The horse carried you and the samurai without complaint, did not refuse and did not panic when the wind blew through the tall grass.

The remains of burnt barricades passed by. Wherever you looked there were dead bodies. Blood covered the earth.

How much could a man kill before his soul was completely wasted?

Under the cover of trees and tall bushes with red leaves, you found a path past the main road, deeper into the interior of the island.

From the tracks in the dirt, you surmised that the Mongols were moving towards the next village. Plundering, pillaging and killing were their next goals. They would steal rice and take prisoners if they found use for it. They always did and would certainly never change.

With a light tap on the horse's dark neck, you turned in a different direction. It would be better not to go where the Mongols were and put as much distance between you as possible.

And it seemed as if the animal understood and agreed. With quick steps it carried you through the shadows of the forest, past bushes full of fruit and up a slope that separated the forest from a wide plain.

The sky opened above your head, clouds broke open and the sun kissed your bloody, soiled face. The warmth of the touch made you close your eyes and sigh softly.

The horse trotted on.

A sea of white flowers opened up in front of you. Their long leaves caressed your legs. Scents danced in the air and drove away the horrible memories of raw flesh and blood.

In front of you, hanging over the horse's back, the samurai stirred. Groaning with exhaustion, his head moved to the side. Small drops of blood slipped from between his lips and covered the snow-white flowers like pearls.

Carefully you pushed a handful of his black strands out of his forehead. His eyes still closed, movements twitched across his face. He was breathing heavily. Sweat glistened on his temple.

You felt the areas around the arrows that were still stuck in his back. It would have been unwise to pull them out. Until now, they closed the wounds and when they were removed you had to know whether they had penetrated his whole body or were just stuck.

Muscles, tendons and veins must not be damaged. You wanted to save him, not kill him. It was also imperative to clean everything otherwise an infection would be his certain end.

Gentle wind caressed the white flowers with invisible fingers. A melody of nature and beauty rang out.

All of a sudden, dark days were forgotten. All you could think about was the freedom you could taste on your tongue with every breath.

Minutes passed, perhaps even hours. The vast plains of flowers faded away. Forests grew from the ground and fell again.

It took a while before you were sure that you had come far enough. Relief lifted the weight from your shoulders as you finally allowed the horse to leave the cliffs and walk further into the interior of the island.

Bamboo rose up around you. Everything looked so untouched. Not a single soul was to be seen.

A sigh escaped your lips. You had to find a place to hide. Or at least offered protection from the weather. The sky had opened up, but the sun already started to sink. Soon it would be evening.

You were in a foreign country, with foreign people and foreign nature. It was a mystery what to expect but you preferred to watch from the safety of walls.

A path of earth ran through the forest. The horse followed it as if it knew the way. You let it run free, there didn't seem to be any houses or villages where you could have asked for help. Following this path was the only logical solution.

"Good boy.", you whispered and patted him on the neck.

It shook its head contentedly. The black mane hit your fingers.

The samurai groaned at the movement. His face contorted. He was sweating much more than before. You could feel his blood running down your leg.

He needed help and fast. You had wasted too much time finding a safe place and neglected to check if your makeshift first aid still served its purpose.

Of course, you weren't naive enough to think it would be enough, but you had hoped it would buy you a few more hours.

All of a sudden the horse stopped.

Confused, you raised your eyes. A man was standing in front of you on the road. He was dressed in simple clothes, with a rack on his back with which he was collecting wood.

His wide eyes stared at you.

"I'm not Mongolian.", you immediately explained.

Surprised that he heard his own language, he backed away. Then he pointed at the samurai.

"He needs help.", you slowly got off the horse's back so that he wouldn't think you were an enemy. "Is there a village nearby? A house?"

Unsure, he leaned to one side and looked at the man. Then he looked at you again.

"Who are you?", he asked.

You raised your hands.

"Just a thief.", the stolen katana and the bow weighing heavily on your shoulders. "This man needs help. Quickly."

"He's a samurai."

"Does that matter? He is one of yours."

He looked at the samurai again. Taking a deep breath, he closed his eyes, opened them again and pointed at you.

"You must leave your weapons here.", he said. "And the samurai's, give it to me."

You looked at him hesitantly. It would be easy to put down the weapons now and pick them up later when it was all over.

But that would leave you at his mercy until then. Defenceless. You nodded towards the samurai.

"Can you take him with you?", you asked. "I'll stay behind."

"Then he will die.", the man took a step back. "We don't have a doctor. My wife is not familiar with such wounds."

Gritting your teeth, you thought for a moment before taking two steps away from the horse and placing the bow and quiver behind a stone. You hid the katana in a remote bush, so there was a greater chance that one of the two would not be discovered in the event of theft.

However, you kept the Mongolian knife that was hidden on your chest. Just to be on the safe side.

"Take his sword.", you pointed at the samurai. "And then show me where we can go. Quickly."