotional turmoil again.
6
They met no more demons on the way.
On the twentieth day of the journey, the fog suddenly dissipated and an amazing landscape opened to their view.
DoAyve stopped dead, his mouth wide open. The other Itoshins stopped as well, apparently experiencing similar feelings. Everyone was stunned. Nobody thought the world could be like that!
The contemplation of the surface of Moon Lake on a cloudless night was beautys top for any Itoshin. But here, the Valley was full of various colors. The green color of grass and trees prevailed, as well as the azure color of the sky with occasional white clouds. On the glades, there were flowers of red, yellow, and blue hues and a few more, whose colors DoAyve didnt even know.
He looked back and saw a dense white veil.
Can this be? Is it really the Valley, which is despised by all who have returned to the Empire of the Itoshins? How different it is from our world how scant and poor it turns out to be. And I lived without even knowing that. Im a warrior! A warrior! And I will follow my spirit further, but cant a warrior rejoice? Now everyone is happy. Even EDo has changed in the face, and I want to smile! Oh yes! Thats what struck me in Reyve! She smiled at me, though we almost never smile! I look around at my comrades, and they also have smiles on their faces!
If the soldiers could still somehow could contain their emotions, the yauls have given themselves over completely. They began to moo and mumble wildly through the green glades.
Leerie and Nainuk ran to a tree with bright yellow fruits with reddish sides and began to pick them.
Wait! EDo commanded. They obeyed.
The udoğan approached the tree and tore a fruit himself. He brought it to his nose, sniffed. Bit it slightly.
Edible he announced, smiling for the first time (what an unusual sight indeed!), and plunged his teeth into the juicy fruit.
The whole group rushed to the tree and subjected it to intense shaking. DoAyve was eating sweet juicy fruit until he realized that he simply couldnt take in any more. And after a while, his stomach contracted with a sharp pain. Almost everybodys did at the same time except for EDo, who announced that henceforth everyone would know their limits and not overeat wild fruit.