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Hibana’s red house gown hung off of her in tatters like a layer of burned, peeling skin. Kanata recognized her just as easily as Touko did. Her black hair fell over her face. Hate and fear burned in her eyes.
This was Kira’s mother. She’d survived falling from the cliff. She had tried to save Kira from the Guardian Gods, and she’d failed.
Despite what must have been a terrible fall, Hibana showed no signs of serious injury. There was no longer a needle in her neck. She was barefoot, having lost her shoes somewhere. She hunched forward like a wounded animal covering for a weakness.
Akira tensed and made sure Touko and Kun were behind her.
“You’re Okibi Yuoshichi’s wife,” Akira said flatly. “Or are you a Guardian God?”
Hibana grinned, but it looked more like a grimace. Her lips were a deep and vivid red like the heart of a flame.
“Where is Kira? What have you done with my daughter?” Hibana asked. “Are you one of their pawns, too? Sneaking into the mansion, currying favor with my husband… You filthy little vixen!”
“I have no idea what you’re talking about,” Akira said, frowning. She glared sharply at Kira’s mother. “I’m no one’s agent but my own. Kira was taken to the Guardian Gods’ shrine, and I’m going to get her back. I don’t have time for this, so get out of my way.”
Hibana shook her head rapidly. “Shut up, shut up! I will hear nothing from the mouths of you perverted vermin. This is all those children’s fault. If we’d never taken in that poor student and his weak sister, none of this would have happened! Everything is in ruins because of worthless people like you!”
Kun squeezed Touko’s hand and pulled her back a step. His grip was weak, and his fear was obvious.
Akira sighed in exasperation. She’d witnessed Hibana falling from the cliff. She’d also seen the needle go into Hibana’s neck. It was quite likely that Hibana was something both more and less than human now. It was impossible for an ordinary human woman to survive a fall like that without being badly injured.
With eyes wide and teeth clenched in rage, Kira’s mother glared at Akira. She seemed to be trying to imprint the blame for everything that had happened onto Akira by force of will.
Akira faced down Hibana as if she were fighting a crazed Fire Fiend. “If you want to save your daughter, you can come with us to the shrine,” she said. “Otherwise, move.”
Hibana stood her ground. “You had no right to enter Okibi Estate,” she spat. “Not once, not ever. Do you know what I had to endure to earn my place in that house? I came from nothing!”
“I don’t care. Your foolish stories don’t matter to me. I feel sorry for Kira for needing to live with you. No one forced you to get married. You’ve neglected your own family, and now you’re blaming me. Why would you marry a man like that, anyway?”
“Because he gave me food,” she said. Hibana stood up straighter. The snarl of hatred on her face smoothed over like a mask made of plaster. Darkness fell, leaving only the red emergency lights to see by. Hibana’s tattered red house gown draped over her body like a lampshade—like mere decoration.
A chill went up Touko’s spine.
“I was starving,” Hibana said. “Nothing but skin and bones. He gave me food. He told me to eat so that I would become more beautiful. So I followed him. I started to believe that even worthless people were still deserving of some measure of human dignity. But I was wrong.”
The torn red fabric of her dress fluttered like a sputtering flame as Hibana leaped at Akira. Akira was so surprised by Hibana’s sudden attack that she stumbled backward.
“Miss Akira!” Touko called out. She could do nothing to help in this situation.
Hibana loomed over Akira as a red shadow. One of her elbows bent at an unnaturally sharp angle. That hand was nothing but bone and sharp, newly formed claws. “I failed to become a person of worth to the world.” She choked out a sob, and then swiped her claws at Akira.
Temari sprang at Hibana, trying to bite her. But Temari missed and fell flat on the ground. Akira reacted quickly to Temari’s yelp and managed to kick Hibana away from her. Hibana growled low in her throat and straddled Akira, weighing her down.
Akira tried to roll—tried to escape—but Hibana had her pinned.
“Stop it!” Touko cried out. She tried to pry Hibana’s normal hand away from Akira.
Kanata held back, looking between Hibana and Akira.
Hibana shoved Akira down. She faced Touko with darkness in her eyes.
Kun made a guttural sound like a threat.
Touko put out her arms, standing between Kun and Hibana as a human shield. “Kira will be at the shrine,” she said. “We have to go help her. Isn’t that why you’re here now?”
Hibana stopped moving. Her disheveled hair fell over her cheeks, casting faint shadows on her skin. The perfection of her form was almost divine. Touko thought that the paper-makers in her village would never be able to create anything so beautiful, and they were all proud craftsmen.
Hibana breathed deeply, her chest rising and falling with visible effort. She was like Hinako now: she had been changed in a fundamental way. Touko didn’t understand how or why that had happened. She remembered Kureha, the woman who’d saved them in the underground passage close to the canal. She’d been changed, too.
Akira rubbed the hollow of her throat and coughed. She stood up, gritting her teeth, and put herself between Hibana and Touko.
Hibana twisted and writhed in pain, screaming. She barely managed to stay on her feet. There was a bee wedged between her fingers. Its stinger was lodged in her skin.
The bee was one of Kun’s insects.
“Ah!” Hibana gasped, then staggered back. She wandered out of the alley like a drunk woman. Light played over her face as she stumbled down the street.
The light was too bright to be moonlight or street lamps. Touko frowned, concentrating. Where was the light coming from? A fire? No, a fire wouldn’t be that bright, either. The light was coming from the Guardian Gods’ shrine.
Hibana’s hand and face swelled grotesquely from the bee venom coursing through her veins. To Touko, she looked like a wilted red petal withering in intense sunlight.
“Kira… Kira is there… And I am in such a terrible state. I must have meat.” Hibana turned her gaze to the sky and walked away on unsteady feet. She seemed not to remember her confrontation with Touko and the others. She wandered like a sleepwalker with her hand and face puffed up. She disappeared behind a building. The last thing Touko saw of her was her tattered red hem trailing behind her.
Akira said something that Touko didn’t catch.
Kanata wagged his tail.
Kun tugged at Touko’s hand.
Kanata ran ahead, trailed by Akira, Temari, Kun and Touko. Kun was pulling Touko ahead with great urgency. They came to the end of the alleyway and then turned onto a wider street.
A huge cliff loomed in the distance, darker than the darkening sky. The Guardian Gods’ shrine was built on top of that cliff. The scent of the Black Forest filled the air, sickly and sweet. There were corpses all around the base of the cliff. Those who had died here had taken their last breaths of Black Forest air.
There was a grating sound in the back of Touko’s head. She blinked and willed her headache to go away, but that didn’t work. Spots formed at the edges of her vision.
Kun was still holding Touko’s hand. She stumbled as she stepped forward and caught herself before she fell. She couldn’t let Kun wander off alone here. There were too many dead Spiders.
Koushi stood atop the cliff as Touko approached it from below. Kanata rushed ahead through the mounds of corpses.
A sound like ice cracking echoed continuously within Touko’s skull. Her head throbbed. The spots at the edges of her vision became larger.
The moon burned bright overhead, casting deep shadows on the ground. A Fire Hunter’s sickle glinted in the moonlight. The bitter, acrid smell of the Tree People’s chemical hung heavily in the air.
The air was still choked with dust despite the previous evening’s rain. A white powder mixed with unearthed soil and blew over everything. The powder was an anti-fermentation agent that had been cast over the corpses.
Kun slipped his hand out of Touko’s, but he remained close to her as they walked.
Touko stopped straining her eyes; it was impossible for her to see anything clearly, anyway. She approached the sickle she’d seen before. It was laying on the ground. Kanata led the way.
About halfway to the sickle, Touko noticed a long-haired Tree Person in the middle of the road.
“Willow?” Touko bent and touched Willow’s sandy hair. Willow’s skin was cold. The base of her neck supported a single living, but uprooted, tree. The tree was a young green sawtooth oak. Leaves clung to its thin branches. It was leaning at an angle, leaves drooping toward the ground.
Kanata had reached the sickle and was sniffing it all over. Touko recognized the rough cloth wrapped around the handle. This was the sickle that she’d brought to the capital. It belonged to Kanata’s family.
The last time Touko had seen the sickle, Hinako had been carrying it. What had happened?
“Willow?” Touko asked again. “Are you all right? Are you hurt? Please wake up.”
Willow didn’t move. Her long neck stretched out on the ground. She resembled the long-bodied dragon Guardian God who had died and slumped over on the black carts.
Perhaps Willow wasn’t moving because the tree was sick? Touko reached out and touched the tree, examining it more closely. The top of the tree’s slender trunk had been cut. The cut’s surface was still moist, and it looked fresh. There were no chopped-off branches nearby that she could see.
Who had come and cut the living tree?
Touko’s vision dimmed. The stench of death rose from the ground in waves, making her head spin. There was so much Fire Fiend hide. She caught glimpses of broken limbs and deathly pale faces. Most of the Spiders still wore masks, even in death, making those who had lost their masks that much more striking.
The Spiders had gone to a lot of trouble to make sure they wouldn’t burn in the presence of natural fire. All that effort had been for nothing. There were so many dead.
Touko wondered if things could have gone differently. If the Spiders had come in peace, offering the insects that Kun carried to make everyone immune to combustion, then none of these people would have died. Ordinary humans wouldn’t have to work in darkness, blinding their children as Touko’s grandmother had been blinded.
Raising her gaze, Touko saw Kunugi limned in the light of dawn. He was a four-armed titan of wood and flesh. He clung to the cliff with all four of his arms, as still as a statue. It was hard to tell if he was even breathing. Perhaps he was asleep.
Hibana was nowhere to be seen.
A single Spider stood among the corpses.
Kun’s shoulders twitched. Before Touko or Akira could stop him, Kun ran straight toward the Spider standing at the base of the cliff.
“Dad!” Kun shouted.
Akira tensed.
Touko and the others rushed to Kun’s side.
The Spider was draped in Fire Fiend fur and wore a black mask. He was alone, and leaning against the cliff face. Dead Spiders lay all around them, their bodies mixed with disturbed earth. There was a deep gash from his shoulder to his hip that had cut through both armor and Fire Fiend hide. Insects squirmed inside the wound.
Close to the living Spider, there were nearly a dozen dead Spider children piled on top of each other. More insects crawled over their corpses.
Akira drew her dagger from its sheath.
Touko felt so dizzy that her legs were unsteady, but she couldn’t run away from this place. She could not avert her gaze from the Spider standing in the light of the rising sun no matter how hard she tried.
“Kun, is that you?” the Spider asked. His voice was low and deep.
Touko and the others knew little of Kun’s family. Touko had never thought that she would meet either of his parents.
The Spider held the same kind of sparking egg-shaped lantern that the man and the boy they’d encountered had been carrying.
“So you made it this far. I thought the insects in the forest would have devoured you long ago. So the little one who couldn’t become immune to fire still lives.” He sounded vaguely amused.
“Kun, get back here,” Akira called out.
Kun ignored Akira’s order. He stared up at his father with a grim and serious expression. “I saw Zan and Wonne die. Is everyone else dead, too?”
“They are. Everyone who entered the capital died. Did you gather insects in the forest?”
Kun nodded. He didn’t seem repulsed at all by his father’s wound. He stood between Touko and the others and his father, rooted to the spot. “Koushi asked me to look for the special bugs.”
More amusement radiated from the wounded Spider.
“Dad. Please don’t kill my friends,” Kun said.
Touko felt like she was standing in the river in her village in winter, alone and terrified and so cold. The river water had felt like it would cut right through her bones, and no matter how hard she tried, she couldn’t get out of the water on her own. She remembered the washed bark of the paper mulberry tree between her toes, twisting and writhing like a creature made of bone.
The Spider let out a low laugh. “I cannot kill them, even if I wanted to. Right now, I can’t even defeat the insects that you brought with you, Kun.”
The pile of Spider child corpses clung to one another as if they were trying to support each other. Kun’s father stared at the pile for a long, drawn-out moment. Then he faced Touko and the others again.
“So you are the Fire Hunter I have heard rumors of,” the Spider said. “Are you planning to become the King of the Fire Hunters?” Insects wriggled out of his wound and fell to the ground.
Akira’s mouth pressed into a thin line. She raised her dagger, ready to strike at any moment. Touko thought she looked more sad than angry or scared.
“I am here so that the King of the Fire Hunters will arise to save humanity,” Akira said. “You’ve been working against that. You gave humans the ability to kindle natural fire, saying that they would find salvation. They found only death.”
The Spider’s shoulders shook with laughter.
A chill went up Touko’s spine. This was Kun’s father. He’d held Kun on his knee and told him stories. They may have spent nights in the forest lighting fires and using insects to ward away the Fire Fiends.
“Humans wish for their freedom, do they not?” the Spider asked. “A king does not bring freedom, only more servitude. The only thing that can release you all from the Fire Fiends and the terror of the Black Forest is fire.”
“No,” Akira said sharply. “You’re wrong.” Her grip tightened around the hilt of her dagger.
“Akira…” Kun looked up at Akira with a pleading expression.
Temari growled at Kun’s father.
“You can’t attack him,” Kun said. “If you attack him, he’ll kill you.”
Akira looked up at Kunugi. The Guardian Gods’ shrine towered over them all, shining with an eerie light. Tears fell from the corners of her eyes. She was so close, but it might all end here.
“Kun, are these humans your family now?” the Spider asked in his low, resonant voice. He didn’t sound angry. The insects in his wound writhed together in a violent, shuddering movement. “You must teach them better. As long as they keep using the tools they received from the Guardian Gods, they will remain bound in their service. The Guardian Gods are unworthy. They are destined to fail and perish.”
Kanata alone seemed to be calm in this situation. Touko focused on his steady breathing to help herself keep her composure.
Kun stared up at his father, standing between him and the others as if he wanted to bodily protect his friends.
“Humans are meant to live in the world, tilling soil, storing food, and contributing new life to the circle of days. They were never meant to be chained to a place that churns out nothing but poison into the world around us. The Guardian Gods are no different, though they believe they are. They have domesticated humans like cattle. It is sickening.” The insects in his wound shuddered again. Several fell to the ground.
“There’s no point in listening to you now,” Akira said. “You’re responsible for too many deaths.”
The sound of rushing water reached Touko’s ears. The canals in the city were overflowing from yesterday’s rain. This place was filled with the dead. She remembered the poor black horse that had been tied up outside a huge factory. That horse would have died inside the factory if she hadn’t freed it. She hoped the horse had found a safe place to graze.
“And you’re not?” the Spider asked. “Humans kill Spiders, even though the Guardian Gods have killed far more humans than we have. The Guardian Gods chose the wrong path. They have wasted their long lifespans and abused their power.”
The sky beyond the cliff was the same color as the Black Forest. A hazy fog covered the city’s industrial area. Touko’s vision blurred again. The only thing she could see with any clarity was the sickle on the ground.
Touko had seen the moon before, but she couldn’t find it now. Was it still there, hiding behind the clouds?
Kanata looked her way, the muscles of his back tensing.
There was a tiny figure standing on Touko’s shoulder. Touko’s gaze followed Kanata’s and found a miniature Warashi. She felt no weight at all, but she saw the childlike spirit there. Her hair was as white as snow and her eyes were the color of spring leaves. Warashi was staring at her.
Touko’s Protector Stones clashed together in the bag she held. She’d been taught to never put Protector Stones of different types in the same bag, or the Guardian Gods whose names were engraved on the stones might fight with one another. But Touko had only one bag to carry things in, so she hadn’t had much choice. She carried a Protector Stone from her grandmother and one from the Fire Hunter who had saved her.
Warashi…
Had Warashi read Akira’s petition?
Warashi smiled kindly at Touko.
Kanata picked up his Fire Hunter’s sickle with his mouth.
“Kun,” the Spider said, “Your mother and siblings are dead. You are all that is left. Bear witness to the true nature of those who call themselves gods, and watch them die.” His voice grew quieter as he spoke.
Akira kept her dagger raised, but she didn’t strike.
Kun appeared small and fragile and younger than ever.
Touko felt her heart in her throat and swallowed heavily. Warashi pointed to Touko’s right hand.
Kanata ran toward Touko, still carrying the sickle. He had brought it to Touko just like this right after his fire Hunter had died. His eyes were clear and determined.
Touko accepted the sickle from Kanata carefully. It felt so heavy in her shaking hands.
Now that his mouth was free, Kanata licked his nose to moisten it. He faced Kun’s father.
“There are still Spiders in the forest,” Kun’s father said. “Even if you kill every Spider in the city, more will come to free the humans. And even if every last Spider dies, the humans themselves will seek their own freedom one day.” He laughed.
Touko frowned. The Millennium Comet had never laughed. She had said that she couldn’t bear to keep watching all of the suffering in the world.
The black cart crew members with Kaho had said that Kunugi was digging a new way up to the shrine. Touko didn’t see any signs of digging along the base of the cliff. Kunugi clung to the cliff; he hadn’t moved a muscle.
“Why do you even care about freeing humans?” Akira asked. “The Spiders are fighting against the Guardian Gods, aren’t they? Why not focus on that?”
The insects inside the Spider’s wound moved together in a strange, rhythmic motion. Their movement was so coordinated that they must be able to communicate with one another somehow.
The Spider groaned in pain. “The Spiders fight the Guardian Gods because of what they’ve done to humans. I want to atone for the sins of my bloodline. The Guardian Gods have lost the power to control fire, yet they still call themselves gods in their arrogance. I wish to cleanse their sins.”
“Whose sins? The Fire Clan’s?” Akira asked flatly. There was no emotion in her voice at all.
Kun looked back at Akira. His gaze flicked to Touko. He was frowning and unhappy.
Touko didn’t know what to do or say to ease the tension in the air.
“We Spiders were of the Fire Clan before our banishment,” the Spider said. “We were banished because we lost control over fire. Even we would have combusted in the presence of fire, just like all the other Guardian Gods. Our exile was voluntary. We desired to discover power over fire again, and we found it.”
“I see,” Akira said. “That makes sense, I suppose.” She sighed heavily.
There were still Fire Clan members in the capital, of course, but they’d lost power over fire, too, much as the Spiders once had. The obsession to regain control over fire wasn’t something Touko understood easily. It was like an itch moving under her skin.
Spiders had saved Kaho when she was a child. They’d also slaughtered Fire Hunters and their dogs in the bay. They wanted to help humans regain control over fire. They had come to the capital to conquer, but now so many of them lay dead.
Touko wondered if Kun could see Warashi sitting on her shoulder. He was looking at Akira, so it was possible that he hadn’t noticed Warashi. The tiny Guardian God pointed to where Kunugi was clinging to the cliff. Her finger moved upward to the shrine. That was where the other Guardian Gods were. Kira might be there.
Warashi’s free hand tilted Touko’s head upwards. Touko’s vision came into sharper focus, but it hurt. Touko closed her eyes.
When she opened them again, Warashi was gone.
The sickle that Touko carried felt unusually heavy.
What had Warashi meant? Did she want Touko to go to the shrine? Where had Hinako gone? Was she up there all alone? Maybe she was with Koushi.
Kun’s father didn’t move. It wasn’t clear if he was dying or if the insects in his wound were keeping death at bay.
Touko went stealthily toward Kunugi. She didn’t want to draw attention to herself. She touched Kunugi’s enormous foot. Various plants grew out of Kunugi’s tough skin. The plants were alive, but that didn’t necessarily mean anything. Kunugi didn’t move at all. It was hard to tell if he was alive or dead.
One of Kunugi’s hands was raised up high. It reached into a hollow in the cliff near the top. A person could climb Kunugi’s body to reach the shrine. It was reckless, but possible.
Just then, a low rumbling sound echoed above Touko’s head. It was a sound similar to an earthquake or thunder. She’d heard the same sound while traveling with the Millennium Comet in the industrial area.
Kunugi lowered one of his four hands heavily to the ground and scooped up Kun’s dying father. The movement was easy and practiced. It reminded Touko of how Shuyu would capture birds.
Kun didn’t make a sound. He simply watched as his father was carried away. Insects fell out of the Spider’s open wound. Kunugi caught the insects with his other hands before they could fall to earth. He threw back his head and consumed the insects.
After Kunugi finished eating, he dropped the Spider at his feet. He laid the body flat and then covered it with loose soil.
A scream rose to Touko’s throat, but she pushed it down. She clutched the handle of the sickle as hard as she could. She was still on Kunugi’s foot.
“Kiri is not ready for the grave yet,” Kunugi rumbled. “The mole went on ahead to the shrine. Do you have business there? Will the King of the Fire Hunters arise? You should pray. The Millennium Comet will burn the weeping stars. Become the King of the Fire Hunters and beg forgiveness from the child of the heavens.”
As Kunugi’s hand descended again, Akira picked up Temari and Kun, who was standing frozen, staring at his father’s grave. Akira sprinted to Touko and Kanata.
A moment after Akira grabbed Touko’s arm, Kunugi lifted Touko and Kanata into the air. Akira held on for dear life, still clinging to Kun and Temari. Kunugi shifted his passengers into the hollow of his wide palm so that no one would fall.
Blackness consumed Touko’s vision from the inside out. She felt herself moving, but she couldn’t see. There was a flash of white light.
When the flash ended, Touko was blind again.
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