Quillblade

by Ben Chandler

  Another wave of sickness threatened to buckle his knees. ‘Andrea?’

  ‘She’s all right. She’s as mad as a Demon, but she’s alive.’

  The relief that swept through him left him light-headed. ‘Everyone else?’

  ‘They’re all fine, Lenis. Worried but fine.’

  He forced the question out, dreading the answer more than anything. ‘Missy?’

  ‘There’s been no change. The doctor strapped her down for the crossing.’ Namei looked at him out of the corner of her eye. ‘We’re all worried about Missy, Lenis, but we don’t know what to do. Even the captain is baffled. He has witnessed many things in his travels, but he admits he’s never seen something like this before. He trusts the doctor and believes that by pursuing Seisui’s egg, we will find a solution.’

  Lenis nodded, remembering his earlier outburst. He didn’t want to think about the dragon’s egg. If the captain was right and the last of the Totem was gone, then that meant Lord Raikô had also fallen to the Demons, and that meant his sister ... He turned back to regard this new land and pushed such thoughts away.

  Heiligland was the first place he had entered as a free person. He didn’t yet know what that meant. He knew how to be a slave, but being free was still too foreign to him.

  Who am I now?

  Lenis found his gaze drawn again to the dark blotch on the north-eastern horizon. The longer he looked at it the more certain he became. ‘That’s where they’ve gone.’

  Namei started. ‘Who?’

  ‘The Bestia. They’ve gone into the Wastelands.’

  He saw her shiver. ‘Are you sure?’

  ‘I’m sure. I can feel them.’

  ‘Lenis, why would they go there?’

  ‘I don’t know, but they did.’

  ‘Then we must also venture into the Wastelands,’ Yami said, and Lenis jumped at the swordsman’s voice. He had not noticed him standing in the shadow of one of the holds.

  ‘Yami, thank you for saving me.’

  The Shinzôn man inclined his head. ‘Are you strong enough to go?’

  Namei placed herself between him and Lenis. ‘There’s no way Lenis can go! He’s still hurt and weak and –’

  ‘He is the only one who can find the Bestia.’ Yami stepped out into the sun. ‘The longer we wait, the greater the risk that they will fall to the Wasteland sickness.’

  ‘Sir Yami is correct.’ Captain Shishi came down from the bridge, followed by Shin, Tenjin and Kenji. ‘It is only a matter of time before they become Demons.’

  Panic took hold of Lenis and forced him upright, sending strange lights playing before his eyes. ‘How long have they been gone?’ The rest of the crew had come up on deck, but they just looked at him. ‘How long?’

  The captain considered him for a moment. ‘Two nights.’

  Lenis sagged against the railing and Namei put her arm around his shoulder. She looked at Tenjin. ‘But if they’re sick, we can cure them, right? We can stop them from turning into Demons?’

  Tenjin cleared his throat and crossed his arms within his sleeves. ‘Scientists have been trying to discover how to do just that for three hundred years. Some beings are able to resist the effects of the miasma for longer than others, but we do not know how the contamination operates.’

  Lenis pushed himself upright again. ‘Someone must know about the Wasteland sickness!’

  ‘It drains the will!’ Long Liu was sitting on top of one of the holds, holding his ankles and rocking backwards and forwards. ‘No more will, no more soul. Empty. Hollow. Vessel for him. For his will.’

  Kenji swore loudly. ‘What’s he rambling?’

  The captain ignored the navigator. ‘For whose will, doctor?’

  ‘The Demon King!’ Long Liu threw back his head and laughed.

  ‘Crazy old man,’ Kenji muttered.

  ‘He will come.’ The doctor pointed at the navigator. ‘He wants them.’ He moved his finger to point at Lenis.

  Lenis pushed himself upright again. ‘Me? What for?’

  ‘Not you.’ The doctor held up another finger. ‘You!’

  ‘He means you and your sister,’ Yami told him.

  ‘A Demon King?’ The captain drew his eyebrows together. ‘I wonder if he means Shamutar, or one of the other corrupted Jinn.’

  ‘The more pressing question is why this Demon King would want the Clemens twins,’ Arthur interjected.

  They all looked to the doctor but his moment of lucidity seemed to have passed. He was swaying from side to side, staring at a point just in front of his nose.

  ‘It doesn’t matter.’ Lenis shook his head and everyone turned towards him. ‘Right now the Bestia are more important.’

  ‘Lenis is right.’ Yami came to stand next to him at the railing. ‘We must go to the Wastelands.’

  ‘No!’ Namei tuned to Lenis. ‘You’re still too weak.’

  ‘There’s no choice.’ Lenis stepped away from her and was glad he didn’t sway on his feet. ‘What wisdom forbids –’

  ‘Necessity dictates,’ the captain finished for him. ‘Are you sure you are well enough?’

  ‘No, but I’ll go anyway.’

  Lenis stood ankle-deep in the moist sand and waited for the others to finish arguing. The odd shouted phrase cut through the wind to reach him where he leant against the hull of the beached airship. Captain Shishi had decided that he would be leading the expedition himself and wanted to take Shin and Yami with him.

  ‘Absolutely not!’ Arthur barked.

  ‘... decided,’ Lenis heard Yami say. ‘I ... defend the boy and ... not ... into the Wastelands ... without my ...’

  Arthur spoke over the swordsman. ‘Gawayn ... too much of a risk ...’

  The sky was steadily darkening, and not with the approach of dusk. It would be raining before they stopped fighting with each other, let alone by the time they reached the Wastelands. Lenis rubbed his gloved hands together and scanned the western horizon. He wasn’t sure what he was searching for. Some sign of civilisation, of habitation? Either the Heiliglanders hid their villages amongst the foothills to the north-west, or they hadn’t yet settled the south-eastern corner of their country. Perhaps there had once been towns or cities this far south, but they had been abandoned after the Great War. If they had relied on trade with Shinzô there wouldn’t have been reason to stay once the southerners had closed their borders.

  Lenis pushed himself away from the airship’s hull and wandered over to the others.

  Captain Shishi was speaking. ‘Gawayn has proven his worth in fighting Demons. If it was not for him, we would never have reached the coast.’

  Arthur stood with his arms folded across his chest, scowling at the captain. Lenis was glad the first officer didn’t press his point any further. For some reason the knowledge that the cursed swordsman was going with them was more comforting than he would have imagined. Whatever his faults or circumstances, Yami had proven himself to the crew more than once, and he had shown concern for both Lenis and his sister. He had even saved Lenis’s life!

  Shin was a different matter. Lenis didn’t know her. He hadn’t had the need or the desire to approach the helmswoman since they had stolen the Hiryû. Missy had told him that Shin came from Uchû domain, which meant she had probably known the captain before they had come aboard the Warlord’s airship. Lenis also knew that she had been a seafarer, which explained why Captain Shishi wanted to bring her with them into the Wastelands. Aside from Yami and the captain, she probably had the most experience in dealing with Demons. Without the Bestia to power the landcraft, they would have to walk to and through the Wastelands, which put them at a disadvantage. They would be unable to flee from any Demons. Lenis caught himself staring at Shin and looked quickly away.

  The others were still arguing but fell silent when the captain made a chopping motion with his hand. ‘It is settled.�
� Lenis judged from the look on Arthur’s face that it was hardly that in his mind. ‘Let us get started before the rain begins. It appears we are to become Bestia hunters for a while! Lord Knyght, the Hiryû is yours while I am gone.’

  Arthur said nothing as Lenis, Shin, Yami and the captain set off for the Wastelands. Lenis kept his eyes on the ground, refusing to look up at the distance they had to walk. He focused his attention instead on moving his feet.

  Before long, sweat covered his torso and seeped from under his arms and between his legs. It had an acrid stench. Despite the heavy outer-robe Hiroshi had lent him, the winds still bit into his damp skin. His only source of warmth came from the scarf Namei had given him and the steady motion of his limbs. The woollen fabric around his neck was stifling, though, and a constant source of irritation. The movement of his limbs brought more pain than comfort.

  Yami walked close beside him, not quite offering his support but close enough that he could reach out if Lenis stumbled. Their pace was frustratingly slow. Lenis tried to tell himself it wasn’t his fault, but he knew it was. Though Yami and the captain remained calm, Lenis could sense Shin’s impatience with him. He would have resented her for it, but he could also feel her concern for his wellbeing.

  Lenis wished he could enjoy the scenery, but he was too tired and all too conscious of how isolated they were. The grass around them was long and thick, and there were no natural tracks for them to follow. The captain forged ahead of them, beating down the brush and laying a path to ease Lenis’s way. The soil beneath them was deep and rich, and there were sporadic patches of wildflowers dotted across the plain. Winter had not yet reached southern Heiligland, but it could not have been far off.

  Sunlight no longer penetrated the cloud cover. The wind grew more persistent, slicing into the plain from the north and bringing with it the stench of the Wastelands. Even without looking up, Lenis could sense they were getting closer to the tainted land. The nausea he had felt back in the Wastelands near Gesshoku returned, but this time he knew it was external to himself. The queasiness he was sensing was coming from the ground itself. The grass beneath his feet became shorter and Lenis knew it would soon become discoloured.

  ‘We ... should ... cover ... mouths.’ Lenis sank to the ground and the others stopped.

  Yami crouched beside him. ‘Are you all right?’

  Lenis took a deep lungful of air before pulling the scarf up to cover his mouth. ‘Just ... need ... moment ...’

  The swordsman nodded and covered his own face. The others did the same.

  ‘It will be dark long before we can return to the Hiryû,’ Shin called over the wind.

  Captain Shishi looked up as though trying to sense the sun through the clouds. ‘It cannot be helped. The best we can hope for is to be free of the Wastelands before nightfall.’

  Shin nodded. ‘We definitely don’t want to spend the night in there.’

  Lenis hauled himself to his feet, his stiff muscles aching. ‘The sooner we get started, the sooner we’ll be done.’

  Yami touched his shoulder. ‘Come, Lenis, I will carry you on my back.’

  Lenis shook his head and immediately wished he hadn’t as it brought fresh pain. ‘I’ll be all right.’

  Captain Shishi came over to him. ‘Pride has its place, Master Clemens, but we need you conscious to find the Bestia.’

  Yami knelt before him and Lenis reluctantly wrapped his arms around the swordsman’s neck, trying to ignore the tingling sensation the movement woke in his burnt hands. He feared it meant Long Liu’s salve was wearing off. Yami straightened and Lenis was lifted off the ground. The aching in his legs was replaced by one in his arms as he struggled to remain in place. The group started off again and it took a while for Lenis to adjust to Yami’s jostling movements. The swordsman proved to be exceptionally strong, showing no signs of slowing under his burden. With some difficulty, Lenis brought his breathing under control and sent his awareness out in search of the Bestia. He could feel them, faintly, somewhere behind the wall of miasma that rose up before them.

  Shin came up beside them as they passed through it and into the Wastelands. ‘Any idea which direction the Bestia went?’

  The wind stopped abruptly, as though even it was weakened by the Wastelands’ corruption, and without its roar the air became eerily quiet. Lenis blinked several times and then opened his eyes wide in an attempt to see through the shifting, greenish fog. It was useless. He had only his other senses to guide them.

  After a moment’s concentration he pointed to the north. ‘That way. I don’t think they’re moving.’

  The captain set off eagerly. ‘That is a bit of luck!’

  Lenis’s eyes soon adjusted to the green half-light of the Wastelands, but he could still make out little. The only sounds were made by infrequent stray wisps of wind and the grass crunching underfoot. Lenis wondered if they would even hear the rain when it finally started.

  Now and then a long frond would dig into his trousers, scratching his lower legs and ankles. Except for the occasional silhouette of a tree, there were no landmarks in this patch of tainted ground. The only sign that they were moving at all was the trail of crushed, decaying grass they left behind them.

  Through this haunted twilight they had only Lenis’s extraordinary senses for guidance, and he was glad he could be more than just a burden to the others. Since his words with the captain he had been forced to reconsider his own place, not just in the crew but the wider world. It felt good to be doing something productive, even under these circumstances.

  He had never searched for his Bestia like this before. The special sense that allowed him to be an effective Bestia Keeper was honed to help him care for their needs, not track them. He was always at least partially aware of them, but this constant searching through rancid air was draining. The pulsing that was the life force of the Bestia spurred him on and allowed him to ignore the headache that had steadily grown since they had entered the Wastelands. Then he felt something else off to his right and stiffened.

  Yami tightened his hold on Lenis’s legs. ‘What is it?’

  ‘Demon.’

  The captain stopped and scanned the fog. ‘I am surprised it has taken them this long to find us.’

  Lenis concentrated. ‘There’s just one.’

  ‘In this entire patch of Wastelands?’

  ‘I’m not sure.’ Lenis tried to squint through the miasma. ‘I’ve only felt the Bestia since we arrived, but just now I thought I felt ... No, it’s definitely there. It’s a Demon. A big one, and it’s alone.’

  ‘Curious. Is it a threat to us?’

  ‘I don’t know.’

  Yami shifted Lenis’s weight. ‘Gawayn remains dormant. When he stirs we will know the Demon is close enough to be a threat.’

  ‘Indeed?’ The captain left his scrutiny of the miasma and started moving again. ‘Let us hurry. The approaching darkness is not the only thing we have to be wary of.’

  As they travelled it became obvious to Lenis that the Demon was following them. His presence never drew any nearer but neither did it recede, which meant he was keeping pace with them. Lenis had never heard of any Demon acting like this before. They were supposed to be mindless beings of destruction, no longer capable of calculated actions. Lenis remembered Tenjin’s words about the Wasteland sickness. Was it possible that this Demon had not yet been fully corrupted by it? He wondered what it had once been. A Lilim? A Bestia? A Totem? Could it be Lord Raikô? Lenis shook his head to rid it of such useless fancies. Why would Lord Raikô be out here in the middle of the south-eastern plains of Heiligland?

  Lenis focused. ‘The Demon is following us. It hasn’t made a move to approach us, but it’s definitely interested.’

  Shin turned to the captain. ‘What should we do?’

  The captain shrugged. ‘Exactly what we are doing. We did not come to fight Demons.’

  The creature’s presence was a constant reminder that they were in a dangerous place, and it often distra
cted Lenis from the Bestia. Yami’s assurances that Gawayn would stir if the Demon decided to attack weren’t very comforting. There was no way to know how close the Demon would get before the swordsman changed, so Lenis found himself constantly checking on its progress. Every time he did so he had to relocate the Bestia, which drained more of his strength. With some effort he pushed all thoughts of the Demon aside and focused his attention solely on what lay ahead, trusting Yami and the others to protect him should the Demon strike.

  Hours passed and Lenis began to think that they wouldn’t find the Bestia until well after dark. Always they seemed just ahead, just beyond his reach, and yet he could sense they weren’t moving. Dreadful thoughts came to him: perhaps the miasma was somehow interfering with his ability to sense them; perhaps they weren’t even in the Wastelands; perhaps he really had no idea of what he was doing ... And so his tired mind went on, weakening his resolve as well as his body. He forced himself to continue.

  Shin stopped abruptly. ‘What’s that?’

  Lenis snapped his head up from where it had come to rest on Yami’s shoulder. ‘What?’

  ‘There’s something ahead, through the mist.’

  Lenis strained to see the dark outline silhouetted in the fading half-light.

  The captain had seen it too. ‘It is a building. The lines are too straight for it to be a natural formation.’

  As they approached, a definite shape began to emerge. It seemed somehow familiar, as if ...

  Lenis felt a jarring sense of dislocation. ‘Seisui’s temple?’

  ‘it certainly looks like Seisui’s temple,’ Captain Shishi agreed.

  ‘But we aren’t in Shinzô,’ Yami pointed out.

  ‘True.’ The captain ran a hand through his hair. ‘Perhaps this temple is dedicated to another of the Totem. See? The carvings are different.’