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The factory area quieted as the night progressed. Machines that had been working automatically fell silent one by one. The night air cooled down the overheated industrial machines. The place was like a ghost town, inhabited only by shades of the dead.
Smoke stopped rising from smokestacks. The city’s buildings stood empty and silent like the grave markers of an ancient civilization.
Kun walked behind Roroku and Kanata. He’d been walking for a long time, but he showed no sign of fatigue. He clenched his jaw and tightened his hands into fists so that he wouldn’t make a sound or complain about anything. He was determined not to get left behind again.
Kanata was scouting so far ahead that Koushi couldn’t see him anymore. Koushi and the others walked much more slowly than the dog.
Every step forward brought a worsening sense of impending dread. He didn’t think that they would be saved from this battle. Koushi had seen Roroku kill Wonne; he understood the Spiders’ motives now. And he knew that the Spiders would never give up while they drew breath. Koushi had painted a target on his back by burying the lightning fuel bottles and operating the cannon. If the Spiders found him, they would kill him.
That was why Koushi had left Hinako behind.
Koushi glanced sidelong at Kun. It was hard to believe that Kun was a Spider most of the time. Spiders were once Guardian Gods. Even though they’d been banished from the capital, they were still powerful. Koushi tried to imagine them at the top of the capital’s hierarchy of power and shuddered. Spiders were terrifying. So were Guardian Gods.
Most of what Koushi had been told about the Guardian Gods at the Academy and while growing up had been lies. Did everyone believe those lies? Even the people who were sick or dying from factory pollution? Why had his mother gone along with such lies?
“Hinako had Touko’s sickle,” Kun said.
Koushi nodded at him. “Touko shouldn’t use it. Hinako shouldn’t, either. Only Fire Hunters are supposed to use weapons like that. Kiri is with them. I’m sure she’ll keep them both safe.”
Kun didn’t acknowledge Koushi’s reply. He kept moving straight ahead.
“Kun… Was Wonne really someone you knew from before?” Koushi asked.
Kun nodded. “Yes. We were in the forest. Dad caught a Fire Fiend and skinned it. We make clothes out of it. Wonne helped too. He knew how to use blades. Dad always praised him for it.” There was no emotion in Kun’s voice as he spoke. It was hard to believe that he was talking about the Spider that he’d watched die.
Koushi clenched his teeth, forcing down a lump in his throat. “Sorry, maybe I shouldn’t be asking this right now, but… what did he mean when he talked about insects that make your body fireproof?”
Kun showed no alarm or distress at this question. Perhaps he’d been through so much recently that his senses had gone numb. “There are insects—special insects. Everyone gets bitten by them, and then they don’t need to be afraid of fire anymore. I was the only one it didn’t work on. The insects bit me, but fire is still dangerous to me. Mom left me in the forest and told me to become one with it. I ran out of food. Couldn’t move, got sick. That’s when Akira and Touko found me.”
“I see.” Koushi nodded. He hoped that he looked appropriately empathetic. He understood now why Kun stuck so close to Akira and Touko. There was so much about Touko’s journey to the capital that Koushi still didn’t know.
“Are those insects hidden somewhere? Can anyone get bitten by them?” Koushi asked.
“Wonne said so. They’re probably keeping them secret and hidden so that people don’t steal them.”
Koushi believed Kun. The Spiders had brought natural fire to the city. That meant they had some way to make fire safe for themselves. With those insects, the Spiders could take over from the Guardian Gods easily. Most humans would follow them, if only so that they could be safe from fire. Yuoshichi would pay practically any price to get his hands on those insects. The Guardian Gods had reason to fear fire themselves. They wouldn’t be able to defend themselves, never mind humans.
Why attack the capital, then? Why not just sell access to the insects to people and let word spread on its own?
Koushi shook his head. Wonne had been militant. He’d talked about the old world and humanity’s wars and violence. Wonne had told Koushi that fire could be used for creation and destruction. And that the Spiders would become true gods.
Even so, Koushi didn’t understand this violent attack. Spiders could still die. Lightning fuel killed them. Even though they were immune to natural fire, they were still putting themselves at risk and harming countless others. A wave of nausea overwhelmed Koushi as he remembered the dead Spider and the battle before that.
Koushi wiped cold sweat from his forehead. He was responsible for so many deaths. He had devised the cannons and the lightning fuel that were attacking the Spiders now. He’d used research about the ancient world to figure out what kind of weapons people used before fire made them combust.
But I shouldn’t think about that now. Koushi swallowed heavily. It was too late for regrets.
“Will Akira be angry at us?” Kun asked, biting one lip. “She didn’t want me or Touko to follow her. Because even if we went together, we might die. But we chased after her anyway. I’d be mad, if I were her. I don’t want Akira to die.”
Koushi had no idea what to say to the Spider child. Kun was even younger and shorter than Hinako.
Kun’s eyes swiveled in different directions. He was taking in the world through his messenger insects. He kept walking, not needing anyone to guide him.
Kanata was nowhere to be seen. Maybe the dog had found Touko by now.
“Are Touko and Akira safe?” Koushi asked Kun.
Kun tilted his head slightly. “Akira isn’t in the big house right now. Her leg hurts, but she’s still running. Touko…” Kun frowned. “She was in the big house, too, but she left. I don’t know why. She’s over by the cliff… Ah, the insects are weak, so I can’t see well. The timing might be off, too. If we’re too late, it’ll be bad. Kira almost fell from there, and then—”
Koushi placed a hand on Kun’s shoulder to stop him from walking forward. There were people in the way: two, three, more…
Kun gasped.
Koushi pulled Kun into a shadowy corner and crouched down, concealing himself and Kun from sight. The people passed them by as soundlessly as wraiths. There were all dressed in tattered clothing. Koushi didn’t think they were factory workers. Their movements reminded him of Hinako. The way their arms and legs twisted and flexed was like Hinako in her over-excited state.
The short line of shadows moved from one side of the alley to the other and disappeared behind the buildings. They went on their way without acknowledging that Koushi and Kun were there.
Koushi’s heart was beating fast. He took deep breaths to calm himself.
Kun suddenly darted out from behind the building. Koushi caught him by the shoulder and pulled him back.
One of the shadowy figures turned around and shambled toward Kun.
It was too late to hide now. Koushi could use his bottle of lightning fuel to blind the figure, but then the others would know where he and Kun were. They had to run—but could they? Could Kun keep up if he ran away?
The approaching figure was a woman, and familiar. Koushi had seen her before, but not for quite some time—several weeks at least.
“Kureha?” he asked. Kureha was a servant at Okibi Estate. “Is that you?”
Kureha’s gait was unsteady, her face lifeless. She was dressed in shapeless rags that were too loose for her thin frame. She wore shoes, but they had no laces. They were much too large for her and were masculine in style. She must have scrounged them from someone else’s locker—or someone else’s feet. Her long hair stuck to her forehead, partially concealing her eyes.
Kun pressed his lips together and faced Kureha, his mismatched eyes out of focus.
Koushi quickly stepped forward to shield Kun. Why was Kureha blocking their way? Her posture wasn’t aggressive, but it was threatening. Koushi was reminded of Hinako’s strange new way of moving again.
Hinako had inflicted a possibly fatal wound to a Fire Hunter in seconds. Her action had been swift and brutal. Koushi gulped. If Kureha was the same as Hinako and all the other shadowy people were, too, then there were dangerous weapons roaming the streets. Weapons in the shape of people.
Had Kira known this? How was it done?
What was happening to the capital and the people in it had long since surpassed Koushi’s understanding.
Kureha reached for him in a sudden movement. Koushi flinched, expecting his head to be crushed in, but Kureha’s hands landed on his shoulders with surprising gentleness. Her hands were ice cold and clung to him with great strength, but she wasn’t trying to harm him.
Kureha’s gaunt cheeks and thin throat moved as she tried to form words. If she was speaking, Koushi couldn’t make out what she was saying. All he heard were moans of pain. He remembered Kureha as she’d been—a young woman who’d been Kira’s friend—and blinked out the afterimage of the memory.
Kureha had vanished from the estate. Kira had noticed, but she hadn’t known where Kureha had gone. Koushi felt both pity and revulsion for the emaciated, foul-breathed creature that stood before him now.
Kun gazed impassively at Kureha.
“What happened to you?” Koushi asked. “Kira’s been so worried about you, Kureha.”
Kureha’s grip loosened slightly on his arms.
“Did this happen to you because you gave me my mother’s letter?” Koushi asked. “Please tell me.”
Kureha’s hands slid off of him. She groaned: a guttural sound that came from low in her throat. She covered her face with her hands and let out gasping breaths and sobs.
“Don’t… go,” Kureha choked out, one slow syllable at a time. “Don’t… go… any… further.”
“Why?” Koushi asked.
Kureha breathed on him. She stank of fish. When Koushi had been a little boy, he’d gone down to the canals to collect laundry and had come across a cluster of dead fish that smelled just like Kureha did now. He’d never seen any fish swimming in the capital’s waters that were alive, come to think of it. Every fish he’d ever seen had been dead.
“I have to go,” Koushi said. “My friends are in danger.”
Kureha shook her head.
Before Koushi could say anything else, a rumbling roar nearly deafened him. It wasn’t caused by lightning fuel or the cannons, nor was it caused by any factory machinery. The air itself seemed to shake and break apart as the sound passed over Koushi and Kureha.
Was this the power of the Guardian Gods?
“You must hide,” Kureha said, her words careful and deliberate. “You will burn. You must not die.”
Koushi almost didn’t hear her; the sound was too loud. But he understood her well enough.
“Please hide.” Kureha was near tears.
Koushi couldn’t just leave Kureha like this—not when Kira was so upset at her being lost.
“No,” Koushi said. “I can’t… I can’t stand the world the way it is. The capital shouldn’t be like this. This shouldn’t have happened to you.” He offered Kureha his hand. “You have a home in town, don’t you? I’ll take you there. You need to go home.”
Kureha shook her head hesitantly as another roar tore through the air. Alarms went off in the distance this time, warning of imminent danger.
Kun shouted a warning as he was blown backward into the wall of a building. The impact winded him, but Kun was otherwise unhurt. Koushi also lost his footing and fell, bracing himself against a wall so that he wouldn’t hurt himself too badly. His glasses flew off his face. He bent to retrieve them. When he put them on again, he saw Kureha standing near him. She hadn’t moved.
Another roar; Kun stayed braced against the wall and Kureha pushed Koushi against another to prevent him from falling again.
“My body… is not human,” Kureha said. “Not… anymore.”
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