Quillblade

by Ben Chandler

  ‘Lord Shôgo!’ The captain bowed again, and Lenis fell to the matting once more, his heart beating faster. What was the Warlord doing here?

  ‘Have you taken good care of my new airship?’ The Warlord’s voice was even, but Lenis could feel his barely contained rage.

  ‘We have, my lord, though I am afraid the crow’s nest may need some repairing and the deck is a little damaged.’

  One of the Warlord’s eyebrows rose. ‘Indeed? I trust you have returned with the artefact I sent you to retrieve?’

  Why was he acting like they’d never stolen the Hiryû? Was it because he didn’t want the Emperor to know? Lenis looked at the old man in the golden robe, perhaps the only thing holding the Warlord back from venting his anger at them for what they had done. If the Emperor had any idea how Lord Shôgo felt, he was giving no indication of it.

  ‘You mean Seisui’s egg?’ Captain Shishi asked. Lenis could feel the captain’s own shock subsiding. He’d need a clear head to get them out of here.

  ‘Of course,’ the Warlord snapped, his control over his anger slipping slightly.

  The captain paused, and Lenis knew what he was thinking even without being able to read his mind. He could either conceal the truth now and give the egg to the Emperor later, or admit they had it and use it as a bartering chip with the Warlord.

  ‘We have, my lord.’

  The Warlord nodded. He looked like he was about to say something, but then the Emperor cleared his throat.

  ‘I believe introductions are in order.’

  Assen Chi rose smoothly from her position next to Lord Shôgo. ‘Certainly, Emperor Botanichi.’ What was she doing here? Did the Warlord know the theft of his airship had been her idea? Lenis remained kneeling on the floor, trying to make sense of the political game being played out before him. Who was on whose side?

  ‘Emperor Botanichi,’ Chi said, ‘may I present her Highness, the Princess Anastasis Greygori of Ost?’

  ‘Delighted,’ Anastasis said woodenly, and curtsied. She looked every bit the princess in her Ostian court attire. She wore her usual flowing gown of crimson, and her brocaded taupe cuffs opened to reveal ivory lace ruffs. Disma sat on her shoulder, as always.

  ‘How do things stand in the capital, Lord Shôgo?’ Captain Shishi asked before anyone else could speak. ‘I had not expected to find you here with so much of your fleet.’

  The Warlord’s eyes narrowed slightly, but he managed to keep his voice even. ‘We believe the imperial capital is under threat of a massive Demonic invasion. Assen Chi and I were just entreating the Emperor to leave the imperial city and make all haste to the safety of the Temple of Kichi in the mountains behind Nochi until the Demons have been repelled.’

  The Emperor stroked his beard. ‘I am loath to leave the capital.’

  ‘Perhaps now that the Hiryû has returned with the dragon egg, you will not need to.’ The Warlord held out his hand. ‘Give it to me, Captain Shishi.’

  ‘What will you do with the egg, Lord Shôgo?’ the captain asked.

  Lenis saw Assen Chi shake her head in warning behind the Warlord’s back.

  Lord Shôgo’s eyes narrowed even further until they were nothing more than slits. His anger strained against his reserve. Lenis could feel the mammoth effort it cost him to hold it at bay. ‘I am the Warlord of Shinzô, Mayonaka Shishi. It is my duty to protect the Emperor and his people from the Wasteland Demons. The dragon egg is a powerful weapon. I will use it against the Demons as I see fit.’

  The captain looked to the Emperor. The Warlord looked at the captain. Lenis was suddenly very aware of the crystal hanging around his neck, the source of all of this animosity. A light sweat broke out on his forehead.

  The Emperor cleared his throat again. ‘Please excuse me, my lords. It is quite late, and I must retire. I will leave you to discuss the most effective way of repelling the Demons that threaten us all.’

  Everyone bowed as the Emperor turned and left the room. Lenis had expected him to step in and settle things, to decide one way or the other who got to keep the dragon egg, but it seemed as though the ruler of Shinzô didn’t want to interfere. Either he was truly ignorant of the tensions between the captain and the Warlord, or he was fully aware and didn’t want to take sides.

  Captain Shishi and Lord Shôgo eyed each other as the Emperor’s footsteps receded down the hall. Neither spoke until they had faded completely.

  ‘Give me the egg!’ The Warlord’s rage boiled out of him, no longer restrained by the Emperor’s presence.

  Captain Shishi remained calm. ‘I will not hand Seisui’s egg over to you until I know what you mean to do with it.’

  The Warlord grabbed the front of the captain’s robe with both hands. He looked up into the taller man’s face. ‘Your father may tolerate your insolence, Captain Shishi, but I will not. You have already made a fool out of me with your impulsive theft of my airship. I will not allow your recklessness to endanger Shinzô any further. For the last time, give me the egg and then return to your father. Your selfish pursuit of adventure ill befits a son of the Mayonaka clan, much less the heir to Uchû domain.’

  The captain smiled and spread his hands. ‘It is not in my possession, Lord Shôgo.’

  ‘This isn’t a child’s game!’ The Warlord bellowed. Lenis looked from him to the captain and back again. He could feel the Warlord’s impatience, his anger, and something else. Almost as if ... but surely ...

  ‘I have it.’ Lenis hadn’t meant to say anything. As the Warlord turned his gaze on him, he wished he hadn’t.

  Lord Shôgo let go of the captain’s uniform and strode over to Lenis, stopping inches from his face. They were almost the same height. ‘Give me the dragon’s egg, boy.’ The Warlord tried to rein in his anger, but he couldn’t hide it from Lenis. There was a time when Lenis would not have been able to stand in front of this man with his head held high, meeting his gaze evenly. Back then, if the Warlord of Shinzô had given him an order he would have moved to obey without even thinking about it. No longer. The captain had freed him of that compulsion on the coast of Heiligland. ‘These matters do not concern children.’

  Lenis almost laughed as he finally recognised the undercurrent of the Warlord’s emotions. Lord Shôgo, Warlord of Shinzô, was afraid. Lenis tilted his head to one side and considered the man. He was definitely an imposing sight. His face was deeply etched with lines that told of warfare and strife. His hands were firm, his gaze direct, his mane wild and almost Demonic in the dancing candlelight, and yet he was frightened.

  Lenis suddenly noticed the Emperor’s cat over the Warlord’s shoulder. It was standing on its cushion, swishing its tail from side to side. There was something vaguely familiar about the way its whiskers twitched. And then, very slowly, the cat winked at him again.

  ‘You’re wrong.’ Lenis had wanted to sound confident, but his voice squeaked.

  ‘What?’ the Warlord screamed, spittle spraying Lenis’s face.

  You must save my daughter.

  ‘I said you’re wrong,’ Lenis repeated, louder. ‘These matters do concern children. This is our world, too. We have to live with the Wastelands and the Demons, just like you do. The dragon’s egg isn’t a weapon to be placed in the hands of any one man, for the benefit of any one country. You might call her Seisui here, but the Blue Dragon has other names in other places. She didn’t give her child to Shinzô alone. She’s a gift to the whole world.’ The Warlord’s face darkened and his body went rigid, but there was no mistaking the terror hiding behind his rising fury. As Lenis stared into the Warlord’s eyes he knew the source of the man’s fear. ‘And if we have to sacrifice Shinzô to the Demons to protect the Blue Dragon’s daughter, then I will.’

  With a growl the Warlord grabbed Lenis’s throat with both hands. Disma screamed. Captain Shishi leapt forward, but the Warlord’s hold was already tightening, fuelled by the anger and fear boiling out of him. All Lenis could feel was pity. It was Lord Shôgo’s responsibility to defend Shinzô from
Demons, and he was terrified of them.

  Instinctively, Lenis threw his pity at the Warlord. Something clouded the man’s eyes. The grip on Lenis’s neck softened as the Warlord’s thoughts turned inwards. Seeing his chance, Lenis wrapped his pity more tightly around the man. It was like what had happened during the battle with Lord Butin’s men aboard the Hiryû, when the crew’s fury had become a palpable thing Lenis could not only feel but also somehow manipulate. He wasn’t strong enough to control their combined, unfocused rage, but he could handle his own emotions, and he knew exactly what he wanted to do with them.

  Lenis felt his resolve harden as he reached out with this strange new power and wrapped the Warlord in a blending of his pity and the man’s own fear. Just then the captain grabbed the Warlord from behind and wrestled him away from Lenis, unaware of the man’s growing inner turmoil. Lenis was more than just aware of it. He had created it.

  Propelled by the captain’s hand, the Warlord flew across the room, and Lenis felt something new begin to grow in the man. He hadn’t meant to lose control. Grimly, Lenis twisted the Warlord’s shame and guilt as he hit the floor and began squirming.

  Anastasis looked on mildly. ‘What’s wrong with him?’

  ‘Let him go, Lenis.’

  Lenis turned to look at the Emperor’s cat. ‘No, Bakeneko. I can’t.’

  ‘Let him go.’ There was a hint of a purr running beneath the Lilim’s words. ‘He can run from his own feelings for a time, but he will never escape them.’

  Lenis remembered the pity he had felt for the man a moment earlier and realised she was right. He didn’t have it in him to torture anyone. Still wondering how he had used his strange gift, Lenis pulled his senses back from the Warlord. The man stopped writhing.

  Lenis eyed him up and down, deliberately. ‘If you have the courage to face the Demon threat, then join with us. If not, get out of our way.’

  No one moved. The Warlord stared at Lenis for a long time. His face was ashen, his emotions still chaotic. Lenis was surprised that a portion of the man’s fear was now reserved for him. No one had ever been afraid of him before. Lenis wasn’t sure he liked it.

  ‘The Demons are too powerful.’ The Warlord’s voice was rougher than ever. ‘Reports have come in from Gesshoku that a Demon Lord is massing an army just outside of the village. They will overrun our land and the Wastelands will devour us all.’

  Lenis shrugged. ‘Maybe, but fighting each other benefits them more than us.’

  He felt something stirring far beneath Lord Shôgo’s fear, a small spark of determination. The Warlord grunted as he regained his feet. ‘What can we do?’

  Lenis took a deep breath. The Warlord of Shinzô was asking him for advice? He tried to calm his racing blood and think of a plan. ‘We have the dragon’s egg, but to unlock its power we need the stones of ebb and flow. You sent Karasu to Seisui’s temple to get them, so we need you to tell him to give them to us.’

  A rush of confusion ran through the Warlord. ‘Akushin Karasu? I gave him no such order. I have not seen him for almost a year.’

  Lenis blinked. He hadn’t been expecting that, but as he thought back to what the captain had told him about Karasu, something clicked into place. Karasu was a mercenary. He would work for whoever was willing to pay his price. Lenis faltered. Without the stones, they couldn’t unlock the egg’s power. He looked to the captain, who had been watching his exchange with the Warlord closely, but he offered no solutions.

  Assen Chi stepped smoothly into the conversation. ‘Lord Shôgo. Might I suggest you allow Captain Shishi to maintain command of the Hiryû? He and his crew can search for Karasu while the rest of your fleet remains in Shinzô to hold off the Demons.’

  The Warlord looked from Chi to the captain and then finally to Lenis. His gaze was direct and frank. ‘Take the Hiryû and the dragon’s egg. Keep them both safe. For the sake of Shinzô.’ He bowed to Lenis, so low his head almost touched the ground. The blood rushed to Lenis’s face. The last thing he had ever expected out of all of this was that the Warlord of Shinzô would end up bowing to him.

  ‘How soon can your fleet leave for Gesshoku?’ Captain Shishi asked.

  The Warlord straightened from his bow and turned to the captain. ‘We cannot leave until the Demons threatening Nochi have been repelled.’

  ‘Demon. There’s only one.’ Bakeneko’s voice came from the back of the room. The Lilim had abandoned her disguise as the Emperor’s cat and was once again robed, as she had been when Yami summoned her to the Hiryû’s deck. ‘It is Ishullanu, the Demon King.’

  Lenis felt his face drain of blood. Ishullanu – the red-eyed man he had met at the World Tree, the one who wanted to destroy humanity, the one who called himself a god – was coming here.

  ‘We must keep the egg safe from Ishullanu until it hatches.’ Captain Shishi turned to the Ostian princess. ‘What did the manuscript say about the egg? When will it hatch?’

  Anastasis turned her dead stare on the captain. ‘The dragon egg will hatch at the death of the spring rains.’

  ‘At the end of spring? You are sure?’

  ‘That is what it said.’

  ‘That is months away. We must take the Hiryû and flee at once. As long as we keep moving, Ishullanu will find it hard to capture us.’

  ‘I will hold this Demon King at bay for as long as I can,’ the Warlord declared. Lenis felt the man’s fear grow again, threatening to douse the spark of resolve he had sensed in him earlier.

  ‘Ishullanu is not your concern, Lord Shôgo,’ Bakeneko said. ‘If you do not take your fleet to meet Shamutar and his Demons at Gesshoku, he will overwhelm the forces stationed there and strike into the heart of Shinzô.’

  Lenis felt his stomach sink as he thought of Dango, the old woman who had welcomed them to Gesshoku and said nothing of his soiled trousers. He knew all too well that Gesshoku could not defend itself from a mass invasion. They would need all of the fighters they could get.

  ‘I will not abandon the Emperor!’ The Warlord was indignant.

  ‘I will take Botanichi to the Temple of Kichi,’ the Lilim assured him. ‘His safety is my responsibility. Yours is defending this country from Demons, and theirs,’ she turned to Lenis, ‘is to stop Ishullanu.’

  Lenis’s throat went dry. ‘Stop Ishullanu? How can we do that?’

  ‘You cannot defeat something as powerful as Ishullanu,’ Anastasis interjected in her emotionless voice. ‘An army of Lilim would not be enough.’

  The captain placed his hand on Lenis’s shoulder. ‘We have the crew of the Hiryû.’

  Bakeneko suddenly yawned and stretched. ‘Ishullanu approaches. He will be here by dawn. I must get the Emperor to safety.’ She disappeared into a bright ball of light, just like she had back on the Hiryû. As she left, her voice echoed back to the others. ‘You have more allies than you acknowledge, Lenis Clemens, if you are brave enough to seek their aid.’

  The light vanished. The others looked to Lenis, clearly hoping he could explain what the Lilim meant. Lenis knew exactly who Bakeneko was referring to, and with a sinking feeling in his stomach he realised he’d have no choice but to ask for their help. Again. They needed all of the allies they could find. Even Demonic ones.

  ‘You want me to what?’ Missy demanded after Lenis had explained his plan to her.

  ‘I want you to summon Lord Raikô again.’

  ‘That’s crazy!’

  ‘Maybe.’ Lenis smiled lopsidedly. He hadn’t worn that smile since they’d left Pure Land. It was the same one he’d wear before pulling off some wild stunt, like scaring Master Gorman out of his wits by making the Gull fall out of the sky, or scaring Mistress Kell by flying too close to another airship during a race. ‘But haven’t all our ideas been crazy since we stole the Hiryû?’

  ‘True.’ Missy looked at her brother for a long time. ‘But I couldn’t do it even if I wanted to, little brother. I lost the Quillblade back in Gesshoku.’ After they’d left Asheim, she’d searched
all over the Hiryû for the shintai but hadn’t found it anywhere. She had even asked the crew, but no one had seen it.

  ‘Well ...’ Lenis looked a little sheepish as he reached into his robe and pulled out a long golden feather.

  ‘Where did you get that?’ Missy demanded, snatching the Quillblade from his hands. A familiar throbbing sensation pulsed through the shintai into her hand.

  ‘Namei picked it up off the wall in Gesshoku. She gave it to me after we’d brought you back to the Hiryû.’

  ‘Why didn’t you tell me?’

  ‘It’s dangerous! I didn’t want you to try to use it again!’

  ‘But now you’re asking me to use it?’

  ‘Don’t you trust me?’

  Missy sighed. ‘Of course. Come on. We’d better catch up with the others.’

  The twins had allowed the others to get ahead of them and had to run to catch up. They were all tired. It was close to dawn, and it didn’t look as if they would get a chance to rest before Ishullanu attacked. The crew didn’t have much time to return to the Hiryû and prepare themselves. Missy was panting and they were still several streets away from Nochi airdock.

  ‘I can feel him now.’ Lenis’s voice was made short by his own lack of breath.

  ‘What do you feel?’

  ‘Anger. Determination. No fear, though.’

  Missy grunted. ‘That’s not very reassuring. Once he has the egg he’ll have everything. All of the Totem, the Jinn. He’ll start this war of his between Demons and humans.’

  Lenis nodded and they ran on in silence. The change in her brother was obvious, at least to Missy, but she wasn’t sure what had caused it. She had been listening with her special gift during her brother’s confrontation with the Warlord, but things had happened to him that she didn’t understand.

  Missy wasn’t expecting her relief to be so strong when she saw the Hiryû. Despite Lenis’s assurances, she had feared the Warlord would have taken or destroyed it out of spite. As they started up the airdock, Lenis took Missy’s hand and gave it a quick squeeze. When they reached the deck he pulled her to one side. ‘Wait until you can see Ishullanu, then summon Lord Raikô.’