Moribito II: Guardian of the Darkness is the second book in the Moribito series, a series of fantasy novels by Japanese author Nahoko Uehashi. It was written in 1999 and published by Kaisei-Sha Publishing Co., Ltd. in hardcover format and by Shinchosha in bunkoban format. The English translation was published in 2009 by Arthur A. Levine Books, an imprint of Scholastic. The novel follows the main character of the first book, Balsa, as she returns to her home country following the events of Moribito: Guardian of the Spirit. The title refers to the mysterious spirits known as hyohlu who play a large role in the book. A manga adaptation of Moribito II: Guardian of the Darkness by Yū was published in ' shōjo magazine from August 12, 2014. Synopsis It has been a year since Balsa protected the egg of the Water Spirit from Rarunga. Balsa is traveling through caves in the Misty Blue Mountains on her way home to Kanbal. In the caves, she smells a lantern and discovers the siblings Gina and Kassa defending themselves from a strange spirit creature, a hyohlu, that Balsa drives off. It leaves behind a rare stone that is extremely valuable, luisha. Balsa sends the pair on their way. Despite attempting to cover up the event, Kassa and Gina are forced to tell the truth to the Musa clan chief, Kaguro, after the luisha is revealed. Also present is his brother, Yuguro, a national hero and leader of the King's Spears, the elite generals of Kanbal. Yuguro sends soldiers to capture Balsa with orders to kill her on the way back. Balsa is staying with her aunt Yuka where she learns that the late King Rogsam blamed Jiguro for the death of his brother, King Naguru, and Jiguro is a national disgrace. Yuguro became a hero because he claimed to have killed his traitorous brother, Jiguro, and redeemed his clan. Balsa knows this is a lie — they had met and devised a method to absolve the clan but never fought each other. While staying with Yuka, Balsa is captured and poisoned. She escapes and saves a strange supernatural creature from harm. In return, the creature brings help for Balsa in the form of the herder people and their chief, Toto. As Balsa heals, the Giving Ceremony is about to begin. Kanbal is a poor land. Once every ten years, the Mountain King