Reunion des Musées Nationaux, Afghanistan: les Tresors Retrouvés (Paris: Musée Guimet, 2007). (Note: This is the catalog from an earlier exhibit in France. It has some different photos and essays than the American version.)
John M. Rosenfeld, The Dynastic Arts of the Kushans (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1967).
William D. Westervelt, Hawaiian Legends of Volcanoes (1916; Rep. Rutland, Vermont: Charles E. Tuttle, 1963).
Scirye woke to the storm howling as its airy claws tried to tear at the igloo, but then she heard stranger, more ominous noises nearby.
Whuff-whuff Click-clack-click.
Barely managing to raise her eyelids, which felt as heavy as iron, Scirye saw a stranger dressed in a jacket and trousers of shaggy, dirty fur standing in the middle of the igloo. The jacket’s hood had been pulled over the intruder’s face, hiding it in shadow.
Around the intruder’s waist was a belt woven from leather strings, and dangling from the belt on thongs were all sorts of beads, crude stone carvings, and shells. They bounced against the intruder’s leg with a click-clack sound as he stuffed something into a huge brown leather sack.
At first, Scirye thought the intruder was stealing their supplies, but the unopened baskets and crates were exactly where they had stacked them. Her eyes swung back to the bag, and she glimpsed Bayang’s green scaled tail protruding out of the mouth of the sack like a drooping scaly branch.
Grasping the tail in the gloved right hand, the intruder began to cram it into the sack. In horror, Scirye watched the sides of the bag ripple like the muscles of a jaw swallowing a large mouthful, and the sack swelled larger as it accommodated the dragon.
She tried to shout out a warning, but her vocal cords were as paralyzed as her body and no sound came out.
With a grunt, the intruder thrust an arm inside the bag, jamming the last bit of the dragon into the interior. But then the intruder seemed to become stuck. No matter how the intruder tugged and jerked, the bag now gripped the arm and would not let go.
Kles was a familiar weight in her arms, but from the corner of her eyes, Scirye searched for her other friends. There were no signs of them, though—only their sleeping furs scattered carelessly about.
Scirye had no idea how the bag could have contained all of them, and yet the girl was sure that it had somehow. The invader wasn’t after their supplies. It was after them!
Slowly the intruder turned around to face Scirye, giving a little jump when it saw her last victim was awake. Then, dragging the bag along, the thief shuffled toward her in short, gliding steps. The fur trousers went whujf-whujf as the legs rubbed against one another while the belt rattled a click-clack counterpoint.
Scirye fought to move her arms and her legs, but they felt like stone. All she could do was lie there helplessly, watching as the thief loomed over her like a greasy, furry shadow. The thief stunk of sweat and rancid fat and a smell that Scirye knew all too well now: the odor of blood.
Propping the bag against a leg, the thief stretched out a gloved hand—not for Scirye, but for Kles. Fear for her friend gave Scirye extra strength. Finally, she found her voice. “Kles, wake up!” she screamed.
The little griffin did not stir. Only his buzzing snore told her that he was still alive.
Within the hood, the thief’s eyes blazed angrily.
It hates me, the girl thought. “What did I ever do to you?” Scirye demanded.
The eyes narrowed to slits, and the fire behind them blazed hotter and fiercer.
I think it hates me just for being alive, Scirye decided. It hates everyone. It was that hatred that fed the fire behind the eyes. A hatred so deep and mindless that it had consumed everything inside the creature, leaving only those sickly green flames.
The thief’s right hand touched another charm and a monotone muttering came from within the hood.
And suddenly Scirye felt like crying, though no tears came to her paralyzed eyes. Her friends were gone or dead. Scirye had never felt more alone in her whole life. What chance did she have? She was as small and insignificant and helpless as a bug on a glacier.
Then Scirye heard something. She was still half drowsy with sleep so she could not be sure if it was part of the nightmare or if she really heard a woman speak urgently in Kushan.
“Yashe! Yashe!“ Honor! Honor!
Her sister and mother had shouted that as they fought Badik the dragon, and generations of Pippalanta had cried the same thing as they had charged into battle.
Scirye felt as if her mind had been locked inside a dark room and now someone had thrown open a window so that the light could stream inside again.
“The hag’s cast a spell upon you,” the voice continued, this time in English, “so all you feel is despair.”
This was no time to wallow in self-pity or use it as an excuse to do nothing. Scirye was the last defender. It was up to her.
“Yashe, yashe” she yelled as she surged from the ground, anger lending her extra strength and speed. Her hand reached for her knife but it was gone from her belt. From the corner of her eye, she saw it on top of the pile of weapons that the hag had taken from them while they were unconscious.
The girl’s mind raced desperately through the lessons that her sister, Nishke, had taught her about hand-to-hand combat, but they’d only had time to cover some basics of self-defense.
Scirye swung her right fist, but the hag had whirled around, seizing the mouth of the bag in both hands and whipping it up so that the open mouth hung open, ready to receive Scirye’s blow. All the hag needed to do was let the sack get a hold of Scirye’s hand, and the girl would follow her friends inside.
The girl just managed to pull her punch in time and regain her balance before the hag thrust the bag out again, trying to trap the girl. Sidestepping, Scirye jabbed with her left fist, hoping to whack the side of the hag’s head. But the hag pivoted, holding the open bag between them like a shadowy shield. The sack’s insides looked as large as a cavern and Scirye thought she heard faint shouts from within the darkness.
Scirye feinted and the hag plunged forward, again trying to capture her hand, but Scirye darted back. They circled about the igloo, Scirye trying to find an opening for a strike and the hag trying to snare her with the bag. They looked almost as if they were dancing to the whuff-whuff of the hag’s pants and the click-clack of her belt. Outside, the storm still raged and the winds shrieked.
Scirye’s breath rose in cold streamers about her head, fists raised, eyes narrowed as she hunted desperately for an opening.
She had been so intent on watching the hag that she had not kept an eye on the tangled furs on the floor. Suddenly she stumbled over a pile. To her horror, she fell backward.
Screeching in triumph, the hag raised the sack like a leathery cloud about to engulf her.
Reader’s Guide
ABOUT THIS GUIDE
The information, activities, and discussion questions that follow are intended to enhance your reading of City of Fire. Please feel free to adapt these materials to suit your needs and interests.
WRITING AND RESEARCH ACTIVITIES
I. Alternate Cities
A. You are a tourist visiting the fantastical versions of San Francisco or Honolulu depicted in City of Fire. On one side of a 4” X 6” (or larger) index card, write a postcard to your family at home describing your experience. Decorate the reverse side of the card with a drawing of something discussed in your note.
B. Go to the library or online to research San Francisco Bay’s Treasure Island, the source of its name, its construction, its role in the 1939-1940 International Exposition, and/or its use as a seaplane terminal for Pan Am airlines and the U.S. Navy. Organize your research into a detailed outline. With friends or classmates, discuss how your discoveries about the real history of Treasure Island affect your reading of City of Fire and your understanding of the alternate reality the author has created.
C. In the character of one of Roland’s servants, prepare a report on the
building of his scientific-magical island, Houlani, including details on the mansion and its magical protections. Draw a map of the island construction site or use PowerPoint or other presentation software to develop your report. Make your presentation to friends or classmates.
II. Honor and Identity
A. Scirye’s Kushan upbringing gives her a strong sense of honor, or Tumarg, which guides her actions. In the character of Scirye, role-play a telephone conversation with your mother, or write a letter to the Kushan Embassy in San Francisco, in which you explain why Tumarg dictates that you must continue your journey.
B. While the novel is told primarily from the viewpoints of Scirye and Bayang, Kles, with his strong sense of Kushan manners, provides entertaining commentary. Rewrite a chapter or scene from Kles’s point of view, either in the first person (speaking in the “I” form as Kles) or the third person (describing what Kles thinks, says, and does during the scenes). Share your rewritten chapter with friends or classmates.
C. Throughout the novel, Bayang struggles with her true identity and with her changing relationships with her companions. Write a short chapter in which Bayang discusses her troubles with Scirye or Pele and asks for advice.
D. Leech begins the novel unaware of his true identity, yet he feels an indescribable connection to flight. Think of an experience, activity, or object that brings you happiness. Write a 3-5 page fictional story in which you discover that this is a clue to your true identity or something that will happen in your future.
III. Mythology and Magic
A. Go to the library or online to learn more about the Kushan Empire, dragons, salamanders, characters from Hawaiian mythology (Pele, Kampuaa, Menehune, kupua) and Norse mythology (Muspelheim, trolls), or other magical creatures from the novel. Make an informative page for each element you research, including illustrations, research facts, references for further study, and notes about how this character or idea is used in the novel. Bind your pages into a notebook to create a Research Guide to City of Fire, complete with cover illustration.
B. On a sheet of graph paper, chart the journey of Scirye and her friends through the sky, land, and sea. Note whether sky, land, or sea is the setting in each chapter, and which characters seem most powerful, worried, or helpful in that setting. Does this exercise help you understand the story in a different way? If you were a mythical creature, would you prefer to be most powerful on the land, in the sea, or in the sky? Take a class vote to see which setting most students choose.
C. Transpose a magical episode from the story into graphic novel form. Illustrate 4-6 storyboard squares showing the group’s first pursuit of Badik, Pele creating the protective flower charms, an encounter with the Menehune, or another scene. Incorporate dialogue from the novel in speech bubbles. If desired, create a second storyboard sequence depicting what you imagine will happen to the friends as they begin their journey on the wing.
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS
1. What brings Bayang to San Francisco in the opening chapter of City of Fire? How does she feel about her mission? What has brought Scirye and her family to this place? How does Sciyre feel about her morning at the Hearn Museum? How has Leech come to be at the museum?
2. What is the importance of the Jade Lady statue? What is the history of the archer’s ring the statue wears? How does Scirye misbehave as she and Kles are observing the statue? How does Scirye’s admission of her error to Prince Etre show both her spirit and her sense of right and wrong?
3. What role does Lady Sudarshane give to Scirye when the museum attack heats up in chapter 5? How does Leech behave? Why doesn’t Bayang kill her prey at this moment? Why does she join the battle? How does the battle change the destinies of Scirye, Bayang, and Leech?
4. How would you define Tumarg? How is Scirye’s decision to punish the dragon, Badik, Tumarg? Compare this decision to Bayang’s struggle with her relationship to Leech and her hatred of Badik. Find other examples of Tumarg and similarly honorable choices and actions throughout the novel.
5. As the group arrives on Treasure Island, what events make Scirye suspect that all of her companions harbor secrets? What secret identity is held by the peddler woman? How does Pele lift the veil from everyone’s secrets? How does this change the relationship between Scirye, Bayang, Leech, and Koko?
6. Compare and contrast the carpet on which the friends begin their journey with the “wing” that they board at the close of the novel. How do images of flight enrich the story and its themes? What other magical and nonmagical vehicles play important roles in the novel?
7. Pele calls Koko “bad-bad” and, later, “maybe-maybe.” What is she saying about his character by using these terms? Have you ever encountered a “maybe-maybe” individual in your own life? Did you give this person a chance to prove himself or herself to be a friend? Does thinking of an individual’s potential to be a friend as “maybe-maybe” seem like a good idea? Why or why not?
8. At the close of chapter 2, Kles refers to the Kushan goddess as “mighty Nanaia, loving Nanaia, deadly Nanaia.” What other characters’ names from the novel do you think could be substituted for “Nanaia” and for what reasons?
9. How did Roland create the island of Houlani and what does this reveal about his character? What does Roland steal from Pele? Why does Roland want the Kushan ring? What do you think is the greatest conflict within the novel?
10. What happens when Bayang and Badik finally meet? How does their confrontation mirror the larger battle between Roland and the others? How is the destructive battle in Roland’s mansion reflected in the elements?
11. Are Scirye’s, Bayang’s, and Leech’s reasons for continuing their pursuit of Roland and Badik at the end of the novel the same as their reasons for beginning the journey? What has changed for and between these individuals? If you could give Scirye, Bayang, or another character one piece of advice as the novel ends, what would you tell them and why?
12. In chapter 28, Pele tells Scirye, “I know who I am…. That’s my power…. If you don’t know who you are, you’re really nothing.” What does she mean? Cite examples to show how this is a central idea of the novel.
13. In the alternate San Francisco and Hawaii of the novel, realistic Treasure Island is countered by the imaginary Houlani, and characters from Hawaiian and Norse mythology are joined by creatures with names from the author’s imagination. What other contrasts between real and alternate stand out as you read the story? How does this mixture of real and imagined impact your understanding of the novel and its themes?
14. Is City of Fire best described as a story about honor, friendship, or understanding one’s own identity? Explain your answer.
15. At the end of City of Fire, with Scirye’s encouragement, Bayang and Leech agree to friendship despite generations of history as enemies. How long should a person, group, or nation seek retribution for past wrongs? Are there places in our own lives, and world, where Bayang and Leech’s model of friendship might be worth considering?
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