A beast aflame roars,
lighting up the forest of sin.
The fire sickle is born of a goddess.
The Millennium Comet
lives a thousand lifetimes in the sky.
A crescent moon shines through a sickle’s cut.
“Smuggling? What’s that?” Koushi asked Roroku. The word was unfamiliar.
“Yes, smuggling.” Roroku spoke from behind Koushi. Clad in his Fire Hunter uniform, he moved without making a single sound. Koushi thought that the uniform looked hard to move in, but Roroku made it look easy. He blended into the tunnel like he belonged there, and no movement or sound betrayed his presence to his surroundings.
Koushi wondered just how long and high this tunnel was. It was huge, obviously; the large gate in the city leading into the tunnel blocked off by prayer rope was a testament to that. He couldn’t see much beyond the palms of his hands and the soles of his feet within the tunnel itself; there was no light to see by. Koushi placed his left hand on the tunnel wall and groped his way forward. The hunting dog in front of him padded their soft paws over the tunnel floor. Koushi heard nothing but the dog’s footsteps echoing in the tunnel.
“The Islands are small and poor. I got tired of life there and thought I’d board a research ship that was returning to the capital. But the fare to get on board was ridiculously expensive. So I sneaked into the ship’s engine room and came over here, and then spent a while as a wandering Fire Hunter.”
“Why did you come to the capital?”
The tunnel curved; Koushi could feel that with his palm. There was no exit visible ahead.
“Hmm? Oh, for money. I thought I’d make more working for the Guardian Gods than working for myself. But there are a lot of rules and laws if you’re based in the capital. Bureaucratic red tape, y’know.”
Registering as a Fire Hunter in the capital gave that Fire Hunter an allowance for equipment and medicine for themselves and their dogs and guaranteed a steady wage. But the job was equally dangerous whether a Fire Hunter was registered or not.
Roroku sounded nonchalant, but Koushi thought he wasn’t being entirely forthcoming. He didn’t ask further about Roroku’s life for the moment; he focused on traveling through the tunnel in total darkness. He had to stay alert so that he wouldn’t lose sight of Mizore, the dog. He couldn’t even see his own feet. He walked in time with the dog so that the sound of his footsteps would be muffled by Mizore’s.
Time passed, and Koushi kept thinking. Finally, he asked, “Why did you break the rules laid down by the Guardian Gods by bringing lightning fuel to the Okibi Estate? Is it illegal for the Fire Hunters from the capital to buy and sell fire fuel on the side? I thought it was forbidden.”
Roroku chuckled. “You’re a brave kid,” Roroku said. “As for Okibi, he tried using the sickle for himself and it didn’t work.”
“The sickle?”
“The Okibis are monsters, the lot of ‘em. That guy you’re working for? He doesn’t see people as people. On the Islands, we call people like him demons in human skin. You were adopted by them, weren’t you?”
“Kind of.” Roroku’s words disturbed him. He stopped in his tracks and turned to where he thought Roroku was. “I thought I already told you about that.”
An invisible hand pushed him on the shoulder, startling Koushi so much that he coughed. He felt like his heart was about to stop from the force of the push. He knew it was Roroku shoving him forward.
“You’re just a kid. No need to have such a stiff upper lip about stuff. It’s okay to be scared sometimes. Now, look ahead,” Roroku said. “My dog’s in a foul mood and wants to move. If you don’t keep up, you’ll be left behind.”
Koushi faced forward and listened for Mizore’s footsteps. “Anyway… My younger sister is sick. Our parents died and we have no other relatives. That’s why we ended up at the Okibi Estate.”
“I see,” Roroku said with a little huff. His chin dropped to his chest as if he were in deep thought. “But didn’t you have any savings? Your father was a Fire Hunter, after all. You’re telling me he didn’t set anything aside for you? Not some fire fuel or lightning fuel?” He paused, then asked, “Was he good at his work? Were you proud of him?”
Roroku’s tone was light, but his questions were heavy. Words got tangled up between Koushi’s brain and his mouth, and for a long moment, he made no reply. He guessed that Roroku had overheard Koushi talking to the other Fire Hunters at the banquet at Okibi Estate; that explained how he would know that Koushi’s father was a Fire Hunter. His mention of lightning fuel disturbed Koushi, though. How did he know about that? Had Yuoshichi told Roroku something?
“Your face will stick like that,” Roroku said with a small chuckle. “I know it’s dark, but I can imagine the look on your face. It’s just like the look a friend of mine used to have. He would stare at huge fires in stupefied fascination and wouldn’t move for hours. It wasn’t lightning fuel fires that he was obsessed with, though.” He tapped his chin. “I’m wondering why the owner of a synthetic meat factory would adopt a Fire Hunter’s son. It doesn’t make a lot of sense. And why do you want to know so much about lightning fuel, anyhow?”
Koushi put one foot in front of the other, silent. His hands trembled in the dark and went numb from cold. The air was getting colder as they traveled down the tunnel.
How much did Roroku know? A lot, it seemed. From Koushi’s perspective, it wasn’t too surprising that a wandering Fire Hunter like Roroku would guess that Spiders were planning to attack the capital. Yuoshichi wouldn’t have needed to tell him anything for him to make that guess. Koushi was under strict orders not to discuss his experiments with anyone, and he was mindful of the promise he’d made not to leak information. As he walked further and further toward the Black Forest, he chose his words carefully so that he wouldn’t let something slip out that Roroku shouldn’t know.
“I… I’m here right now because I’m genuinely curious about the connection between Fallen Beasts and lightning fuel. That’s all,” Koushi said as firmly and confidently as he could manage.
“All righty then,” Roroku said, equally confident but also vaguely condescending.
Up ahead, a dim light shone out of the darkness. Koushi’s knees went weak at the sight, as if hundreds of invisible hands were pushing down on him. Mizore advanced without a scrap of hesitation. Roroku took up his sickle, examining their surroundings carefully.
Koushi’s eyes had adjusted to the darkness in the tunnel, though it was still so dark that he couldn’t see his own hands or feet. As he stepped beyond the tunnel into the forest at night, his eyes needed to adjust again. He shivered in the night air; not even his shoes were warm enough to protect his feet from the chill. An unpleasant, sweet cloying smell like rot overwhelmed his senses. He got the feeling that he shouldn’t breathe too much of that smell in.
“Normally, people don’t go hunting in the forest at night,” Roroku said. “Our eyes aren’t as good as the Fire Fiends’. But it’s also much easier to catch them at night, because they’re drawn to artificial light.”
The area behind Koushi brightened considerably. Roroku had switched on a portable lantern. He picked it up and carried it aloft, spreading light in all directions.
In the new illumination, Koushi took in the sight of the Black Forest in all its glory. There were so many dark and twisted trees—so dark that they looked blighted. It was as if someone had cursed the soil they grew on. The ground was sticky from fallen leaves that had been left to decay.
“You’re here to look, not touch. Stay behind me, kid.”
Koushi barely heard Roroku. He was processing everything he saw, lost in his own little world.
Mizore tilted one ear and sniffed the air with her slender nose.
The attack was so swift that Koushi couldn’t track it with his eyes. A shadow struck from above, accompanied by a distorted grunt. At first Koushi thought that a stray cat had fallen from a tree, but the small beast was entirely different from the animals Koushi had seen inside the city. The beast used the membrane connecting its limbs to slow its fall.
A flying squirrel… but not just a flying squirrel anymore. The beast’s limbs were black-furred and edged with flame. Its eyes, large compared to its body, shone like glowing coals.
Just as Roroku had intended, the lantern had become a beacon for the Fire Fiends nearby, and a Fire Fiend had come right toward it.
“Heh, it’s just a little one,” Roroku said. He gripped his sickle in one hand, but made no move toward the Fire Fiend.
The Fire Fiend whirled on Roroku, but before it could attack, Mizore sprang at the beast, catching it in midair and bringing it obediently to Roroku. Roroku trod on the Fire Fiend’s tail to keep it in place, then thrust the tip of his sickle into the Fire Fiend’s throat. In moments, the Fire Fiend was still. Thick golden liquid flowed from the creature’s wounded neck. Roroku gathered it up and poured it into a bag made of tanned leather.
“Did you see all that?” Roroku asked. “Any questions?” He looked to Koushi as he started cleaning his weapon.
Koushi stood there in a daze.
Roroku had just been attacked, but there was almost no evidence of it. He was as calm as always.
Koushi wasn’t. The attack had happened before he’d even noticed where the Fire Fiend was, and it was over before he could really focus on anything. His legs popped when he tried to move. He watched the last light leave the Fire Fiend’s eyes as it slumped onto the slimy earth like a discarded handkerchief.
It’s like my father said, Koushi thought. His father had told him stories about his hunts before. He’d told Koushi that Fire Fiends would attack any human on sight without any provocation. The only way to make them stop attacking was to kill them, and since they were dead after that anyway, it made sense to harvest their blood for fire fuel.
Koushi stood over the corpse of the Fire Fiend and didn’t move.
“Don’t tell me you’re afraid of this little thing,” Roroku said with a chuckle. “It’s dead. Snap out of it, kid.”
Koushi turned to face him. He had to keep his wits about him. Failing to pay attention in this forest could be life-threatening. As he focused on his surroundings, he realized that he could hear footsteps—not human ones; something four-footed, but somewhat far off.
“Hm, so you hear it too? Good, and not good. Seems like some larger Fire Fiends have reached the cliffs close to the tunnel. I’ll need to report that to my superiors. How bothersome.”
Roroku placed his lantern on the ground, then spun in a slow circle. He drew a short sword from a hip scabbard so that he was wielding the sword in one hand and his sickle in the other.
Koushi looked for Mizore, but the dog was nowhere to be seen.
The footsteps of the large beast grew louder. Koushi heard the echo of small stones clattering against the forest floor. The sound was quieted by the slimy leaves.
A Fire Fiend sprang out from the top of the steep slope of the cliff beyond the opening of the tunnel. This Fire Fiend looked like an enormous black goat with a pair of huge, curved horns.
The beast’s speed was as overwhelming as its presence. It approached Koushi at speed, sharp horns aimed forward with its body counterbalancing backward. If it hit Koushi, his bones would shatter in an instant. His body understood that faster than his brain did, but he couldn’t move. He was as immobile as if he’d been sewn to that spot by industrial-strength thread.
Mizore raced up the cliff at speed, reaching a higher position than the descending Fire Fiend. Mizore kicked their front legs out, straight at the Fire Fiend’s nose. The impact was slight but precise; it knocked the Fire Fiend slightly off-balance. The Fire Fiend’s hoof missed its footing on its next step, and the monster stumbled. The Fire Fiend slid down the steep cliff face until it hit the ground, stunned. The Fire Fiend shook its head violently in irritation, then looked up at the cliff—straight at Koushi.
As the Fire Fiend charged again, Roroku moved. He pulled a small bottle out of his pocket and threw it slightly above the Fire Fiend’s head. The bottle emitted a beam of rainbow-colored light that shone in all directions like an explosion of light. While the Fire Fiend was distracted, Roroku cut the bottle open with his sword, causing it to shatter.
“What?” Koushi gasped.
Another sudden flash of light. This one was so bright that even Koushi was stunned. He forgot to blink. He thought he was going to go blind. The pitch darkness of the forest turned to bright, gold-tinged day within the radius of the shining light. Roroku’s sickle came up to slice the Fire Fiend open; Koushi heard it, though he couldn’t see it. He heard the beast’s body hit the ground. It didn’t move.
Koushi was anxious to get his vision back to normal. Roroku’s lantern was still on. The sudden bursts of light had left him almost completely blinded. As Koushi hastily rubbed his eyes, he heard Roroku’s laughter. “Oh, sorry, sorry, I forgot to tell you earlier. Keep one eye closed, okay? That way you can use your eyes right away after using one of those.”
Koushi rubbed his eyes again. The golden liquid that had caused those flashes of light was definitely lightning fuel.
“Wh-why did you put the lightning fuel into a bottle for explosives?” Koushi blurted out before he could think.
“Why wouldn’t I? It’s effective.” Roroku was calm and smiling. “I knew a kid like you wouldn’t fit in well with that demon at Okibi Estate. What was that man thinking, letting a kid play with lightning fuel?” He shook his head. “The fact that you know that bottle is for explosives means he wanted you to find out how to make lightning fuel explode, eh?”
When Koushi said nothing, he said, “Oh, you don’t have to worry about giving me an answer. I’m sure you were told not to say anything. You don’t need to explain it to me. Just close your eyes for a bit until you recover.”
Mizore was close enough for Koushi to touch; he could feel the dog’s warmth in the gloom. He missed his family’s dog, Kanata. Whenever Kanata returned from the hunt, Hinako was always so happy. His father’s hunting dog was equally affectionate with the entire family when he was home. He would sit with his head on Koushi’s lap and await petting.
“Wandering Fire Hunters use lightning fuel for night hunts a lot, as a distraction, but Fire Hunters that come from the capital generally don’t. I’m not sure if the Guardian Gods forbid it or not; I never asked. But that soft prohibition is one reason why it’s tough to be a Fire Hunter in the capital.”
Koushi took deep, shaky breaths to calm his erratic pulse and kept his eyes closed as he’d been told. His senses of hearing and touch experienced heightened awareness because he couldn’t see. He was in the middle of the Black Forest, where Fire Fiends lurked. Any kind of Fire Fiend could attack from anywhere, at any time. He knew nothing whatsoever about staying safe in this place.
There was a sweet smell wafting around him, and now that he was paying attention he realized that it was coming from the trees, not their shed leaves. The trees moved to a shared pulse, as if they were the bones of the earth and the roots were their veins.
He exhaled slowly, then opened his eyes. He was no longer blind. Roroku and Mizore stood nearby. Koushi adjusted his glasses so that he could see better.
“Well, off to the next hunt,” Roroku said.
Roroku gave Koushi a once-over as he set aside a sealed container of harvested fire fuel. He placed it in his sack, swung the sack over his shoulder by a strap and kept walking. Mizore slid smoothly along next to him like a fish in familiar waters.
Wandering Fire Hunters sure seem different from my dad, Koushi thought.
If wandering Fire Hunters really did use lightning fuel regularly, then Yuoshichi shouldn’t have any problems paying one to give him lightning fuel. He could have hired Roroku if he wanted, but Koushi was fairly sure he hadn’t. Roroku had come to the Okibi Estate earlier in the day to sell lightning fuel and he’d been turned away.
Why did Roroku want me to come out here? Koushi asked himself.
Yuoshichi wanted a weapon to use against the Spiders when they attacked the capital. Something that could rend bodies, tear flesh, and cause widespread death and destruction. Was it really moral for Koushi to create something like that? A weapon with power as strong as the natural elements that the Guardian Gods wielded—things like weather and how water flowed. A weapon that used lightning fuel as a fuel source. Koushi suddenly felt like the whole enterprise was beyond him. It might be beyond anyone. Normal people shouldn’t try to meddle with such powers.
A chill went up his spine.
Before his mother had died, Koushi had just been a kid studying at the academy—smart, but otherwise quite normal. He longed for counsel: for someone else’s opinion that he trusted. Sadly, he had no friends from the academy that he could trust with any of his knowledge. Yuoshichi had plucked him from obscurity—Yuoshichi, the owner of one of the largest factories in the city. The factory produced synthetic meat, an important source of nutrition for people all over—not just in the capital, but in the surrounding villages as well. Yuoshichi was a man of wealth and prominence who could throw his weight around in such august company as Fire Hunters and other rich factory owners.
The theories spinning in Koushi’s mind were disturbing ones.
There was no reason for Yuoshichi to take in the orphaned Koushi and Hinako—no reason except one. The weapon would be completed, and the Guardian Gods would find out. When that happened, Yuoshichi would receive censure—unless he could prove that someone else was responsible. Someone like Koushi. If he threw Koushi to the Guardian Gods as a sacrifice, he would escape punishment himself.
Koushi felt like a deep, dark hole had opened up inside his chest—deeper and darker than the forest’s gloom.
“Sometimes, I think the Fire Fiends aren’t monsters. They’re a gift to humankind.” Koushi’s father had said that. “A gift from the old world, keeping people alive and in the light no matter how terrible things get.”
A gift. If Koushi’s father was right, then this world was an impossible mess. The fire fuel that allowed for life came from monsters that attacked people. Insanity glowed in Fire Fiends’ burning eyes as they followed their only directive: kill.
Koushi had heard that the world became this way after a series of human wars. The Fire Fiends were an adaptation—a mutation to adapt to the new, harsh environment of a postwar landscape. Koushi remembered the stars and planets he’d seen engraved on the ceiling of the Central Archives. The celestial bodies had gentle faces as they watched over those seeking knowledge. The people of the past had valued that star chart enough to preserve it in that way. Surely none of the people of the past wanted the world to end up like this?
Do your utmost to stay alive. Those were the last words Koushi’s mother had written before her untimely death. Survival was a basic instinct. Koushi had to think that the people of the past wanted survival—they’d wanted their descendants to live. The world would have no meaning at all if human life ended with their generation.
Koushi looked around and saw no evidence that his ancestors wanted or anticipated his survival. The world outside the city and the villages was too harsh for people to live.
There was a sound coming from the darkness ahead. It didn’t sound like an animal; he heard no footsteps or the flapping of wings.
Mizore sniffed the air, then stopped still, looking over at Roroku. Expecting orders, no doubt.
Roroku held his lantern ahead of him and shrugged, smiling at the dog all the while. He kept walking.
Before long, Koushi heard voices—human voices. There was light ahead: light that didn’t come from Roroku’s lantern. All of Koushi’s senses were drawn to it. He heard shouts, heavy breathing, and occasional groans.
Roroku walked steadily towards the unfamiliar voices. “…I see why we found a Fire Fiend so close to the tunnel now. This lot were trying to capture one.” He looked down, muttering quietly to himself.
Koushi’s instincts told him not to approach the light and people ahead. Those same instincts craved light in the darkness of the forest. He kept as close to Roroku as possible and tried not to think about the fatal consequences if he took a step out of line.
As Roroku and Koushi stepped into the light, Koushi noticed that it was blurred and sooty—the glass around the light source was filthy.
“Doesn’t matter if you’ve got the same physical powers as the Guardian Gods do,” a male voice said in the half-dark. “If you ain’t got no legs, you can’t walk.”
Koushi recognized that voice… who was it?
Tatsuta’s owner. What was his name? Tatsuta was the dog that Hinako had called over in the garden on the night of the banquet that feted the capital’s Fire Hunters. Tatsuta was a short-furred muscular dog with strong jaws. Tatsuta had teamed up with Kanata on many hunts. Koushi dimly remembered the Fire Hunter who was his master asking if he was all right during the banquet—but what was the man’s name? Koushi gritted his teeth to prevent himself from asking the question. He had a terrible feeling that whatever he was about to see was going to be worse than the two Fire Fiends that had attacked him and Roroku.
Roroku put a cover over his lantern so that it wouldn’t give them away. Koushi’s eyes had completely adjusted to the dark forest. He heard a wicked sound like flesh being devoured, and then another groan. The groan was coming from just beyond a huge black tree ahead.
“Tell me. If you do, I’ll spare one of your legs.” Another voice. This one belonged Shimaki’s master. Shimaki was a chestnut dog with pointed ears and a gray muzzle like Kanata’s.
Koushi’s heart pounded so loud that he felt sure that other people could hear it. Both of the Fire Hunters Koushi had heard were men that he was acquainted with. They’d been considerate to him and Hinako at the banquet.
“Hurry,” Roroku whispered. “I saw a flash. Someone else is nearby.”
The scent of blood carried on the wind. Koushi held his breath. Roroku and Mizore walked on with Koushi following behind. As they went around the tree that was hiding the blurry lamp, Roroku uncovered his lantern again. Shadowy figures tensed, then turned toward the light, squinting their eyes and holding their hands over their faces. The dogs braced themselves and growled softly. Roroku’s light had disturbed their vision just as much as their masters’. Blue-black shadows cast by the trees were reflected in the eyes of the dogs.
The light revealed to Koushi what was actually going on here. There was a man tied to a large tree. Both arms were wrapped around the trunk. There were nails in each wrist, pinning the arms in place. The man’s left leg was completely mangled. It looked like he’d been caught in a hunter’s trap. There was a metal shackle around his right calf.
The man was just a man—like Roroku or any of the Fire Hunters present. He was bearded; his cheeks were sunken in beneath thick dark hair. His face and neck shone glossy with sweat in the dim illumination. His clothes were similar to the ones that the Fire Hunters wore. Above the uniform, he wore a black fur over-shirt made of Fire Fiend hide.
“A Spider?” Koushi whispered.
As Koushi took a closer look, he noticed a pool of blood at the man’s feet. It was remarkable that he was still conscious; that much blood loss would have made a normal person pass out. His arms were spread at an unnatural angle. A thin rope wound tight around his knee. His were clothes torn, and a nail had been driven into his knee, just like his wrists, shattering the bone there. A short arrow dug deep into his right thigh.
Koushi noticed the dogs next: Shimaki, Tatsuta, Iwao, Kagura. All were dogs that had teamed up with Kanata on hunts. Their masters, the Fire Hunters, were torturing a Spider by the blurry light they’d set on the ground near the tree. Koushi opened his eyes wide, his vision impeded by the dimness of the Fire Hunters’ lamp and the sudden brightness of Roroku’s revealed lantern, and looked around at the men present. The slender Shimaki, the muscular Tatsuta, the shy Iwao with his sharp fangs, the friendly and fast Kagura… each of the hunters looked somewhat similar to his dog.
If he hadn’t witnessed all of this himself, Koushi would believe that the scene in front of him was impossible.
The Fire Hunters held short swords or long awls in their hands: implements of torture. They were covered in blood. The dogs’ eyes briefly shone red like Fire Fiends’ in the light of Roroku’s lantern.
Were these the Fire Hunters that were investigating the Spiders, like Yuoshichi had told Koushi? Koushi didn’t want to believe it, but he couldn’t think of any other explanation.
“Oh, you’re… Roroku? From the Islands, right? Can you hide that lantern? It’ll attract more Fire Fiends and cause trouble,” one of the Fire Hunters said.
Roroku raised an eyebrow. “What are you talking about? The smell of blood attracts them more than anything. This is the perfect place to hunt.”
Kagura barked at Mizore. Mizore looked down at Kagura, who was smaller, with a calm expression.
“Yes, you’re right, but we can’t stop now. We’ve still got to get intel outta him.”
Another man with a salt-and-pepper beard gestured to the Spider with a pointed chin.
“Hey, isn’t that Haijuu’s son? Why’s he here?” one of the four Fire Hunters muttered under his breath. He didn’t look at Koushi, who was standing frozen behind Roroku. Koushi tried to form words, but they died in his throat.
Roroku grinned. “Field trip.”
“Don’t be ridiculous. That kid’s not a Fire Hunter. It’s against the law to let him into the forest.”
Roroku shrugged. “He said he was interested in Fire Fiends, so I brought him here at night. I was pretty sure the authorities would turn a blind eye, or that we’d avoid ‘em altogether. I’ve only been in the capital for a little while, so go easy on me, eh?”
He scratched the back of his head and laughed, but his voice was sharp and piercing. There must have been a significant difference in ability between the four Fire Hunters and Roroku, since the others didn’t challenge him. The Fire Hunters frowned or looked away and fell silent.
“Did you capture them on the cliff?” Roroku asked.
“Yes. The Guardian Gods’ decree was to exterminate all the Fire Fiends on the cliff. We left a few behind to use as a decoy when the Spiders came. Did you run into a few of those?”
Roroku gave the Fire Hunter a slight nod. “Hey, I don’t know the rules very well so maybe I shouldn’t say this, but shouldn’t we hand this guy over to the Guardian Gods?”
“If we hand them over, we’ll be lacking information. This forest is a hunting ground for Fire Hunters. If we hand them over to the Guardian Gods, we won’t get as good of a reward.”
It was true that the Black Forest was not routinely patrolled by the Guardian Gods. It was a hunting ground open to all Fire Hunters; some Fire Hunters called it Morikami in secret. But torturing a Spider was not a hunt for Fire Fiends. Koushi thought that Yuoshichi had paid them to get information. All of them had known his father. Koushi remembered meeting their families several times. They hadn’t changed at all since he’d seen them last.
“The Tree People around here were tracking the Spiders’ movements. They’ve been hiding among the roots of the trees that the Tree People cultivate. I’m a good pathfinder, so I used their clues to find this guy. Ah, since you’re a wanderer, d’you know much about pathfinding?” one of the Fire Hunters asked. His deep voice was muffled and it was hard to hear what he was saying in places. “I received word that the Spiders will be sending spies to the capital soon. So, I left the Fire Fiend on the cliff and set a lot of traps. He fell for it.” The Fire Hunter laughed cruelly. He sounded like a man accustomed to being a torturer.
“You were gonna go back over the cliff and into the capital? Alone?”
The Fire Hunter nodded, irritated by Roroku’s casual speech.
“The Spider had no companions. I crushed his leg in a trap and captured him here. But he’s still holding on, probably because of his divine heritage. Even crushing one leg and chopping it up hasn’t done much to loosen his tongue.”
Koushi thought that was a lie. The Spider just looked like an ordinary man, about thirty years old. His leg was severely injured and his eyes were wide from pain. His breathing was labored. The Fire Hunter had said that torture wasn’t that effective, but it looked pretty effective to Koushi. If this Spider had tried to attack the capital or something, then where were the others? Why was he all alone?
If the Spider hadn’t said anything so far, he probably wasn’t going to.
Koushi didn’t like any of this. It wasn’t humane. He understood that the Spiders were enemies of people in the capital and that they might do the same thing to their enemies, but it still didn’t seem right. Just like making a weapon of mass destruction per Yuoshichi’s orders didn’t seem right.
A wooden mask lay upside-down on the ground. The Spider had worn the mask and Fire Fiend fur in order to pretend to be a Fire Fiend to sneak closer to the tunnel leading to the capital.
“I’m sorry you had to see this,” Kagura’s short, bearded owner said, bowing his head to Koushi. “You’ll be adopted by a wealthy family and pursue a successful academic career, so this isn’t something you should see. Fire Fiends and the forest are Fire Hunter business. Stay away from places like this and follow the safer path that’s been designed for you.”
Koushi was listening, but found it hard to hang on to the words. He didn’t want to see or hear this. He hadn’t expected to learn all this when he’d entered the forest tonight. The sound of the Spider’s heavy breathing echoed in the surrounding silence.
To Koushi’s surprise, the Spider was breathing evenly, though loudly. The dogs and Roroku noticed this even before Koushi did. The Spider was still injured and tied to the tree, covered in sweat, but he still seemed to be recovering somehow.
The Spider raised his head, then looked at each of the Fire Hunters. The Fire Hunters clutched their weapons.
The wounds the Spider had received would have killed an ordinary man, but there wasn’t a trace of pain in the Spider’s eyes. The Spider caught Koushi’s eye, and Koushi felt rooted to the spot.
The Spider smiled.
“We Spiders have fire. Ancient, natural fire. I don’t know when my friends are coming, but it doesn’t matter. We don’t catch fire anymore, you dolts. The second they come, it’s all over for you. Those sickles you use are hand-me-down junk from the Guardian Gods. They won’t protect you from natural fire.” He didn’t sound like someone who’d just been tortured.
“What do you men, you don’t catch fire anymore?”
“What I said.” The Spider smiled, expressing confidence. He wasn’t at all afraid of the Fire Hunters and the dogs in front of him. Koushi didn’t want to look at him, but he also found it hard to look away.
“We Spiders do not burst into flames even when we come close to natural fire. We have created insects with a venom that nullifies the flames. I was sent to scout the capital, and I have been captured. I must atone for the disgrace of this before my end.” The Spider’s smile changed into a shrill laugh.
The forest stirred. Koushi heard panting and footsteps echoing in the darkness. The dogs growled low in their throats. The place was completely surrounded by Fire Fiends.
“Oh, so you were stalling,” Roroku said. “Coulda guessed as much.” Roroku scratched the back of his crude earring. He showed no particular interest in the Spider or his claims about not combusting in the presence of natural fire. His eyes flicked to the forest, gauging the nature of the threat and planning how to deal with it.
“Shit!”
The Fire Hunters took up their sickles and prepared to move. Koushi tried to count the number of Fire Fiends, but their fur blended into the surrounding dark too well. All he could see were red and glowing eyes in a circle around him. Some of the Fire Fiends were in the trees, gazing down from above, baring their fangs. Was it possible for such a small number of Fire Hunters to beat back this horde of Fire Fiends? Koushi was frozen again and cursed himself. He was a liability here. The Fire Hunters would be better off if they didn’t have to focus their attention on protecting him.
“The Fire Fiends are the least of your problems,” said the Spider, who was laughing loudly, still tied to the tree. “While you were slicing me up, I let more insects bite me. Really, humans are so stupid.”
The Spider said more, but Koushi didn’t hear it.
The Fire Hunters turned their backs to each other, glaring at the closely packed line of Fire Fiends.
“Tch.” Kagura’s master clicked his tongue as a signal. Kagura led the charge, diving into the attacking Fire Fiends first. And then—fighting, and chaos. Koushi was hard-pressed to keep up with everything he was seeing.
Tatsuta bit into the nose of a bear-like Fire Fiend several times his size, his master swinging his golden sickle behind him. A small deer-like Fire Fiend leaped at him. Shimaki caught its throat in his fangs in mid-air. Another Fire Fiend charged, but Roroku’s sickle cut it down cleanly. One of the Fire Hunters shot a dart at a Fire Fiend that was attacking from above. The Fire Fiend jumped at them with incredible force over a short distance. It fell to the ground with the dart in its side, and another Fire Fiend trampled it to death underfoot.
Curses. Orders. Screams. Victory cries. Angry shouts.
As the sounds of battle filled the clearing, Roroku’s voice said right Koushi’s ear, “Keep freezing like that and you’re gonna die, kid.”
Flesh tore and bones snapped as the battle continued. The Spider used the chaos to break his own arms where they were bound to the tree. He freed himself from his bindings and ran right at Koushi. Not even his mostly destroyed leg seemed to slow him down. His right arm was folded over his chest with the nail still stuck in it.
Right before the collision with the Spider, Koushi moved out of the way.
The Spider approached Shimaki’s master, who was fighting a Fire Fiend. He moved to attack the Fire Hunter with the pointed nail in his palm.
Koushi moved to intervene. He wasn’t injured, but some of the Spider’s blood had splashed on his face before he could fully dodge the Spider’s attack. The Spider fumbled his next move and fell. Koushi fell with him, and the Spider managed to stab him with the nail.
Blood from the Spider’s heavily injured arm splashed onto Koushi’s cheek. The smell made him want to vomit, but he was so short of breath that he wasn’t quite sure he could manage to heave out the contents of his stomach.
It’s hot. The nail had gored into Koushi’s side. It felt like it was on fire.
All around him, the Fire Hunters and their dogs kept fighting. In the confusion, Koushi caught sight of two deep green eyes—not a Fire Fiend’s eyes. Who else was there? Were the eyes an illusion? He didn’t think so. He felt the green eyes fix on him and remain there, watching him.
Who is that?
Koushi wanted to know, but his thoughts were growing dim.
“Hey, kid! I told you to stay behind me!” Roroku yelled.
The Spider’s breathing went ragged again. Roroku’s lantern shone bright: someone had completely uncovered it. A sharp pain moved from Koushi’s side to the rest of his body. He couldn’t focus.
Koushi lost consciousness while trying to make sense of what was happening around him.
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