The Twelve Kingdoms: A Thousand Leagues of Wind

outside.
    "What in the world--!"
    The avenue was a sea of flames. The man at once understood that the fire had become a firestorm.
    "We've got to get out of the city! Now!"
    This was what came from defying Shoukou. The people in Shisui were born under an unlucky star. This what happened when they questioned that fate. But until today, at least the destroying angel had passed by his house.
    They mingled together with other scrambling, befuddled people running toward the Monkey Gate. The man stopped in his tracks and stared. The Monkey Gate was closed, and the mounted knights arrayed in front of the gate were up to no good. The ground beneath the horses' hooves was strewn with bodies.
    He grasped his wife's arm, turned on his heels, and dragged her back the way they'd come. His wife screamed as an old man next to him took an arrow in the chest.
    What did he do? What had he ever done to the likes of them? He had nothing to do with those rebels. Why kill him and all his kin on account of what they did?
    For the time being, the rest of them could only run frantically down the street toward the inner loop road, away from the conflagration. The flames licked the sky all around them, filling him with horror. Here, there, and everywhere. From every point of the compass. The tongues of fire licking upwards next to a gate an instant later had crept along the ridgepoles and joined with a neighboring fire, growing much stronger.
    What is going on?
    Any escape had been closed off. His daughter opened her eyes and began to wail. "At the very least--" he said, turning around. A red light glowed atop the ink dark walls of the castle, lending it a foreboding and magisterial appearance. "You go to the castle."
    "But--" his wife objected.
    He handed the child to her. "They're the ones who overthrew Shoukou and caused all this. They won't abandon you. Go!" he said, giving her a push.
    At the same time, the west White Dragon Gate opened and people spilled out. He froze in place.
    "Get back!"
    He stared at the horse and rider galloping toward him.
    "Watch out for ambushes! The fire won't spread easily beyond the main boulevard! There are bound to be arsonists still in the city!"
    "Understood!" they shouted, as they sprinted past him.
    In all the confusion, the man hadn't budged an inch. Left behind in front of the gate, a boy perched on a horse waved at him. "They'll show you the way! Follow them!"

    Amidst the jumble of human activity in front of the White Dragon Gate, Kantai sprang onto the back of his kitsuryou. He turned to his two subordinates. "As much as possible, keep the people away from the castle walls. An attack may come in the midst of all this turmoil. Take the wounded inside the castle if necessary, but keep on your toes. There may be provincial guardsmen lying in wait among them."
    "So you'll be going as well, then?"
    Kantai grinned at the men before him. "To put it another way, I can't afford not to. No man's praise can make up for Koshou's scorn." He shouldered his lance. "I'll leave the rest to your good offices."
    The men bowed. Kantai saluted and spurred on the kitsuryou.

Chapter 73
    " K oshou!"
    Alerted by Youko's cry, Koshou scanned his surroundings. His eyes were drawn to several men charging out of a nearby alleyway. Seeing weapons in their hands, he swung his broadsword, eviscerating the first and impaling the second and third on the back swing.
    Youko charged into the melee and cut down the remaining two.
    "These bushwhackers are everywhere."
    "Very much so."
    The main boulevard ran straight from the White Tiger Gate to the Rooster Gate. Urging the panicking civilians to move toward the castle, Koshou wiped off his sword. As expected, even a winter weapon eventually lost its edge. They regrouped with their colleagues and crossed the main boulevard. The fire pressed south along the streets. Where the street dipped down, Koshou came to a halt.
    They saw the silhouettes of mounted riders coming toward them, dragging down the small shops that lined the streets as they went along. Sans all the debris, the street would be close to eighty paces wide, and it'd be rare for a fire to breach the gap. For the time being, the fires raging to the left and right of the street had not approached close enough to singe them.
    "Those bastards are fast," Koshou growled. "Aim for the horse's legs."
    "Roger!" came the acknowledgments from around him.
    They stared each other down. The horsemen made the first move. As soon as the order