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The Fallen Beast lay on the ground in the sandy courtyard outside the Guardian Gods’ shrine. The impact as it had fallen juddered Koushi’s pinned leg, making him wince. He was too shocked to feel all the pain he should have, otherwise he would probably have passed out by now.
Touko held up her borrowed sickle, her shoulders trembling.
Lightning fuel spread out around the Fallen Beast. Now that it was dead, it looked much like any other Fire Fiend. Its fangs were far too large for its head. Koushi remembered the illustration of the Fire Fiend he’d seen in the hand-bound book he’d found in the Central Archives. This Fallen Beast looked identical to that illustration.
Touko gasped down at the dead creature. Golden drops of lightning fuel dripped from the edge of the sickle in her hands.
“Touko, are you all right?” Koushi asked.
Touko shouldn’t have been capable of fighting a Fallen Beast. Even Akira hadn’t moved fast enough to fight the beast, and she was an experienced Fire Hunter. Touko wasn’t trained. She was just a kid. Fallen Beasts were more difficult to hunt than Fire Fiends because they could fly and were smarter.
Even so, Touko had managed to kill this Fallen Beast. The evidence was right before Koushi’s eyes. If he reached out to touch its body, he would be able to feel the warmth and life leaving it. Its crescent-shaped claws dug into the ground.
“Touko, get back!” Akira yelled.
Touko flinched. The sickle she carried drifted alarmingly close to one of her exposed knees.
The puddle of the Fallen Beast’s blood was spreading out, and it would reach Touko soon. Lightning fuel was capable of dissolving most forms of organic matter. It needed careful storage.
Touko gasped and tried to step back, but she nearly pitched forward instead. Striking down the Fallen Beast sent a shock through her body.
Kanata rushed over and tugged Touko backward by gripping her clothes and pulling.
Touko flailed wildly, struggling to control her own limbs. She collapsed in a heap next to Koushi.
Roroku lay sprawled out before them, and he was dead.
Touko’s heart pounded loudly in her ears. Her chest tightened like scrunched-up paper. She had to stand. She needed to get the Millennium Comet to safety before more Guardian Gods showed up. But she couldn’t move. She wasn’t in pain, but she had no energy to rise.
The Millennium Comet should be able to escape on her own, but she hadn’t moved. She was as still and silent as a statue.
The dogs in the industrial area were barking now, but not howling like they were before.
The Guardian God on the ground groaned and held his head. His lacquered cap was askew. Neither he nor Koushi had died from the Fallen Beast’s charge, though it had been a close thing.
“For a mere human, you pack quite the punch,” the Guardian God said to Akira. His wrinkled skin contorted in anger. He glared at Koushi, then reached out for the hunk of wood that pinned Koushi’s leg to the ground.
A white strip of paper drifted down from the top of the ruined wall and wrapped tightly around the Guardian God’s hands. Hibari stood atop the wall, looking down with her arms folded.
“Cease your foolish struggle,” Hibari said to the Guardian God. “You have bound the Millennium Comet into a human vessel, but your plan to make her into our next ruler has slipped from your grasp. You will not succeed.”
Hibari was slightly out of breath. She jumped down from the wall into the ruined courtyard. The other Guardian God fixed her with a gaze full of deep hostility. The paper binding his hands tightened but didn’t break as he struggled to free himself.
Koushi wasn’t sure how bindings made of paper could be so effective. He didn’t know about all of Hibari’s powers or what Hibari was capable of. A shiver went through him.
Yuoshichi had fought Hibari and other Guardian Gods by exploiting a shared weakness: blood. A Guardian God doused in blood was no more powerful than any other human. Guardian Gods possessed some truly amazing abilities like control over the weather and the ability to shape the earth as they saw fit, but blood rendered them ordinary. Not powerless, but no more powerful than any normal person. Guardian Gods could bleed just like humans did.
Pain pulsed through Koushi’s body as he tried shifting his pinned leg. That leg bled profusely, but Koushi had no fear of his own blood or anyone else’s. He couldn’t understand the Guardian Gods’ aversion to blood.
“She is so pitiful,” Hibari said, gesturing to the corpse of the red-robed girl. “The others blamed her for everything, though she didn’t deserve it. In the end, she chose the humans over us.” She sighed. “To think that a mere human sought to bury Princess Tayura and the Millennium Comet in one fell swoop. He very nearly succeeded—or at least, he thought he did. The child he stabbed in the back was merely Princess Tayura’s shadow.”
“A shadow?” Akira asked. “Did Princess Tayura make herself a vessel to protect herself or something?”
Neither Guardian God answered Akira’s question.
Koushi took in the sight of the courtyard in a state of shock. He looked up at the Millennium Comet, more than halfway dazed.
Kun was trying to support Hinako, but he wasn’t quite strong enough.
We’re not going to make it inside in time, Koushi thought.
Koushi braced himself, clenching his teeth. He tried to move his leg again, but the limb remained stuck. Akira noticed him trying to move and knelt beside him. She tore off her cloak and tied it around his knee to help stop the bleeding. That done, she helped Koushi stand. He screamed as wood tore through muscle. A wave of nausea threatened to overwhelm him. He thought he might pass out, but he clung to consciousness.
Akira bound his wound once he was up and more or less stable.
Koushi cried out in pain, though he tried to be stoic. He failed to conceal how much he was suffering. He thought himself pathetic. He must be overreacting. He couldn’t stop his tears from flowing or the screams coming from his throat.
Roroku was dead. He hadn’t been able to stop that, either.
Akira lowered Koushi carefully to the ground again. The wood was out of his leg, but the terrible pain lingered.
“Koushi,” Touko said quietly. Her face appeared above Koushi’s, upside-down. Tear trails marked her dirty cheeks. She supported Koushi’s head with her hands, trying to keep it steady as Akira wound bandages around his bleeding leg. Koushi convulsed, and Touko lost her grip on him.
Kanata barked in agitation. He brushed his nose against Koushi’s arm.
“This can’t be happening,” Koushi gasped. Breathing was painful. Roroku shouldn’t be dead. He should have died on the Islands, far from here, many years from now. Koushi wanted to live to see the future, and he wanted Roroku to see that future with him.
It all felt like some kind of cruel and terrible joke. Roroku hadn’t come to the capital to end his life in this way. The research vessel would return to the bay two months from now. Roroku could have gone home then. He would never return now. He’d never be a fisherman again.
Koushi’s teeth chattered as the convulsions grew worse.
“All we can do for now is stop the bleeding,” Akira said. “He shouldn’t be moved.” Her mouth twisted in a frown.
Koushi felt the people around him holding their breath.
“Fire approaches,” the Millennium Comet said, her voice tight. The white bandages tied in her hair fluttered in the wind.
A Spider stood beyond the crumbling wall of the shrine. They were masked and wore armor made of Fire Fiend hide.
Kun stifled a cry.
The Spider was surrounded by a cloud of winged insects. They walked forward, their shoulders jerking awkwardly from side to side with every step. The Spider’s movements reminded Koushi of how Kureha and the humans that had been transformed by the Water Clan moved. Was the Spider wounded?
Hibari faced the Spider with a snarl on her face. She was about to attack when the Millennium Comet called out to her.
“Hibari, go no closer. You’ll die.”
The area around the Spider brightened. Sparks scattered in the air.
The insects flying in the air wandered frantically around the Spider. Huge swathes of them fell out of the air and onto the ground. They were still moving, but slowly. Their wings and bodies glowed and then went up in flames.
Fire.
Natural fire burned the insects on the ground… and the fire was spreading. Death had come to Koushi and the others.
“Those are my dad’s bugs,” Kun said. His eyes were open wide in astonishment. “I’m sorry, bugs. That shouldn’t happen to you.”
The Spider’s torso tore open, and more insects burst from his body. Some kind of liquid—blood, or maybe drool—seeped from beneath the black mask. It seemed like the insects contained within the Spider were in control of the Spider’s body and not the other way around.
“You filthy outcast!” the Earth Clan Guardian God yelled at the approaching Spider.
The earth rippled beneath the Spider and attempted to swallow them whole.
“Stop. Don’t come any closer,” the Millennium Comet said to the Earth Clan Guardian God.
More insects burned on the ground. A circle of heat and flame spread out. The Earth Guardian God ignited, burning from within as he reached out his arms to grapple with the Spider.
Koushi couldn’t move a muscle. Even if he’d been able to move, he was too weak and injured to fight. Fire Hunters like Akira, who were strong and brave, weren’t immune to the effects of natural fire. No one was. Koushi held his breath and waited for the moment when he would catch fire, too.
Several seconds passed.
The Millennium Comet stood protectively in front of Koushi and the others. A glowing red pillar of light stretched skyward in front of her as the Spider and his insects continued burning. This pillar of flames was a weapon of the ancient world. The Guardian Gods had used weapons like it long ago, and they had caused the destruction of the old world.
The Earth Clan Guardian God stood in the center of the pillar of fire, groaning in pain. He stared up at the sky, his face like a rictus. His entire body was engulfed in flames. Insects flew around him. None of them flew away from the fire.
The Spider crouched at the feet of the Guardian God in a pose similar to that of the dead insects littering the ground.
Koushi had no idea why he wasn’t dead. Everyone should have combusted by now, aside from maybe the Millennium Comet.
The Millennium Comet stared right at the pillar of fire, her shimmering hair floating in the air. The brown sash knotted around her waist flapped like the wings of a bird.
Hibari turned her face toward the Millennium Comet. There were no spies around her now. They had all returned to being paper dolls.
“I have loaned this girl some of my powers,” the Millennium Comet said. Her vocal inflections sounded strange filtered through Kira’s voice. “By using my core, she can limit the space where the fire burns. It takes a considerable amount of energy to maintain, but that fire won’t keep burning for long. As long as no one touches the fire, you should all be safe.”
“Sister,” Hibari said softly.
“Kira?” Koushi asked even more quietly.
The Earth Clan Guardian God continued groaning in pain, but the sound was muffled. His body fell over the Spider’s, still burning. The insects that had lingered near the pillar of flame had burned to a crisp, and there were few fliers left.
“This is just like when the world was destroyed before,” the Millennium Comet said sadly. “I was so afraid, and I ran away. Now I am witnessing ruin anew. Is this my atonement? Is this my punishment for running away in despair the last time?”
Akira grabbed the Millennium Comet’s hand and squeezed as if she wanted to reassure her.
Neither the heat nor the flames of the pillar of fire reached Koushi or the others. The Millennium Comet’s powers kept the fire at bay. How much longer would the fire burn? When would it finally go out?
The Millennium Comet sank to her knees on the ground, her hair sliding over her shoulders. Blood seeped through the bandages wrapped around her neck.
Touko gasped. She’d been holding her breath, waiting for the fire to consume them. She took a few deep, steadying breaths to calm herself.
Then the pillar of flame disappeared, and the fire went out.
“Sister, that was a reckless thing to do,” Hibari chided. She approached the Millennium Comet, but she hesitated before reaching out to touch her. She didn’t like blood, and the Millennium Comet’s vessel was bleeding from the neck and arms.
Hibari swallowed heavily, and then reached out and touched the Millennium Comet’s shoulder. Her fingers shook.
The Millennium Comet looked at Hibari briefly, but she didn’t acknowledge Hibari’s presence otherwise.
“There’s no one left to interfere now,” Hibari said. “I’ll take you to Princess Tayura. Come.”
The lingering pain in Koushi’s leg faded as he vanished from the courtyard in a flash of light. A sensation like cold water running through his veins made him lose a breath. He gasped at the sudden change.
Akira glared at Hibari, then knelt to check on Koushi’s injured leg.
The wound that Koushi had suffered was gone: erased as if it had never happened. Hibari must have healed him. She’d healed Akira before.
It seemed like Hibari’s powers wouldn’t work on the Millennium Comet, though. Her vessel was still bleeding.
“Those who overestimated themselves—or underestimated you—are dead,” Hibari said. “A fitting end for them, I suppose. Life is shorter than we think.” She turned away from the place where the Earth Clan Guardian God had burned to death. Her white wooden sandals whispered over the ground.
Koushi was still on the ground with his back bent. Where there had been pain radiating from his wound, there was now only a cold sense of discomfort.
Hibari’s gaze expressed open contempt at the aftermath of violence.
“Are the other Guardian Gods still alive?” Akira asked. “Where are they?” She was still wounded. Hibari hadn’t healed her.
Hibari remained silent.
“Did my petition reach Princess Tayura? The one my friend showed to her shadow?” Akira asked.
Hibari belted out a cruel laugh. “Even if it did, I don’t know if she read it. Even if she did read it, it doesn’t really matter. Princess Tayura alone cannot compel the Millennium Comet to do her bidding.”
“I see,” Akira said quietly.
“Miss Akira,” Touko called out.
Temari rushed over to Akira, pressing her tiny body to Akira’s calves. She fixed Hibari with a beady-eyed stare.
“So it was you. I wondered who was at the door.” A young girl with white hair sat on Touko’s shoulder. She was the one who had spoken.
A shiver went through Touko. “Warashi?” she asked. Warashi was the Guardian God of her village. No one knew when the tiny apparition had appeared.
Akira’s eyes widened in surprise.
Even Hibari seemed surprised, though she recovered her composure first. Her eyes narrowed and her lips pursed. “You’re Princess Tayura’s messenger,” she said. “What do you want?”
Koushi managed to stand without aid. He went to Touko’s side, looking Warashi up and down. He understood why Touko had shivered now. Warashi’s small shape radiated cold—and power.
Hinako clung to Kun for support.
Hibari spoke to Touko, or perhaps to Warashi. “Come with me. Princess Tayura is expecting us.”
The instant Hibari finished speaking, Akira closed the distance between her and the Guardian God of the Wind Clan. She moved faster than Hibari could react. Hibari didn’t even have time to pull a paper doll from her sleeve.
Akira hauled Hibari in by the collar of her ceremonial robes and slammed her forehead against Hibari’s. The sound of the collision made Koushi flinch.
“You selfish brat!” Akira yelled. “Someone needs to teach you a lesson!” She head-butted Hibari again.
Hibari gaped at her in shock.
“Humans are not tools for you to use however you feel like it! If you want to help your fellow Guardian Gods, do it yourself. You can change your own rules, can’t you? If you can’t, why not let humans rule over you instead? A governing system that relies on sacrificing children’s lives isn’t worth saving.”
Hibari frowned at Akira in disgust. She tried to break free of Akira’s grip, but Akira followed her wherever she moved. Blood had transferred from Akira’s hands to Hibari’s white robes.
“Silence, human,” Hibari said. “You have no idea what you’re talking about.” She put on a brave front, but she was clearly shaken.
The Millennium Comet was kneeling on the ground, facing away from both Hibari and Akira.
“If we help the Guardian Gods and the Millennium Comet, will it stop? I don’t want anyone else to die,” Touko said.
“We have no reason to help them,” Akira spat. “Don’t believe anything the Guardian Gods say.”
Touko’s chin trembled. The tiny version of Warashi was still perched on her shoulder. The small figure emitted clear, radiant light like starlight.
“But Miss Akira, we can’t just let things go on like this,” Touko said. She looked out at the courtyard around the shrine. Roroku’s body lay sprawled nearby. Hinako leaned heavily on Kun. Akira was severely wounded. The dogs were all tense and ready to attack—and defend.
Koushi stood up straighter. He wasn’t sure if Kunugi could still move. If he could, then they might be able to leave the shrine and go someplace safer.
The smell of blood hung in the air. The Fallen Beast lay where it had died, a black speck in the white courtyard.
Koushi tried to focus his eyes. His vision had gone blurry, maybe from blood loss. His gaze lingered on the still form of Roroku. Roroku would never fight again. He would never go hunting with Mizore. His hunting dog lay by his side, hanging her head. She scratched at his arm with one paw, but he didn’t respond.
Akira released Hibari with a forceful shove.
Hibari staggered back, glaring daggers at Akira. Her ceremonial robes were wrinkled and stained.
The Millennium Comet took a deep breath of blood-scented air. “Are you going to hunt me?” she asked. Her neck, arms and legs were all bleeding now. The power used to prevent the fire from killing them all had exacted a price.
Akira’s eyes twitched. She bit her lip and tilted her head, considering the question. “Right now? No. I’m not about to kill a kid. While you’re possessing that girl, you’re safe from me.”
The Millennium Comet nodded in understanding. “I wish I could leave her behind on my own, but I can’t. I’m sorry.” Her voice was low and toneless. She’d seen too much death in the past for the scene before her to cause much of a reaction.
Koushi was stunned that they were all still alive.
The Millennium Comet stood up suddenly. Her hair covered her face and eyes for a moment until it shifted out of the way of its own accord. She turned to Akira. “If you hunt me, won’t all of this be over?” she asked. This time, she sounded truly aggrieved. She was bleeding so much that the bandages couldn’t contain it.
“I can only do this now. Hunt me. Cut me down. Use your sickle.” Her voice took on an edge of desperation.
Akira’s eyes widened. The Millennium Comet hadn’t spoken those words. That was Kira talking.
“Sister, please stop,” Hibari said.
One of Hibari’s spies slid behind Touko and grabbed her. Touko screamed. The spy whisked her up the stairs leading into the shrine as fast as blinking. Kanata chased them immediately.
“What do you think you’re doing?!” Akira shouted angrily.
Hibari only frowned. “Fire Hunter, instead of shouting like an idiot, attend to your own dog,” she said. She faced the Millennium Comet, but she didn’t approach.
The Millennium Comet gave Hibari a look of stern disapproval. Her face darkened with hostility as she raised one bleeding hand. “This is what you’re so afraid of, isn’t it?” she asked. “Human blood. I was a fool. I believed that this was a good place, ruled by Guardian Gods who had survived the world’s ending. I was wrong. No one in this entire nation is safe.” Anger and confusion mixed in her expression.
Kira had been used by the Guardian Gods, and her parents had died right before her eyes. She was so injured that it was a miracle that she was still standing. She had borne more suffering than any girl her age ever should.
The Millennium Comet ran past charred bodies and paused to pick up Roroku’s sickle. Mizore growled at her. The bandages in her hair agitated the air. She ran back to Akira in a mad dash, thrusting the handle of the sickle toward her. “Hurry!”
Akira looked at the Millennium Comet like she’d dipped the sickle in deadly poison. She didn’t accept the weapon. Temari bristled, baring her small fangs at the Millennium Comet in warning.
“Please take it. There is a fire here. I know how to use it.” She was speaking as Kira now; her voice had too much emotion in it for the Millennium Comet to be speaking through her. “The person possessing me owns this fire. She wants to be free, but she doesn’t want to destroy everything for that to happen. I don’t know what to do to prevent more disasters. But if we don’t try, the person possessing me will end everything. I can’t stop it alone. Help me. Please.” Her bloodstained hand rested on the collar of her dark dress. “If only everyone would just disappear…” She wept, her brows drawing together, and she lost all awareness of the world around her. Rage and resentment swirled in her eyes.
“Kira?” Hinako asked softly. She was still relying on Kun for support. Her voice was unsteady from her high fever, but she managed to make herself heard.
Kira gasped.
The ground bucked beneath their feet, and people went flying in all directions. Koushi thought he’d been struck by lightning for a split second. But this was an earthquake, not a thunder strike. Roaring filled the air, drowning out all other sounds.
The cliff that held up the shrine was nearing another collapse.
Kanata howled. Touko was held fast by Hibari’s spy and couldn’t get off the staircase leading into the shrine no matter how badly she wanted to.
A withered hand reached out of the ground and grabbed Kira’s ankle. The hand belonged to Rurimatsuri. She was burned, but she wasn’t dead.
Kira dropped the sickle she held as she tried to free her leg. The churning ground swallowed the sickle whole.
And then, chaos. It was impossible to keep track of where anyone was. Kira passed by Koushi’s field of vision once before she vanished beneath the earth just like the sickle had moments before. Rubble from the shrine mixed with the agitated earth, rising like tidal waves that blocked Koushi’s view.
A wave of earth covered Koushi, and he saw nothing but darkness.
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