by Cindy Lin
“The key is, when we leave them alone for a long stretch of time, they get sloppy and careless. Because they think we’ve stopped,” he explained to Tora and Usagi. “But we’re constantly sending scouts to track their activity. That’s how Panri wound up finding you.”
“More like we found him,” said Tora with a laugh. “Right, Boar Boy?”
Panri snorted. “Whatever you say, Tiger Girl.”
“We’ll do anything we can to help,” Usagi told Tora’s brother. They still hadn’t figured out how to get the hammer from him, and Tora had changed the subject every time Usagi tried to discuss a strategy. Maybe if they helped make the raid a success, Imugi would be more open to letting the Treasure go.
They set out in the evening, the rising moon like a pale steamed bun, the white half circle just begining to puff. Leaving the gorge, they went through the long secret tunnel into the abandoned quarry and hiked through the surrounding hills until they came to a ridge overlooking the Ring Road. Imugi took out the hammer and closed his eyes, mouthing a silent prayer. Then he struck the ground, his expression purposeful, each blow producing something new.
Whack! A handsome bow and arrows appeared.
Whack! A box of explosives popped up.
Whack! A long firecannon materialized.
After hammering out weapons and supplies for the raid, he distributed them to the Miners, assigning each a task. “Lately the caravans have been starting out at odd hours, including the middle of the night,” said Imugi. “It makes it all the more important to have scouts to alert us when the shipments come through.” His eyes crinkled as he looked at the Warrior Heirs and the Heirlings. “My sister’s tiger vision will be a great help here.” He gave Tora several folded sky lanterns. They were made of four sheets of rice paper glued onto a bamboo frame, with a waxy piece of oil-soaked felt suspended in the frame’s center. “When you see them coming, send up one of these as a signal, and we’ll launch the raid. If you see danger and we need to retreat, send up two.”
The Miners pulled cloth masks up over their noses to hide the telltale brands on their cheeks. With a wave, Imugi and his team quietly disappeared into the evening. “Be careful!” Tora called after them. She hugged the stack of folded sky lanterns and gave Usagi a brave smile, but her amber eyes were troubled.
“I had another dream last night,” she confessed. “I can’t make out what it means. I saw a massive fire, and then a great battle—but none of us were in the fight.”
“That’s not a bad thing.” Usagi drew out the ring dangling at her neck. “There really was a giant butterfly guarding this, but it wasn’t a monster. And you were right about the Conjurer—it was in the Marble Gorge, just as you’d said it would be. You even saw it in the hand of a miner.” She grinned. “You just didn’t know it would be your brother. Don’t worry about the battle—your vision could be showing another happy surprise.”
With a nod, Tora rubbed the scars on her arm. “Maybe.”
They found a concealed spot on the ridge that gave them a good vantage point over the Ring Road, which stretched as far as they could see in either direction. In the distance, the deep pits and towering waste piles of the Eastern Mines were like festering wounds and pustules across the plain, edged by the ugly knobbled swath of the Shadowlands. The Blue Dragon had done so much damage to the kingdom and was still amassing power. He had Usagi’s sister in his thrall and had turned a Warrior Heir to his side. Would resisting him change anything?
Usagi took a deep breath. Giving in would be worse. They had to at least try. The words of the Tigress came back to her. “The conquest of a mountain begins with the smallest of steps.”
As the moon rose higher in the sky, the night air grew cool, portending the waning of summer. Not a soul could be seen on the Ring Road, and all was still. Usagi heard little beyond the usual night noises: animals rustling, insects crawling, moths fluttering, bats and owls diving and snapping after prey. The quiet dark weighed down her eyelids, and she found herself getting sleepy. Before she knew it, a rough hand shook her. “Usagi, wake up,” Inu said urgently. “The caravan is coming. We have to warn the Imugi and the Miners.”
Usagi snapped awake, embarrassed. In the distance came the sounds of clopping hooves, draft animals snorting, rattling wheels and marching feet, accompanied by the squeak and clank of Guard armor. “I hear them,” she rasped, her voice thick with sleep. She felt a bit foggy-brained.
Tora and Goru unfolded one of the paper sky lanterns. Usagi fumbled for a firestarter. She held it near the oiled felt square at the mouth of the lantern and struck the metal against the flint until sparks appeared. But one flew up too high and hit the rice paper, and the lantern quickly caught fire before they could send it up.
“Spitting spirits,” cursed Inu. He stomped out the flames. “Hurry, get another lantern ready.”
With shaking hands, Usagi reached for another one. Inu picked up a still smoldering piece of the burned bamboo frame. “Give it here,” he barked. He had Tora and Goru hold the top corners of the paper cube, and touched the glowing tip of the burning bamboo to the oiled felt. It flared with a bright light, becoming a hungry flame, and Inu snuffed out the burning bamboo. Hot air soon swelled up the paper lantern until it was bobbing and straining to float away. “Okay—let it go.”
The glowing cube lifted into the night air, sending a light that could be seen all throughout the hills and, Usagi suspected, from the Ring Road. She could hear the Miners mobilizing and getting ready for the approach of the caravan. “I think the lantern has done its job—we should shoot it down,” she told Inu.
The Dog Heir frowned. “Are you sure?”
“The caravan will see this too and know that we’re here,” said Usagi.
Inu reached for his bow and arrows, but Tora stopped him. “My brother didn’t say to do that. He said to send up the lanterns when we saw the shipment coming, and that’s it. I think we should leave it be.”
Goru looked up at the lantern, floating ever higher in the sky. “I don’t know, Tora—Usagi’s probably right. If the others are seeing it, then maybe the Guard can too.”
“With their ordinary vision?” Tora scoffed. “No, we should just follow orders.”
Furrowing his brow, Inu crossed his arms. “Orders? We don’t answer to Imugi. He’s not our master.”
Tora’s eyes narrowed. “Maybe not, but he’s the leader of this whole raid, and we’re supposed to be helping.”
“That’s what I’m trying to do!” said Usagi. “It’s just a matter of time before that lantern gets spotted by the wrong people. I can hear the others getting into position, so let’s just cut that down now!”
As Tora hesitated, Inu reached for his bow again. But then Usagi heard a shout in the distance.
“It’s too late,” she said, dismayed. “They’ve seen it.” She tensed at the sound of thundering hooves. “A mounted calvary is coming. We need to call off the raid.”
Tora stood and peered into the distance. “Blasted blisters. We have to send two lanterns up now to warn them off.”
Usagi pulled out a lantern, then rummaged frantically through the pack. Her heart sank. They’d had three, but one had burned away because of her carelessness with the firestarter. “There’s just one left.”
They stared at each other, stricken. Then Inu took the lantern from Usagi. “The other one is still up. We’ll launch this too—hopefully they’ll get the message when they see a second lantern along with the first.”
“Okay, but hurry,” Tora said, watching the Ring Road. “There’s a unit of mounted Guard nearing. They’ll be here soon.”
Usagi grabbed her firestarter, but Inu stopped her. “You’ll torch the lantern again. Light the frame of the ruined one, and we’ll use that,” he ordered.
Biting back a retort, she showered the fragment of bamboo with sparks until finally it began to smolder. Inu snatched it up and lit the last lantern while Tora and Goru held it in place. As they released it, Usagi breathed a pra
yer to the gods that the Miners would see the lantern and understand. Her heart beat in tandem with the pounding of horse hooves. Retreat, retreat, retreat, she thought.
Confused shouts rang through the hills. “Two lanterns! Stand down!”
“No, there was one—and now there’s a separate one—that means there’s two caravans approaching!”
“Get the explosives ready!”
Burying her head in her hands, Usagi groaned. “The second lantern isn’t working. They’re not retreating.”
“But they must,” said Tora, alarmed. She turned. “I’ve got to warn my brother.”
“No, Tora, wait! Come back!”
Goru started after her. He looked over his shoulder at Usagi and Inu. “Are you two coming or not? We can’t let her do this alone.”
They grabbed their belongings and followed. Tora moved swiftly in the dark, while Usagi, Inu, and Goru scrambled after her. Unfamiliar with the terrain, they repeatedly stubbed toes and nearly twisted ankles on wayward rocks as they tried to keep up. The sky lanterns had drifted high into the atmosphere, glimmering like stars as winds carried them off into the west. Usagi listened hard for the Miners, alerting Tora whenever she caught something.
“It sounds like they’re proceeding with their plan,” Usagi told her.
Tora groaned. “We need to get to the Ring Road. I’m sorry, I have to use spirit speed. I’ll see you down there.” She took off, leaving them to make their way on their own, without the benefit of her tiger vision. But the hour of the Rabbit was fast approaching, the eastern sky becoming pale, and gradually their path came into view. They were almost there.
A battery of explosions tore through the dawn, echoing across the hills. Usagi clapped her hands against her ears in a futile attempt to shield them from the percussive blasts. They were followed by shouts and the terrible screams of both horses and people.
“Quickly!” Inu urged, and they shifted into spirit speed. They arrived upon a scene of utter chaos. The Miners had set off explosions across the Ring Road at the sound of approaching horses but emerged to find that the caravan was not there. Instead it was a mounted cavalry of Guard, some of whom had been injured in the explosions, with spooked horses throwing their riders and racing off. The rest were engaged in beating the Miners with whips and the butts of their firecannon as they rode around them in circles, trying to round them up. Usagi looked frantically for Tora.
Dry brush along the Ring Road had caught fire from the explosions, crackling and popping as the flames consumed it. Against a wall of fiery light, Usagi spotted Tora’s silhouette, defending her brother from a Guard whose horse had run off. Imugi was crumpled on the ground, unconscious. The gilt handle of the Conjurer gleamed beneath his arm, as if he’d fallen on it.
“Tora!” Usagi ran to help her, Goru and Inu hard on her heels. As a Guard galloped up to them, Goru raised an arm and knocked him off his horse. Inu had his bow in hand and fired arrows as quickly as he could draw them. As he struck approaching Guards, they would clutch their shoulders or knees, screaming, and tumble off their horses to the ground.
Tora glanced up, and her wild gaze met Usagi’s for a brief moment before the Guard cracked his whip at her. She ducked. “Grab the hammer! We need more fighters!” Her fangs were out, and so were her claws. As the Guard tried to whip her again, she snatched the end of the whip and yanked it toward her. The Guard stumbled forward and Tora clawed hard across the Guard’s face. “Hurry!” she screamed.
Usagi ran up to Imugi’s side. He was bleeding from a cut to his head and was out cold. She reached for the handle of the Conjurer and pulled it out from under him. She remembered the vision Tora had told her about. With all her might, she beat the mallet against the earth, as fast as she could, wishing for deliverance from their attackers.
With each whack of the mallet, a mounted soldier on a horse appeared and trotted forward. They were in full armor, wearing metal breastplates and helmets, with leather armguards and shinguards, and their weapons were an even match for the Guard cavalry wheeling about on their horses. They immediately attacked the Guard. Shouts of confusion rang out as the Guard began fighting the intruders. Usagi pounded the mallet relentlessly, the driving rhythm creating a calvary that was even bigger than the one that had been sent out from the caravan.
As the conjured soldiers overtook the Guard, Goru lifted Tora’s injured brother easily and disappeared into the hills with Tora at his side. Inu ran to the other Miners, who were frozen at the spectacle of Guard fighting a newly appeared army. “Come on!” he shouted, and grabbed Panri’s arm, snapping him out of his daze. “Usagi! I think that’s enough—let’s go!”
Usagi paused, and the last mounted soldier sprang from the earth and galloped into the fray. Over the neighing of charging horses and the clash of swords, she heard a new sound. “The caravan is here!”
They turned and looked down the road. As the sun fully stretched its rays over the horizon, it illuminated a long line of wagons approaching. The first wagon driver’s mouth was agape at the sight of the fire and the brawl. The Guard were close to being completely overcome by the soldiers of the Conjurer, and frantically called for help. The caravan Guard, some on foot, others on horses, rushed to help their comrades, ignoring Usagi, Inu, and the Miners entirely.
“Perfect,” said Panri. “The Guard are so busy fighting, they’re not going to bother with us. Let’s go!”
“We’ll take what’s ours!” shouted a young woman. The other Miners roared. They took off for the wagons, which had lost their Guard protection.
For good measure, Usagi created another squadron, hammering the mallet until her hand was sore and her arm ached. “There!” she said, and looked in satisfaction as the last conjured soldier ran off. She stood up, mallet in her grip. She’d pounded until a shallow hole had formed in the Ring Road, and the Guard were now locked in a fierce battle, outnumbered by the army of the Conjurer.
“By the gods,” said Inu, his eyes wide. He swept aside his shaggy hair with a chuckle. “Shall we give the Miners a hand?”
Usagi tucked the Treasure in her belt and grinned. “Why not?”
They raced toward the caravan. A couple of wagon drivers had been tied up and were sitting on the ground, looking on helplessly as the Miners heaved baskets of smelted metal and uncut gemstones off their wagons. A few Miners stood guard against any other drivers coming to the aid of their caravan mates.
Panri spotted them and waved them over. “Here!” He loaded their arms with heavy sacks. “Go, go, go!”
Chapter 17
Feast of the Hammer
DARKNESS FELL ON THE MARBLE Gorge, but inside the Painted Hollow, elaborately painted lanterns cast a warm glow, illuminating an enormous banquet. Dressed in sumptuous bright silks produced by the Conjurer, Usagi and the others joined the Miners for a night of festivities in the cavern, seating themselves on plump cushions strewn across a thick carpet. On low carved tables set before each person, plates of the finest porcelain and feedsticks of pure silver glistened, all of it created by the hammer.
“Spirits,” said Goru, tugging uncomfortably at his cut-silk tunic, which featured a fierce, snorting ox stampeding across his back. He pushed up an intricately embroidered sleeve and took a cup of punch proffered by a conjured servant. “Err . . . thank you?” The servant bowed blankly and turned away, passing a quartet of conjured musicians playing lively tunes. Goru rubbed the back of his shaved head. “This all seems like a bit much, doesn’t it?”
Usagi smoothed the luminous fabric of her robes, which were cinched with a wide brocade belt of gold thread. “Oh, I don’t know. I could get used to this.”
“I didn’t know you had such expensive taste,” Inu teased. His shaggy hair had been slicked down and his clothes were made of shimmering watered silk in a refined shade of celadon green.
Grinning, Usagi looked around the lavish banquet. “I didn’t either!” She spotted Tora by her brother’s side. Though Imugi had been badly hurt in the rai
d, his injuries were easily treated thanks to the Apothecary. But Tora still fussed over him, checking his forehead and touching his arm every so often. Usagi’s grin faded. The Conjurer was back in the bag at his waist. It was the first thing he’d asked for after he came to. Imugi had been so delighted by the raid’s success and his rapid recovery that he wanted to create a celebration. When Tora had pointed out everything was going to disappear, her brother had laughed. “Yes, but we’ll have enjoyed it all long before it does.”
The chatter in the cave quieted as Imugi got to his feet. “To our honored guests, the Warrior Heirs!” he cried. “I wouldn’t be standing here right now without you. We are grateful for your assistance, your bravery and ingenunity.” He chuckled. “Creating a shadow Guard to fight the real ones was truly clever. We’d never thought to ask for people from the hammer before.” Glancing at the expressionless musicians playing and vacant-eyed servants milling about, his snaggleteeth gleamed. He raised his cup. “The Miners will always be in your debt—and you are always welcome among us. Bottoms up!”
Bowing at the appreciative cheers, Usagi raised her cup along with Inu and Goru, and took a sip of chilled melon punch. It was sweet, almost too much so, leaving a cloying film in her mouth. She stared at Imugi’s drawstring bag. How were they going to get the Treasure back?
They began to feast, eating food fit for royalty. Sweet whole crabs, briny oysters and quivering scallops glistening in their shells, all manner of juicy roasted birds, crisp suckling pig, giant lobsters cooked with aromatics, fresh prawns bursting with roe, tender braised meats in delicately crunchy potato cups, vegetables tied up in cunning purses filled with soup or carved to look like flowers, steamed puddings, translucent dumpling wrappers stuffed with various delicacies, soft rice cakes fried in savory spiced sauces, tangles of slippery long noodles, and warm bowls of rice simmered in rich broths and studded with nuts and dates. By the time they got to the sweets, Usagi wasn’t sure if she could take another bite, but Panri urged her on.