MTO C81

Chapter 81

 

“The moat of the castle has not frozen over! We must summon the black eagles immediately!”

With a booming voice, Jared jolted Kaidan back to his senses. His appearance was far more disheveled than when they had last met, yet his expression remained steadfast.

“Your Excellency, you must send the knights to the castle! Please give the order!”

What Kaidan had thought to be clouded gray eyes now fixed upon him with striking clarity. Over Jared’s face, an image of resolute violet eyes overlapped—a gaze belonging to one who sought to protect. When there was something to guard, light shone within human eyes.

No matter how old or frail one became, some things did not change.

As though entranced, Kaidan looked into Jared’s face, then raised his gaze a fraction higher. Behind him, the knights wavered, uncertain whether to restrain Jared.

A deep furrow formed between Kaidan’s once-smooth brows. Casting off Jared’s grip on his arm, he strode toward the knights.

“Take Woolsley with you to the castle at once. Open the iron cage that holds the black eagles and place him in full command. From now until the last flame is extinguished, I cede all my command authority to Jared.”

“Pardon?”

“Quit dawdling and fetch the mounts!”

His roar broke the knights from their stupor; as if spurred by a kick to their backsides, they scrambled away in haste. Only then did Kaidan turn back to Jared.

“I trust you.”

That single brief remark made Jared’s eyes tremble violently, yet in the next moment he bowed his head with a face more composed and resolute than before—the visage of a knight obeying his lord’s command.

The knights soon brought the horses, and Jared left the square without delay. Kaidan, with the remaining knights, set about tearing down the untouched buildings and moving the stores of grain from the warehouse to someplace safe.

Who could tell how long that slow, grueling work continued? Thanks to their effort in stamping out each flare of embers as it arose, the fire had not spread further—but the main blaze remained stubborn, as fierce as ever.

Both the townsfolk and the knights were gradually succumbing to fatigue, and more and more patients collapsed from inhaling too much smoke. Ice-breaking efforts seemed to have succeeded, for water was being supplied faster than before, yet the wind refused to still; the speed at which flames were extinguished was matched almost exactly by the speed at which new fires sprang to life.

It felt as though this nightmare night might never end.

“There—look!”

At someone’s shout, everyone gathered in the square lifted their heads. Kaidan too reflexively glanced upward. From the far horizon, a vast black mass was rolling in.

Looking closer, he saw—it was not a storm cloud.

It was the black eagle legion of House Eglence.

With a sharp whistling cry, the black eagles soared effortlessly through the night sky, their great wings spread wide. When they reached the firefront, they wheeled in perfect unison at another piercing whistle, and the buckets they clutched in their talons jostled and spilled torrents of water.

Splash—!

In an instant, the wild blaze that had seemed impossible to tame faltered under the suddenly cascading streams. Riding the momentum, another wave of black eagles drenched the flames once more. Those whose buckets were emptied wheeled back toward the castle, while the next flight arrived to take their place. An endless, unbroken procession.

The people who had been fighting the fire stood frozen, staring wide-eyed at the sight—like a sudden downpour from an open heaven.

“Oh Lord above…”

From various places came the muffled sounds of weeping and prayer. When the fire had first raged, similar cries had rung out—but now the voices held astonishment and deep relief.

While all others had their eyes raised heavenward in search of God, Kaidan could not tear his gaze from a single man on the ground. Jared, seated astride his mount, was guiding the black eagles with long whistles and decisive gestures. Responding to his commands, the eagle legion rippled and swayed like a great, supple wave.

These were none other than the Eglence knights—the protectors of Valois.

The ravenous firestorm was little by little growing subdued.

Once the main blaze was quelled, extinguishing the scattered embers was no great challenge. The townsfolk gathered in the square joined forces and succeeded in stamping out the fire entirely.

Kaidan ordered the knights to search thoroughly for any remaining sparks and prepared evacuation plans in case any buildings collapsed, moving the townspeople to safety.

With the fire gone, its devastation could be seen all the more clearly. Where once rows of buildings of every size had stood crowded together, now only blackened emptiness remained. It was impossible to say whether the things drifting on the wind were ash or snow.

Some residents, having lost the shops they had built over a lifetime, wailed until they collapsed. The injured numbered no small few, most bearing burns of varying severity. Those relatively unharmed had no rest, busy tending to the wounded.

And now, with the flames gone, the bitter cold returned. The great market hall—largest in the square—was reduced to ashes, leaving no building capable of sheltering so many people. There was no choice but to light small campfires; yet all huddled together around the tiny flames, fearful that the fire might spread again.

The blaze had begun when merchants, trying to keep warm in the sudden chill, had overturned braziers while stoking their hearths. The aged, dried timber buildings had gone up in flames in an instant. Listening to the knights’ report, Kaidan resolved that when the town was rebuilt, it would be done in stone—even if it took far longer.

Useful things and dangerous things could be separated by the thinnest of lines. Fire could save a life—or take one. The gentle little flame that once warmed bodies had summoned a horrific nightmare of ruin, and yet the embers left from that nightmare now fed the campfires that boiled large pots of food.

The owners of restaurants around the square, acting on their own accord, brought out kettles and cauldrons to cook thick, hearty soup. Several townsfolk took charge of distributing it, giving bowls first to those who were weaker or more pitiful than themselves. A single warm serving gave the exhausted and despondent people a small but precious gift of comfort.

“Kaidan!”

While Kaidan was surveying the burnt-out ruins, estimating the damage, Michel came trotting up from somewhere. Whatever he had been doing, his once clean white face had become smudged and sooty—like a puppy that had rolled in a hearth.

Judging by the look of him, Kaidan suspected he might have been darting through the flames again to save a child. At the thought, his heart gave a sudden chill. In the desperate battle to put out the fire, he had nearly forgotten Michel was even there in the square.

“Were you hurt anywhere…?”

“Here!”

Before Kaidan could finish, Michel thrust something toward him without warning—two bowls of soup, one in each hand. Steam rose hot and fragrant from them, as though just ladled.

Caught off guard, Kaidan accepted the bowls. Freed of his burden, Michel promptly seized Kaidan’s forearm and tugged him along with unceremonious force.

“Over there—Sir Jared is waiting. Let’s go eat together!”

Kaidan stopped dead in his tracks.

The black eagles that had doused the flames had flown off somewhere; freed, they would likely spend some time reveling in their flight.

Jared, by contrast, sat alone, apart from the others—a solitary island set adrift.

Kaidan felt an urgent need to speak more deeply with him. Without Jared, the night’s disaster would surely have been far worse. And yet—now that the great fire was passed—he found the prospect of facing him again strangely awkward. Uncomfortable, even.

Since the blaze was quenched, Kaidan had been using the excuse of post-disaster cleanup to avoid a private meeting with Jared. But he could feel, vaguely yet certainly, that the time for postponement had run out.

Still… what could he possibly say to him?

“Kaidan, say kimchiii.”

“What?”

“Quickly now—kimchiiiiii.”

Without warning, Michel drew the word out as long as he could while stretching his thin lips wide to either side. In so doing, the straight, white teeth normally hidden by his lips peeked out into view. Compared to Kaidan’s, each tooth was strikingly small. How a man with such teeth could devour meat so heartily was a wonder.

Perhaps sensing Kaidan’s thoughts wandering, Michel insisted irritably that he copy him at once. Feeling oddly shy, Kaidan parted his lips slightly in mimicry—but to Michel, that was nowhere near enough. Bringing a finger to the corner of his own mouth, Michel lifted it upward with exaggerated cheer.

“Like this—pull the corners up farther! Eeee!”

“…Eee.”

Kaidan opened his mouth a bit wider, producing an awkward smile upon his face. This, it seemed, was enough for Michel; he grinned brightly in return, his expression far warmer and more genuine than any forced smile.

“Perfect. Keep that face all the way there.”

Michel gave Kaidan a gentle push between the shoulder blades. It wasn’t strong—but more than enough to set him stepping forward.

“Go on, now. You can do it!”

When Kaidan glanced back, Michel’s small fist was clenched in a gesture of determination. His sooty, disheveled face could not dull the sparkle in his eyes—they shone as brightly as ever.

Turning forward once more, Kaidan saw Jared still seated alone in the distance.

His throat felt oddly dry, and he swallowed a small mouthful of saliva. Slowly, Kaidan walked toward him, carrying in his hands the two warm bowls of soup.