Quillblade
Page 30
Yes, Lenis, don’t you understand? We aren’t just a crew anymore. We’re a family ... A family isn’t just about blood, it’s about spirit, and our spirits are one now. So don’t be afraid, I’ll always be here to take care of you, to help you. We all will.
Lenis wiped the tears from his eyes and looked over the dragon’s shoulder. He threw his arms wide to catch the wind and laughed. They truly were whole. They had overcome the threat of the Warlord. They had witnessed Suiteki’s birth. They had discovered the truth of the Wasteland Demons.
Together.
Lenis’s laughter filled the air. The airship that carried him onwards seemed to vibrate with his joy. They were connected, and the horizon seemed wider and more open than ever before.
GLOSSARY
Raikô the Lord of Storms Lightning Guardian
Apsilla the Lady of Rain Water Guardian
Silili the Lord of Healing Peaceful Guardian
Shamutar the Lord of Destruction Warden of Renewal
Neti the Father of the Slain Warden of Knowledge
Akamusaborikû Demon of the Western Marches
Bakeneko Cursed Yûrei no Gôshi Yami
Disma Bonded to Anastasis Greygori
Nue Bonded to Lord Butin
2468The first Kystian settlers arrive in the ‘New World’
2500Nochi is built and named the new capital city of Shinzô
2578The Great War starts
2585Wastelands appear for the first time around Asheim
The Great War ends with the Battle of Asheim
Wastelands appear along the western border of Shinzô
Emperor Kumoichi of Shinzô appoints new Warlord, Lord Shôgo Hakaru
Shinzô closes its borders
2588The ‘New World’ is renamed ‘Pure Land’
2657Bestia power is discovered by Siegfried Huginn, an Ostian living in Heiligland
2673First airship is built in Pure Land
2835The Divine Restoration Movement begins in Shinzô
[No date exists for the end of the Divine Restoration Movement]
Yûgure and Hajimari clans join forces against the Shôgo clan
2836Puritan airships arrive off the coast of Shinzô and force open its borders
2865Lenis and Misericordia Clemens are born
2878The Ruling Council of Pure Land gifts the Hiryû airship to Shinzô
When pronouncing names of Shinzôn origin, the general rule is to give each syllable equal emphasis and, even though most words end in a vowel, a word that does end in a consonant follows the same rule. For example: Shin becomes Shi-n, with both the ‘Shi’ and the ‘n’ carrying equal weight. Double consonants are simply twice as long.
For the pronunciation of vowels, use the following table:
a as in ‘ah’
e as in ‘eh’
i as in ‘ee’
o as in ‘oh’
u as in ‘oo’
Combinations of vowels can be tricky. Some do not affect each other (our word ‘ion’ would be pronounced ee-oh-n with three syllables). Some do affect each another:
ai as in a hard ‘i’
ei as in a hard ‘a’ (‘-ay’)
ô or ou as in a longer ‘oh’ (twice as long)
û or uu as in a longer ‘oo’ (twice as long)
Shinzôn names are presented as family name followed by given name. If someone is directly related to the main branch of a clan family (for instance, a child of the head of the clan family) they take the clan name as their family name. For example, Mayonaka Shishi is the heir to the Mayonaka clan. Those not directly related to the main branch of the clan family, such as cousins, take their own family name, which is preceded by the clan name, separated by the indicator ‘no’. For example, Yûrei no Gôshi Yami is a member of the Yûrei clan, but the Gôshi family is not directly related to the Yûrei family.
What you now hold in your hands is most definitely my book. You know that because it has my name printed on the front. Dead giveaway. I know it’s my book because I wrote it. You’ll have to take my word for that, though. If in doubt, check the cover. Of course, just calling it ‘my book’ doesn’t really tell you how this book came to be. The story of how this book became a book would make a nice little book of its own. Or perhaps a novella. Certainly a short story, at the least.
Anyway, if I ever do get around to writing the story of this book, I’d start by thanking Flinders University, not only for providing me with the time and space to work on what was then a creative writing thesis, but also for the scholarship that allowed me to continue eating while doing so. I would then thank my first editors, Jeri Kroll and Ruth Starke, for their tireless efforts in overseeing my thesis project, and for providing much needed, and much appreciated, guidance, reassurance, and assistance. So much for chapter one.
Chapter two extends my thanks to Simon Higgins, who, in mentoring my creative work, went far above and well beyond the call of duty. After a section break I’d then thank Ian Bone and Deb Abela for giving me some great advice.
In the next chapter I’d thank an amazingly talented and supportive group of people. I think I’d call this chapter: ‘Jeri’s Group, in which the author thanks Mag Merrilees, Greg Opie, Gay Lynch, Sam Franzway, Emily Sutherland, Michelle McCrea, Jill Golden, Sharon Kernot, Annette Marner, Sharyn Kaesehagen, Steve Evans, Kate Deller-Evans, Kelvin Rodrigues, Christine Runnell, and, last but certainly not least, Margot McGovern for keeping him on an (almost) even keel throughout his candidature’. Has a nice ring to it, doesn’t it?
The fourth chapter would be devoted to thanking all of my friends and family for putting up with me, not just throughout the years of writing this book (that is, the one you’re holding in your hands, not the one about the one you’re holding right now), but for the decade or more after I uttered those fateful words: ‘I think I want to be a fantasy writer’. This would be a rather dramatic chapter filled with lurid descriptions of harrowing hardships and tear-filled remonstrances against the vicissitudes of life, offset by heartwarming scenes with my loved ones offering me their support (by which I don’t always mean food, though it is always appreciated). There would be a particularly striking scene with Ashleigh Ward, one of the few people I can argue comfortably with because she’s been there through it all.
The final chapter is reserved for thanking my agent, Nanette Halliday, and the fantastic people at Random House Australia. Here’s an excerpt: ‘In particular, my thanks go to Zoe Walton and Sarah Hazelton, who did such amazing work in getting this book into shape. You guys rock.’
Which leaves only the epilogue, in which I thank the Keylings, who know who they are. Keep opening those doors.
As I sit and look back through this rough outline for a book about a book, I realise that this book, the one you now hold in your hands, is not my book at all. Oh, I know what it says on the cover. I know I wrote the thing. But this book isn’t just my book because so many people have touched it and supported me over the years. I’d like to thank you all. You did such a great job, and I’m eternally grateful. Sorry I couldn’t fit your names on the cover.
Ben Chandler lives mostly in worlds of his own creation, but occasionally misses the real world and comes home to Adelaide. He holds a PhD in Creative Writing from Flinders University, where he occasionally teaches Creative Writing and English Literature, and has published academic work on popular culture, video game narrative theory, Japanese heroism, anime and manga, and creative writing pedagogy. In 2010 he was awarded the Colin Thiele Creative Writing Scholarship from Carclew Youth Arts Board and was a finalist in the Channel 9 SA Young Achiever Awards. Ben loves heroes, villains, comic books and video games, and b
elieves you can learn more from watching cartoons than you can from the news. Like all fantasy writers, Ben has a cat. His cat is named Loki. It’s possible Loki is the reincarnation of the Norse God of Mischief, but Ben hopes this is just a flight of his fancy.
For more information about Ben and his books, go to www.benchandler.com.au
BOOK TWO OF THE VOYAGES OF THE FLYING DRAGON
Lenis and Missy Clemens have found their freedom aboard the airship Hiryû, but are they ready for the responsibilities that come with determining your own fate?
Hard on the trail of the mercenary Karasu, the man who holds the keys to unlocking Suiteki’s power, the twins face the realities of their own growing abilities. Their search for Karasu takes them to Heiligland, where Missy has to decide which is more important – the safety of an entire nation or her own sense of right and wrong. As she relies more and more on the powers of the Quillblade, her brother grows distant, shunning the bizarre connection that binds the Clemens twins together. When they meet Kanu, a young boy from the distant past who just might hold the key to who they are, the twins must decide whether to embrace their destiny or be torn forever apart.
The Voyages of the Flying Dragon continue in 2011!