“Very large cage.” Its voice was that of an angry lotusfly.
The comment was an understatement. The boundaries of the enclosure stretched almost the width of the ship, a good twenty feet wide and deep. The slimmer cloudwalkers had got into the habit of slipping between the bars as they went about their duties. Larger ones were forced to hang out over the Child’s railings to navigate their way around it.
“We don’t know what size this beast will be.” Kasumi flashed a false smile. “Better the cage is too big than too small.”
“Why do you not drug it?” Scorching sunlight refracted on the Artificer’s single, glowing eye. “Make it sleep until Kigen?”
“We may not have enough blacksleep. Besides, it’d be foolish to rely on drugs alone.”
“Stick to what you do best, Guildsman,” Akihito growled. “Leave the hunting to us.”
“Do you believe you will find one?” The Artificer turned its glittering eye on the big man, an insectoid curiosity flitting between each word. “A beast extinct for generations?”
“The Shōgun seems to think so,” Akihito answered carefully.
“Does he really?”
“Fire!”
The cry rang out from the rigging, making Akihito start. Color drained from Kasumi’s face. A fire on board a sky-ship could mean only two things: a desperate dash to the safety of the aft lifeboat, or a flaming death on the earth hundreds of feet below.
“Gods above,” swore Akihito. “You get Yukiko, I’ll g—”
“Not aboard.” Faint amusement buzzed in the Guildsman’s voice. “There.”
It reached out with one metal hand, pointing across the bow. Akihito followed the gesture to the mountainous northwest horizon. Far past the rolling plains of the Ryu clan below, deep inside distant Kitsune territory, a bright pinprick of flame glowed against a backdrop of dark stone. It was almost too small to see through the haze; a tiny orange flare, a thin plume of smoke twisting into the sky and off into nothingness. Given how far they were from Fox lands, the fire must have been enormous for them to see it at all.
Several of the crew were gathering at the railing to stare. Kasumi and Akihito joined them, squinting into the distance. The cloudwalkers muttered and shot each other dark, knowing glances, several swearing so profanely that even Akihito seemed impressed. Kasumi turned to one of the sky folk, and saw the anger in his eyes.
“What’s going on?”
From her nest between the chi barrels, Yukiko watched the sailors mill about on the deck, still too surly to wonder what the fuss was about. She’d been sulking around the bow for two days, avoiding her father, barely muttering a handful of words to Kasumi. Even Akihito’s attempts to jolly her out of her funk were met with grumpy silence, and she’d outright refused their usual morning sparring sessions. She had not seen the strange, pale boy again.
She saw Captain Yamagata emerge from his cabin and stalk up to the bow, a mechanical spyglass in one calloused hand. Planting his boot on the railing, he pressed a button and watched the device extend, small motors and springs humming. He squinted through it toward the fire, hissing through clenched teeth and shaking his head. The spyglass whirred and clicked, extending its length, lenses within it shifting as they searched for focus on the wall of flames.
“Kagé,” he whispered.
“Shadows?” Yukiko asked, perking up.
The captain flinched at the sound of her voice. He looked uneasy, casting a glance over his shoulder in the direction of the Artificer, then back to Yukiko’s quizzical expression.
“Raijin’s drums.” A sheepish grin. “I didn’t see you there.”
“I’m Kitsune,” she reminded him. “What was that you said about the Kagé?”
“You weren’t supposed to hear that.” Yamagata ran one hand over the back of his neck. “Don’t be telling anyone I mentioned that word, Lady. It could see me in hot water.”
“Why?” Yukiko lowered her tone to conspiratorial levels, keeping a close watch on the Guildsman. Yamagata was obviously worried about it overhearing.
“We’re not supposed to talk about the Kagé. Officially, they don’t exist.”
“But they’ve been attacking lotus fields up north for years.”
“How do you know that? It’s never reported on the wireless.”
“They operate in Kitsune country,” Yukiko shrugged. “We lived there when I was a little girl. Whenever a field went up, the village wives would whisper about the Kagé and make the warding sign against evil. Mothers there even frighten their children with them. They say the Kagé come in the night and drag disobedient sons and daughters into the hells.” Her eyes sparkled with the memory.
“Well, don’t go spreading that kind of foolishness, do you hear?” Yamagata said. “Especially not when Old Kioshi’s around.”
“Old Kioshi?”
“Our Guildsman.” Yamagata gave a subtle nod in the direction of the Artificer.