He nodded. “I’m okay with that. But you know, even if your goal was to be the best taiga in Society history, for no reason other than for fun, I’d be there by your side the whole time.”
There was an intensity in his eyes, but it was different from the focus of being in the sparring ring or concentrating on a difficult spell. Sora couldn’t quite put a finger on what it meant. Daemon hadn’t looked at her in that way before. It was so intense that it made her self-conscious.
She looked away and clapped him on the back to break through her own awkwardness. “Then let’s do it. Let’s be the best taigas in Society history. Let’s go be legendary.”
Chapter Five
While the taiga apprentices had gone home for the Autumn Festival, the Council convened for their annual retreat on Isle of the Moon. Kichona was an archipelago, with the main island shaped like a leaping tiger, and Isle of the Moon was a crescent to the north, arcing over the tiger’s head. Glass Lady strolled through the manicured gardens here, past deep-green topiaries shaped like tigers and feather-tipped maples with leaves so bright red, they looked like candied apples. The evening air was crisp with autumn, and she allowed herself a rare moment of relaxation as she strolled across a bridge over one of the many ponds, brimming with koi of every shade imaginable, as if they’d escaped from a painter’s palette. Behind her, the famed Constellation Temple stood stoic yet richly ornamented, six stories high and composed of orange beams, capped off with a gleaming silver-tiled pagoda roof. Its white walls shone bright under the sun, and windows opened atop balconies carved with stars.
After her walk, Glass Lady went to the dining room, part of a high-ceilinged building with a glass roof that provided an unobstructed view of the sky. The other councilmembers had arrived a few minutes earlier and were already tucking into their dinners, their raucous laughter and conversation mingling with the rasp of chopsticks against ceramic bowls. Glass Lady nodded at their pleasure. It was, after all, the main point of assembling here.
The other point was to remind them of the history and identity of Kichona.
She strode up to the table. “My fellow warriors, I hope you enjoyed your first day here yesterday. It is certainly an extravagance to be able to gather on Isle of the Moon to enjoy the luxuries offered here. This would not have been possible without the generosity of our heavenly empress, who never hesitates to pay for this annual rejuvenation of our Council.” Glass Lady raised a teacup in the air. “To Empress Aki, the Benevolent One.”
The councilmembers lifted their teacups. “To Empress Aki, the Benevolent One!”
Glass Lady sipped her tea, then set it on the table. She had just opened her mouth to begin her speech when a sudden roar tore through the room. It filled the air like the exhale of a dragon who had been prodded, unhappily, awake.
In a hairbreadth of a second, every councilmember brandished swords and retrieved sickles and chains, darts, and other weapons from the pockets of their uniforms and the holsters on their backs.
Glass Lady looked up at the top of the dining room. Through the glass, a wave appeared, larger than any typhoon she had ever seen.
She dove beneath a table for cover. The wave crashed through the ceiling. Glass rained down like razor-edged hail.
“What’s happening?” Bullfrog, the nearest councilmember, shouted from beneath a chair he’d used as a shield.
“I don’t—” Another wave crested and smashed through the ceiling before she could finish.
But there wasn’t anything to say anyway. The sky had been clear this morning with no sign of storm. Had there been an earthquake somewhere that triggered a tsunami?
Whatever it was, the Council could not remain here. Glass Lady sprang to her feet, even as her entire body trembled. The next wave was already growing and looming overhead. “Evacuate to higher ground!”
The warriors sprinted for the doors.
Outside, the wind howled, toppling topiaries and ripping branches off the trees. The councilmembers began weaving their way through the flooded garden toward the highest point on the isle, Constellation Temple.
Another typhoon wave roared and crashed down on them. It knocked Glass Lady off her feet, sending her careening into a broken lamppost. Thick splinters from the wood beam pierced into her torso. Salt water swallowed her whole, and she struggled to surface while blood blossomed from her wound.
No. Despite being in her mid-sixties, she was still strong. She kicked frantically and pushed with her arms. Her lungs burned. She found the ground beneath her and shoved up, breaking the surface of the churning water and gasping for air. She’d deal with the injury to her side later.
The waves kept coming.
Finally, the taigas made it to Constellation Temple. Battered and soaked, the councilmembers tumbled into the temple and climbed the stairs quickly, straight to the observation pavilion at the top.
“Commander,” Strategist said, his gray beard looking like a drowned squirrel. “You’ve been wounded.”
Glass Lady glanced at shards of wood still protruding from her side. She waved him away. “Later. There are more important things right now.”
She turned to the ocean in the direction from which the waves came, expecting a wide swath of water that swelled and grew like a wall.
Instead, the waves came from a single point in the sea.
“It’s not a storm,” Glass Lady whispered.
“What do you mean?” Scythe asked.
Glass Lady squinted at the ocean. Was that a black spot on the water? “Someone find me a spyglass,” she said.
Strategist ran down the stairs into the temple. A minute later, he returned and placed a telescope in her hand.
She focused on the point from which the waves seemed to emanate.
“Daggers!” she cursed. “There’s a ship out there.”
“They’ll never survive the typhoon,” Bullfrog said. “Should we attempt to rescue them?”
Another wave rose to monstrous heights and sped toward the island. It slammed into where the dining hall had been.
Gods help us. That was no Imperial Navy ship out there, nor was it a merchant or even pirates. It was nothing Glass Lady knew how to handle.
She turned to the councilmembers and shook her head. “There’s no way we could save that ship. Besides, they don’t need rescuing. They’re causing the waves.”
“What? How?” Strategist asked.
She tried the spyglass again, but visibility was poor. “I don’t know. But the waves are originating from that ship. We have to get out of here. Whoever and whatever that is out there, this is an attack, and we have no way to fight it. We’ll cast sailfish spells on ourselves and swim from Haven Cove.”
It was the most direct path from Isle of the Moon to the shores of Kichona, even though the waters would be rough.
“Rough” was an understatement.
Glass Lady kept an eye on the mysterious ship as the taigas evacuated. But she couldn’t see much through the typhoon. The wind was so violent, it was hurling water high into the sky. And the massive waves kept growing and coming for the island.
“Commander?” Strategist said. “We need to go.”
She hesitated for a moment, paralyzed by not knowing what it was they faced.
“Commander. Now.”