The Twelve Kingdoms: The Shore in Twilight

"The Daiboku should be with the Taiho--"
    Senkaku grasped Risai's arm. His dirty face had turned quite green. "Risai, don't you know? Shoku just don't occur naturally in the heavens. If a meishoku has occurred, then it could only have been brought about by the Taiho."
    Risai broke into a sprint.
    "Risai!"
    "Senkaku, please take care of the wounded!" she called out behind her. She leapt over the rubble and ran toward the Roshin. Risai had heard about this before, that a kirin could cause a very small shoku called a "meishoku." But a kirin born and raised in Yamato should not know how to bring such a shoku about.
    Risai had met Taiki on Mt. Hou. In all honesty, when Gyousou had set forth on the Shouzan, so had she. The kirin she met there couldn't transform into a unicorn and had no shirei. A kirin born and raised in Yamato couldn't really understand what being a kirin was all about. Those powers his instincts had awakened within him must have sprung forth under by necessity. That being the case, what could have happened?
    The smell of dirt and torn, fresh wood; the ripening, rancid sun; the rust-colored sky; the writhing red currents in the air; the continuous, turbulent timbre of subterranean rumblings--Risai could not help but be gripped by evil forebodings. Something bad had happened. Something unbelievably bad.
    In fact, the damage to the buildings grew worse the closer she got to Jinjuu Manor. The gate in front of the Provincial Offices had toppled on its side. In places the walls had fallen down, and through the gaps she could see that the buildings inside were badly listing and likely had collapsed. Cobblestones bubbled up like foam on water and likely had all flipped a hundred and eighty degrees. Fissures snaked through the ground and rubble was strewn about everywhere.
    The grounds of Jinjuu Manor came into view. Most of the buildings there had been reduced to piles of stone.
    The rumblings in the earth ceased. In their place, she could hear the shrieks and moans of people. The dim rays of the sun shone down. She looked up. The ominous red bands in the sky were fading as well.
    People at last began to huddle together. Most of the mustered soldiers pawed through the rubble looking for any sign of Taiki. But the small kirin was nowhere to be found. On the western side of the Seiden in Jinjuu Manor, there was no trace of him on the balcony or in the gardens facing the Sea of Clouds.
    The buildings and trees had both been torn up by the roots. The agitated earth and shards of tile had heaped up in piles. Then the giant waves smashed down on top of them, sweeping everything into the Sea of Clouds and leaving only the scarred ground behind.
    Ships were launched, kijuu saddled up, the gardens excavated--all searching for signs of the small Saiho. But since that day his whereabouts had not been discovered.
    While the search continued, a messenger pigeon bearing news of the emergency was dispatched to Bun Province. Before that bird reached Bun Province, a pigeon from Bun Province arrived at the capital, carrying word that Gyousou had suddenly vanished.

    The bedroom fell into silence. Risai clung to the jewel hanging around her neck as if for dear life.
    "We have heard nothing more of His Highness. Or of the Taiho."
    "Risai, if this is too hard for you--" Youko was about to call a halt to the proceedings, but Risai closed her eyes and shook her head.
    "The Imperial Court was thrown into chaos. Nobody could put together an organized plan to look for His Highness and the Taiho."
    Risai gasped for breath. Youko anxiously grasped her hand. "Are you all right?"
    I'm fine, Risai meant to reply, but her voice faded away in the middle of her labored breath. Only the sound of the wind. The sound of her ringing ears. And within the wind, the sound of Kaei's voice.
    No.
    "We'll call it a day and pick things up at this point next time. Well, then--"
    Risai stretched out her arm in the direction of her voice. She stretched out her arm--and realized again that her right arm was missing. This was how much she had lost. After so long the anguish welled up inside her.
    "Please help us." Releasing the jewel clasped in her hand, she reached out. A warm hand enclosed hers. "I beg of you. Save Tai."
    "I understand."
    Risai heard the doctor in the waiting room rushing to her side. "That's enough," she heard him say as she sank down into darkness and remorse.

Chapter 11
    " W hat do you think?" Youko asked the two men following her as they