SHE IS.
You never told me.
I NEVER EXPECTED TO RETURN HERE.
Do you have any other secrets I should know?
The female stepped forward, bowed as the others had, lightning catching in the luminance of her feathers, a brief halo that seemed to set her ablaze. And then she stepped closer, ran her cheek across Buruu’s, curling her head up under his chin and seeming to sigh.
Yukiko felt for the female’s thoughts, wrapped them inside herself along with Buruu’s, her own mind a bridge between them. As she stretched out to gently touch the female’s mind, she felt Buruu’s love for her fill her own. No hint of jealousy within her, no resentment at having to share his affections. The reunion of sisters who’d never met.
I am Yukiko.
I AM SHAI.
Her thoughts were warm, like a soft blanket near a roaring fireside. Alight with curiosity, instinctual aggression. Yukiko pushed her own warmth into the female’s mind. Buruu curled his wings around them both.
You’re Buruu’s mate.
YOU ARE MONKEY-CHILD.
Buruu’s voice echoed in their heads.
SHE IS MY SISTER. MY BLOOD AND LIFE. WITHOUT HER, I WOULD BE LOST.
SHE RIDES YOU?
SHE HAS EARNED THAT RIGHT. SHE IS YōKAI KIN. FOX-CHILD. STORMDANCER.
Shai’s eyes gleamed as she looked Yukiko up and down.
*STORMDANCER … *
Buruu and I have been through much together. He saved my life, and I his.
BURUU?
THAT IS MY NAME NOW. ROAHH IS DEAD. KINSLAYER IS NO MORE.
WILL CALL YOU SUN AND MOON IF YOU WISH. YOU HAVE RETURNED TO ME.
I CANNOT STAY.
* … WHAT?*
I COME ONLY TO COLLECT OUR WARRIORS. THERE IS WAR IN SHIMA.
*WE NOT OF SHIMA … *
IT IS THE LAND WHERE OUR RACE WAS BORN. SINCE WE FLED, IT HAS TUMBLED TO RUIN. WE MUST DO WHAT WE CAN TO AVERT ITS FINAL FALL.
WHY?
BECAUSE IT IS RIGHT, SHAI. BECAUSE WE TURNED OUR BACKS.
Not all of us are evil, Shai. Some of us see the truth of things. The wrong we’ve committed. Some of us are fighting to change it.
The female’s eyes flashed hand in hand with the lightning. Her glare could have cut steel.
ARASHITORA FIGHT YOUR BATTLES, MONKEY-CHILD? DIE FOR YOU?
HER NAME IS YUKIKO. AND ARASHITORA WILL FIGHT WHERE I COMMAND. WHO CLAIMS KHAN IS KHAN.
Shai stared at Buruu, long and hard. She glanced at Yukiko, something between a purr and a growl rumbling in her chest.
*PACK WILL THINK WRONG TO SERVE A MONKEY-CHILD’S WILL.*
I don’t want them to serve me at all.
The female snorted at her.
INDEED.
She turned back to Buruu.
*WILL YOU SEE RHAII? AM SURE HE WOULD SEE HIS KHAN WHILE YOU STILL ARE KHAN.*
HE …
Buruu swallowed the dread in his gorge.
HE LIVES? BUT TORR …
TORR ONLY PUNISH REBELS. YOU NOT HERE. I BENT KNEE AND SERVED. RHAII SAFE.
RAIJIN SAVE ME, I THOUGHT FOR CERTAIN …
WISH TO SEE HIM, THEN?
Buruu nodded.
BRING HIM HERE.
AS KHAN COMMANDS.
Shai turned and bounded across the stone, spreading pearlescent wings and taking to the air. Yukiko’s breath caught in her lungs, watching the beautiful figure cut the air, sweeping toward a spire of distant stone. Buruu watched her go, eyes narrowed against the howling wind. She could feel the pain of his wounds, gouged deep through feather, fur and flesh. But above that, she could feel an emotion she’d never sensed in her brother before, so distant from his usual mental landscape that she took a moment to recognize it for what it was.
Fear.
Are you all right?
I WILL ENDURE.
Who or what is Rhaii?
YOU COULD CALL HIM THE LAST SECRET BETWEEN YOU AND I.
Buruu heaved a sigh, shook himself beak to tail.
BUT IT WOULD BE SIMPLER TO CALL HIM MY SON.
33
THE WAKE OF THE LIGHT
“Kagé” was the Shiman word for “shadow.”
A shadow isn’t simply absence of illumination. They are born in the wake of the light, in the intercession between radiance and surface. They cannot exist in vacuum. They cannot be, in and of themselves.
All shadows are made.
Two dozen of them stood on a Phoenix sky-ship in the cold breast of night, bitter wind blowing off the western ocean, rocking the vessel like a squalling babe. The motors were a constant growl, metal beasts with empty bellies, seas of cloud rolling below their keel. Kaori stood on the mid-deck, snow-white breath billowing through the cowl covering her face. She was staring past the inflatable to the sky beyond. Even above the storm, the night was black as pitch, the pall of exhaust drowning all but the most stubborn stars.
Maro stepped up beside her. The Kagé lieutenant was swathed in black, just as she. A straight-edged sword and warclub on his back, smoke bombs and hand-flares at his waist.
“The captain says we should descend below the cloud cover soon,” Maro said. “Get our bearings on First House.”
Kaori nodded, eyes still fixed on the place where the stars should have been.