The boy speaks his first words since the duel. A child asks what the stick is for. A headman asks his name — the last time it means nothing. A traveler recognizes him from a story he did not know was already crossing the mountains.
A dusty road. Late afternoon sun. A boy walks home from a duel he was not supposed to win. The road will divide. The earth will speak. The mountain will test him. Chapter 1 — The Boy Who Killed.
Harima Province, 1596. A dusty road. Late afternoon sun. A boy. A wooden sword. The duel is over. The journey begins.
The road home is longer than the road to the fight. The earth speaks. Dawn arrives.