Voyages of the Flying Dragon

by Ben Chandler

  ‘No sign of her,’ Andrea called out.

  ‘And the Demon Lord?’ the captain asked.

  ‘No sign yet. Whatever Lenis hit him with got him good.’

  The captain looked down at Lenis. ‘Mister Clemens?’

  Lenis took a shaky breath. ‘I –’

  ‘Spoke too soon!’ Andrea shouted. ‘He must be right below us, hiding himself beneath the airship. I just caught sight of a wingtip. He’s rising fast!’

  ‘Mister Clemens, can you get us away from here?’ the captain asked.

  Lenis nodded. ‘Yes, sir. You all better hold onto something.’

  ‘He’s actually giving us warning this time!’ Lenis heard Kenji shout, but he was already running across the deck. At the top of the stairs Lenis reached out and grabbed the railing before leaping the rest of the way down. He dashed into the engine room and scooped up Ignis as he passed the Bestia hutch. The rest of the Bestia crowded around Suiteki, pressing her down and back as she tried to wriggle out of their protective huddle. She kept crying out, but Lenis didn’t have time to stop and comfort her.

  He moved around to the other side of the engine block. ‘Here we go again, boy!’

  Ignis launched himself into the second compartment and was ready to go before Lenis closed the hatch. He rapped on the outside of it. ‘Hold on, Ignis.’ He forced himself to slow down and adjust the necessary levers, preparing the engines for the combined powers of Aeris and Ignis. Air and fire. He could feel Etana rising up beneath him and tried not to think that there was only the hull of the airship between him and the Demon Lord. Suiteki’s panic pushed against Lenis, and as much as he wanted to ease her fear he had to focus first on getting the engine settings right.

  When everything was ready, he pulled the second ignition lever and the Hiryū surged forwards. Lenis steadied himself just as another detonation of air shattered into the rear of the airship. At this point Etana’s fury did more to speed them on their way than to slow them down. The Demon Lord’s cries rang out behind them but faded as the Hiryū sped onwards, and Lenis was finally able to run to Suiteki, snatch her out of the Bestia hutch, and wrap her in the protective folds of his robe. He crouched down and wrapped his arms around himself and the baby Totem as Aqua, Atrum, Lucis, and Terra jumped out of their hutch to gather around them, mewing gently to reassure Suiteki that they were there, that she was safe.

  Lenis could feel Suiteki’s tiny heart fluttering through her ribs, right against his own. ‘It’s all right, baby girl, it’s all right,’ he kept repeating, as much to reassure himself as her or his Bestia.

  For half an hour, everyone was on high alert. Missy sat in her chair on the bridge and scanned the surrounding sky, but Etana’s pursuit had fallen away behind them almost as soon as Lenis had engaged the dual-Bestia engines. The encounter with the Demon Lord had reminded them all of how dangerous the Wastelands could be, even if you were flying high above them. Even so, after a while the crew began to relax. Hands were taken off sword hilts. Eyes wandered from scanning their wake.

  Kenji went to see the doctor. He hadn’t said anything, but he’d clearly hurt his shoulder badly. Shortly after he left the bridge, Missy heard his cry reverberating up through the airship’s hull. Then nothing.

  ‘The doctor has most likely reset his shoulder,’ Tenjin said into the silence.

  A few minutes later, after Missy had reopened the book she and Tenjin had been going through, Kenji reappeared, looking extremely pale.

  ‘Should you not be resting?’ the captain asked him.

  Kenji shook his head – once – and then answered in a series of grunts. ‘No time. Moving too fast. Need to find Haven.’

  Shujinko stepped forward and helped Kenji over to his map table.

  The captain turned to address Missy. ‘Miss Clemens, have you been able to contact the Geschichte?’

  She replied, ‘No, Captain. It’s as though they’ve disappeared.’

  Or fallen out of the sky, Missy thought. It was what they were all thinking, but no one said anything and so neither did she. Missy wondered how Andrea was handling things. She’d only just been reunited with her brother, and now …

  ‘They know where we are headed,’ the captain said. ‘Let us hope they meet us there.’

  Missy nodded and returned to her studies. She had been completely helpless when Etana had attacked. Her first instinct had been to grab the Quillblade, and she was glad it hadn’t been there for her to touch. She had vowed not to use it again until she could do so safely, and she was intent on sticking to her vow.

  Her determination remained firm, even though it seemed to be taking forever for her to learn how to read Shinzōn. This was a new frustration for her. Missy usually picked up languages so swiftly, but she was finding reading was completely different from speaking or listening. She constantly had to ask Tenjin what certain symbols were, even ones he had already tried to teach her. It was a little easier if she thought in Shinzōn while she read, rather than trying to translate into the common tongue, but her progress was still painfully slow.

  ‘What are you reading?’ Shujinko’s voice came from behind her shoulder.

  Missy snapped the book shut, her cheeks warming. ‘Nothing.’ And then, because she realised there was no point lying to him, ‘Just something Tenjin loaned me.’

  ‘It must be important.’

  Missy looked over her shoulder at the cabin boy. The very corners of his mouth were turned down, and his eyes had narrowed just like they had the last time they had spoken. Did he disapprove? It wasn’t like she was wasting her time. She was studying!

  ‘It’s so I can learn how to use the Quillblade properly.’ She heard the defensive note in her reply, looked back down at her desk, and began running a finger along the Shinzōn characters stamped into the cover of the book. Why should she even care what Shujinko thought about what she was doing, anyway?

  ‘That is good,’ the cabin boy replied. ‘Your brother should follow your example.’

  ‘What?’ It came out even sharper than she’d intended.

  Shujinko leaned past her to flick open the book’s cover and whispered, ‘Your brother claims he wants to be a warrior, but he makes any excuse to neglect his training.’

  Missy slammed the book shut again, nearly catching Shujinko’s fingers between the pages. The cabin boy snatched his hand back.

  ‘Leave Lenis alone,’ Missy whispered, self-consciously aware of how close their crewmates were. ‘He’s doing his best.’

  Shujinko made a noise in the back of his throat. ‘Now you are making excuses for him.’

  Missy swivelled in her chair to glare at him. ‘It isn’t like that!’ she hissed.

  Shujinko remained silent for a moment. When he spoke it was to change the subject. ‘Where are you from?’

  Missy turned around and clasped her hands over the book on her desk. ‘Pure Land.’

  ‘I know that much already,’ Shujinko pressed. ‘Where in Pure Land?’

  Missy wondered what difference it made to him. ‘I … we don’t know where we were born exactly, but we grew up in a place called Blue Lake.’

  Shujinko was silent again, and then said, ‘Ah, the Blue Lake iron refinery.’

  How could he possibly know that? Missy turned around to ask him, but the cabin boy had already returned to Kenji’s side. Shinzōn or not, he was one of the oddest boys Missy had ever met.

  Lenis had switched off the dual-Bestia system as the sun set. He left Ignis powering the airship so Aeris could take a break. Their progress had slowed down as a result, but the avian Bestia had been working hard ever since they had left Nochi. It was good to lie down with her on his chest in the crisp evening air. They were on the forecastle, and though the rain had stopped, the sky was still heavily overcast. It blocked out any stars, leaving Lenis and Aeris alone in the dark. She was curled up on his chest, asleep, the steady rhythm of her breathing lulling Lenis towards calm. The chill, fresh air was soothing after the muggy heat of the engine
room.

  The battle with Etana was still fresh in Lenis’s mind. Somehow, he had done it. He had driven the Demon Lord away. And he was able to do it without the use of a shintai. If he could only get strong enough, learn to master his powers, then they wouldn’t need to rely on the Totem any more. His sister wouldn’t need the Quillblade, and Suiteki wouldn’t need the stones of ebb and flow.

  They were close to their confrontation with Karasu now. The Shinzōn mercenary had had ample time to get ahead of them and reach Kolga’s temple. Chances were he now had both stones. If only Lenis understood his empathy better, if only he was a great warrior like Captain Shishi or Yami.

  Lenis drifted closer to sleep. His thoughts turned to Kanu. The boy in the ice. The Titan. Kanu was strong. He had shown that when he tried to defend Lenis back beneath Apsu’s temple, and he had forced Lenis and his sister to merge. A shiver ran through Lenis, causing Aeris to stir. He reached up to pat her back in long, soft strokes until she settled.

  Lenis tried to think of something else, but he knew it was no use. He was going to have to face this once and for all. He and his sister were one. He shivered again. They had come together so effortlessly, so naturally, blending their minds into a single entity, but afterwards … it had felt so wrong. It seemed that Ishullanu had been right about them. Lenis couldn’t hide from that any more. The Demon King had claimed that he and his sister weren’t human, that they weren’t meant to be human. It was only due to Ishullanu’s intervention that they were even partly human, but there was a part of each of them that wasn’t. And that part was what connected them. Missy’s telepathy. Lenis’s empathy. They had always believed that they were just gifted Bestia Keepers. Now Lenis knew the truth, and he hated it. He wasn’t gifted. He was a freak. Half human. Half something else. Half of something else. He would never be whole. Not really, and he couldn’t bear the thought of what it would take to bring the two halves of whatever it was the Clemens twins were together.

  Just then, something tingled at the edge of Lenis’s awareness. He dismissed it as some stray emotion from one of the crew. It certainly felt like one of them. It brushed against his senses again. He sat bolt upright. Aeris mewed in protest and jumped off him. The Bestia glared at Lenis before retreating below decks. It came again. Stronger this time. Lenis felt his heartbeat quicken. It was a sensation so familiar that it stirred a deep longing in him. But it was impossible. Then it was there, all around him, and he knew it was true. It was real.

  ‘Namei,’ Lenis whispered the cabin girl’s name, frightened of dissipating the sense of his lost friend’s spirit. It grew stronger. His conviction that it was truly her solidified. Soon it felt as if she was standing right next to him. But how? Namei was dead and gone. Ignis had burned her body to ashes.

  Lenis felt a tingling in his palms. He looked down. They were both pressed flat on the deck. He had been lying in the middle of Namei’s bloodstain and was now sitting up. He marvelled at the sensations of Namei sweeping through him, gliding over him, engulfing him. It was impossible, but it was happening. His senses had never been wrong before. Namei was here, on the Hiryū. She was a part of the airship. Here at last was the connection he had been groping after when Etana had attacked. Here was the bond. Namei. The Heart of the Hiryū. As real and solid as if she were still alive.

  ‘What are you doing?’

  Shujinko’s words crashed into Lenis like a blow, whipping away the sense of Namei’s soul. The last vestiges of her were overwhelmed in the all too familiar sting of the cabin boy’s contempt. Lenis felt fury ignite deep inside him.

  ‘Leave me alone,’ he growled, not trusting himself to look at Shujinko.

  ‘You should be training.’

  ‘Leave me alone.’ Lenis’s teeth were clenched. He could feel tears already falling from the corners of his eyes.

  ‘What’s the matter?’

  ‘I said leave me alone!’ Lenis shouted.

  He stood and rounded on Shujinko in one swift movement, unwittingly unleashing his fury at the same time. The cabin boy took the blow squarely in the middle of his chest and was knocked back down the stairway to the deck. Lenis heard him hit, hard, and then someone was shouting, but he didn’t care enough to figure out who it was. There was a roaring in his ears like a strong wind. His clenched fists were extended before him. Everything around him was etched into sharp relief.

  The cabin boy had gone too far this time. He had taken Namei away from him, just as Lord Butin had done all those weeks ago. Lenis was suddenly aware of a low growling emanating from somewhere. It took him a moment to realise it was coming from him. He moved to the top of the stairs and then took the steps, one by one. Shujinko was scrambling away from him across the deck. The boy’s fear was palpable. It had always been there, lingering under the surface, but it was stronger now, and it wasn’t reserved for heights.

  And then Shujinko said the most stupid thing he could have said. ‘What are you?’

  Lenis screamed a bestial cry and leapt on the cabin boy, battering him with his fists. In a fair fight, Shujinko would have been able to counter such a clumsy attack. A part of Lenis knew this, but in his rage Lenis wasn’t fighting fair. He lashed out at the boy with every insecurity, every ounce of fear that the cabin boy possessed. Lenis’s blows were fuelled by a controlled fury. His mind, that part of it that never quite slept, that always watched and analysed and weighed outcomes, found every hole in the cabin boy’s hastily erected defences, every weakness in his guard. He saw every counter before it happened. Lenis felt the satisfying crunch of damage being done but, strangely, felt no pain himself.

  ‘Lenis, that’s enough!’

  He looked up and saw his sister standing over him.

  Missy was horrified. She’d never seen him lose it like this before. It was so unlike him. ‘Lenis, that’s enough!’

  It was like he didn’t even recognise her.

  ‘Leave me alone!’ he barked.

  ‘Lenis, look at yourself!’ She took a step closer but stayed out of reach. She glanced down at Shujinko. He was unconscious but still breathing. The crew had formed a ring around them. They were all staring at her brother. Lenis snarled, baring his teeth at Missy. ‘What’s wrong with you?’

  Lenis’s chest was heaving. His fingers were curled into claws. He was kneeling over Shujinko’s prone form. There was spittle at the corners of his mouth. Missy locked eyes with him. There was something deeply wrong there. His eyes were wild, their pupils dilated. There was something savage about him. Bestial. Out of control. Missy knew what she had to do.

  ‘Bring me the Quillblade,’ she said to Kanu, not daring to break the stare she shared with her brother. It seemed to immobilise Lenis, and she couldn’t risk losing him again.

  ‘Miss Clemens, I –’

  ‘Please, Captain. Please.’ Missy could hear the pleading in her own voice. She hoped he could too. Kanu stepped into the ring of crewmembers, the Quillblade a limp feather in his arms. ‘Give it to Lenis, Kanu.’

  The Titan boy nodded and pressed the shintai into Lenis’s curled fingers. His hands twitched as he instinctively grasped the hilt. The weapon stiffened in his grip. Missy could hear its vibrations from across the deck. Slowly, intelligence returned to her brother’s eyes.

  Missy let out a pent-up breath. ‘Lenis, we were –’

  ‘Leave me alone.’ He spat the words out.

  ‘Lenis, what –’

  ‘You heard me.’

  The captain took a step forwards, his hands held out before him. ‘Mister Clemens –’

  Lenis didn’t even look in his direction. ‘Stay out of this.’ Several crewmembers gasped. Missy was shocked to her core. Lenis had never spoken to the captain, to any captain, like that. She couldn’t work out what was going on with her brother. Shujinko groaned suddenly at his feet. Lenis looked down at him, his mouth twisting cruelly.

  ‘Lenis!’ Missy was moving before she could stop herself. She reached out, over Shujinko, and grabbed Lenis’s wrist. Missy c
ould feel something moving just beneath his skin – the power of the Quillblade moving through his veins. ‘What are you doing? Why did you attack Shujinko?’

  Lenis laughed. It was a short and ugly sound. ‘You don’t know? I’ve had to put up with his disdain ever since he came on board. Do you know what it’s like to have to feel that? To have it always there, nagging at you?’

  Missy tightened her grip on him. Their faces were so close she could smell his ragged breath. ‘So you thought you’d beat him up? That’s a petty excuse, Lenis.’

  ‘He had it coming.’

  ‘No, he didn’t.’

  ‘You don’t know what he did!’

  Missy stopped herself from cringing away from his shout. ‘No, I don’t! But I know he took care of the Bestia while you were gone. Did you know that? He cared for them while you were away.’

  If she thought mentioning the Bestia would bring her brother to his senses, she had completely misjudged the situation. ‘While I was gone?’ Lenis laughed again. ‘Oh, yes, I remember. Tell me, Missy. Tell me why?’

  Missy hesitated. ‘Why what?’

  ‘Why didn’t you come for me?’

  ‘What? I couldn’t. You’re the only one who can fly the airship!’

  ‘You could have reached out to me. I could have told you what to do. For a telepath you don’t use your brain very much.’

  ‘Lenis, I –’

  ‘What? You had something more important to do? You left me up there!’

  ‘That wasn’t my fault! You were the one who wanted to sneak on board in the first place!’

  ‘So I got what I deserved?’

  ‘Lenis, no! That isn’t what I meant!’

  ‘You abandoned me!’

  ‘No, I didn’t! I did everything I could to come after you.’

  ‘Everything?’

  ‘I didn’t think of that, okay? And what about you? You were the one who ran away after what happened with Kanu!’