Circle of Shadows (Circle of Shadows, #1)(31)

“Yes. And the Ceremony of Two Hundred Hearts.” Sora fought the dizzying sensation of the ground giving way beneath her feet. Prince Gin was tapping people to become his blood sacrifices to Zomuri, so that he would be granted the right to pursue the Evermore. Two hundred men, women, and children, who would cut out their own hearts and offer them to the god, all in the name of glory.

Sora grabbed onto a nearby vine to steady herself.

The woman blinked at them, as if she’d forgotten what Sora and Daemon had been asking her about. “Hey-o, did you say you were tourists? You really should visit the Paro Bakery. They have the most divine persimmon twists, especially if you can get them straight out of the fryer. I think I might go see the baker right now. Would you like to join me?”

“Um, no thank you,” Sora said.

The woman smiled vacantly and drifted off like dandelion seed in the wind, murmuring to herself about persimmon twists.

“Should we try to figure out who all the ‘Hearts’ are here and tie them up or something?” Daemon asked.

Sora shook her head. “We don’t have time. We need to get to the Society outpost to see if the taigas really are gone, and to send a message to the Citadel.”

A man with an ax pushed through the vines on the other side of the street and began crossing the road toward them. But as soon as he saw Sora’s and Daemon’s uniforms, he veered back to the other side of the street and disappeared behind the flower curtain through which he’d come.

The hairs on Sora’s arm stood up. “I don’t like the feeling of this,” she said.

“We’ll find the Society outpost ourselves,” Daemon said. “Paro Village is small. A black building can’t be hard to find among all this green.”

They made their way through town, practically swimming as they pushed aside armfuls of vine. They almost collided with several more people, but again, as soon as their uniforms came into view, the people quickly changed direction.

Sora and Daemon reached the end of the main street and nudged their way through a particularly dense curtain of vines. There was nothing but steep mountain ahead of them.

“I guess the Society building isn’t as easy to find as I thought,” Daemon said, kicking at the rocks at his feet.

But Sora reached over and touched his arm. “Look up.”

Above them, platforms spanned the arms of half a dozen trees. A series of black buildings with black thatched roofs traversed them.

“It’s a tenderfoot’s dream post,” Daemon said, staring in wonder at what was essentially a giant treehouse. A very well-constructed one. The Society outpost here was as unique as the rest of Paro Village.

At that moment, a little face popped up in one of the open windows. “Oh no, it’s the enemy!” he cried out. “Sound the alarm!”

A handful of other children peeked out from various windows. They were just boys and girls playing. Real tenderfoots all lived and trained at the Citadel. But where were the taiga warriors who were supposed to be here? They wouldn’t have let their post be overrun like this.

“Attack!” one of the children yelled.

Acorns hailed down at Sora and Daemon. “Stop!” Sora shouted. “We’re taigas!”

“It’s the enemy! Empress Aki’s taigas are here!” the first boy cried. “Show no mercy!”

The enemy?

More acorns.

“Stand down!” Daemon yelled. “We must speak to the taiga warriors and send a message to the Citadel.”

“The dragonflies are all dead!” a girl from the highest platform shouted. She whirled to the other children. “Keep fighting, everybody!”

A storm of rocks pummeled down from the treehouse this time. They were a lot harder than acorns.

“This is ridiculous,” Sora said, as she ran for cover. Daemon was right behind her. They plowed through the curtain of greenery that had initially blocked their view of the outpost.

When they were shielded from the acorns and rocks, Daemon said, “What in all hells is going on here?”

Sora’s skin crawled as if there were ants beneath the surface. Where had the Paro Village taigas gone in the short span of days between when they sent the dragonfly to the Citadel and now? And why were the people here so fiercely dedicated to Prince Gin?

Unfortunately, there didn’t seem to be a way to get any of that information from here.

“Come on,” Sora said, heading back toward their horses.

“Where are we going?” Daemon asked, falling into step beside her.

“Kaede City.” It was south, on the tiger’s leg of Kichona. They’d be able to send off a message to the Citadel. Sand Mine was technically the closer Society outpost, but it was difficult to get to. So Sora chose Kaede City. “Hopefully Prince Gin hasn’t been there already too.”





Chapter Nineteen


What do you think Fairy and Broomstick are up to right now?” Sora asked as they rode along a dirt road. They were halfway to Kaede City and a long way from the Citadel. She was really beginning to miss their friends.

“Fairy has probably accidentally gassed the girls’ dormitory a couple times with experiments gone awry, and Broomstick might have blown another hole in the wall of his room.”

Sora smiled, but then grew serious again. “Do you think they’re worried about us?”