Voyages of the Flying Dragon: Beast Child

by Ben Chandler

  Lenis sat up, holding Atrum to him so the Bestia didn’t startle and jump over the edge. His feet were still pointing towards Karasu’s airship, assuming the orange circles glowing in the darkness were the portholes of the vessel, as Lenis suspected. From what he remembered before the storm had blown out all the torches, the exit to the rock shelf would be behind him to his left. He shuffled backwards before standing up, wanting to put as much distance between himself and the edge as possible. The whole time he kept his eyes focused on the small lights of the airship, his only means of orienting himself.

  Atrum was miserable. He pressed up against Lenis’s chest as hard as he could; his tail curled around Lenis’s body twice. His head was up under Lenis’s chin, wrapped in the coils of his tail, but he was completely waterlogged and had probably taken ill already. Lenis opened his robe and pulled its folds around the Bestia. He was in no better shape than Atrum, but hopefully between the two of them they could make enough warmth to keep themselves going.

  Lenis resolutely turned his back on the lights coming from the airship. Then he took a nervous step forwards. Then another. At any moment he expected to smash into the rear wall of the shelf. He couldn’t assess the damage he’d done to his nose back on the gangplank, but it was throbbing dully. He suspected the cold was numbing the worst of it. Smacking his nose into the mountainside would hardly do it any good.

  When he did bump into the wall it startled more than injured him. Leaning against the stone, Lenis rotated until his left shoulder was resting against it. Then he started walking, making sure his shoulder remained in contact with the wall. He stumbled on something in the dark but managed to regain his balance. If anything, he moved slower than he had back on the gangplank. He wasn’t sure what lay beyond the edge of the shelf. It could be a doorway, or even a sudden drop. Falling was very prominent in Lenis’s mind. The shelf wasn’t all that large. On at least one side, there was nothing but open air.

  The rain stopped abruptly, causing Lenis to pause. He cocked his head to one side. No, it hadn’t stopped. It had just stopped falling on him. He must have walked under an overhanging in the rock and entered some sort of tunnel. The wind still blew at his back but at least the constant icy shower had ceased.

  A moment later Lenis glimpsed a sliver of orange light ahead, like that shed by a torch. He approached cautiously, remembering that he should also be worried about running into Karasu’s warriors. As long as he and Atrum remained in the darkness, they were fine, but the Bestia was in no condition to make them invisible if they had to walk through torchlight.

  As Lenis edged nearer to the light he noticed it was coming from around a corner. He tried to blot out the noise of the storm so that he could hear if anyone was waiting just around it, but he had no way of knowing if he was successful. Either the downpour was loud enough to drown out whoever was there or the passage beyond was empty. There was only one way to find out.

  Steeling himself, Lenis peeked around the edge of the wall. Beyond was a giant hall with a line of torches lighting a pathway through its centre. He could only guess at its size, for though the torches burned brightly they couldn’t cast their flames high or far enough to reach the walls or ceiling. Lenis imagined the parts that remained in shadows to be full of Karasu’s men. The Shinzōn mercenary couldn’t know that Lenis had stowed aboard but would not have forgotten the Hiryū. Surely Karasu would expect the vessel to be in close pursuit. He was bound to have left guards behind.

  Atrum mewed softly, or had been doing so for a while, and Lenis was only just becoming aware of it now that the sound of the rain quietened.

  ‘Shh, boy,’ Lenis whispered, still straining to hear something – a rustle of clothing, a jangle of a weapon’s harness – anything that would tell him there was somebody there. ‘You’ll be okay.’

  Lenis wasn’t so sure. His own shaking had lessened since they had gotten out of the rain, but Atrum’s had not. It seemed no matter what he did, no matter how good his intentions were, Lenis always put his Bestia in danger. Guilt washed through him. He knew he had no right to demand so much of them. It wasn’t that he wanted to, but somehow what he intended didn’t seem to count for much these days.

  Taking a deep breath, Lenis rushed around the corner and made a dash for the darkness beyond the corridor of torchlight. No outcry came. Lenis remained hidden in the shadows, pressed against the wall. All he could hear was the pumping of his own blood. He let out his pent-up breath slowly, but to his ear it was still impossibly loud. Suddenly, the adrenaline that had been powering him since he was in Karasu’s cabin fled his body, and he felt every hour he had been awake and without food. Atrum wasn’t the only one in bad shape. Lenis slid down the wall, just outside of the torches’ reach, and pulled his knees up to wrap as much of himself around Atrum as he could.

  He knew he shouldn’t sleep. He knew that, at any moment, Karasu or some of his warriors might find him, but he was so tired. His stomach and nose hurt. Atrum’s misery was pushing against his resolve. And then, without meaning to and against his better judgement, Lenis fell asleep.

  Missy woke a heartbeat before Yami touched her shoulder. She looked up at the kneeling swordsman and nodded. She had also heard the voices echoing along the passageway. Without Lucis’s light, it took Missy several moments to orient herself. Someone had carried her further down the hallway, back the way they had come. About twenty paces ahead, Missy could see a reddish glow indicating the entrance to the chamber in which Njord slept. The voices were coming from around the corner. They were low but Missy could just make them out.

  ‘… him?’

  Missy couldn’t recognise the voice, but it spoke Shinzōn. Unable to reign in her curiosity, she sent her awareness out ahead of her.

  The chamber was smaller than she would have imagined a god’s bedroom to be. It was circular, about twenty-five feet in diameter, and twice that high. It had four separate openings leading into it, each set evenly along the outer wall. The walls themselves seemed to be made of ice, though it was hard to tell by the wavering light of a near-dead torch being held by a stooped man with white-streaked hair and heavy glasses. From what the captain had told her, that would be Chūritsu. He stood near a pillar of ice in the centre of the chamber. Another man was with him, carrying a large sword strapped to his back. Karasu. The two men were alone.

  Missy nearly returned to her body to get the others. Surely Yami and the captain would be a match for Karasu. The man with the permanent hunch to his shoulders didn’t look like much of a fighter. Her curiosity gave her pause, though. If she held off for just a little while, she might learn why the mercenary had come here.

  Chūritsu continued his silent inspection until Karasu snapped, ‘Is it him?’

  ‘Hmmm?’ Chūritsu looked at the mercenary over the rim of his glasses. ‘It is hard to say. There is something in there. Whether or not that something is Rinjin remains to be seen.’

  Missy moved closer to the central pillar. The flames from Chūritsu’s torch revealed a smooth, slightly opaque surface that looked a lot like ice, but just at the edge of that light, where it gave way to shadows, she saw a dim blotch within the pillar. At first she thought it was some sort of imperfection within the structure, but the more she concentrated on it the firmer her conviction grew. There was something inside it.

  It looked small to be a god. It was too indistinct for her to be sure of its true size and shape, but it looked no bigger than a child with its legs pulled up close to its chest. As soon as the image flashed into her mind, Missy knew that was exactly what it was. For a moment she doubted herself, but then she understood the picture hadn’t come from her own imagination. It had been an image-message, sent to her by whatever or whoever was in the ice. Trapped there.

  Missy had been so caught up in examining the ice column that she had all but forgotten Karasu and Chūritsu. The Shinzōn scientist had pulled a pick out of the bag at his feet and was about to smash it into the pillar. Missy panicked. She forgot what state sh
e was in and tried to grab his arm. Her incorporeal form did nothing to stop the pick as it fell against the ice. From around the corner, Missy felt a sharp pain in her temples. She threw her spirit-self back into her body but couldn’t stop the gasp that escaped her lips.

  ‘Captain!’ she croaked. ‘Karasu … Chrūritsu … Stop them!’

  The pain came again, worse now that she was inside her body to feel it. It was as if Chūritsu was slamming the pick into her brain. Somewhere, Missy was aware that Captain Shishi and Yami had left and that Heidi was shaking her arm, or perhaps she was just holding onto her. The blows to Missy’s head sent a ringing noise through her mind. She couldn’t focus on anything.

  As quickly as the pain had come, it was gone. Missy pushed herself upright. Her vision wavered and her head spun, but Heidi had a hold of her and she didn’t fall. She had to get around the corner to see what was happening. She dragged Heidi along with her, or perhaps Heidi was dragging her. The pain was gone but Missy’s thoughts were still fuzzy. All she knew was that she had to make sure the pillar was intact.

  It wasn’t until she stepped around the corner that she noticed Chūritsu’s torch had finally died. The pure white light that greeted her was coming from Lucis. The captain and Yami stood in front of her, facing Chūritsu and Karasu. The pillar was between them. Missy heard a low growling, so unfamiliar it took her a moment to realise it was the Bestia. She had never heard them make such a noise before. It was low and deep, and they all seemed to be making the same sound so that it came out as a single, rolling snarl. They, too, were arrayed against their enemies. Ignis and Terra on one side of the column, Aqua and Aeris on the other. Lucis was high above them, actually standing on top of the pillar of ice.

  The Bestia’s anger was shocking in its intensity. Never before under Lenis’s care had they seemed so feral. Their tails twitched and their hair stood up all along their backs. Small flames danced at the tips of Ignis’s fur, and Missy felt a breeze growing at her back. The earth beneath her feet started to shudder, ever so slightly, and Lucis was generating more light than they really needed and was only getting brighter.

  They’re gathering their power, Missy thought, awed by what she was seeing. Bestia power thrummed through the entire chamber, causing goosebumps to rise on Missy’s flesh. Without machines to channel their energy, Missy didn’t know if they could control it. She had never witnessed a wild Bestia exert this kind of force.

  ‘Where did you come from, Lord Shishi?’ Karasu asked. The mercenary was projecting a calm demeanour, but Missy saw right through it. His muscles were taut and his eyes darted from the Bestia to the captain and back again. He was tense, not at all like he had appeared back in Fronge, when the numbers were in his favour. ‘What do you want?’

  He seemed to have given up on his mockery, too. Missy decided that was probably a bad sign.

  The captain spoke as calmly as ever, his composure unfeigned. ‘We want the stones of ebb and flow, Sir Karasu.’

  Karasu’s eyes narrowed and his right arm twitched, but Missy saw there was no way he could draw his oversized blade in the close confines of the chamber. It was a massive weapon, taller than the mercenary. It seemed unlikely he could even wield it. Missy had expected Karasu to turn and run, but he seemed reluctant to leave the chamber.

  ‘Delays,’ Chūritsu muttered. He was standing behind Karasu’s left shoulder, cleaning his glasses. The pick was tucked into the crook of his arm. ‘Give him the stone, Karasu, and let us get back to work.’ The mercenary looked to his companion, the corner of his upper lip pulled back in a snarl. Chūritsu seemed oblivious to Karasu’s ire. ‘It’s useless to us anyway.’

  Karasu’s snarl became a smile as he visibly relaxed. He turned back to face the captain. ‘Very well, Lord Shishi. A deal. I’m afraid I only have one of the stones of ebb and flow. I cannot tell you which it is, but you are welcome to it if you leave us here in peace.’

  Chūritsu replaced his glasses and bent down to place the pick on the ground. He rummaged around in his bag and pulled out a dull grey stone. ‘Take it and go.’ He sounded bored.

  Missy knew the captain would accept. It was why they had come here, after all. That and to save Lenis. With Karasu busy in the chamber with the pillar, they could slip behind him and find her brother. Better to eliminate Karasu as an enemy now by removing the one thing that lay between them, that set them against each other. Captain Shishi might doubt Karasu when he claimed to have only one stone, but having one stone and Suiteki was better than having nothing but a powerless baby dragon.

  Heidi still clung to Missy. With everyone speaking Shinzōn, the Heiliglander had no way of knowing what was going on. Missy knew she would recognise Karasu as the man who had sacked her town and murdered her people. What if the sight of him shattered the mental blocks she had put in place to protect herself from her memories? They were still new. If they broke now, if Heidi lost control, there was no way to predict what she could do.

  ‘Forgive me if I doubt you,’ the captain said, ‘but why would you give us the stone? What is it you do here?’

  Karasu snorted. ‘What does it matter? You came for the stones I have. I have only one. Take it. Go and fight your war with the Demons.’

  Heidi’s grip on Missy’s arms was solid. Her fingers didn’t even tremble. Either she was completely numb, had inhumanly strong willpower, or her fury was operating on a level Missy had never known. Slowly, carefully, she pressed herself into Heidi’s mind. Nothing. The girl was doing it. She was keeping herself together. And then Missy felt the slightest quiver run through Heidi’s body. Cracks appeared in the girl’s mind. A few stray images broke through. Red fire. Blackened skin. Missy panicked. A spasm went through her mind and suddenly Heidi’s thoughts were clean again. Missy had somehow reinforced the girl’s mental barrier.

  ‘One stone is not enough,’ Captain Shishi pressed Karasu. ‘We need both.’

  ‘I do not have it!’ The mercenary took a step forwards. Everyone tensed, including the Bestia. Small tendrils of flame erupted from Ignis’s nostrils, and there was an audible crack in the air above Aeris. Missy drew away from Heidi’s mind. She would deal with what she had done later. ‘You fall short of your reputation, Lord Shishi. Even a fool, if in your place, would realise the other stone will be in a temple dedicated to Seisui, not Rinjin.’

  Karasu’s eyes flickered from the captain’s face to the pillar in the centre of the chamber. Missy knew he wanted whatever was sealed inside, wanted it enough to give up the stone in his possession. What had changed, Missy wondered, since Asheim? What was the mercenary really after? She knew where the answers lay. Instinctively, Missy sent her awareness out towards him, leaving Heidi to hold up her body. But as she tried to peek into Karasu’s mind she encountered the same blur of images she always saw when trying to read the captain’s thoughts. It was as if he wasn’t thinking about any one thing. Frustrated, Missy returned to her body. Whatever mental training these Shinzōn warriors went through, it made it impossible to scan their minds.

  Missy was just wondering if she could somehow force her way beyond these surface thoughts into the deeper reaches of Karasu’s subconscious, when there came a noise from the corridor behind Karasu.

  ‘What now?’ Chūritsu asked, rolling his eyes.

  The noise grew louder as whatever it was drew closer. Soon, Missy was able to make out the sounds of people struggling against each other. And then she heard someone call out, and her heart stopped for the space of three beats. Heidi and Karasu no longer mattered. Missy would know that voice anywhere. It was Lenis!

  A moment later he appeared in the doorway behind Chūritsu and Karasu, held up between two of Karasu’s warriors. He was fighting them, or trying to, but they had his arms pinned behind his back and there was little he could do against them.

  ‘We found him asleep in the vestibule,’ one of the guards said.

  The twins cried out in unison.

  ‘Missy!’

  ‘Lenis!’

/>   Karasu glanced over his shoulder, and his smile grew wider. ‘Well, Lord Shishi, it seems as though I have found another bargaining chip. Your engineer, I believe? Bring him inside.’ The last part was directed at his warriors.

  The guards lifted Lenis and carried him forwards. As they moved through the portal and into the chamber, Lucis’s light turned blue and grew so bright it was blinding. Missy screwed her eyes shut, then clamped her hands over her ears as a piercing crack tore through the chamber.

  In the silence that followed, a deep, booming voice spoke.

  KI’AM SU TARU INA KA HARSAG!

  Lenis felt the words vibrating through his chest. He had no idea what they meant, but the guards had let him go in their surprise. Lenis dropped to the ground, using his empathic abilities to lead him as he crawled away from the guards and towards his sister. He could feel her more strongly than ever before – a beacon drawing him near. The blue light was so bright it was visible even through his eyelids. It reminded him of when Apsilla had spoken to him in his dreams, and the voice was like hers, too, but louder and more masculine. He could feel the power it contained. So intent was he on crawling through the confusion created by the radiance and the voice of … whatever it was that had spoken that Lenis bumped into something. Unwittingly, he opened his eyes. A shadow was outlined by the glow. It reached down to him.

  ‘Mashu?’ The voice sounded human enough, though Lenis couldn’t place the language. The light began to fade. Without thinking, Lenis took the offered hand. As his vision cleared he saw that it belonged to a boy, shorter than himself but perhaps a bit older. He had black hair that seemed to hold onto the blue light as it faded, leaving behind odd highlights. His eyes were also a bright blue, but as the light faded they seemed to turn from blue to green and then settled into a light grey. His skin was very pale, a blue-tinged white Lenis recognised as chilled skin, but though the boy’s hand was cool, it wasn’t cold. There was something odd about his features, too. They were too sharp, his cheekbones too prominent, his brow too heavy, his hands larger than they should have been, his … Lenis realised the boy was naked and quickly looked away.