Minato's Arc

Chapter 3 of 7

Minato followed the small creature east, matching the chart in his hand. But the creature moved faster now. Its crimson feet skimmed the leaves. Its pink glow slid between the trunks. Minato broke into a run. Roots grabbed his boots. Branches whipped his face. The glow shrank ahead, and his lungs burned. He knew this feeling. He had lost the creature this way once already. If he fell behind now, the dark would swallow it again. "Wait," he called. His voice cracked. The creature did not slow. Its glow blinked past a thick stand of trees and grew dim. Minato pushed harder, but his legs had nothing left. Six years of searching, and he would lose it because he could not keep up. He needed speed he did not have on foot. His boot caught on something hard and low. He fell, palms scraping dirt. He rolled over and saw metal in the faint light. A dirt bike lay half-sunk in the moss. Rust ate its frame. Faint stars and a thin moon still showed on the tank, painted long ago. Its tires were flat but whole. Minato stared at it. Someone had ridden these woods before him. The same hunters who drew the charts. He hauled the bike upright. The pink glow was almost gone now, a smear far ahead. He threw his leg over the seat and found the kick-start. He stamped it. Nothing. He stamped again. The engine coughed, spat, and died. His hands shook. He tried once more and twisted the throttle. The engine caught and roared. The sound tore through the quiet forest. Minato aimed the bike at the fading glow and let go of the brake. The bike lurched forward. Flat tires bit the soft ground. Branches slapped his shoulders. He ducked low and held the star ahead through the gaps in the leaves. The gap between him and the creature closed. Its glow grew from a smear to a bright pink shape. He was catching it. For the first time, he could match its pace. The creature turned its head and saw him. It did not flee. It floated to a stop in a small clearing and waited. Minato skidded the bike sideways and killed the engine. Silence rushed back. His chest heaved. He climbed off and stepped toward the round creature. It watched him with wide dark eyes, the same eyes from the window. Then it lifted one stubby arm. In the air before it hung a sphere, wrapped in glowing lines like a map of the sky. Purple and gold light spun across its surface. The creature had not been leading him to the pale star at all. It had been leading him here, to this. Minato reached out. The sphere was warm. Whatever the star gods were, the answer sat in his hands now. And he had no idea how to open it.