Tatsu the Dragon. Helen Van Aken

Tatsu saw a white-robed priest hurrying from man to man lighting the pine torches with a wax candle that burned with a flame said to have been brought down from a fire in the shrine on the mountain top that had been burning for a thousand years.

      The noblemen's torch spluttered and coughed, then blazed and shot fireworks like all the other torches carried by young men and old.

      "Yoi! Yoi! Yoi-no-yoi! Yoi-no-yoi!" shouted the runners, sprinting along the hard-earth pavement in time to the weird rhythm.

      Tatsu wondered what Yoi-no-yoi meant. Maybe it didn't mean anything—just showed how excited the runners were.

      Soon the whole curving street that bordered the seashore was a mad lane of fire. The flames leapt and snapped as the torches trailed sparks. The sharp odor of pitch filled the air. The procession had started. Let the demons beware!

      Tatsu the Fire Demon

      Tatsu sat with Kiku on the steps of the temple where he had a wonderful view of all the proceedings. His dragon blood boiled with excitement as he watched the waving torches and heard the shouting. But as he saw the leaping flames he kept remembering the wizard balloon man's words, "Beware of fire!" It was better to watch in safety from the temple steps than to burn to a charred rag.

      But Kiku's patience was short. Why should she, the daughter of a Daimyo, sit tamely on the temple steps just because she was a girl?

      "Come on, Tatsu. We're going to get into the fun. We haven't a torch, but we can run."

      "I can't run because I haven't any legs."