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Koushi awoke from an unsatisfying sleep. He checked that Kun, Kanata and Touko were still sleeping and then stood up as quietly as he could. He exchanged a glance with Roroku, who was on watch. Akira was sleeping between Kun and Touko.
“Don’t go too far,” Roroku muttered in a low voice.
Koushi walked away without saying anything.
Kanata and Mizore lifted their heads. Mizore yawned, bored, and turned away, but Kanata quickly stood up and followed Koushi. His movements were so smooth and silent that he didn’t wake Touko, Akira or Kun.
Koushi shook his head to signal Kanata not to follow. Kanata looked up at him and wagged his tail lightly. He was smiling at Koushi.
Roroku glanced over at them and shrugged. Koushi didn’t want to let Kanata come along, but if he hesitated too long, he would end up waking Akira. If that happened, she wouldn’t let him go where he wanted. Koushi double-checked that everyone but Roroku was still sleeping and then set off in silence. Kanata trotted lightly at his side.
Akira had said they would be moving again soon. Koushi knew that he hadn’t rested for very long, though it was difficult to tell time precisely in this place. He looked up, trying to check the position of the sun, but the trees formed a dark canopy that blocked out the sky. The branches and leaves were covered in mottled patterns of black and gray. What did the sky look like now? Was it still raining in the capital?
Koushi couldn’t bring himself to think about what was happening in the city now. Hinako and Kira were still there. He didn’t know if he still had the right to wish for the safety of those dear to him.
There were no good landmarks. Koushi headed in the direction that Roroku had pointed out earlier and hoped for the best. His shoes got caught on sticky, decaying black leaves.
Kanata showed no hesitation at all as he kept pace with Koushi. The dog knew the forest far better than Koushi ever would. Had he walked like this with Koushi’s father? How many Fire Fiends had they hunted in places just like this one?
Come to think of it, I never got to see them hunt, Koushi thought. Hinako had their father’s sickle now. Touko had used it to kill Fire Fiends in the capital. Koushi had never seen his father use his weapon.
Kanata was here because he wanted to protect Koushi. Koushi had no sickle or any other weapon to defend himself with. All he had was the dog, and Kanata would do his best to make sure Koushi stayed safe. Kanata had already done a lot to keep him safe, come to think of it. Koushi hadn’t understood the dog’s motives until now.
Koushi glanced sidelong at the dog. Kanata had his nose to the ground, taking in their surroundings. He was tense, but not nervous. There were no Fire Fiends around. Their journey was quiet and still. There weren’t any corpses here or any blood. It would be peaceful if not for the dark malevolence of the trees.
The scent of decay was getting stronger. Koushi took that as a good sign. He was getting closer to his destination. He didn’t know how far he was from the others, but he felt like he and Kanata had traveled quite a long way. He gripped his bottle of lightning fuel in one hand for reassurance and took a moment to examine his surroundings. He didn’t want to get in Kanata’s way if they wound up in a dangerous situation.
Koushi pushed aside cloying, foul-smelling undergrowth and choked for air. Kanata licked his nose to moisten it and then sneezed. Koushi picked up a sturdy stick and stepped forward.
They were here.
A wedge and an arrowhead were embedded in one of the twisted trees. At the base of the tree lay a bundle of black fur: the pelt of a Fire Fiend.
Kanata made a short, puzzled sound.
Koushi released the branch he’d been holding and took a step closer to the twisted tree. Scattered around the pelt were several bone fragments. The flesh had already been devoured by the beasts of the forest. There was nothing left that could be called a corpse. A swarm of flies filled the air, and the stench was so thick that it dulled Koushi’s senses.
This was the place where Koushi had seen Yuoshichi’s agents torturing a Spider.
Arrowheads and small knives used by the Fire Hunters were scattered about. So were weapons and scraps of clothing that the Spider had worn, half-buried in soil and decaying leaves. The Spider who’d died in an Ibushi factory was named Wonne. Koushi wondered what the tortured Spider’s name had been.
He strained his eyes to see. There were so many flies, it was a wonder they didn’t collide with each other as they flew. They were the same kind of flies that swarmed around garbage or small animal carcasses in town.
Koushi decided to investigate further…
…but then Kanata growled a warning.
Koushi signaled for Kanata to stay put by holding out his hand and stepped into the swarm.
Unknown insects crawled under Koushi’s shoes. He almost jumped back in surprise, but he composed himself. He placed a hand over his mouth so he wouldn’t swallow anything unpleasant and took a closer look at the area.
The buzzing of the flies sounded like some kind of voice. There were Fire Fiend footprints on the ground, dozens of them. There was no sign that anyone had disturbed or walked over those footprints.
Kanata watched Koushi as he wandered around the remains of the torture site.
“Hmm… I guess maybe it’s not here after all,” Koushi said, half speaking to Kanata, half talking to himself. “Let’s go back, Kanata.”
Koushi retreated backwards without turning his heels. He didn’t want to turn his back on this place of carnage. He kept his eyes fixed on it as he ducked under twisted, low-hanging branches. When the place was out of sight, he closed his eyes and bowed his head.
When he raised his head again, Koushi turned back toward the path they had taken to get here. He walked through the forest with Kanata at his side.
By the time Koushi and Kanata returned, Akira and Kun were already awake. Kun pointed to him as a greeting. Akira was nudging a sleeping Touko.
“Where did you wander off to?” Akira asked.
Temari stretched extravagantly beside Koushi and then kneaded the soil with her paw pads. Her terror and pain from having her leg broken was completely forgotten now that Akira had returned to her.
Kanata ran over and licked Touko’s cheek. Touko sat up right away.
They probably hadn’t rested enough. They hadn’t eaten a proper meal, either. If there was still time, they could rest, but there wasn’t. They would have to get back to the city as they were.
“Sorry. If my hand wasn’t like this, I’d at least carry the two little ones for you,”
Roroku said, deftly tightening his belt with one hand and adjusting the sheath of his sickle and the hilt of his dagger with the other. He could no longer wield a weapon with his right hand.
His face was no longer as pale as a wax sculpture, but he didn’t look healthy, either. He’d lost a lot of blood during the battle. His hawkish face was now gaunt and his cheeks were sunken in.
Touko sprang up, startled by Roroku’s voice. Her eyes were droopy from sleeplessness. “S-sorry. How long was I asleep?”
“Not long,” Roroku said. “Don’t worry about it. We were all sleeping.”
“Not all of us,” Akira said, gesturing toward Koushi. She flicked her hair over one shoulder and then looked Koushi straight in the eye. Her amber gaze burned like the ruination of fire. “Where did you go when you were supposed to be sleeping?”
Koushi stared at Kun, who was pressed tightly against Akira’s back.
“Kun, can you look around a bit?” Koushi asked.
Kun’s eyes went wide when Koushi said his name. His eyes were focused at the moment, so he wasn’t viewing the world through messenger insects.
Akira lifted an eyebrow.
“I can,” Kun said, pointing at his own face.
“There’s something I want to ask. Kun, can you find the special insects that the other Spiders hid?”
Akira’s expression grew stern, and Roroku let out a short, scornful laugh.
“Thinking up more nonsense again, are you?” Roroku asked.
Koushi clenched both fists to contain himself. “I heard a Spider say that they had insects that could make people immune to combustion. They hid them somewhere—somewhere nearby, I think. The Spiders live in the Black Forest. It would make sense to hide the insects there.”
Touko gulped. Her whole attention was on Koushi. “I think there are still Spiders in the capital,” she said. “There are also people who are helping the Spiders, even if they have to set fires to do it.”
Koushi nodded. “We should take every precaution before we go after the Millennium Comet.”
Akira stood up and scratched her head irritably. “That’s exactly why we need to hunt the Millennium Comet. We can’t deal with those people in the capital until we do. We can’t delay just because you have an idea. Come back to the capital with us. The tunnel can’t be used. If you don’t come, you’ll die here in the forest.”
Temari barked, and Mizore stood up straight and pointed her nose toward the city.
“Miss Akira,” Touko said. She looked around at everyone’s tired faces. She understood that Koushi had doubts about the Millennium Comet. She wasn’t sure that the Millennium Comet could be hunted at all. But if that was the only way for the King of the Fire Hunters to arise, what else could they do but try?
Or maybe the King of the Fire Hunters was always an impossible dream. Just a story, and never real.
Koushi mustered all his remaining strength and faced Akira squarely. “Let’s say that the fighting ends and you or one of the other Fire Hunters becomes the king of them all. Some Spiders will still escape, and they’ll take those insects with them. What happened here will happen in all the villages. The Spiders will set fires and get people on their side by having them be bitten by the insects. Even if the Spiders lose this battle, they’ll win the war.”
To prevent that, the Millennium Comet might burn the world. Even so, that silver-haired creature in the shape of an emaciated child was hesitating. She hadn’t decided what to do before she’d vanished.
“Please. I’ll make sure Kun is not in danger. I killed Spiders that entered the capital, with the weapons I made. I want to do what I can so the world doesn’t fall into further chaos.” His voice faltered; he could say no more.
Kun tugged at Touko’s sleeve. “I can do it,” he said. “I can find the special bugs.”
Touko patted Kun gently on the head. She had so many questions for Koushi. She didn’t agree with using Kun for this. He was just a child. She pulled Kun into a hug.
“Is it really worth it?” Touko asked Koushi.
“Yes, it is.”
Touko wasn’t convinced, but she nodded shakily.
Kun’s pupils moved minutely as if he were trying to read an enormous amount of text very quickly.
This wasn’t fair to Kun. He’d been abandoned in the forest by the other Spiders because the special bugs he was trying to find wouldn’t work on him. Kun would always be vulnerable to natural fire. If Touko and the others hadn’t found him, it was likely that he would have died.
Koushi knew all of that, and he’d asked Kun to find the special bugs anyway. It was unconscionable.
“I can’t find the bugs myself,” Koushi said. “It would take too long. I want Kun to come with me. Once we find and retrieve the bugs, we’ll catch up with you. I promise.”
Akira frowned severely and said nothing.
Touko shook her head in denial. She looked straight at Koushi and let out a long breath she’d been holding for too long. “Why?” she asked. “Why do this? Hinako and Kira need your help in the capital! Your father died in the forest! You don’t know if you’ll be able to find us again or not!” Her face flushed red from anger and her hands were shaking. She covered her mouth with trembling fingers to stem the flow of words.
Each word of reproach that Touko flung at Koushi stung like disinfectant on a fresh wound. He said nothing in reply. Apologies would mean nothing. He was resolved to do as he’d said.
Kun tugged Touko’s sleeve again.
Touko steadied herself, taking a deep breath.
“If Kun is going,” Akira said, “then so am I.” Her lips pressed together in a thin, displeased line. She rested a hand on Touko’s shoulder. “There are three copies of my petition, and I wrote the same thing for them all.” Her gaze shifted to Koushi. Then she knelt down to Temari and removed the copy of the petition that the dog carried.
Temari perked up and shook herself, happy to be rid of her extra burden.
“One copy will go with Roroku,” Akira said. “Touko’s copy vanished. And the other one will go with you.” Akira’s fingers gripped the petition so tight that her knuckles were white. She thrust the petition out to Koushi, who accepted it, stunned. “You’ll carry it. Ideally, we would go to the shrine to deliver it, but that might not be an option anymore.”
Akira shrugged off her ragged cloak. It was ruined from battle; its only purpose now was to conceal the severity of her wounds. There was another petition tucked into the cloth belt at her waist. “This one will be for Touko. As punishment for coming up with such a stupid idea, I’m ordering you to go back to the city. There might still be fire in the industrial area, so be careful. Touko, Kun and I are much more useful in the forest than you are, Koushi. And Roroku can’t use his arm. Go with him. He’ll protect you, and you can be his right arm.” She nodded to herself. “Kun, Touko and I will search for the bugs. Even if we don’t find them, we’ll return to the capital before sunset.”
Roroku’s mouth twisted into a wry grin. “Sounds like a wild goose chase. Be careful not to lose track of time. If you get the timing wrong, the tide will sweep you out into the bay and you’ll drown.”
Roroku rummaged through his pack and retrieved two empty bottles that had airtight stoppers. He handed one to Akira and used the other to store his copy of Akira’s petition.
Touko bit her lip and held her breath so that she wouldn’t start weeping.
Koushi tucked his copy of Akira’s petition into his bag. He felt like it weighed more than it did—like the petition’s contents were heavy.
“I’m sorry that I’ll be sending you all into danger,” Koushi said.
Touko removed the crystal Protector Stone that had originally belonged to her friend Kaho from her own bag. She handed it to Koushi.
“Please hold on to this,” Touko said. Her hands were shaking again, but not from nerves. Her hands were always trembling for some reason or another, but what was happening now was some kind of spasm.
Touko looked down at her hands with a little frown.
Koushi noticed the spasming, too. Unlike Touko, he considered a possible explanation: the Tree People’s medicine. The medicine had restored Touko’s eyesight, which was good, but the medicine might also have unexpected—and undesired—side effects.
“Please live,” Touko said, bowing her head deeply. She let go of the Protector Stone. Koushi held onto it.
Kanata wagged his tail slowly and looked up at Koushi with bright eyes.
***
Kun, Touko, Akira, Temari, and Kanata would remain in the forest and hunt for the special bugs. Kun began his search for them immediately. When his messenger insects found something worth investigating, he pointed in the right direction.
After Kun and the others vanished into the trees, Roroku faced Koushi. “Well then. Let’s get going.”
Mizore huffed. She’d watched Temari very carefully and seemed unhappy that the little dog was out of sight.
When Roroku gave the command, Mizore snapped to attention and led the way back to the capital.
Roroku gave Koushi a sardonic smile as they walked. “It’s not a great feeling, carrying a letter with you that needs to be delivered to the Guardian Gods. If we wind up delivering our copies, I’ll add a note so that Akira has to deal with the aftermath.”
The forest was so quiet that even ordinary conversation sounded loud, but nothing reacted to Koushi and Roroku’s passage. Roroku’s low voice blended into the ambient sounds of the forest and faded away. The two copies of Akira’s petition were tucked away in airtight sealed bottles to protect them. Koushi and Roroku each carried one copy.
“Are you planning to make a medicine from these weird insects that will work on humans?” Roroku asked.
Koushi had to be careful where he put his feet because the ground was so slippery, but Roroku walked across the forest floor as easily as breathing. The Fire Hunter seemed at home here.
“I think it’s worth a try,” Koushi said. “The Spiders seem sure that they can make human combustion a non-issue. If the Guardian Gods had access to the same insects, or if ordinary human researchers did, they could make something that would work. This is our chance to bring back some of those insects for people to study. I think it makes the most sense for humans to make medicine for other humans.”
Roroku sighed in exasperation, then rubbed the back of his neck with his left hand. His movements with his non-dominant hand and arm were getting smoother over time as he adjusted to his mangled right hand.
Koushi kept his eyes and ears open, though he doubted that he’d notice anything dangerous before Roroku and Mizore did. He kept talking. Talking seemed to make the journey easier. “Even if the medicine works, I’m not sure if regaining natural fire would be the best thing for humanity or the world.” Koushi remembered Wonne’s cold, exalted stare in the moments before his death.
“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.”
Was that really true? If so, Koushi thought that humans would have found some other way to destroy the world by now. If humans were destroyers, then they were also survivors. He remembered what Touko had told him about her grandmother. Her grandmother’s parents had blinded their daughter at birth because they’d been forced to live underground. It seemed cruel from the outside, but Touko’s great-grandparents had been trying to give their child a survival advantage.
What was the right thing to do here? Would giving humans safe access to natural fire again lead to salvation or ruin? He understood the Millennium Comet’s indecision now. She’d watched everything that the Guardian Gods and humans had done up in the sky, and she still couldn’t choose the best way forward.
“If the Spiders flee the capital, we might lose our chance to find the insects, so I think what we’re doing right now is the best course of action,” Koushi said. “Kun and the others might not be able to find the insects, though. It’s better not to put the cart before the horse.”
Koushi’s anxiety suffused his body like an independent living thing. He was worried about Hinako. He had no idea where she was or if she was safe. His heart beat painfully in his chest. Did Hinako have a fever? Was she sick or hurt? Had she burned to death?
And Kira had been kidnapped. She might be at the Guardian Gods’ shrine by now. Hibana had fallen from a cliff. Had Kira seen that?
Koushi could do nothing about all of that right now. Besides, he had no right to worry about his own precious people when he was responsible for the deaths of thousands. He didn’t dare hope for a happy reunion for himself. He didn’t know if he could ever be forgiven for what he’d done. All he knew for sure was that he was still alive, and that meant he had to do as much as he could in atonement.
Mizore stopped, tensed, and sniffed the air. Koushi spotted the Fire Fiend approaching from behind them. It was fox-like and rather small. To say it was “approaching” was a bit generous. The animal was staggering and mindless from whatever the Spiders had done to it. Rage and violence burned in its eyes.
Mizore took off running. Roroku gripped his sickle in his left hand. “Don’t use your lightning fuel. We’ll save that for if we really get in trouble,” Roroku said sharply.
Mizore charged straight at the Fire Fiend, accelerating without losing momentum, and attacked. The Fire Fiend let out a threatening screech at the hunting dog’s charge. Mizore caught the Fire Fiend in her jaws, dominating the beast with her superior size and strength.
Roroku signaled to his dog with a click of his tongue. Mizore immediately released her struggling prey and retreated to create distance.
The Fire Fiend’s movements were jerky. Mizore had injured its spine when she’d charged. The Fire Fiend bared its fangs at Mizore. Mizore snarled back.
Roroku rushed forward, sickle in hand. Koushi realized that Mizore was being especially overprotective. She’d dealt the Fire Fiend a fatal wound. Roroku stopped her from charging in again by raising his hand in a forbidding gesture. He raised his sickle over the Fire Fiend and brought it down in a smooth arc, neatly decapitating the beast. Golden blood splashed everywhere.
“All right, all right… It’s still barely usable,” Roroku said. He looked down at the dead Fire Fiend and checked over his sickle. Then he unfastened a pouch that could be used to store fire fuel from his hip and opened it.
“I can’t do this one-handed,” Roroku said. “Boy, help me.”
Koushi ran over and took the tanned leather pouch out of Roroku’s hand. He knelt down beside the dead Fire Fiend and scooped up the fire fuel according to Roroku’s instructions. The Fire Fiend was still warm to the touch. Its hide reminded Koushi of the clothes and armor worn by the Spiders. The fire fuel itself was thick and viscous; it took some effort to get it to flow into the pouch.
They harvested what they could from the beast, filling up the pouch most of the way. Koushi tied the pouch shut and stood up, turning away from the corpse of the Fire Fiend.
Koushi started walking again. The hand that had touched the Fire Fiend shook uncontrollably. He tried to still his hand without success, and then he panicked. Fearful words fell from his mouth in a jumble.
“I used the lightning fuel left behind by my father to kill many of the Spiders.”
Mizore took the lead, seeming unconcerned by Koushi’s distress. Her steps were fluid and graceful.
“You didn’t get your hands dirty,” Roroku said. “And your sister destroyed that cannon, didn’t she?” Roroku’s Islander accent came out a bit more strongly than usual. His voice recalled the sea to Koushi, and the sound of waves beating against the shore.
“I was the one who came up with the idea for the cannon. I made the plans that were used to create it and gave them to Yuoshichi. That’s why all those Spiders died.”
Koushi would never forget the sight of all those dead bodies surrounding him after the battle. That image was burned into his retinas forever. He must have killed many of Kun’s family and friends, indirectly or not. Those bodies lay in piles at the bottom of the cliff. There were countless dead, including Wonne, who had been Kun’s friend.
Kun hadn’t said anything. He hadn’t called out any names or drawn attention to the fact that so many Spiders were dying.
“If the Spiders had lived, more people and Guardian Gods would have died. That’s what war is,” Roroku said. His footsteps made no sound on the slick ground. Koushi remembered that Touko walked in a similar way when she was in the forest.
“Yes. That’s how the people of the ancient world must have killed each other, too,” Koushi said. His voice was shaking. He sounded pathetic to himself. But why? What had the ancient humans been trying to do? He understood wanting to fight to protect someone or something important, but there was always a cost. He believed that destroying the world was too high of a price to pay to save himself and those he cared about.
Koushi understood the Millennium Comet’s lonely years drifting around the planet better now, and why her eyes were so hollow and dead.
“Your father left the lightning fuel behind for you, didn’t he?” Roroku asked. “Hunting Fallen Beasts is tough, but the pay is better than for any other job. Lightning fuel is orders of magnitude more powerful and efficient than fire fuel is. How do you think he expected you to use it?”
Roroku’s Islander accent persisted. Koushi had never heard him speak like this before.
Roroku shook his head. “Snap out of it. You’re acting like Touko, who’s just a little girl. Use your head, kid. That’s what you’re good at.”
Mizore glanced back at Roroku for a moment. Her eyes glided over Koushi as if he were uncommonly transparent to her.
Koushi breathed in the stagnant air of the forest and tried not to choke. The forest was twisted and diseased. He’d been born into a twisted and diseased world.
“He left the fire fuel behind for the future,” Koushi said. “I don’t know what that future looks like. I want to believe that there’s a future worth living in. I have to be alive to see it.”
“Then live,” Roroku said.
Koushi was hungry and exhausted, but such concerns had no urgency to him. There was no food or safe place to rest here. He dismissed the needs of his flesh from his mind.
Soon, glimpses of dark, undulating water appeared between the trees ahead.
It was the sea, which was closed off to city dwellers due to contamination. Mizore walked slightly ahead. Her supple, swaying tail reminded Koushi of the Millennium Comet’s flowing silver hair.
The trees thinned as they came closer to the water. The sea spread out before them. The sky was overcast and dark. It was almost sunset, so the waves that lapped against the cliffs were shaded in darkness. The horizon looked like the end of everything. It was a void of blackness that no light could penetrate. That blackness grew at a rapid rate, consuming everything.
Koushi and Roroku stood in the ominous forest that covered the world and stepped into the ravening shadows.
END OF PART 6
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