The Burning City (2 page)

C
OLDWATER

D
ARK
M
AN'S
C
UP
S
TREET

D
EAD
T
OWN

THE
T
ORONEXTI

L
ION'S
A
TTIC

S
TRAIGHT
S
TREET

A
NGLE
S
TREET

T
RAS
P
REETROR

A
RSHUR THE
M
AGNIFICENT

J
ACK
R
IGENLORD

E
TIARP

M
ANOCANE

S
ABRIOLOY

L
ATTAR

F
IREWOODS
T
OWN

W
ALUU
P
ORT

THE
H
EMP
R
OAD

M
OUNT
J
OY

P
ARADISE
V
ALLEY

S
TONE
N
EEDLES

G
ORMAN

G
OLDEN
V
ALLEY

L
AST
P
INES

M
ARSYL
T
OWN

O
RANGETOWN

C
OYOTE'S
D
EN

G
REAT
H
AWK
B
AY

S
POTTED
C
OYOTES

R
ORDRAY

B
LACK
K
ETTLE
(K
ETTLE
B
ELLY
)

N
UMBER
T
HREE

N
UMBER
F
OUR

H
AJ
F
ISHHAWK

R
UBY
F
ISHHAWK

O
RANGE
B
LOSSOM

B
ISON
C
LAN

M
IRIME

L
ONESOME
C
ROW

G
REATHAND:
the blacksmith

H
ICKAMORE

F
AWN

M
OUNTAIN
C
AT

S
TARFALL

R
UTTING
D
EER

T
WISTED
C
LOUD

S
TAG
R
AMPANT

R
OAD'S
E
ND

D
EAD
SEAL FLATS

G
RANITE
K
NOB

L
ONG
A
VENUE

N
ORTH
Q
UARTER

N
EW
C
ASTLE

H
IGH
P
INES

G
REAT
V
ALLEY

R
ORDRAY'S
A
TTIC

M
OUNT
C
ARLEM

W
ARBLER
F
LATS

D
RYLANDS

F
ARTHEST
L
AND

S
TONE
N
EEDLES

M
INTERL

C
ASTLE
M
INTERL

H
IP
H
IGH
S
PRING

V
EDASIRAS
R
ANGE

F
AIR
C
HANCE

THE
E
STATES

C
ARLEM
M
ARCLE

N
EO
W
RASELN

Q
UAKING
A
SPEN

THE
S
PRINGS

W
HANDALL
F
EATHERSNAKE

G
REEN
S
TONE

L
ARKFEATHERS

S
ABER
T
OOTH

C
HIEF
F
ARTHEST
L
AND

H
AWK IN
F
LIGHT

W
OLF
T
RIBE

M
OUNTAIN
C
AT

S
ESHMARLS THE
B
IRD

T
ERROR
B
IRDS

L
ILAC

W
HITECAP
M
OUNTAIN

P
UMA
T
RIBE

P
ASSENGER
P
IGEON

T
HONE

K
ING
T
RANIMEL

G
LINDA

D
REAM OF
F
LYING

W
HITE
L
IGHTNING

S
TONE
N
EEDLES
M
AN
(C
ATLONY
, T
UMBLEWEED
, H
ERMIT
)

H
IDDEN
S
PICE

C
LEVER
S
QUIRREL
(S
QUIRRELLY
)

L
URK
(N
OTHING
W
AS
S
EEN
)

S
TARFALL
R
OPEWALKER

F
IGHTING
C
AT
F
ISHHAWK

B
URNING
T
OWER

I
NSOLENT
L
IZARD

F
ALLEN
W
OLF

H
ALF
H
AND

E
GON
F
ORIGAFT

M
ASTER
P
EACEVOICE
W
ATERMAN

L
ORD
C
HIEF
W
ITNESS
Q
UINTANA

W
ITNESS
C
LERK
S
ANDRY

A
DZ
W
EAVER

F
UBGIRE

R
ONI

H
EROUL

F
IREGIFT

S
ILLY
R
ABBITS

S
ADESP

L
EATHERSMITH
M
ILLER
(S
MITTY
)

S
APPHIRE
C
ARPENTER

S
WABOTT

R
EBLAY OF
S
ILLY
R
ABBITS

H
EJAK

L
AGDRET

 

There was fire on Earth before the fire god came. There has always been fire. What Yangin-Atep gave to humankind was madness. Yangin-Atep's children will play with fire even after they burn their fingers.

It was only Yangin-Atep's joke, then and for unmeasured time after. But a greater god called down the great cold, and Yangin-Atep's joke came into its own. In the icy north people could not survive unless the fire god favored one of their number.

Cautious men and women never burned themselves twice; but their people died of the cold. Someone must tend the fire during the terrible winters. Twelve thousand years before the birth of Christ, when most of the gods had gone mythical and magic was fading from the world, Yangin-Atep's gift remained.

They burned the city when Whandall Placehold was two years old, and again when he was seven.

At seven he saw and understood more. The women waited with the children in the courtyard through a day and a night and another day. The day sky was black and red. The night sky glowed red and orange, dazzling and strange. Across the street a granary burned like a huge torch. Strangers trying to fight the fire made shadow pictures.

The Placehold men came home with what they'd gathered: shells, clothing, cookware, furniture, jewelry, magical items, a cauldron that would heat up by itself. The excitement was infectious. Men and women paired off and fought over the pairings.

And Pothefit went out again with Resalet, but only Resalet came back.

Afterward Whandall went with the other boys to watch the loggers cutting redwoods for the rebuilding.

The forest cupped Tep's Town like a hand. There were stories, but nobody could tell Whandall what was beyond the forest where redwoods were pillars big enough to support the sky, big enough to replace a dozen houses. The great trees stood well apart, each guarding its turf. Lesser vegetation gathered around the base of each redwood like a malevolent army.

The army had many weapons. Some plants bristled with daggers; some had burrs to anchor seeds in hair or flesh; some secreted poison; some would whip a child across the face with their branches.