Voyages of the Flying Dragon

by Ben Chandler

  As the echoes of her words died, Heidi collapsed. Missy wasn’t sure if it was because the captain had somehow followed the conversation, or if it was just his well-trained reflexes, but he caught her before she hit the ground.

  ‘Ajat Freyrsson has heard your words, great Magni,’ said the duke, his voice trembling. He rose to kneel on one knee. ‘I will do as you command and prepare the whole of Heiligland to meet the Demon threat.’

  Missy nodded as regally as she could manage, but inside she was exulting. She had done it. Heiligland would ready itself for war. They would prepare to fight Ishullanu and his Demon army. The taste of victory was sweet.

  As much as Shujinko’s words about Lenis’s lack of training had rankled, Lenis had to admit the cabin boy was at least partly right. Lenis needed far more practice if he was ever going to be able to defend himself, much less defeat Shujinko in a fair fight. So once the Hiryū was docked and the passengers unloaded, Lenis went in search of Yami. He found the swordsman on the forecastle watching the happenings on the airdock. As Lenis climbed the steps to join him, he looked over the railing and saw that the people of Fronge were being led down the airdock.

  ‘Did they pull it off?’ Lenis asked without preamble.

  Yami nodded. ‘Captain Shishi, Lord Arthur, and your sister have gone with Heidi to see the duke.’

  ‘Oh.’ Lenis crossed his arms along the railing and rested his chin on top of them. ‘Do you ever get the feeling things have gone awry?’

  The swordsman chuckled. ‘I have felt that way often since I joined this crew. What in particular are you concerned about?’

  Lenis sighed and straightened. He turned so he could lean his back against the railing and stared out at the open sky beyond the Hiryū’s portside. ‘Everything,’ he muttered. ‘I don’t know. When we left Shinzō it was all so clear. We find Karasu. We get the stones. Suiteki’s power is unlocked. And then …’

  Lenis’s voice trailed away. He could feel the baby dragon’s contentment rising from below decks. Suiteki was in her nest by Hiroshi’s stove, her stomach full, and the warmth from the cook-fire seeping into her side. It took an effort to extricate himself from the dragon’s cosy, comfortable world, but Lenis managed it.

  ‘And then what?’ Yami prompted.

  The feeling of frustration came rushing back. ‘I don’t know! Defeat Ishullanu. Stop the Demons.’

  ‘Save the world?’

  Lenis stared at Yami’s immobile features. ‘Well, yeah, I guess.’

  ‘That is quite a heavy burden to carry, Lenis.’

  ‘You don’t think we can do it?’

  Yami laughed softly again and turned away from his scrutiny of the airdock to look into Lenis’s eyes. ‘What has changed?’

  ‘What?’

  ‘You said everything was clear when we left Shinzō. What is it that has changed?’ When Lenis didn’t reply, Yami went on. ‘We now know where Karasu is, or at least have a good idea of where he is heading. We will find him and retrieve the stones.’

  Yami was right. Nothing had changed. Their goals were the same. As the swordsman had said, if anything they were a little closer to achieving them. Then why did Lenis feel as if something had changed? Something important. It hadn’t felt the same since Kanu had come along. What had he done to the twins back on the jetty? He had brought them together, like when they had fought Ishullanu, but maybe that wasn’t what they were supposed to be after all. It was what the Demon King wanted, maybe even what the sea god Apsu wanted, but it wasn’t what Lenis wanted. If that was what it was going to take to ultimately defeat Ishullanu, he wasn’t sure he could do it.

  And something was happening to his sister. She was leaning more often on the Quillblade, allowing it to take more and more of her away. Every time Missy used it he felt a bit of her slip away from him, and there was nothing he could do about it. Not while she was intent on this ridiculous farce with that Heiliglander girl. There was something else there, too – he wasn’t ready to deal with it yet. Why hadn’t Missy sought him out while he had been trapped on board Karasu’s airship?

  ‘Would you like to hear about the origins of Zenaku?’ Yami asked suddenly.

  ‘Zenaku?’ Lenis asked. ‘What’s that?’

  Yami drew his sword out of his sheath. The black blade came free silently, with not even the slightest rasp of metal. ‘This is Zenaku. My family sword.’

  Lenis had never examined the weapon up close before. He had seen Yami use it and had wondered how it could pass through flesh but deflect blades. As he looked at it now, he saw that it didn’t reflect any light. It was as though it wasn’t even made out of metal. Somehow, Lenis knew not to reach out to try to touch it.

  ‘It looks … odd,’ Lenis said at last.

  In one smooth motion, Yami sheathed Zenaku. He made a sort of grunting noise that almost could have been another laugh. ‘It is most definitely odd, Lenis. It is a Lilim.’

  ‘What?’

  ‘It is true. Although, I had never heard the term Lilim until I came aboard this airship. In Shinzō, we call them oni. Magicians summon them from the netherworld to do their bidding. Once, a long time ago, there was a master weapon-smith named Masamune. He forged bows that could be drawn by children, staves that would never break, and spears that would never dint. His swords were the stuff of legend, even before he died. He was a magician, and it was said he forged oni into the blades of his swords. The cost of such a weapon was unimaginable. He demanded payment not only in gold and jewels, but in the very souls of those who sought his services.’

  Lenis gulped. ‘Their souls?’

  ‘Zenaku has power beyond a normal sword. It takes on the properties of whoever wields it. When I draw the blade –’ he drew Zenaku again and slashed through the air before returning it to its sheath ‘– it takes on the properties of shadow. The Yūrei clan train their warriors in stealth. When Gawayn holds Zenaku …’

  ‘It becomes a sword of light,’ Lenis finished, remembering the Kystian’s battle with the ocean Demon when the Hiryū had fled Yukitoshi.

  ‘Just so.’ Yami sighed. ‘I wonder, Lenis, if knowing the truth is worth the price of belief.’

  This took Lenis aback. ‘I’m not sure I understand what you mean.’

  ‘Since joining this crew I have discovered more about the Lilim. I have learned something of what they truly are. I once thought this blade –’ he rested his hand on Zenaku’s hilt ‘– was an onitai, a weapon forged with the soul of an oni.’

  ‘And now?’

  ‘There must have been a pact, of course,’ Yami said. ‘The Lilim who made that pact with my ancestor manifested in the physical world as this sword. When the pact was complete –’

  ‘When your ancestor was sacrificed?’ Lenis felt a shiver run through him.

  Yami nodded. ‘Yes. When he gave the last of himself to the Lilim, the sword remained.’

  ‘So now you know how the blade was really forged.’

  Yami nodded.

  ‘But Zenaku itself hasn’t changed.’

  ‘The sword itself is as it ever was, Lenis, but my idea of it is no longer the same. My belief in Zenaku is what has changed. This sword has not left my side since my father entrusted it to me, but I had no idea of its true nature. None of my ancestors knew, except perhaps for the one who sold his soul to Masamune. If I could be so mistaken about Zenaku’s nature, what else may I have misjudged?’

  ‘Your curse.’ Lenis knew it was true before he even said it.

  Yami nodded again. ‘I believed myself cursed by an oni, by a creature of the netherworld. But if Bakeneko is just another Lilim, then why did she curse me? How? Did she once make a pact with Gawayn? Does his soul now belong to her? And mine to Zenaku?’

  They fell into silence. Lenis marvelled that Yami was being so open with him, that he trusted Lenis enough to share his doubts. He thought about what he knew of Bakeneko, the Lilim who had cursed Yami all those years ago. She was bonded to the Emperor. Was that it? Was that the connection?
Maybe it wasn’t Bakeneko who wanted to curse Yami but Emperor Botanichi. Though why would the Emperor of Shinzō want to do that?

  ‘Show me your technique,’ Yami said.

  The abrupt change in direction left Lenis at a loss. A moment ago Yami had been confiding in him, and now he was asking for Lenis to demonstrate his form? Yami moved away from the railing. Lenis shook his head and followed. This was why he had come looking for Yami, after all. Whatever had elicited the swordsman’s confidence had vanished as quickly as it had come. He was once more his usual closed self.

  When Lenis was in the centre of the forecastle he planted his feet squarely on the deck. He took a deep breath and let it out slowly as he straightened his spine and placed his arms into the neutral position.

  ‘Begin,’ Yami commanded, and Lenis moved into the first defensive stance and on into the second. As his body flowed from defensive positions to attack postures, his arms moving in steady, sweeping movements and his weight shifting from foot to foot as he manoeuvred around the foredeck, Lenis’s mind slowed. The constant churning that always occupied it quieted and stilled almost completely, waking only when Yami moved in to correct the position of his various body parts.

  ‘You have not been practising,’ Yami noted as Lenis settled back into the neutral position. It was a statement, not a question.

  Lenis bit back the excuse that jumped to his lips. Yami wasn’t Shujinko. Where the cabin boy enjoyed pointing out Lenis’s faults, his teacher only did so to help Lenis learn from his mistakes. ‘No, sir.’

  Yami passed no judgements. He moved back out of the way. ‘Again.’

  So Lenis went through the forms Yami had taught him for a second time, and then a third. By the fourth attempt Lenis needed almost no correcting, for his mind knew the forms even if his body wasn’t entirely used to them yet.

  ‘You have improved,’ Yami said as Lenis finished his sixth set of movements.

  Lenis nodded. His body ached as his muscles readjusted to the unpractised actions. He never would have imagined moving so slowly could tire you out, but he felt as though he’d been working all day. His body was sore, the exercises reawakening dormant bruises and the pain in his side, but his head felt clear. For the first time since Fronge, Lenis felt calm.

  ‘Come,’ Yami said. ‘Attack me.’

  Lenis couldn’t stop a grin from spreading across his face. Finally he would get to spar with Yami instead of Shujinko. His first strike was aimed squarely at Yami’s chest. The swordsman stopped it with a forearm, moving so fast Lenis’s eyes couldn’t register the block, and then Yami grabbed Lenis’s wrist and used his own momentum to pull him off balance. As Lenis was dragged forwards, Yami thrust up with his other arm, his fist stopping just before it connected with Lenis’s chin. He helped Lenis regain his footing.

  ‘Again,’ Yami commanded, and Lenis tried the same move. Yami countered it the same way. ‘Again.’

  Lenis was already breathing hard. He had to move faster. He had to find a way to move in under the block, or maybe go around it, or maybe –

  This time Yami’s fist tapped his chin, ever so lightly. The swordsman held him where he was and reached up to poke Lenis’s forehead. ‘Stop thinking.’

  Lenis nodded and tried again. And again. Each time, the tap on his chin grew a little harder, his own movements a little slower.

  Finally, Lenis threw his hands up in the air. ‘I can’t do it! I’m not fast enough!’

  Yami smiled, but where the same smile on Shujinko’s lips would be mocking, Yami’s was a sign of his pleasure. ‘Correct. Is your arm sore?’ Lenis nodded. ‘Good. With each blow, your muscles are working. The more they work, the stronger and faster they become.’

  ‘They don’t feel stronger,’ Lenis noted, rubbing his forearm, ‘and they certainly aren’t faster.’

  ‘In time,’ Yami told him. ‘How are your ribs?’

  ‘Okay,’ Lenis lied. The pain in his side was growing stronger, sharper, but he didn’t want to stop now.

  Yami nodded. ‘Again.’

  Lenis focused all of his energy into his arm and swung as hard as he could. Yami blocked him easily.

  ‘Strike faster, not harder,’ Yami told him.

  Lenis had no idea how to do that, but he tried anyway, only to be blocked again. ‘I don’t understand, Yami. What’s the point of just mindlessly trying to punch you? I’m never going to hit you.’

  ‘We are toning your body, Lenis.’ Yami shifted his stance. ‘Try and block me.’ Yami punched him right in the stomach.

  Lenis doubled over. His ribs sliced into his side. It had been a hard hit. ‘Ow!’

  ‘Again.’

  At Yami’s word, Lenis instinctively swept his arm up wildly to try and block the incoming blow. His arm connected with Yami’s and pride welled up within him. He’d done it! Then Yami struck again, and this time Lenis was too slow.

  ‘Focus,’ Yami rebuked him, and for the next few minutes Lenis swept his arm up to block until it grew so tired he could barely lift it, but something inside made him throw his arm up anyway, even if it was little more than a spasm of movement. Sometimes Yami hit him and it hurt. Other times he blocked Yami’s fist, but the swordsman ended up hitting him anyway, and that hurt too. And every once in a while, Lenis actually blocked the blow.

  ‘Good,’ Yami said eventually, and Lenis sighed, relieved to be finished for the day. ‘Now, the other side.’

  It turned out Lenis’s left side was much weaker and slower than his right, and he got hit with greater frequency. But his damaged ribs were on the other side of his body, so at least they didn’t pain him as much this time around. When he switched to left-hand punches, it was all Lenis could do to lift his arm, let alone put any force behind his strikes.

  ‘Good,’ Yami said again after about an hour of blocking and striking.

  The sun had already set. Lucis had come up on deck and curled up on the railing, and it was by her light that they were practising. Lenis’s arms ached, and his chest, side, and stomach hurt from the punishment Yami had dealt him. If anything, his body was worse than after a training session with Shujinko, but overall Lenis felt better. He felt as though he had really achieved something.

  But Yami wasn’t finished with him yet. He went from basic strikes and blocks to teaching Lenis how to grab his opponent’s arm, just as Yami had done earlier. From this technique, Lenis learned how to pull an opponent forwards and off guard, against his strong desire to push them away from him, and also how to jab the opponent’s chin.

  And then, when Lenis felt as though he could do no more and Lucis had begun yawning from her perch on the railing, Yami taught him what to do if you had been pulled off guard and there was a fist coming for your chin. Yami showed him that you had to lunge forwards, even though your body instinctively tried to pull back against your opponent’s leverage, and then you sort of twisted your body a bit so your front leg was behind their leg, and if you did it right you could counterattack with your free hand. Of course, if you did it wrong your opponent could also twist and throw you over their shoulder. Lenis only got to try it once. Yami recognised immediately that this particular exercise was too hard on Lenis’s ribs and put a stop to it.

  When the ordeal was over, Yami made him go through his forms again. He said it was to make sure his body didn’t seize up after the training, but at that point Lenis was convinced beyond all reason that it was just a fresh wave of torture.

  Finally, after Yami had excused him and Lenis had thanked his teacher for the lesson, Lenis was able to stagger below decks. He was in more pain than he had ever been in before, even counting the time he had burned and bruised his body during the Hiryū’s escape from Yukitoshi, but he also felt strangely euphoric. The frustration that had plagued him for the past couple of days was gone. He was too tired to dwell on it.

  ‘What happened to you?’ Hiroshi asked as Lenis entered the galley. The cook picked up a handful of what he was chopping and dumped it into his pot.

&nbs
p; ‘Training.’ It came out as a mumble, and Lenis drew in a deep breath and tried again. ‘Training.’

  ‘Good lad!’ Hiroshi laughed. ‘Training is dedication, I tell you. Soon you’ll be looking back and thinking, “What a weakling I was!” Don’t you doubt it.’

  Lenis nodded, too tired to try and form any more words. Suddenly he felt dizzy, so he sat down on the nearest chair and cupped his head in his hands. Nausea rose up in him, and he felt as if he was going to faint. He didn’t even flinch as Suiteki ran up his leg and began nipping at his fingers.

  Hiroshi’s laughter drew closer and there was a small thud as the cook placed something on the table in front of him. ‘Here, get that into you.’

  Lenis peeled open his eyes and lowered his hands as Suiteki stopped biting him to sniff the contents of the bowl. For a moment his vision turned white, but then he caught the scent of noodle soup, or perhaps it was Suiteki’s sudden craving for savoury things rubbing off on him, and his stomach growled. His head stopped spinning and his vision cleared. Gently, in case any sudden movement brought back the dizziness, Lenis picked up his spoon and started eating around Suiteki, who watched his movements closely with her glinting dragon eyes so she could dip her head into the bowl when he wasn’t looking. He didn’t mind. There was something about their shared hunger and the satisfaction in seeing it fed that revived him as much as the food itself. Together, they devoured the noodle soup Hiroshi had brought them.