by Claire Luana
“Do you know who is in that cell?” Kai asked carefully.
“I think so,” he said. The white light of the moon orb glinted in his eyes.
“She is a traitor to all burners. She imprisoned and tortured your brothers as well. She cannot escape.”
“I understand,” he said. “Her cell is secure.”
Kai shook her head. “She must never leave that cell.”
“Well, it’s locked up tight,” he replied gruffly.
Kai paced past him to the door, and pulled on the iron handle. It was as he said—locked.
Daarco followed her sullenly back into the courtyard. No sooner had they exited the building than Kai was bowled into by a flash of silver.
“Quitsu!” she cried, wrapping her arms around his warm furry body and hugging him to her chest. Some of the tension coiled through her body loosened. He was safe.
She looked up from the embrace and saw Hiro striding across the courtyard with Ryu at his side. His golden hair, normally pulled back, was loose and damp about his shoulders. His haggard face was smeared with dirt. Kai’s heart stirred at the sight of him.
She placed Quitsu down and ran to him, hurdling her body against his and throwing her arms around him. She didn’t care who saw.
He took her face in his hands and looked into her eyes, seeming to drink in the sight of her. “I feared for you,” he said.
“I’m all right,” she said, drawing back and bending down to hug Ryu’s thick mane. “Everyone’s all right.”
“Kai!” Emi said, jogging across the courtyard, drawing to a stop before Kai. “I mean…Your Majesty.”
“What is it?”
“Master Vita and Sunburner Jurou. They found something in the library. They beg your presence.”
“Lead the way,” Kai said, shaking off her weariness. She desperately wanted to fall into her bed and drift into an exhausted sleep. But there was no time to rest. She had a feeling there wouldn’t be time to rest for a long time to come.
The library looked like a war zone. Thousands of books lay in heaps on the floor—a jumble of pages and covers that would take weeks to organize. Two of the tall shelves had tipped over into the far wall of the library. That had been a stroke of luck. If they had fallen the other way, they would have sent a wave of destruction through the whole library.
“This way,” Emi said, practically running in her haste.
Kai followed her friend to the far corner of the library, where Master Vita and Jurou were talking excitedly in front of a yawning stone fireplace. Bricks had crumbled from the mantle, revealing a small recess in the stone. It was empty.
“Emi said you discovered something,” Kai said, coming to a stop. “What have you found?”
Jurou stepped forward, holding his hands out reverentially. “This,” he said.
It was a scroll. The rolled surface was thick, made of finely-tanned animal hide. Its two wooden ends were ornately carved in the shapes of the moon and sun.
“What is it?” Kai asked.
“Something extraordinary,” Master Vita said.
They hurried to a nearby table, and Jurou wiped the dust and mortar from the surface with a quick swipe of his shirtsleeve.
With a bit more drama than was strictly necessary, Master Vita and Jurou unrolled the scroll before them. Kai smothered a grin, despite the destruction around her. The two men were like bookends, bearing matching expressions of excitement and anticipation. They were clearly getting along well.
When the scroll lay flat, it reached end to end on the massive table in front of them. Hiro had accompanied her in from the courtyard, and everyone crowded around the table to get a closer look.
“It’s magnificent,” Emi said.
Jurou was grinning like a proud father.
Emi was right. The scroll was covered in a series of images, intricately rendered in bright colors with gold and silver leaf. The scroll seemed untouched by time, as if the pictures had been painted yesterday. Beneath each picture was tiny text, painstakingly lettered in ink.
“It’s written in both Miinan and Kitan,” Jurou said. “The script is hard to read but recognizable.”
“What does it say?” Kai asked.
“It’s an illustrated story. It starts with Tsuki and Taiyo on their celestial thrones in the spirit realm. They created the first burners to be their special link to the our world and its inhabitants. To be their emissaries and rulers in the mortal world.”
“But Tsuki and Taiyo were not without enemies. In the demon realm were hungry demons called tengu. They reveled in destruction and havoc and fed on human suffering. The tengu’s plans were often thwarted by the gods and the burners, who kept peace and balance in the world. Two tengu rose above the rest—a hiei demon, a creature of ice, and a yukina, a fire demon. These two concocted a plan to capture Taiyo and Tsuki and weaken the burners in order to secure free reign over the lands.”
Kai looked over Jurou’s shoulder at the picture that accompanied the text. Her blood ran cold. It was the tall supernatural woman she had seen in the temple and the Oracle’s tower. There was no mistaking the flowing robes, the eerie blur where a face should be.
“I’ve seen that creature,” Kai whispered. “That’s her.”
Jurou raised a quizzical eyebrow, but she motioned him to continue. She could explain later.
“The tengu tricked Tsuki and Taiyo and trapped them at the far ends of the world, where their burners would never find them. Then they masqueraded as the gods and took their places. They knew that the only things standing between them and total dominion over the mortal world were the burners. At that time, the burners were still united and were ruled from was a great city… It appears to be where the Tottori Desert is now,” Jurou said, pointing to the crude depiction of the Akashi Mountains and Churitsu Plain.
“Fascinating,” Master Vita said, crowding in for a closer look.
“The tengu were not without allies. They had humans who served them, men and women who masqueraded as holy people, but who worshipped the tengu in secret. The burner king and queen died mysteriously without any heirs, and these followers sowed seeds of discord between the moon and sunburners until they turned against each other.”
Jurou’s mesmerizing voice came to a stop, his words hanging in the air.
“This has the ring of truth,” Master Vita said. “The true origin of the Burning War.”
Kai’s heart pounded as her eyes roved over the intricate images. This scroll was likely the most important discovery of her lifetime. It explained so much…yet left so many details unsaid. Even as she processed the information revealed, questions surfaced in her mind like bubbles in a sparkling sake glass.
“So by allying ourselves with Kita and ending the war, we have angered these…tengu?” Kai asked.
“They’ve been masquerading as Tsuki and Taiyo this whole time,” Master Vita said.
“Without war and suffering…they go hungry,” Hiro said. “So they are starving us out in return.”
“And leading us back towards a war,” Kai said. Despite the sobering news, a sort of relief flooded her. She knew the alliance had been the right thing. It felt good to be vindicated.
“The scroll doesn’t tell us how to kill them,” Hiro said.
“Or if they can be killed,” Emi said.
“As least we know what they are now,” Kai said. “That’s more than we knew before. Master Vita and Jurou can use this to look for more clues about the tengu and their weaknesses.”
“Certainly. The texts of Aldera and the twelve dynastic epochs might have more information…Or Master Vita, do you have a copy of the Celestial Codex in the library? Or the histories of Saguzo—”
“You could discuss the specifics later—“ Hiro began, but Jurou cut him off excitedly.
“Wait! Perhaps we don’t have to fight them!” Jurou said.
Kai frowned. “What do you suggest?”
“They had to trap the real Tsuki and Taiyo before they could wreak
the havoc they wanted. Presumably because the real gods would have stopped them.”
“I think I see where Jurou is going with this,” Master Vita chimed in excitedly. “If we free the real Tsuki and Taiyo…”
Emi completed his sentence. “Then you release two furious gods who have been trapped for centuries. If I were them, first thing I’d want is a little demon revenge.”
“It’s a genius idea, Jurou,” Kai said. “But we have no idea where they were trapped, or how. The scroll only says ‘the ends of the world.’ It could take us another few centuries to find them.”
“Yes, that is a conundrum,” Jurou said.
“It’s still worth exploring,” Kai said. “We have to consider all avenues. But I have no idea where to look for a trapped god. Jurou? Master Vita? Any ideas?”
Jurou shook his head, his brow furrowed behind his thick glasses. “I’m sure we can discover the location now that we know what we’re looking for. It’ll just take time.” He hadn’t taken his fingers off the scroll; he stroked the hide absentmindedly with his long fingernails.
“I’m not sure we have time,” Kai said.
“Perhaps we should ask our very own tengu acolyte,” Master Vita said.
“What? Who?” Jurou asked.
“Geisa,” Kai breathed. “After all these centuries, the tengu still have humans who help them.”
“Forgive me,” Jurou said. “But wasn’t General Geisa killed before the Battle at the Gate?”
“She was wounded but not killed,” Kai said, shaking her head. “I’m not ready to clue her in to our new knowledge yet. But she might have information about the tengu’s weaknesses. Perhaps we can get that out of her.”
“That still won’t help uncover where Tsuki and Taiyo are trapped,” Emi asked. “Where do we even start looking?”
A new voice sounded from deeper in the library. “Simple. Ask someone who was there.”
Everyone in the group jumped. Hiro had his sword halfway out of his scabbard before Kai recognized the mop of curly hair on the interloper’s head.
“Stand down,” Kai said. “It’s…” She struggled to articulate who Colum was. She wasn’t sure herself. “Well, I know him.”
“At your service,” Colum said, striding to the table and slapping Master Vita on the shoulder hard enough to knock the spectacles halfway down the librarian’s nose. “Master Vita, good to see you again, you old dog.”
Master Vita looked like he had seen a ghost. “Colum?” he said, adjusting his glasses. “It is you! I would recognize those curls anywhere! My, you’re well preserved.”
“Good stock,” Colum said, clapping himself on his broad chest before sprawling down in a chair, tossing his leg over one arm. “You’ve gotta keep moving. It keeps the years from settlin.’”
Fingering his own snow-white hair, Master Vita continued to shake his head as if he couldn’t believe his eyes.
Hiro wore a scowl of such displeasure that Kai had to stifle a chuckle. Men and their egos. Perhaps the only constant in the universe.
“Everyone, this is Colum. Colum, everyone,” Kai said.
“He-llo, everyone,” Colum said, turning about in the chair when he caught sight of Emi.
He started to rise, drawn to her like a magnet, but Kai shoved him back into the chair.
“Colum is newly returned to Kyuden. We met…before the earthquake. Now, what do you mean about asking someone who was there? This was hundreds of years ago. Everyone is dead.”
“No. Not everyone,” Colum said, flashing Emi a wolfish smile.
Kai crossed her arms before her, waiting for Colum to explain. The man was clearly enjoying the theatricality of the moment.
“For gods’ sake, man,” Jurou said. “Tell us what you mean.”
“You have to find a god,” he said.
“Are there more walking around?” Kai asked, raising an eyebrow.
“Well, perhaps ‘god’ is the wrong word. Spirit.”
“Go to the spirit world?” Kai recalled her time in the spirit world with unease. She knew she had hardly scratched the surface the night she had encountered her mother in that strange place.
“No, you don’t even have to leave the comfort and safety of your own mortal realm. There’s a spirit who resides here all the time. An ancient spirit who has the knowledge and wisdom of millennia. No one? No one?”
Kai scowled.
“The seishen elder,” Ryu growled from behind them, where he had been laying in front of the empty fireplace.
Quitsu nodded from his perch on the table beside Kai.
“A winner! Big scary lion seishen wins a prize,” Colum said.
“His name is Ryu,” Hiro growled, his voice almost as low as Ryu’s.
Kai pondered the idea. It had merit. Here was a plan, a real plan. Quitsu had said that the seishen elder cared for the seishen until it was time for them to journey to find their burners. It was real. It lived in the Misty Forest.
“Ryu, Quitsu, could you help us find it?” Kai asked.
“Do you one better,” Colum said. “I’ll take you there myself.”
“It’s risky,” Jurou said, removing his glasses. “We have no way of knowing what kind of creature the seishen elder is. I’m sure there’s another way we could discover where the gods are hidden.”
Kai looked to Ryu and Quitsu, who had silently observed the reading of the scroll. “What do you think?” she asked. “Would it know something that could help us?”
“Perhaps,” Ryu growled. “The elder is ancient. It is connected to both the earth and the spirit realm. If anyone knows where the gods are trapped, it would be the elder.”
“Agreed,” Quitsu said. “But you might not like the answers you get. It is notoriously opaque.”
Ryu chuckled. “This is true.”
“It’s the best lead we have,” Kai said. “I’m going.”
At her statement, the crowd gathered around the table exploded with objections.
“It’s too dangerous,” Master Vita said.
“You’re needed here,” Emi protested.
“It should be someone else,” said Hiro.
Quitsu stood and shushed them, silencing their protests. “Kai must go. She would risk offending the elder if she sent someone else in her place.”
Kai could have kissed Quitsu. This journey was exactly what she needed. To take action to help her country, rather than sitting around and fretting.
“Well, I’m going,” Colum said, still leaning nonchalantly. “I know the way.”
“I’m going too,” Hiro said. “After all, we’re engaged now. I should be there to protect you.”
Murmurs of congratulations rolled in from around the table and Kai put on a smile, trying to quash her annoyance. Did he have to turn the announcement of their engagement into a condescending statement about the weakness of women?
Calm down, Kai, she said to herself, taking a deep breath. He didn’t mean it like that. And truth be told, she wanted Hiro with her. She would welcome the chance to spend a few days with him. She’d talk to him about his comment later.
“Fine, Hiro comes,” Kai said.
“I’m coming too,” Emi said. “You need someone to watch your back while you and Hiro are gazing lovingly into each other’s eyes.”
Kai rolled her eyes. “We don’t do that.”
“If you have any chance of Nanase letting you out the citadel gates,” Master Vita said, “Emi should accompany you. And a group of three is not enough. You don’t know what you’ll face out there.”
“In case any of you have forgotten, I’m the queen,” Kai said, grinding her teeth. “No one has to ‘let’ me do anything.”
“I should come as well,” Jurou said. “It would be good to have another sunburner for defensive purposes.”
Kai eyed his bony form, not wanting to insult him with her doubt.
Hiro saved her. “You’re needed here, Jurou. No one can comb this library better than you and Master Vita together. If the se
ishen elder can’t help us, we need you to find us a miracle here.”
“I’m sure Master Vita is perfectly capable of doing the research himself—” Jurou said, but Master Vita cut him off.
“It would be helpful to have two sets of eyes. It is a large library. Besides, best we leave the adventuring to the young, eh?”
Jurou opened his mouth to protest, but Hiro continued. “Besides, there is another sunburner available to go with us. Daarco.”
“No,” Kai said. “Not Daarco.” She didn’t have to pretend that she liked the man. Or trusted him.
Hiro took Kai by the elbow and drew her aside between two rows of books. He turned and took her hands, squeezing them in his own. As much as she wanted to keep her back up for a fight, some of the tension left her involuntarily at his touch.
“I’ll keep him in line. I swear it to you. And it might be better to have him where we can keep an eye on him. I think a journey like this could be good for him. Redirect his energy.”
Kai thought about the man having free reign of the citadel while she was gone. Hiro was right; it wasn’t a good idea. But she didn’t want him with them either, brooding and looking down his crooked nose at her. Curse Ozora for sending him here!
She finally nodded. “Fine, he comes. But if anything goes wrong—anything—he’s gone. No more mission, no more citadel.”
“Agreed,” Hiro said.
“The five of us will go, and Ryu and Quitsu,” Kai said, rejoining the group. “Anyone else? The cook? Your best friend’s dog?”
The group around the table was silent, though Master Vita coughed to disguise a chuckle.
Jurou crossed his arms, not happy with the decision. Well, that was the least of her worries.
“Then it’s settled. We leave tomorrow.”
Preparations for their journey to the Misty Forest were made quickly. Though Nanase and Hanae argued about the wisdom of the trip, and how many extra guards Kai should take, Kai got her way. Hiro made himself scarce, gathering his own few belongings for the journey.
They would make the several-hour flight to the edge of the Misty Forest on koumori and golden eagles. Though the animals were nervous around each other, they didn’t have enough eagles to fly all of them, and Ryu was too big for a koumori. Hiro’s eagle was used to the special harness the Kitan beastmaster had rigged up for Ryu.