Six Crimson Cranes

The next morning, Shiori asks Mrs. Dainan for money, but the latter strikes her and threatens to sell her to a brothel. A sentinel arrives at the inn, recruited to search for the royal children. Despite Shiori’s nosiness, the sentinel is kind and compliments her soup. That evening, Shiori rifles through his belongings, searching for money. She finds her slipper (which she threw at swans in Chapter 8), and an A’landan letter discussing the poison Four Breaths, the missing royal children, and a plan to meet with the Wolf. The sentinel catches Shiori snooping but does not punish her. She tries to write her name, but invisible serpents warn her against it. She mimes out that she needs money to leave the island, and he gives her a silver coin.

A second sentinel arrives at the inn the next morning while Shiori makes soup, threatening Mrs. Dainan and the other guests. When he notices Shiori, he hits her head with his sword and accuses her of being a demon. The first sentinel defends her, and from their exchange, she realizes the two are cousins and that the second sentinel is Lord Takkan, her betrothed. Takkan has arrived to take his cousin back to Iro, and Shiori declines the cousin’s offer to bring her with them. Before the cousin departs, he offers Shiori a charm with the Bushian crest (which allows access to Castle Bushian) and relinquishes his dagger at her request. Shiori prepares some supplies to leave, pondering the kind sentinel’s name.

With her money, Shiori buys a boat and heads south. She tries to summon Seryu to no avail and spends nine days at sea folding kelp into cranes. Finally, on Kiata’s shores, Kiki acts as a translator for the forest animals and informs Shiori that the birds have not seen her crane-brothers. Shiori decides to row down the Baiyun River, where a beaver warns her and Kiki of danger. Just as Shiori is about to tumble over a waterfall, her brothers swoop down and save her.

Shiori’s brothers drop her off at their mountain cave. Each night, they painfully transform into their human forms again, which can be dangerous if they are mid-flight. Everyone is excited to see her, except for Reiji, who blames their misfortunes on Shiori and her magic. He eventually calms down, and the siblings try to celebrate their reunion despite the melancholic mood. The next day, the brothers return with supplies, and Shiori writes them questions in the mud. The brothers found out that Raikama’s magic is powered by a dragon pearl, and Shiori has to steal it to defeat her and break their curses.

The brothers met an A’landan enchanter named Master Tsring, who explained what they must do to defeat Raikama. On Mount Rayuna, in the middle of the Taijin Sea, Shiori will have to collect a legendary plant called starstroke, and then weave a net from the fibers. The enchanter gave the brothers an enchanted satchel of walnut wood to collect the starstroke and requests the net after they use it in exchange for his help.

Shiori explains the true reason she is forbidden to speak, and the brothers finally tell her the last step of breaking the curse: Once she secures the dragon pearl, she has to speak Raikama’s true name, meaning one of her brothers will die. The brothers are all willing to make this sacrifice and are additionally motivated to break the curse now that Kiata is at war with A’landi. Shiori recalls the information she read in the kind sentinel’s secret letter and learns that the Wolf is a “treacherous” enchanter bound to the leader of northern A’landi.

The brothers transport Shiori in a basket to Mount Rayuna, a volcano protected by the Dragon King. Shiori convinces her brothers to let her summit the volcano alone, so as to not put them at risk too. As she approaches a clump of starstroke, a plant created by the gods to control dragons’ power, Shiori’s dragon pearl fragment causes her immense pain. Despite the excruciating pain of pulling out the plants, Shiori is motivated by saving her father and brothers as well as defeating Raikama.

Seryu arrives and advises Shiori to leave the mountain, and Shiori telepathically explains why she needs starstroke. He concludes that Raikama’s dragon pearl must be stolen and promises to distract his grandfather to allow Shiori to leave the mountain safely.

Shiori’s crane-brothers rescue Shiori from a landslide, and they realize the Dragon King, King Nazayun, is after the stolen starstroke. He summons a terrible storm as the siblings fly across the sea, but Shiori convinces her brothers to drop her onto the dragon’s head. She telepathically explains to Nazayun why she needs the starstroke, and reveals her own sliver of dragon pearl, promising to return the nettles when they defeat Raikama.

Nazayun dives into the surrounding sea, allowing the brothers to catch Shiori in their basket and fly to safety. With dusk approaching, Shiori sends her fastest brother, Benkai, to shore with the satchel of starstroke. The other brothers start to transform while still flying over the sea, crashing into the water with Shiori. They all survive the fall and reunite on the shore, where they notice how wounded Shiori’s hands are from the starstroke. For the first time, they all bow to her with respect. Shiori looks up at the night sky to identify any familiar constellations, and sees the Crane, which comprises seven stars—a symbol for the seven siblings.

The siblings keep themselves busy in the cave that winter, making plans for defeating Raikama and teaching Shiori how to fight. While the brothers are away during the day, Shiori figures out how to transform the starstroke into workable material, and practices holding them to toughen her hands. The brothers decide to spend a week in the South to learn more about Raikama’s past, and forbid Shiori from meeting Seryu or leaving the cave. However, Shiori immediately heads for a river to summon Seryu. While waiting, a snake addresses Shiori and warns her “not to interfere with [Raikama’s] spell,” because “there are events in motion [she does] not understand” (174). As she flees the snake, Shiori stumbles over a dead body. Sentinels attack Shiori, and she recognizes the leader as Takkan, but wearing different armor.

“Takkan” again accuses Shiori of being a demon and asks where Takkan is. His fellow soldiers refer to him as Hasege, and Shiori realizes that the kind sentinel was the true Takkan, who concealed his identity. Shiori tries to escape, but Hasege captures her when he sees that she has Takkan’s dagger. Another soldier recognizes the emblem that grants her safe passage into Castle Bushian, but Hasege accuses Shiori of stealing it and knocks her unconscious.