“Hundreds of years I’ve lived in my pond and you, tiger girl, have killed me,” the kappa wailed. “Why didn’t you let me go?”
“I was not about to let you kill for another hundred years,” she replied.
“Curse you, tiger girl,” it said. “Curse you a thousand times.”
It gurgled, its body shaking in the grip of its death throes until it finally lay still.
Jaewon brought over Kira’s jacket, holding it out for her to put on.
“What is it?” Jaewon asked.
“It is a kappa, a Yamato monster brought over by the monks. I’ve never seen anything like it. The kappa said that the monks brought over several of them, so we must beware of water now also.”
Jaewon looked pale. “Perhaps we should stick to collecting dew.”
Cleaning off her sword, Kira studied the kappa’s dead body. “If we come across any other water sources on our way, I think we need to check them first,” she said. “And clean them out.”
The kappa was a terrible monster to let loose on an island population. If it was true that they’d been brought over by the monks, then Kira feared that the monks were truly as evil as she’d been warned.
6
Kira and Jaewon began heading inland again, toward the temple. After more than an hour of walking in the hot sun, they came across a large lake. Kira was keen to investigate it. As desperately as she wanted to find her cousin, it concerned her that the monks would have brought these creatures and left them in the waterways of the island. At the very least, she wanted to kill those kappas that she came across on her way to the temple. It also troubled her that daydreaming about whether Jaewon found her attractive had caused her to ignore her sense of danger. She was disturbed by how much of a distraction he was becoming. She had to keep her mind on track. Her one and only priority was rescuing Taejo, not flirting with Jaewon.
She placed her sword by her side and leaned over the edge of the water, seeking out the kappa. There was nothing visible in the murky waters. She splashed her hands in the lake, making a ruckus and trying to draw the kappa out. This time when she glanced down, she caught the unblinking glint of two large eyeballs moving closer. Pretending to stare off into space, Kira rested her hand on the hilt of her sword and waited.
With a rush of water, the kappa leaped out of the lake and embraced Kira’s waiting form, only to be met by the thrust of her sword. Kira dragged the body away from the water’s edge.
“This lake is a lot bigger. Do you think there’s only one of them in there?” Jaewon said, staring in disgust at the kappa.
“I think so,” she said. “I got the sense that they are very territorial.”
As she was cleaning her sword, she suddenly heard barking, then the loud shrieks of what sounded like children. She put away her sword in a hurry.
“Damn!” she said as she looked all around them.
“What’s the matter?”
“We are about to be discovered,” Kira said, just as a pack of seven Jindo dogs crashed through the foliage. They barked happily and waved their tails, surrounding Kira as if she was their pack leader. Wet noses and tongues thrust themselves at her hands and face as the dogs were eager to show their approval.
“Down, dogs, down!” But still they pressed themselves on her until a shrill whistle called them to heel.
“I’ve never seen the dogs do that,” a little girl’s voice called out.
Kira looked up to see a group of children, ranging from six to ten years of age. Jaewon was staring at them with an expression of surprised pleasure. The boys were dressed in brown hemp jackets with white trousers, while the girls had on faded blue hanboks bunched up and tied about their hips, letting their long white cotton pants show. Many of them were holding water pails or big sticks. They were staring in shocked excitement, their gleeful whispers of “strangers” and “yellow eyes” filling the air. The little girl who had whistled stood in the lead. She looked to be about ten years old and met Kira’s gaze with unabashed curiosity. She called out to the dogs, each by name, and yet they refused to leave Kira’s side.
“Those dogs must really like you,” Jaewon called out.
“You probably have food in your pocket or bag,” the little girl replied.
Jaewon started laughing. “No, actually, I’m holding all the food in my bag. She doesn’t have anything on her.”
The little girl stamped her foot and slapped her hand to her thigh, calling to the dogs again. They whined, turned to her, and walked halfway before returning to Kira’s side. Kira continued to rub each dog’s head affectionately, sending them into ecstasy.
Suddenly, the dogs noticed the body of the kappa and began to growl at it. The children all ran over to marvel at the creature.
“They killed the monster in the lake!”
“Our lake is free now!”
The children began to cheer loudly.
“Hey, mister, did you kill the monster?” one of the boys asked.
Jaewon shook his head. “She did,” he said, pointing to Kira.