Hinako drifted in and out of consciousness. She was clearly worn out from her exertions against the Spider. Koushi managed to pick her up and carry her without any resistance. Her hair and nightgown were soaked; she felt so heavy and so cold. He set her down beneath an overhang in front of the elevator and stairwell.
Koushi smoothed Hinako’s wet hair, his own hands trembling. The image of the Spider’s blood splattering on the roof as Roroku had stabbed them wouldn’t leave his mind. He felt like the Spider’s blood was on him, crawling over him, though he saw no blood on his clothes or skin.
“Hinako…”
Koushi lay Hinako down on the bare floor, smoothing her unruly hair behind her ears. His hands were shaking. He was covered in the Spider’s blood. He felt like he was about to catch some filthy, contagious disease.
Roroku stood beside Koushi, standing guard.
“Are you all right?” Koushi asked Hinako.
She didn’t answer. She looked up, expressionless and weary. The world around them was dark save for flashes caused by detonating lightning fuel. The cliff above the shrine had fallen away in a massive landslide. Koushi couldn’t see the Spiders’ torches anymore.
Slowly, Hinako shook her head.
Koushi took her hand in his and found it cold as ice. Light flashed across her face. Koushi didn’t understand what her shaking her head was supposed to mean.
Slowly, Hinako got to her feet and faced the silent cannon she’d destroyed. The sickle remained stuck in the control panel, shining clear and golden in the low light.
Roroku dragged the Spider’s corpse toward the cannon. The dead Spider was like a heavy sack. Roroku had to strain himself to move the body.
Koushi grabbed Hinako’s shoulder. He didn’t want her running off alone or grabbing the sickle again.
Hinako didn’t move a muscle. Her ear twitched toward the stairs. Koushi looked that way and heard the faint pattering of footsteps. Someone was coming.
Kanata let out a short bark and bounded out of the stairwell. He approached Hinako, rubbing his face against hers with an expression of concern. Tears sprang to Hinako’s eyes, though she didn’t pet the dog.
“Kanata…” Koushi was stunned. “Kanata, what happened to you? How did you get here?” His voice sounded choppy, as if it were moving through stagnant water.
Roroku settled the Spider’s corpse at the foot of the destroyed cannon. Then he yanked the sickle out of the control panel with a grunt. He was favoring one hand and had likely injured the other. Mizore remained glued to his side despite the rain.
“I have to get Hinako inside,” Koushi said. He was about to pick his sister up when he heard Kiri’s voice coming from the stairwell.
“I told you not to move, you idiot,” Kiri said. “You’ve lost too much blood.”
Mizore whined. She stared at Roroku with huge eyes.
Kiri came into view, hand in hand with Kun. Kun blinked rapidly as his eyes adjusted to the light outside the darkened building.
“Is everyone all right?” Koushi asked.
Kiri gave Koushi a glare. “Stupid question. No one’s all right,” she spat. She breezed past Koushi and Hinako until she reached Roroku, who was still standing next to the destroyed cannon.
Roroku turned to face Kiri. His movements were slow and deliberate.
For a moment, he was torn between caring for his sister and checking on Roroku, who was badly injured. “Stay here,” he said to his sister, patting her shoulder soothingly. Then he moved closer to Roroku.
Hinako didn’t run off. Usually, she would have sought comfort from Kanata, but she simply stood with her arms hanging loose at her sides. Kun came over to the dog, who wuffed in greeting. Kanata watched over the children while Koushi went to talk to Roroku.
Roroku’s dominant arm was bleeding. It was wrapped tightly in bandages from the wrist to the elbow, but Koushi could still see blood seeping from the wound. Kiri was right: Roroku had lost a lot of blood, and moving around and fighting with his arm like that could kill him.
The air was tense with anticipation and fear as Koushi, Kiri and Roroku gathered loosely around the weapon that his sister had so brutally demolished. The dead Spider was facing Koushi, eyes still open. Roroku lifted the sickle he’d liberated from the control panel with his left hand.
“Your hand… how bad is it?” Koushi asked.
Roroku grimaced. He relaxed his tense shoulders by act of will, then said, “It almost caught fire. I thought I’d have to cut it off to keep the fire from spreading. I managed to cut off just the part that was on fire, but this hand will be useless for awhile. Maybe forever. I got off light; a bunch of the others are dead. Some managed to escape further in to the industrial area.”
Koushi blinked. Roroku sounded strangely calm as he reported his terrible injury and the massacre of the other Fire Hunters. Roroku could no longer use his dominant hand—he’d injured it like that himself, to keep himself from dying. He wouldn’t be able to be a Fire Hunter anymore. He’d be like the Fire Hunters that Koushi had met in the forest—the ones who’d been so severely injured that Yuoshichi had stopped using their services.
For all that, Roroku didn’t sound upset. Perhaps he was too exhausted to be upset. The Spider’s corpse at his feet was slick with rain. The Spider’s clothing made them look like a dead Fire Fiend from a short distance away. Roroku had adjusted the body so that it was face-down. The Spider’s head was shaved, and there were scars on his head, likely from a Fire Fiend or animal attack.
Koushi told himself not to be overwhelmed by feelings. Now was not the time for that. He could do nothing about the Spider or Roroku’s hand or the Fire Hunters who were already dead.
“The rain that the Guardian Gods have summoned isn’t helping. It’s not even slowing the Spiders down,” Roroku said. “They built a sort of nest underneath the city, and now they’re crawling out of it. The Guardian Gods who guessed where their hiding places were tried to ambush the Spiders, but the Spiders ambushed them instead. They burned, along with all the Fire Hunters who were with them.”
Roroku still sounded eerily calm. The longer he spoke, the more anxious Koushi felt. Koushi looked at Kiri, noticing that she was hurt as well—though there were only a few scratches on her arms that he could see.
Kiri narrowed her eyes at Koushi in annoyance and pointedly faced away from him. Mizore tracked her movements, staying in the narrow space between Kiri and Roroku.
What Roroku was saying matched what Koushi had seen in the vision that Hibari had shown him. He had to assume that Hibari had told the truth.
Those were the scouts. The Spiders who led the way into the capital, and who guided the others inside, Koushi thought grimly.
It seemed like it would be trivially easy for the Spiders to defeat the Guardian Gods now that they were in the city. Had anyone known? Yuoshichi had been planning his own schemes against the Guardian Gods for a long while. Were he and the Spiders allies, then, since they had a common enemy? But if the Guardian Gods truly did have enemies inside the city, then Hibari and her spies would have sussed that out, right? Unless Hibari hadn’t told anyone. Hibari had said that she hadn’t told her family anything.
It’s not exactly a secret that the Guardian Gods don’t much care about humans. You all can crawl around in mud and filth for all they care. I don’t really care, either, Hibari had said.
Koushi gulped. Hibari had known. She’d known about all of this, and yet she’d told no one—no one but him, when it was already too late to do anything. Koushi didn’t understand. Even if Hibari didn’t care if the city was destroyed, didn’t she care about so many Guardian Gods dying? She might die herself.
The Spiders had come bearing natural fire. The Fire Hunters had no defense against such an attack. Not even the Guardian Gods could stand against it.
Roroku shifted his dead, bleeding arm with a grunt of pain. “I was going through the tunnels underground when I met some people. I hid and didn’t engage, in case they were enemies. They looked human, but didn’t act it. They weren’t Guardian Gods or Spiders, either. I’m not sure what they were.” He muttered something under his breath, then turned to face Koushi.
“What happened to Akira and the others?” Roroku asked.
Koushi’s mind went blank, but he understood that he’d been asked a question and that he should try to answer it. He closed his eyes for a moment and bit his lip to help him concentrate. Then he said, “Akira went to the Guardian Gods’ shrine. I left Touko with some workers who were evacuating, so she’s probably out of the city by now…”
Koushi felt eyes on his back and stopped speaking mid-sentence.
The Spider wasn’t quite dead yet after all. He moved, slithering through his own blood and rising up like a cobra ready to strike. Kiri was standing the closest. The Spider spread his fingers like the legs of an insect, preparing to choke Kiri.
Kiri reacted, but not fast enough.
Hinako was faster. She screamed, causing Kanata to leap at the cause of her fear. Kanata landed heavily on the Spider’s body, ramming the man’s face into the ground in the process. The dog gripped the Spider’s throat with his teeth, but didn’t bite down.
“Wonne,” Kun said softly. He stepped forward while Kanata held the Spider still. His eyes darted in all directions and his steps were unsteady, tottering things.
“Let go,” Kun said to Kanata. “Wonne won’t move anymore.”
Kanata did as Kun commanded. He released the Spider’s throat and took a few steps back.
The Spider—Wonne—lay still while taking deep, shuddering breaths.
Roroku’s eyes went wide. “Is this a friend of yours, Kun?” he asked.
Kun nodded. “I knew him when I was in the forest. We played together sometimes, but he always got mad at me and wouldn’t play anymore.”
The tension Koushi felt eased outwardly, but his thoughts disturbed him. Kun was a Spider. He likely knew many of the Spiders who were attacking the capital now. How many Spiders had been killed by lightning fuel tonight? And how many Fire Hunters and Guardian Gods would the Spiders kill when they stormed the shrine?
“This one’s a Spider,” Roroku said derisively. “How could you have played with him? Ridiculous.”
“I’m a Spider, too,” Kun said.
Roroku frowned. He looked surprised. Koushi wondered if there were any painkillers or other medicine inside the factory. Surprises like this probably weren’t good for Roroku’s health.
Come to think of it, there might be medicine nearby. The head of the Ibushi factories had a bad leg. They might find painkillers in his office if they were lucky.
Roroku’s usually tanned Islander skin had gone sallow and sickly. What remained of his hand hung at his side like dead weight. He’d received first aid to save his life, but he had to be in terrible pain. He couldn’t keep pushing himself like this. He needed rest and real medicine.
With this in mind, Koushi turned toward the door that led back into the factory.
Hinako’s eyes flicked from Koushi to Roroku to Kiri to Kun, taking everything in. Koushi wished he’d thought to cover her eyes. Both Kun and Hinako were too young to witness such a grisly scene.
“You,” Wonne choked out. “You use the power of the Fallen Beasts. We thought you were dead.” The dying Spider stared at Kun, the scars on his skull gleaming in the gloom.
The Spider’s voice cut into Koushi like claws into flesh, halting his thoughts.
Four scars marred Wonne’s face: two on his head, two over his eyes, nose and cheeks. His head was shaved completely smooth. He lifted his head a fraction of an inch, eyes narrowing to slits. The sight reminded Koushi of the Spider he’d seen tortured in the Black Forest.
“Heh,” the Spider coughed. “All humans… should be like that.” He laughed, raspy and pained. His distorted smile was like a curse imprinted on the world.
“You’re like a cockroach,” Roroku said. “You just won’t die. If you were human, you’d have been dead a long time ago. I guess there’s something to the idea that the Spiders and the Guardian Gods are of the same race. You wouldn’t be able to live through injuries like this otherwise.”
Kun nodded in confirmation.
Kiri turned away uncomfortably.
Wonne kept breathing. “Kun,” he said, “your friends are opening the doors to the houses we were chased out of long ago. And you’re here. You must have good luck. Join me. We’ll fight them together.”
Kun’s expression didn’t shift. “No,” he said. “The bugs that make it so you don’t burn don’t work on me.”
“That doesn’t matter,” Wonne said. “The world will regain fire. One way or another.” He sounded strangely proud.
“No,” Kun repeated. “I don’t want to burn. I’ll die.”
Wonne chuckled in amusement. He glanced around at Koushi, Kiri and Roroku and said, “But we must go. Everything we’ve ever done has granted us this chance. After tonight, the Guardian Gods will be no more. All that will remain will be us and the humans who can use natural fire.”
The sound of the pounding rain faded away as Wonne spoke.
Roroku snorted. “So you’re not spinning this as a takeover, but a homecoming.”
Spiders had been Guardian Gods once, but they’d been cast out into the Black Forest. Koushi didn’t know what kind of Guardian Gods they’d been. His books from the Academy hadn’t revealed that.
“So that’s why Spiders are so obsessed with fire, huh?” Roroku asked, maintaining his calm and even tone. Koushi thought he might be maintaining that tone in an effort to keep everyone else calm. Koushi certainly wanted to panic, and Kiri was looking more and more uneasy as the Spider kept speaking.
“Yes,” Wonne breathed out. “We Spiders—we controlled natural fire. This was our gift among the Guardian Gods. The current crop of Guardian Gods can’t even touch it—not even their leaders. They’ve lost their way. The Guardian Gods were meant to safeguard the world and all its creatures. They were meant to celebrate people in all forms and ensure bountiful harvests. And now? They cage you all in barriers and do nothing to help you against the world’s real threats. Why have you not risen up against them already?”
Wonne coughed blood and went still for a few moments. Then he said, “Humans should kindle natural fire, like in ancient times. That is how the world should be.”
Koushi knew that Wonne was just trying to upset them all and that he probably shouldn’t respond, but he felt like he absolutely had to say something. Wonne’s hubris—his certainty—irked Koushi beyond words.
“Why do you care what humans do? You’re a Spider,” Koushi said. “In the tunnel, in the forest… In the bay by the coast, you murdered dozens of Fire Hunters and their dogs for no reason. A maddened Guardian God attacked a black cart because of Spiders and killed almost everyone.”
A light like madness shone in the Spider’s eyes. “It was necessary. Those attacks and this one on the capital—all of them are necessary to achieve our ends.”
Koushi was even more annoyed that what he was saying didn’t seem to reach the crazed Spider.
“You need to massacre humans to achieve your goals,” Koushi said flatly. He wanted to strike the Spider, but Roroku pulled him back by the shoulder before he could move.
Roroku shook his head, his face stern. “Don’t listen to him. He wins when he makes you angry. Don’t let him.”
“But…”
Roroku tightened his grip on Koushi’s shoulder until it actually hurt. His left hand was his off-hand, but still strong.
Koushi tore himself away from Roroku in a fit of pique and approached the Spider again.
Wonne lay still on the ground, gaping up at Koushi. He hadn’t moved.
“You’re no better than the Guardian Gods or ancient humans,” Koushi said. “They murdered oceans of people to achieve their ends, too. No, the Guardian Gods aren’t perfect and their rule isn’t, either. But they don’t kill humans or their own kind indiscriminately like you do. Ancient humans destroyed the world with natural fire once. The Spiders want to do the same thing. There is no world where humans can coexist with natural fire. Not anymore.”
Wonne stared at Koushi, his eyes gray-blue like a spring sky. “You do as we do, using the power of the Fallen Beasts to destroy your enemies. How is using natural fire any different? You are just like the ancient humans. The world changes, but people remain the same. Removing natural fire from your safe barriers didn’t change human nature one bit. So why not bring back natural fire—destruction and war? Or will you be treated like livestock by the Guardian Gods forever?”
A smile tugged at the corner of Wonne’s mouth. “Humans are creative—both in building and in destruction. The Guardian Gods limit that. They should have been able to cure the pathogen that makes you all catch fire by now. They haven’t because humans who combust in the presence of natural fire are much easier to control. They are lazy, and us Spiders will destroy them utterly.” Wonne laughed again, and though he was dying and couldn’t move from that spot, Koushi would swear that he was happy. Euphoric, even.
“Perhaps the gods were well-meaning at the start,” Wonne said. “They definitely used to mix with humans more. But this is the end for them. We come with fire, and they will burn. And then we will free humans from the curse of combustion.”
Koushi didn’t think Wonne was lying. He believed himself, at the very least.
“Do you know what humans desire most?” Wonne asked. “A fair afterlife. It is not death itself that they fear, but what comes after. Security means everything to humans. But it is also a limiter of potential. With the threat of combustion hanging over them, all humans have good reason to fear death. With that fear removed, humans will be able to truly live without fear for the first time in a century or more. Even if every single Spider perishes in this assault, humans will take up our cause. They want security too much not to do so. Spiders will supplant the Guardian Gods. It is only a matter of time.”
Kun approached Wonne hesitantly. He appeared saddened that Wonne could no longer move. Wonne had stopped resisting Kun’s power to hold him still some time ago. “Wonne… did my dad and the others come? Are they here?” he asked.
Wonne laughed, the lines around his eyes crinkling. “Of course they are here. Your father leads us, child. My brothers are all here, though I do not know if they are still alive. There are plenty of ways to die in a place like this.”
Kun nodded in understanding. “Do you have any bugs with you?”
“Not the ones you’re thinking of. All of those are safe and in hiding. Only humans who agree with the Spiders will receive the insect venom that will make them immune to combustion.”
Kun shook his head. “That isn’t what I meant at all. I’m asking about ordinary bugs, not the ones that make the venom. I brought a lot with me, but I don’t have many left.”
The Spider sighed heavily.
“If you use fire, you’ll make Akira mad at you. And you don’t want her to be mad at you,” Kun said.
Wonne scoffed, giving Kun a look that was somewhere between scornful and pitying. “You are too close to the humans now, Kun. You will never be one of the new gods.”
Wonne’s eyes went wide. He stopped moving; it no longer seemed like he was breathing. The blood from his many wounds stained the ground beneath his body.
Kun stood above Wonne, motionless and silent, as the rain fell all around them. It wasn’t raining as much as before. The storm was lessening, as if even the rain wanted to cease for a moment and comfort the Spider child.
Kanata and Mizore stood side-by-side, drenched from their ears to the tips of their tails. The night was cold and wet and forbidding. At least the rain might stop soon, maybe.
Koushi faced his sister. “Hinako, are you okay?” he asked.
Hinako nodded. She squeezed his hand, then sat down on the ground and didn’t move. It was like she’d reverted to her former self.
Kanata bounded over to Hinako, whining in concern. Hinako stared straight ahead and didn’t acknowledge that he was there, not even when the dog licked her hand.
Events were spiraling out of control. Koushi couldn’t keep his thoughts straight. He sat down next to his sister so that he could look her in the eye and thought about where he should start. They had so much to talk about.
“I’m sorry,” he said. “I should have noticed something. I didn’t, but I should have. I really am sorry about that.”
Hinako hung her head, looking away. She and Koushi had both been taken into Yuoshichi’s home at the same time. They’d shared meals and some lessons together and had lived close to one another, but Koushi still hadn’t noticed the fundamental changes in his sister.
Hinako looked up at him, eyes wide with fear. She held his hand like she used to before they’d come to Okibi Estate. Her grip was weak and faltering. She reached for his shoulder with one hand and pulled him into a tentative hug.
Koushi wrapped his arms around his sister as gently as he could.
Roroku slapped Koushi in the back of the head. “See? I told you not to give up.” His cheeks were wet, though it was hard to tell if that was from the rain, tears or sweat. Mizore stomped one paw and let out a sharp bark. Roroku patted the dog on the back, then faced Koushi squarely.
“Did Akira take her dog with her?” Roroku asked.
“Yes.”
Roroku half-smiled. “Good. Let’s go after her.”
“But…” Koushi was thinking about Roroku’s injured hand. Roroku shouldn’t overexert himself right now.
But Roroku didn’t seem concerned. He was acting like a man who’d lost the use of his hand years ago and had long since accustomed himself to the loss.
“Mizore likes that pint-sized white dog and wants to go rescue the little idiot. I can’t talk any sense into her, so we really do have to go.”
Koushi wasn’t sure if Roroku was joking or being serious. Before he could say anything, Kun tugged at the sleeve of his raincoat.
Kun’s eyes were moving rapidly in all directions as he said, “I have a messenger insect chasing Akira. But it’s not a strong one. I don’t have many strong insects left.” He pointed at his eyes.
Despite seeing Wonne die—and contributing to his death by holding him still—Kun appeared unperturbed. Koushi felt a vague aura of power and menace drifting up and away from the dead Spider. Maybe it was like Wonne had said, and this aura was the essence of a dead god.
“What’s a messenger insect?” Koushi asked.
“I can control insects. I have one of them following Akira, so I can tell if she gets into danger. I have one following Touko, too. I wanted to leave one with Kaho, but I couldn’t. I only have two eyes.”
Koushi instinctively moved so that Hinako wouldn’t be able to see Kun’s very strange eyes. It was an unsettling sight, even for him.
“So you can see what the insects see?” Roroku asked.
Kun nodded solemnly.
“Where is Akira now? Has she reached the shrine yet?”
Kun tilted his head to one side. “She went inside a building, but I couldn’t see very much. She went underground and found Spiders. I think she hid. I recognize those Spiders—they’re Gin and Jun, and they’re twins. They were talking about the best place to light a fire inside the city. Gin and Jun passed Akira by and didn’t find her.”
The Spiders’ names sounded alien to Koushi. Kun sounded so much older than he looked. He appeared human much of the time, but this was a reminder that Spiders weren’t even remotely human.
If Akira had gone underground, then she wasn’t at the shrine yet. Koushi guessed that she was in a factory somewhere. She was still on her way to the shrine. The cliff collapsing underneath it had likely made her journey much more difficult.
“We have to go save Touko,” Kun said to Roroku. “There are two Guardian Gods near her. She isn’t safe.”
“What?”
Kun’s dark eyes twitched. Like this, he looked just like any scared four-year-old boy.
Touko was supposed to have evacuated with other children who worked in the factories. Had she gotten separated from them somehow? How had she come so near to not one but two Guardian Gods?
“Do you know where she is?” Koushi asked.
Kun nodded, leaning his whole body forward toward Koushi as he did. “They took her to a big house on the other side of the river.”
“A big house?”
Mizore scented the air. Kiri’s shoulders tensed. The sky was dark with rain clouds. A bright flash of pure white light cut through the clouds like a fish swimming straight and determined during a migration.
The Millennium Comet broke through the clouds overhead and landed somewhere near the factories. The rain was letting up, but even with that helping, Koushi couldn’t make out what the Millennium Comet looked like from this distance.
“That troublesome star,” Roroku muttered under his breath. He lowered his gaze, and then called out to Kiri. “I don’t know much about your people, but I think you live underneath the city near that tall tree, right? You all need to evacuate. The fires are out for now, but who knows what kind of venomous insects the Spiders might have brought in with them.”
Kiri shook her head dejectedly. “Mukuge and Gomoju are immobile. Their bodies are too large and heavy for them to move. People would take one look at them and try to kill them—they’d assume they’re monsters. Willow can’t evacuate, either. Her limbs are roots now. If we dug her out, she would die.”
Kiri’s left arm was nothing but shorn branches. She’d cut off most of the arm earlier, but the branches were already growing back in. Her vivid green eyes were fixed on the dead Spider. She was crying, but she was trying not to show it. Her jaw clenched.
“Boy. Are you going to find Touko, that tomboy girl?”
Koushi nodded.
Roroku let out a heavy, shuddering breath. He straightened his shoulders and drew himself up to his full height, then said, “You need to avoid going underground. You’ll be caught or ambushed if you do.”
“I’ll be careful,” Koushi said. “You stay safe, too.”
Roroku shrugged. He descended the stairwell first, followed closely by Mizore. He didn’t look back.
The wind slapped Koushi in the face. He thought it was getting stronger, though he couldn’t be sure. He gave Kiri a sidelong glance.
Kiri stood next to him, frowning.
“Can I ask you to stay with Hinako?”
Kiri’s frown deepened. “You’re planning to leave her behind?”
Hinako remained in place on the ground. She didn’t move a muscle. Koushi didn’t know if she was just tired or if there was something else going on with her. Her incredible strength from before had evaporated into thin air. It would be dangerous to leave her alone—she might do something reckless. Okibi Estate wouldn’t be safe for her until after this fight was over.
Hinako nodded to Koushi. “I’ll stay.”
“The Spiders might come here again,” Koushi said to Kiri. “You and Hinako should hide somewhere out of sight. And not underground.”
Kiri snorted in displeasure. “Leave your sister in a safe place yourself. I want to help the wounded and others in the city. The Fire Hunters have been decimated. The more I can save, the better off we’ll all be in the long run.”
“Please,” Koushi said, “stay with Hinako. I know she won’t be safe if she’s alone.” He bowed low to Kiri, then straightened up.
Koushi was about to command Kanata to stay when Kanata walked up to him. Kanata barked once, then spun quickly and ran off like a dog on a mission.
Koushi thought he knew where Kanata was going. The dog had been by Touko’s side most of the time since his father’s death.
“Please protect Hinako,” Koushi said to Kiri.
“Yeah, yeah. Go on, little mole. I’ll hold down the fort.” Kiri knelt down to Hinako’s level and set her hands on Hinako’s head. She muttered curses under her breath, disturbed by her examination of the little girl.
Koushi gave Hinako one last hug before setting off. Hinako’s eyes never left him as he descended the stairs. Kun kept pace next to him as he and Koushi followed after Kanata.
By the time Koushi and Kun reached the bottom floor and went back outside, the rain had all but stopped.
Wonne lay dead on the roof along with the destroyed cannon.
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