Emperor of the Fireflies Read online

  “We were all so worried about you.” Mami wiped away tears on her sleeve.

  “And me?” Honou said hopefully.

  “Oh, no one worries about you, Honou, you’re indestructible.” But Mai stood on tiptoes to hug him too. “Well done, Shun,” she added, gazing up at him. “What’s happening out there?”

  Other Black Crane servants crowded round, asking, “Has the storm passed? Is it safe to leave the tunnels yet?”

  “Where’s Lord Yoriaki?” Shun scanned the shadowy recesses of the tunnel.

  “He’s up on the main tower with his shinobi, keeping watch,” Mai said. “He ordered everyone else to stay below ground till it’s safe to come out.”

  At that moment another faint but distinct tremor shuddered through the dirt floor. Several people cried out in alarm and mothers scooped up their little children.

  “Earthquake!”

  “Surely it’s safer to take everyone into the open?” Hiroki said to Shun. “If there’s a stronger tremor, the tunnel roof might come down and crush us all.”

  “Is there anyone who remembers if this has happened before?” Shun went from group to group. “Has anyone ever seen steam coming from Mount Sakuranbo?”

  “Steam?” Mai echoed shrilly.

  “Father Taiki’s the oldest one among us,” said Hiroki, peering around in the gloom. “Where is he?”

  “He probably stayed in the shrine.” Sakami nodded to Honou. “We’ll go and find him. Shun – you should report back to Lord Yoriaki.”

  “I’ll go,” said Hiroki.

  “The chickens have stopped laying.” Kenta, the kitchen boy, who usually contented himself with grunting when addressed, suddenly spoke up. “And the ducks. My mother says they can always tell when something bad’s going to happen.”

  “Something bad?” Mai turned on him. “Did they stop laying when the wave flooded the bay?”

  “Well, no.” Kenta had blushed deep red beneath his straggling fringe. “But that was sea, not land.”

  “Don’t criticize the boy, Mai; his mother’s right.” Teiko-san strode over. “You’re too young to remember – but when Sakuranbo village burnt to the ground, we felt tremors then. Everyone was afraid that the volcano had woken up. The hens stopped laying that time too.”

  “The night our village burnt down?” Sakami looked up at Shun. All she could remember clearly from that terrifying night was him dragging her to shelter in the caves. That. . .and the sparks glittering like fireflies against the night sky.

  “Teiko-san’s right,” he said. “That was the last time I remember the mountain shaking. I thought the cave roof where we were hiding would cave in and crush us.”

  Sakami reached out and took his hand in hers, squeezing it in gratitude. “But it didn’t. And thanks to your bravery, we’re both still here.”

  “Volcano.” Shun didn’t look in the least reassured. “Father told me that once a volcano was dead, it would never wake again. And no one in our village could even remember a time when it erupted. That’s why the shrine was built up there. To honor Lady Inari for defeating the fire dragon of Sakuranbo and making the mountain safe.”

  “But if the fire dragon were to wake up?” Sakami said. And, as if to give extra ominous weight to her question, another distinct tremor shuddered through the ground. Mami clutched at her sister; for once Mai didn’t rebuke her, slipping an arm around her shoulders.

  “Is everyone here?” The stern, dry voice startled Sakami. Everyone fell silent as Yoriaki appeared, flanked, as usual by two of his Kite shinobi. Instantly she sensed the animosity and resentment still simmering among the Cranes toward their Red Kite masters. “You all felt that last tremor, didn’t you? We’ve just seen a glow of fire at the top of the mountain. So I’m evacuating the castle.”

  The brusque announcement was greeted with shocked silence.

  “Bring all the food and water you can carry. And follow my men down to the shore.”

  “Why is it safer on the shore?” Hiroki demanded. “And why should we trust you?”

  Yoriaki turned to stare at the archer. “We’re all in equal danger here: Kites and Cranes. I can’t promise you that we’ll be any safer. But if needs be, we can take the boats and sail further down the coast.”

  “We’re leaving right now?” Mai’s question was delivered with her habitual directness but Sakami could hear the slight quiver in her usually firm voice.

  “Right now.”

  “I’m going to check on Father Taiki. Come with me, Honou.” Sakami started out but Yoriaki moved to block her way.

  “Miko-san.” The expression on his deep-scarred face was forbidding. “Where are you going? Didn’t you hear what I said? We all have to leave. Now.”

  “But the priest isn’t here. He’s old and deaf, he may not have heard your summons. Honou and I will bring him down to the shore.”

  “I’ll come with you,” Shun said staunchly. Sakami’s heart sank; much as she loved her brother, there were too many things she could not begin to explain to him and now was definitely not the time for such revelations.

  “But Mai and Mami need a strong pair of arms to carry the food sacks down to the shore. Don’t you, Mai?”

  “And the sake barrel,” Mai said, nodding vigorously as she took Shun’s arm and steered him to an alcove where the stores had been hastily piled. “Everyone take a sack!” she ordered, staring pointedly at the Kite shinobi.

  “My men must go ahead to ensure it’s safe.” Yoriaki stepped in. “They can’t use the Kite Shadow if they’re carrying heavy sacks.”

  Sakami beckoned to Honou, taking advantage of the distraction Mai had created, and they hurried away before Yoriaki could notice.

  As they came out of the tunnel, Honou put the sacred sword down, arched his back, and stretched one arm, then the other, reaching up as if to touch the cloudy sky with his fingertips.

  “How much longer am I going to have to lug this sword around?”

  “Until such time as Lady Inari needs it.” A few drops of rain were blowing in on the wind. Sakami gazed around her at the deserted compound and shivered. “It feels so odd with no one here.”

  As they made their way toward the shrine, she found herself hoping that they would find that Yukiko and Kane had retreated there. But as they turned the corner of the main tower and saw the red torii, she could not sense the slightest trace of the guardian foxes’ presence.

  “They’re not here either, Honou,” she said, anguished. “What has Kurika done to them?” She ran through the torii, calling out, “Father Taiki?”

  “Who’s there?” To her relief, the priest poked his leathery head out of the shrine, peering short-sightedly around.

  “It’s Sakami.” She went up to him and held out both hands in greeting. “We have to leave the castle, Father. Mount Sakuranbo may be about to erupt. We have to get you to safety.”

  “Mount Sakuranbo’s woken up? That’s bad news for us all.” There was a distracted look in his rheumy eyes. “I must say prayers for everyone.”

  A tremor ran through the ground again, setting the bronze shrine bell vibrating and the prayer streamers rattling.

  “No time,” Sakami said firmly. “We need to hurry.”

  “But you must take your treasure,” he said and before she could grab hold of him, he pulled away and went back into the shrine, emerging a moment later holding the carved camphor wood casket in which the sacred objects were kept. Only then she remembered: the gold and tortoiseshell comb Kai had given her.

  Father Taiki opened the box and handed it to her. For a moment she held it pressed to her heart.

  Kai.

  And then she forced herself to concentrate on what had to be done, pushing the errant strands of her hair back with the slender teeth and fixing it in her hair.

  Your precious gift to me, Kai.

  A sudden gust of wind stirred the prayer streamers and Honou raised his head, sniffing.

  “There’s that stink again,” he said, wrinkling hi
s nose in disgust. “It’s stronger. Hot springs. . .and rotten eggs.”

  Father Taiki sniffed the air too. “I remember that smell from when I was a boy,” he said as Sakami took the casket from him, holding out her hand to encourage him to follow her. “Over fifty years ago. When I was a boy studying at Yamadera monastery on the mainland.”

  “Is it a bad sign?” she asked, not wanting to hear the answer.

  “The volcano there erupted,” he said. “The monastery was destroyed. We acolytes were lucky to get away with our lives.”

  ***

  “Why have all our plans gone so badly wrong, Honou?” Sakami flopped down on the sand beside Honou, worn out. “Perhaps it would have been better to leave the sacred sword in the capital with Lord Korechika and Lady Chinatsu.”

  Honou, who was rotating his shoulders, stopped and pulled a face. “That’s easy for you to say; you haven’t been carrying it day and night.”

  When she looked at his irritated expression, she felt repentant and leaned out to stroke his soft mane of unruly russet hair. “I’m sorry, Honou. You’ve been bearing the burden. And you’ve hardly complained at all.”

  He caught her by the wrist and pulled her face close to his. “That’s the first nice thing you’ve said to me in a long time, Sakami.”

  His eyes, tawny, flecked with gold, stared intently into hers and for a moment, she forgot to breathe. Is he going to kiss me? She felt herself strangely, strongly drawn to him.

  “Too close!” She blinked, hastily retreating. He seems to have matured quite a lot since we went to the capital. A little wave of heat had spread through her whole body. One hand flew instinctively to touch the comb, as if reminding her not to forget Kai. This is not the time to be thinking of kissing anyone, especially not Honou.

  “It’s not as if you’re a trained warrior like Lord Masao or Lord Naoki,” she went on, speaking too fast to cover her confusion. “You can’t be expected to wield Foxfire-Fang if Kurika attacks.”

  “But I’ll do it if I have to.” His voice, his expression had taken on a new air of determination that she had not seen before. She did not doubt that he would take up the sword to defend them – and she felt a sudden rush of fear for him. He’s so impulsive. Her feelings toward him had become confused. She wanted to protect the helpless fox-cub she had rescued and reared in secret – but here he was beside her, a full-grown, handsome dog-fox, exuding the cunning pride and resilience of his kind.

  All the while they had been sitting on the sands, the sky had been growing darker and now an odd dry wind began to gust around them. She looked up, expecting to see rainclouds blowing in over the sea. At the same time she heard Shun cry out, “Sakuranbo!”

  Everyone turned around. A gray cloud, the dun color of ash, loured above the peak.

  “Is that really a cloud?” she asked. “Or smoke coming from the mountain?”

  A low thunderous rumbling began, so deep that Sakami could feel the tremors in the sand beneath them.

  Little crackles of lightning fizzed and flickered within the boiling cloud as a sudden spurt of fiery red burst from the mountain top. Sparks peppered the darkness.

  “Just like fireflies,” she said under her breath.

  “Just like that night.” Shun had moved to her side. His arm went around her shoulders protectively as he stared upward. “That night when our village was burned to the ground.”

  Sakami heard cries of dismay as the other Black Cranes pointed toward the fiery cloud. “This isn’t like any other volcano. It’s Kurika’s fire magic.”

  “The creatures on the mountain,” Honou said in a low, tense voice. “The birds. The macaques. Our fellow foxes. We have to protect them.”

  “We can’t do this alone.” Sakami felt his anguish as if it were her own. They were bound by Inari to protect their mountain but, faced with Kurika’s fury, they were powerless to do anything. She turned to gaze at the sea. “The tide’s on the turn,” she said and suddenly ran down the beach to the incoming tide.

  With the lacy water tickling her toes, she raised her hands to her mouth and called out, across the waves, “Kai – wherever you are, please come now. We’re in danger. If Kurika isn’t stopped, the castle and the rice harvest will be destroyed.”

  Chapter 63

  “Sakami! Sakami!” Kenta was frantically tugging at her sleeve, pointing out to sea. “What’s that?”

  Sakami turned around.

  There was Flood, swimming with his fantastical dragon’s head and neck held high above the waves, moving steadily through the incoming tide toward the shore.

  Kai’s come. He heard me.

  A shout of alarm went up from both Black Cranes and Red Kites as the Tide Dragon turned to fix its great blue eyes on the beach.

  “Stay calm, everyone.” Sakami rose. “It’s Lord Shiomitsu.” But she could sense Honou’s fur bristling even though the kitsune was still in human form. She placed a hand on his arm and said quietly, “I think Flood’s come to help us. I think he’s brought Kai.”

  “Then who’s that?”

  Sakami squinted into the sunlight reflecting off the waves. As Flood slowly drew closer to the shore, she began to make out what Honou’s keen eyes had spotted first: a figure clinging to the Tide Dragon’s azure-scaled neck.

  “That’s not Kai,” she said, puzzled. “That’s. . .a woman.”

  She could see now the newcomer’s long black hair streaming behind her like a silken scarf, long enough to indicate that she must be of noble birth. “Is it the princess? Has he brought her back to us?” As she stared, mystified, she saw Kai appear in the water beside Flood. He raised his hands to the woman and after a moment’s hesitation, she wound her arms around him. He came wading through the sea toward them, carrying her, setting her down on the sand.

  “That’s not Princess Asagao,” she heard Teiko-san say loudly. Sakami, who was about to run down to the incoming tide to greet Kai, stopped, suddenly uncertain.

  Who is she?

  Kai glanced at the stranger and she nodded. Then they started up the beach together. Sakami saw from the way they had looked at one another, that they were far from being strangers.

  “Sakami?” Kai broke into a run, stopping in front of her. “Are you all right?”

  She tried to speak and found there was a lump in her throat.

  “It’s Kurika, isn’t it?” He gestured to the choking cloud.

  “Yes.” She found her voice at last. “Is there anything you and Flood can do to stop him?”

  The woman caught up with them and Sakami saw that she was young, maybe even about the same age as herself. Her clothes, though damp with seawater, were made of the most exquisite embroidered silks.

  “Ayaka,” Kai said, turning to her, “this is Sakami. She’s the priestess of our mountain shrine. Sakami, this is the Empress Ayaka.”

  Sakami didn’t know what to do or how to react. She was aware that other clan members had followed her down the shore to greet the newcomers and heard them murmuring, “The empress?”

  She dropped to her knees, ready to make the appropriate obeisance but the young empress reached out and stopped her, one slender white hand resting on her arm.

  “Please, Miko-san, don’t. I’ve come to help, if I can.”

  But at her cool touch, Sakami shivered. A sudden flare of images and sensations flashed through her mind, framed in a flurry of black-and-white crane wings.

  “Empress Himiko?” She stared at Ayaka, glimpsing another face – Inari’s face – briefly superimposed on her features.

  “You can see her in me?” Her dark eyes widened.

  “You have her memories. Is that why?”

  “I don’t know if they’ll be of any use. But –”

  Another thunderous rumble drowned out her words and Sakami saw her instinctively shrink closer to Kai.

  Something’s happened between the two of them, I can sense it. Her hand rose to touch the comb in her hair and then dropped back to her side.

  “W
ell, it’s about time you showed up, Flood.” Honou swaggered over to stand beside her, holding the sacred sword, still in its brocade wrappings.

  “Is that Inari’s sword?” Kai was staring at Foxfire-Fang . “The one Masao used against Kurika?”

  “And if it isn’t put to good use again soon, we’ll all be choked or burned to death.” Honou nodded his head in the direction of the mountain.

  “We’re going. . .up there? “Ayaka gazed at Kai.

  The way she looks at him. . .it’s so intimate, the easy exchange of glances between two people who know each other very well. All Sakami’s joy at seeing Kai again had evaporated, to be replaced by a distinctly uncomfortable feeling. I wish she’d never come. She’ll just be in the way. Why has Lady Inari left her memories with her, of all people?

  “It looks bad,” Honou said. “But I reckon it’s mostly for show. A threat. Or a direct challenge to Lady Inari?”

  “To draw her here?” said Kai. “So that he can confront her?”

  Honou nodded. “This feels like Kurika’s magic: all fireworks and smoke. That’s not to say he’s isn’t capable of going deep into the heart of the mountain and stoking the fires at its core.”

  The rumbling began again, louder than before. The ground twitched beneath their feet and another eruption of flames flared up, bright against the stormy gray of the billowing smoke. Sakami stumbled and felt a wiry arm go around her shoulders, righting her. Honou had caught her. She wondered what Kai must be thinking to see Honou acting so familiarly – but then she forgot her embarrassment as she realized both men were gazing up at the high wooded slopes of Sakuranbo.

  “The pine trees are alight. How are we to get up there now?”

  “If that fire spreads much further down the slope, it will destroy the castle.” Kai suddenly broke into a run, making for the path that led up through the trees.

  “Kai!” Ayaka cried, starting out after him.

  “Come on, Honou.” Sakami had guessed what was in Kai’s mind. She had seen him use Flood’s powers once before to extinguish Kurika’s fire-raising and it had nearly finished him. But what other chance did they have?

  ***