This was what they’d been waiting for. Kira and Jaewon ran.
By now, the pathway was wide enough for a company of men to walk on. With the last vestiges of sunlight behind them, they set a hard pace down the sea road. Night had finally fallen. Whatever distraction Admiral Yi had set up was working. She watched the Jindo shore. There were no signs of the patrols. Thanking the admiral for his help, she urged Jaewon to run faster. For now their biggest enemy was the tide.
The moon was covered with clouds and the night was dark, but the black path glinted with the pearly shards of broken shells.
“This is beautiful,” Jaewon said. “One day I hope we can walk this path again and really enjoy it.”
Kira didn’t answer. It was lovely and unreal. In another life it would have been nice to walk the sea road with Jaewon. But right now, all her thoughts were on saving Taejo.
Part of her was irritated at Jaewon and the other part was sad. The beauty of the night, the miracle of the path, none of it was important to her. She didn’t have the luxury of time to appreciate the glories of nature. She needed only to use it for her goal.
“No more talking,” she said. “We need to be quiet.”
They ran in silence, with only the pitter-patter of their boots and the lapping water indicating their passage down the miracle road. The path began narrowing. The water lapped gently along the sides, sometimes rushing up enough to wet their feet. Past the halfway mark to Jindo, the tide began to return. The water rushed over their feet, slowing them down.
“We’ve got to move faster,” Kira said.
She was flying over the water but soon saw Jaewon falling behind. When she slowed down to let him catch up, the tide swept over the entire path. They found themselves slogging in ankle-high water before it receded.
“Push yourself harder!” Kira urged Jaewon.
They were nearing the shoreline of Jindo Island when the path disappeared completely. The ocean had returned with a vengeance. They’d run out of time.
Kira gripped the tidal stone through its bag against her chest. She risked calling down the entire Yamato patrol if she used it.
“No!” she said through gritted teeth. “I will not fail today!”
Powering through the rising tide, Kira moved forward, but Jaewon couldn’t keep up. She reached behind and grasped his hand.
“Come on, Kim Jaewon!” she said. “We’re almost there.”
He gripped her tightly and gave her a solemn nod, his energy renewed. The tide was to their knees now and it took all their energy to cut through the waves. A sudden surge took Kira by surprise, knocking her off her feet. Only Jaewon’s strong grip kept her from being swept away. He wrapped his arm around her waist and carried her through the churning ocean until she regained her footing. Digging her feet into the shifting sands, Kira barreled forward. This time it was Jaewon who fell. Kira wrapped both her arms around him, and put all her might into forcing her legs to cut through the waves. Instead of lifting her feet, she shuffled and slid forward, holding on to Jaewon, who weakened with each step. They closed in on the shore, their arms linked in a vise-like grip. After only a few minutes, that felt like hours, they finally reached dry land.
Kira immediately looked around for the Yamato patrols, but the beach was empty. Jaewon started to sit but Kira pulled him forward. “No, let’s get out of sight first.”
Exhausted, they headed into the thickly wooded forest. Kira kept them moving for almost an hour. She tracked the terrain with her keen night vision. Although the mountains were to their right, there were far too many villages all along the foothills. Kira forced them deeper into the island and the forests, away from the mountains, until she found a small running stream. Only then did she allow Jaewon to collapse.
“My legs are burning,” Jaewon complained. “My body hurts and I’m cold.”
“You need to change out of those wet things,” Kira said.
Jaewon raised his arms across his chest in mock modesty, a comical look of outrage on his face.
“Not in front of me,” she said.
With a huff, he dragged himself into the bushes, causing Kira to let out a tired laugh.
She changed quickly into her spare clothes and hung her wet things on the bushes to dry. But her blanket that had been rolled up on top of her pack was soaking wet. Sighing, she threw it over a low-hanging tree branch. Walking tenderly on her bare feet, she gathered up wood and twigs to start a fire. By the time it was started, Jaewon had returned. He threw his clothes and his blanket across the tops of some dense bushes and dropped down in front of the fire.
“Is it safe to light a fire?” he asked.
Kira nodded. “We are pretty deep in the jungle. The Yamato patrols are on the coastline and the northern side of the island. We’re safe for now.”
“Thank the heavens! It gets cold at night and my blanket is a bit wet.”
Kira motioned to hers. “Hopefully not as wet as mine.”