Voyages of the Flying Dragon (27 page)

The woman leant back and tapped her lips with one finger. ‘And what makes you think that I can, or
will
, do such a thing?'

Missy swallowed. ‘I was sort of hoping you would do it because it's the right thing to do. I need to learn if I'm going
to help stop the Demon King and his army from overrunning the world.'

Fox curled her lips into a smile, once again revealing her extra-long eyeteeth. ‘Your hopes mean little to me.'

Missy hesitated. She could feel Kenji watching her. Now that she knew what he was capable of, he was making her more nervous than ever. With an effort, she ignored him. She had to focus on Fox. Missy was probably only going to get one chance to convince her. ‘Then I'll make a bargain with you. I don't want your
shintai
, and I'm certainly not going to give you mine, but if you know how to use them then you can teach me. That's what I want. Teach me how to wield the Quillblade.'

‘I know what
you
want. What are you offering to pay
me
for these lessons?'

Missy licked her lips. She had to force the words out before she stopped herself. What she was offering was madness. She knew she couldn't deliver, yet she could think of nothing else the woman might want that she couldn't just take. ‘You serve the Fox God. Assuming this god of yours exists, he's probably a Totem or a Jinn or something like that, and that means he's been turned into a Demon by now. If not, he soon will be. If you teach me how to use the Quillblade properly, I'll find a way to heal him.'

Fox threw her head back and laughed. There was a touch of madness in her mirth that reminded Missy of Long Liu. ‘No one can do such a thing, foolish child. You had better –'

‘I know there is no cure,' Missy interrupted her. ‘I know that no one can do such a thing, but I believe there might be a way.'

‘Oh? I suppose you have access to some sort of magic elixir? Some potion no one else has ever concocted before?'

If only she knew how close to the mark she had struck
, Missy thought. She said, ‘I do not have access to such a potion.' Fox smirked at her. ‘Not
yet
. But I think I may know where to find one.'

Fox chuckled. ‘Oh?'

Missy took a steadying breath. ‘Have you ever heard of Silili the Peaceful Guardian?'

Lenis saw the Demons long before they reached the ravine floor. Everyone in the crew did. There were so
many
of them clinging to the rock face with their hideous claws. More than Lenis had seen from the walls of Gesshoku. There, they had been on the fringes of the Wastelands. Gesshoku marked and protected the boundaries between the two worlds. But Haven was in the middle of the Wastelands, surrounded on all sides by diseased ground.

The Bestia lighting up the area cast their illumination high enough to see the waves of decaying forms descending on them. As in Gesshoku, the Demons came in all shapes and sizes. There were a number of large cat and goat Demons, and more than a few bear Demons too. There were small lizard-like Demons, no bigger than Suiteki, but too numerous to count, swarming throughout the Demonic mass.

As the Demons came they made the horrid noises of
enraged beasts, the sounds made all the worse by their wounded throats. As with other Demons Lenis had seen, these ones seemed to be decaying, their blackened skin peeling back to reveal the rotting flesh beneath. The stench from their hides pressed down upon him. Rancid meat and something like rotten eggs. In Gesshoku he had been too far away to notice it, but there was nothing between him and the beasts now.

As the undulating mass continued its descent, moving ever closer to the ravine floor, Lenis saw that not all the Demons wore the shape of animals. Scattered throughout the multitude were even more fearsome creatures. Something with three long arms and three impossibly stretched legs picked its way down almost delicately, from rocky perch to rocky perch, moving like a spider. Its body was tiny with a child-sized torso and skinny waist, but its head was a perfect, featureless sphere. Behind it came a squat, almost human figure. Its shoulders bulged, and its feet were slabs of stone. It shouldn't have been able to find purchase on the mountainside, but its massive hands had many fingers. Lenis counted as many as fifteen on each hand, and these dug into the wall and clung to the thinnest outcrops of stone. This pair weren't alone. In all Lenis counted six Demons who had all the trademarks of tainted Lilim. He remembered Akamusaborikū, the Demon who had accosted them in the Wastelands near Seisui's temple. Decapitation hadn't been enough to kill him.

Lenis felt a tingling at the back of his neck and heard a roaring in his ears. Strange lights played across his vision. He leant against a nearby mooring post and tried to steady his breathing, willing himself not to pass out, for Suiteki's sake as much as his own. What possible hope did they have against so many? The crew couldn't hope to hold out for more than a few moments. Captain Shishi, Arthur, Shujinko and Shin each held their swords. Andrea had sheathed her daggers and was aiming her automated crossbow above their heads, waiting for the Demons to come into range. Long Liu was sitting cross-legged on a block of stone, his sack nestled in his lap. Lenis remembered the sorts of things the doctor kept in there. Weapons capable of maiming and disabling human opponents. Hiroshi stood by Princess Anastasis, swinging his
kusarigama
. The princess was leaning against her war hammer, its barrel-sized head planted solidly at her feet. Tenjin was there, too, with his book of spells and – Lenis remembered – the Quillblade. The records keeper was still favouring his ankle, but his determination was palpable. Kanu was standing behind Lenis. He was looking up at the Demons, just as the rest of them were, but all Lenis could sense from him was sadness.

They were, each of them in their own way, warriors. Each had their strengths, their power. But what could even they do against so many foes? Lenis wished that Yami was by his side, even if his curse transformed him into Gawayn, the long-dead Kystian swordsman.

A high-pitched shriek pierced Lenis's eardrums and interrupted his thoughts. A moment later a blast of wind shattered against one wall of the ravine, scattering Demons and sending them sprawling to the ground. They didn't move again. Lenis recognised the cry. Etana. Lord of Fury. Suiteki had curled herself up into tight coils inside Lenis's robe, pressing herself as far down as she could go. Lenis cradled her through the fabric, but he had no calmness to offer her, no hope, no reassurance. All he could do was hold her.

‘Captain?' Arthur held his sword loosely by his side as he craned his neck back to regard the approaching Demons. They would soon be low enough to attack. Lenis sensed Andrea tense, readying to release her first volley.

‘We cannot run, Lord Knyght,' the captain said. ‘The
Hiryū
would be overrun long before we cleared the top of the ravine.'

‘Then we fight.'

‘Yes, Lord Knyght. I am afraid we must become Demon slayers for a time.'

‘The Totem have fallen,' Fox said carefully. ‘All of them.'

‘No, they haven't.' Missy had to fight to keep her voice steady. ‘Not all of them. My brother has spoken to Silili. The Peaceful Guardian healed him and his Bestia, and we think he protected the Bestia from the Wasteland sickness.'

‘You
think
?'

Missy nodded. ‘No promises. I'm only offering you a chance. I don't know where Silili is, or how to contact him, but I know how to track Totem. I can find him, though I'm not even certain if he can cure the Wasteland sickness, or why he hasn't done so already if he's able to.'

‘Then why would I strike such a bargain with you?' Fox hissed between her teeth and waved a hand dismissively in Missy's direction. ‘I'm bored with you. Go and die alongside your friends.'

Missy ground her teeth together. She couldn't lose control now. Not like she had back in Erdasche. She had to keep her mind where it belonged. ‘So you won't even consider my proposal?'

The woman crossed her arms over her chest and leant against one of the divan's armrests. ‘I don't see why I should.'

‘So your god doesn't mind that you're a coward?' Missy snapped.

Fox's eyelids narrowed so her eyes were mere slits. They seemed to glint in the rosy light in the temple. ‘Be careful, girl.' It almost came out as a growl.

‘Why should I?' Missy had one more shot at this. There was no point holding back now. ‘We're all about to die anyway. If not today, then soon, once the last of our defences has been stripped away, once the Demon King has an army large enough to invade the untainted lands. I haven't got the time to be careful. You're stuck in this hole in the middle of nowhere and you do what? Serve your god? Hardly! I'm offering you
a chance. It's a slim chance, I'll grant you that, and it might come to nothing, but I'm willing to bet it's the best offer you've ever had. And what do you say? You're bored! I'm sure the Fox God appreciates your devotion –'

The woman's hand was suddenly around Missy's throat, squeezing so tightly Missy could barely breathe, much less speak. She'd moved impossibly fast. Missy hadn't even seen her tense. Even Yami, her silent protector, was too slow. An instant later he was behind Fox, his sword resting against her neck, but the woman ignored him.

‘What do you know of devotion?' Fox hissed. She gripped harder and Missy began to gag.

‘Release her!' Yami shouted.

The woman turned her head just enough to be able to glare at him. ‘Your Lilim blade is of no concern to me.' She lifted Missy up by the neck, high off the ground. Missy choked, kicking her feet. Her vision darkened. ‘Do you want to learn how to use a Totem's gift, brat?' Fox lowered her voice to a whisper. ‘Come. I'll give you your first lesson.'

The woman released her hold and Missy fell, gasping, but before she hit the ground she was caught around the waist and yanked to the side so fast she felt her stomach heave.

The first Demons fell to Andrea's volley of bolts, but there were more just behind them, reaching the ravine floor almost as quickly as the bodies of their fallen companions. The
crew rushed to meet them. Lenis watched them go, Suiteki shivering in his grasp. Their panic mingled and fed off each other. Lenis couldn't move. As his crewmates reached the front ranks of the Demonic onslaught, his legs gave out from beneath him. He collapsed against the mooring post, wrapping both arms around his dragon. His mind churned on.
Is this what all your training has been for? To give in to fear at the first sign of real trouble?
Lenis shook his head, unable to seize control of his own body. All he could do was watch and offer Suiteki the meagre shelter of his limbs, setting as much of his body between her and the Demons as he could.

Everything moved so slowly. The captain's first thrust took a bear Demon in the eye. He recovered his weapon and spun on the spot, the sweep of his blade taking the horns off a goat Demon coming at him from the side. The captain flowed onto his back foot and then shifted momentum to strike at the goat creature's neck. There was a flash of blue light as a bolt of lightning exploded amongst a group of lizard Demons off to the side. Tenjin was waving the Quillblade as if it were a wand and reading from his book.

Arthur stepped up to the captain's side. The first officer parried a swipe from a cat Demon. The beast's claws rang against the metal of his sword, but then Arthur stepped forward and impaled it through the chest. His blade jammed in its ribcage. An instant. Two. His shoulders heaved as he tried to disengage it. The three-legged Lilim stepped down
into the ravine and flicked one of its arms, catching Arthur in the chest. The first officer flew backwards, leaving his sword still sticking out of the cat Demon's carcass.

The Lilim stepped over the cat and bore down on the first officer, and then Hiroshi was there, wrapping Murasaki, his
kusarigama
weapon, around the thing's legs. The sharpened links of the chain tore into its flesh even as Hiroshi tightened his hold, drawing its limbs together. Lenis could see the sweat on the cook's forehead as he struggled to bring the Demon down.

Behind him, Andrea hacked and slashed at a dozen or more tiny lizard Demons, her crossbow lying forgotten at her feet, her daggers once more in her hands. Even now, Lenis could see her energy draining, her movements slowing. She cried out when one grabbed hold of her pants and scurried up her leg. Without thought for her own limb, she swiped at it with both blades. The thing was cut in three, but she'd left herself open on her right side and one of the Demons leapt onto her shoulder.

Meanwhile, Shujinko jumped over Hiroshi and swung his sword, detaching the orb-like head of the Demon Lilim looming over Arthur's prone form. The cabin boy landed awkwardly and staggered backwards, right onto the horn of another goat Demon, puncturing his side. The captain appeared by him and slew the beast.

‘No,' Lenis whispered. Or had been whispering. Over and over again. ‘No no nononononono …'

Not like this. It couldn't end like this. He saw the brute-like Lilim, the short one with the overpumped muscles and the large, heavy feet, turn to him. They locked eyes. It was so
human
, save for its disproportionate limbs and multiple digits. The Demon flexed its many fingers and started towards him with long, ponderous strides. He heard Andrea scream, her cry filled with equal parts anguish and outrage. The Demon reached Lenis. It raised one massive foot above the boy's head. It brought it down. Lenis stared, wide-eyed, open-mouthed, unable to comprehend what was happening, thinking only that he had failed Suiteki, that she would be crushed because his flesh was not solid enough to protect her from what was descending on them, that she would die before growing into the magnificent Totem she was destined to be.

There came a sound like a howling wolf. Another Demon barrelled into the one above him, knocking the thing back, slashing at it with its own claws. The new Demon was over seven feet tall and had a mane of stiff black hair running down its spine, which curved like a cat's. It leapt back and planted itself before Lenis, facing the brutish, many-fingered Demon. The new Demon's tail twitched backwards and forwards, and Lenis caught glints of blue in its black fur. Its toes were spread wide as the thing dug its long, black talons into the ground. A moment later the newcomer sprang forwards, once more lashing out at the other Demon, shredding the thing's torso and face.