by Ben Chandler
The others were staring at them, apparently stunned into silence. Lenis noticed the Bestia were all there, and they too were regarding him and the boy whose hand he still held.
‘Mashu?’ the boy repeated, and Lenis knew it was a question, even if he didn’t understand what it meant.
‘Rinjin?’ Karasu stammered from behind them. Lenis glanced over his shoulder. The mercenary had dropped to his knees.
‘Rrr-in-ja-in?’ The boy enunciated each of the syllables slowly, as if trying them out on his tongue for the first time.
‘Seisui?’ the captain asked.
Again, the boy repeated the word slowly. ‘Say-soo-ee?’
Lenis could feel the boy’s confusion. He wondered if Missy was trying to read his mind. Lenis looked quickly at his sister. Her face was blank and she hung limply in a blonde girl’s arms, mute evidence her soul had left her body.
Lenis turned back to the boy, knowing he wasn’t Seisui and suspecting he wasn’t Rinjin either. He didn’t feel like a Totem or a god. Still, it was worth a try. ‘Apsilla?’
The boy’s eyes went wide, the irises cycling from grey through green and back to blue. ‘Amaru la Apsilla.’ And then, more urgently, ‘Amaru la Apsilla!’
Lenis sensed the boy’s anxiety and tried to calm it. He sent waves of reassurance towards him. ‘It’s all right. Everything’s okay.’ He soothed him as he would a frightened Bestia, keeping his tone steady and gently wrapping him in calm.
Keep going, Lenis, Missy said suddenly into his mind. I think I’m getting close.
Yami stepped up behind him, so softly Lenis didn’t even notice him until he saw the swordsman wrap his own robe around the boy’s shoulders. It was odd to see Yami in nothing but a loincloth. It distracted him, and in that moment Karasu stepped forward and grabbed his shoulder.
‘You will not –’
The boy let go of Lenis’s arm and leapt at Karasu, so fast Lenis couldn’t follow the movement. The mercenary was caught off guard and fell back as the boy advanced, hands held forwards as though he was going to rip into Karasu with his nails, which, Lenis noticed, were extremely long and black.
Without thinking, Lenis grabbed the collar of Yami’s robe and pulled the boy back. Fast or not, he was no match for a fully armed Shinzōn swordsman. The boy complied without complaint, but the others were already in motion. Yami helped Lenis drag the boy back to where Missy was standing with the blonde girl. The captain and the Bestia moved forwards, forming a blockade across the chamber. It was only then that Lenis realised the ice pillar had vanished, leaving behind a curling strand of steam that rose up into the shadows above them.
In the confusion, Karasu had somehow managed to draw his imposing blade and held it level with the captain’s chest. In the restricted space of the chamber the bulky weapon was more hindrance than anything, but its length gave him far greater reach than Captain Shishi’s sword, and with that he had the advantage. ‘Give me the boy, Lord Shishi, and you shall have your stone.’
Lenis saw more of Karasu’s warriors through the doorway behind their leader. He wasn’t sure how many of them there were, but they could only enter the chamber a couple at a time and only then if Karasu got out of the way.
‘You know I will not do that,’ the captain said evenly. ‘Give the stone to me, you have –’
Lenis felt Terra’s power a moment before he released it. Missy gasped as the whole chamber shook. A second later a spear of rock thrust up from the ground in front of the captain’s feet, knocking Karasu’s sword aside. Another rose up beside it, and then two more. In the space of half a dozen heartbeats, rock divided the chamber from floor to ceiling, wall to wall, separating the adversaries.
Lenis looked to Terra. ‘How did –?’
Missy answered before he could even finish his question. ‘It was him. The boy. Kanu. He asked Terra to help.’ Clearly Missy had managed to read the boy’s mind.
‘He spoke to Terra? He’s a communicator?’
‘He’s more than that. I think –’
‘Enough,’ the captain cut her off. ‘We must go.’
‘But, Captain?’
‘No, Miss Clemens. We must hurry. It will take us most of the day to get back to Fronge. Karasu will be there sooner.’
Missy nodded and then bent her head to whisper to the girl holding her up.
Lenis looked over at the boy, who appeared even paler in Yami’s black robes. Missy had called him Kanu. She must have pulled his name out of his mind.
The boy was eyeing him too. ‘Mashu?’
Lenis sighed and nodded. ‘Mashu.’ Whatever that means.
Kanu suddenly smiled and looked much younger for it. His nails didn’t seem so long either and were more dark blue than black. His eyes were grey again, but Lenis also noticed his teeth were longer and sharper than those of a normal human.
Lenis’s stomach rumbled and his legs felt wobbly. He hadn’t eaten in almost a day, as far as he could figure. ‘I don’t suppose anyone has any food?’
No one did, so there was nothing for it but to begin the trek back to Fronge. Lenis hoped they could get there before Karasu.
Missy had never felt this tired before. She and her brother had embraced back in the chamber, and it was a relief to have him by her side again, but her body and mind were too worn out to take any real pleasure in his company. They were all tired, Missy knew. Lenis had to carry Atrum, who was breathing in short, shallow gasps, and Heidi seemed far too calm and composed for someone who had just encountered the man who had slaughtered her kin. Somehow, Missy had strengthened the wall in Heidi’s mind. It had probably saved the girl’s life, may even have saved all of them, but she felt bad about it all the same. It wasn’t up to her to fiddle around with other people’s thoughts, and there was no way to tell if she’d done any damage in the process. Not now. Not here. Maybe after she got some rest she could speak with the Heiliglander, try to explain, and then together they could see about taking the wall down. If Heidi even wanted it gone. Maybe she wouldn’t ever want to remember what Karasu had done to her. Not the details, at any rate.
The only one who seemed to be okay was the strange boy with the blue-black hair. Missy had managed to pluck his name out of his mind, or at least what she assumed was his name, but Kanu had been too confused for her to get a clear image of what he was thinking.
One thing had been perfectly clear, though. He had known the Clemens twins instantly. He somehow recognised them. Mashu, he had called them, but what did it mean? Was it just a coincidence that he had emerged from his icy cocoon as Missy and Lenis were brought together in the chamber? Surely he couldn’t have been waiting for them?
Missy felt a shudder run down her spine. It was too much effort to keep thinking. Whatever Kanu was, he wasn’t a threat to them. She saw the way he had lunged at Karasu when the mercenary had grabbed her brother, and the delight in his face when Lenis acknowledged the fact that he was Mashu, and again later when Missy had as well. Whatever Mashu meant, it was important to the boy.
Missy wanted to ask him about it. She wanted to talk to her brother about what had happened in the chamber, about how the Bestia had responded to the boy, and what Lenis believed Karasu was up to. But there would be time for that later, once they had returned to Fronge and gotten something to eat and some sleep. And after she had spoken with Heidi. And after they had dealt with Karasu.
The hours passed in a daze. Missy’s brain was numb, her mind frozen into inaction by lack of sleep. She barely noticed when they reached Terra’s tunnel and had to crawl back through. A part of her rejoiced at the fact they were almost home. Home? The word seemed to float through her thoughts. She liked the sound of it, the roundness of the word, and she loved that when she thought it she saw an image of the Hiryū.
They emerged from the mine into the afternoon sunlight so suddenly that Missy was blinded. There were people everywhere around them, all talking at once. Missy couldn’t separate thoughts from words. She blinked to try and avoid the brig
htness but found she couldn’t open her eyes again. She felt hands touching her gently, lifting her up. Familiar smells tickled her nose. Sweat, and smoke, and wool.
‘I think she’s already asleep.’
Missy felt the words vibrate under her cheek. It took her a moment to realise they were in Kystian.
Lenis was somewhere in the dark. He sensed he was safe, but many hands were grabbing at him, pulling him further into shadow, away from the glowing light of the torches. Something gripped his neck. Claws sank into his flesh …
Lenis gasped and woke up. ‘Suiteki!’
The baby dragon screeched in distress. She must have been sleeping on his chest and was startled as he fought his way out of his dream, clawing at him to keep from being thrown off. It took him only a moment to realise he was back in his bunk on the Hiryū, and another to satisfy himself that his Bestia were all nearby.
Atrum was curled up by his side. Lenis’s violent waking hadn’t disturbed him. That was a bad sign. The Bestia’s shivering had subsided, but Lenis could sense he was utterly exhausted. The others were fine, and their water dishes and food bowls were filled in their hutch. Hiroshi must have topped them up. The cook was slowly getting used to the Bestia’s dietary requirements, though he still had a tendency to put too much meat in their food.
Lenis lay back down. A bit of extra meat wouldn’t do them any harm after the ordeal they had just been through. Still, he knew he should get up and check on them. Besides, for all he knew, Karasu had visited some even more horrible punishment on the people of Fronge while he and the others were traipsing through the tunnels under the temple. Then there was the mystery of Kanu, the boy in the ice. Lenis wanted to talk with him, and for that he was going to need his sister.
Lenis coughed and felt a jab in his ribs. His nose was all blocked up, too. It appeared he hadn’t escaped his adventure unscathed after all. Everything just seemed too hard. He closed his eyes and went back to sleep.
Missy woke naturally, having dreamt of flying the Hiryū through the skies above Blue Lake. It was strangely soothing to return to her homeland as a free person, to fly above the place she had been enslaved, knowing she could leave whenever she chose. She allowed the calm to flow through her, relishing it, knowing it would soon leave her.
Eventually, she sat up and swung her legs over the side of her bunk. The thought of it made her smile. Her bunk. Her home. She was ravenous, but she knew that just down the corridor there would be food waiting for her. In short, Missy was in a good mood.
As expected, she found Hiroshi in the galley, pressing something into the middle of a ball of rice.
‘Morning, girl,’ the cook called out, throwing her what he had just been making.
‘Morning?’ Missy caught the rice ball, her heart suddenly sinking. ‘How long did I sleep?’
‘All night!’ The cook beamed at her. ‘And you looked like you needed it, I tell you. It’s still early, mind.’
‘What about Fronge and Karasu?’ So soon her mood had soured. There was just so much to worry about.
‘That Demon spawn hasn’t dared to show his face back here. As for Fronge,’ Hiroshi lowered his voice, ‘well, there’s not much left. Mark me, we’ll be ferrying the people off somewhere pretty soon. Not like the captain to leave people in this sort of state, I tell you. No food, you see.’
Missy nodded. She did see. It was early spring and whatever was left of the foodstuffs the people of Fronge had been surviving on over the winter had probably been destroyed in the fire. Karasu hadn’t attacked again, but if anything that only made her more nervous. Where was he, and what did he want? It was bad enough they had to worry about Lord Butin and the Demon King. They still had to find the mercenary and somehow get the stone from him.
‘You are awake.’
Shujinko was standing by the stairs leading to the forward hatch. He was wearing an apron like the one Hiroshi habitually wore, and he held a scrubbing brush in one hand and a bucket in the other.
Missy caught herself staring and said, ‘Yes, I’m awake.’
The cabin boy nodded. A few strands of hair had come loose from his tail and fallen across his face. He brushed at them with his forearm. ‘I think the captain wants to see you.’
‘Let her finish her breakfast in peace, young Shujinko,’ Hiroshi admonished. ‘Have you finished scrubbing the figurehead?’
The cabin boy blushed. He ducked his head to try and hide it, but it was all too apparent. Missy thought it made him look younger, closer to her own age. ‘Yes, Mister Hiroshi.’
‘And did you feed the Bestia?’
‘Yes.’
‘You didn’t wake young Lenis, did you?’
‘No, sir.’
‘Good! That boy needs all the rest he can get, let me tell you. He caught a cold or worse up in those mountains, if I’m any judge.’
Missy knew Shujinko wasn’t happy with his role on the Hiryū. She was vaguely aware he was much higher in the Kami clan’s hierarchy than Namei had been. Namei had wanted nothing more than to fly on an airship, and though it had cost her life, she had been happy to be the Hiryū’s cabin girl. Missy got the impression that Shujinko was more used to giving orders than following them. He kept mostly to himself, answering when spoken to directly but not seeking out the companionship of any other crewmembers. Not at all like Namei.
Missy realised she was staring at him again and looked down at her half-eaten rice ball. What was it about him? Every time he showed up Missy couldn’t help looking at him. Maybe it was because she knew what it was like to be sent somewhere without having a say in whether or not you wanted to go. There was also something about his eyes. They were such a light brown they looked like rich, amber honey, and they were kind of sad … Missy shook her head and shoved the rest of her breakfast into her mouth. Who cared about his eyes?
‘I’d better go see the captain,’ she said through her mouthful and hurried out of the mess hall, her face inexplicably burning.
When next Lenis woke it was more calmly, though he felt worse. A headache lurked behind his eyes, and his nose was even stuffier. Worse, he thought the weight on his chest was too heavy to be Suiteki. He probably had some sort of infection. He was also desperately hungry and thirsty. There was nothing for it. He’d have to go visit the doctor. Suiteki rode on his shoulder as he left his cabin, nuzzling him behind the ear with her snout.
In the hallway outside his room he met the last person he wanted to see. Shujinko inclined his head slightly in greeting, and Lenis returned the gesture.
‘Good to see you out of bed,’ the older boy said.
‘Thanks,’ Lenis muttered and walked by. Inside he was seething. Shujinko was always outwardly polite, even while pummelling Lenis during their training bouts, but Lenis didn’t have to rely on visual cues to know what the cabin boy really felt. He sensed it perfectly. Just beneath Shujinko’s stoic Shinzōn façade was a great deal of anger and resentment. Lenis had been aware of it from their very first meeting, though then it hadn’t been directed at him.
Shujinko had been chosen as Namei’s replacement, but he hadn’t wanted to fly on an airship, much less be a cabin boy. If Lenis hadn’t made that one little mistake when they first met, Shujinko might have found another target for his repressed anger. It had been an honest mistake. The boy wore his hair long and, from behind, he looked a great deal like his cousin Namei. If he’d turned around a moment sooner, or if Lenis had approached him from a different angle, Lenis never would have welcomed him aboard as the new cabin girl. Trying to pass off his mistake as a translation error had only earned Shujinko’s further contempt. The cabin boy had not been convinced, and the damage had been done. There was nothing Lenis could do about it now. Besides, he had other things to worry about.
As soon as he’d had something to eat and drink and visited the doctor, he was going to go and have a talk with the captain. Then he needed to sit down with Missy and Kanu and try to work out what exactly was going on.
‘Well,
well!’ the cook boomed as Lenis stepped into the galley. ‘What have we here? A couple of hungry dragons! You’ve just missed your sister, boy!’ With a flip of his wrist Hiroshi lobbed something at Lenis. He caught it awkwardly, squishing the ball of rice too tight. Hiroshi laughed good-naturedly. ‘Get that down, and then you’d best be off to see the captain too.’
Lenis nodded as Suiteki ran down his arm, her claws digging into his flesh for grip, and started biting at the rice ball. ‘Thank you,’ he tried to say, but his nose was so congested he ended up mumbling.
‘I knew it! I told them you’d caught a cold, boy!’ Hiroshi seemed more pleased that he had been right than concerned for Lenis’s health. ‘Don’t you worry. I’ll fix something up for you that’ll have you fighting fit in no time, I tell you.’ He suddenly grinned. ‘And don’t think I’ve forgotten you, little lizard!’
Hiroshi flipped something else into the air. Suiteki left off nibbling Lenis’s rice ball, raced back up his arm, and climbed the side of his head to catch it in her jaws. It was a sliver of meat. Some sort of rabbit, from the smell of it. Lenis grimaced as Suiteki scuttled back down to his shoulder to gorge herself on the offered tidbit. He never would have fed a Bestia so much meat. In fact, he had done some reckoning and figured that Aeris, the Bestia that had been with him the longest, had eaten less meat in her lifetime than Suiteki had in hers. Lenis had to remind himself that Suiteki was not a Bestia but the child of a Totem, and though she was small enough to sit in his hand she might one day grow to be larger than an airship. Besides, she enjoyed the meat and didn’t suffer for eating it.
Hiroshi disappeared behind his bench and popped up a moment later with a large mug, which he handed to Lenis. ‘Drink that down, boy. Do you good.’