Voyages of the Flying Dragon (35 page)

Lenis and Missy have been torn apart, but will their sacrifice lead to Ishullanu's defeat, or have their attempts to thwart their fate merely brought the world closer to destruction?

Missy has left the
Hiryū
to learn the secrets of the Quillblade. Together with her enigmatic teacher, Fox, she oversees the mobilisation of Heiligland from aboard the airship
Geschichte
. When Demons attack the nation's capital, Missy and her new allies are drawn south to Tien Ti, where Missy hopes to fulfill the promise she made to her brother by restoring the cracked stone he gave into her keeping. She must also uphold her bargain with Fox and locate Silili, the one Totem who might have the power to heal the Wasteland sickness, but sinister forces are also hunting the Peaceful Guardian and are closer to discovering his sanctuary than Missy could ever imagine.

Meanwhile, Lenis and the remaining crew of the
Hiryū
seek the second stone, but in order to wrest it from Karasu they must chase the mercenary into the vast Wastelands of Garsia, a place where Bestia power alone can't guarantee their
safety and Demons are the least of their troubles. Separated by empires, oceans, Wastelands, and battlefields, Missy and Lenis must face a terrible decision, but how can they hope to choose the right way when their only options either lead further into the chaos of war or on to an even more terrifying destiny?

The Demon War begins in the next instalment,
Voyages of the Flying Dragon: Ebb and Flow
!

 

Read on for an extract …

‘Get Fox!' Missy launched herself forwards. She hardly knew what she was doing as she somersaulted over the heads of the guards menacing the Demon who called himself Akabasan. The power of the Quillblade was in her hand, but she didn't allow it to course freely through her as she once might have done. Drawing on her training, she channelled some of its energy through her veins and muscles, keeping the rest at bay by force of her will. As she spun down to land between the Demon and the Heiliglanders, she sliced neatly through the whirlwind that had blown in through the window. As the mini tornado parted, shards of charged air splintered around Missy, slicing into the walls and floor and, judging by the cries coming from behind her, the skin of the defenders as well.

Akabasan grinned as much as his beak-like mouth would allow, revealing an ever-widening rictus of brown teeth.
‘Delightful!' he screeched and then bowed to Missy. ‘You seem tasty!'

The creature leapt at her, but Missy transferred her weight to her right foot and bent backwards to duck the Demon's lunge, pulling Adad's power down into her feet to root her in place. As the creature passed over the top of her, she twisted her hips and brought the Quillblade up in a whistling arc that sent the
shintai
through Akabasan's shoulder and feathery hair, narrowly missing his scalp. A thin stream of black blood spurted from the wound as the Demon rolled head over heels between the Heiliglander guards. They hacked at him, but he moved too swiftly for their heavy broadswords to catch. As Missy straightened she decided they were in more danger of hurting one another than the Demon.

‘Stand back,' she shouted, and as one they obeyed.

Akabasan reached a stretch of wall between two windows, but instead of crashing through he rolled up it and back-flipped onto his feet. He looked at his shoulder, ran a hand across the cut, then licked the inky blood from his fingers.

‘Quickly, quickly, little mouse,' the Demon sang, his own blood coating his beak and teeth. ‘Such a sting from a tiny thing.'

He jumped into the air and kicked off the wall behind him, flying at Missy again. She braced herself and brought the Quillblade up between them. With a thought she sent a streak of lightning crackling through the hall from the tip of her
shintai
, but the Demon rolled over in midair,
dodging the attack. The bolt shattered into a tapestry, disintegrating half of the fabric and setting the rest ablaze. Thrown off course, Akabasan overshot Missy's shoulder and turned in his flight to give her a wink. Then he was behind her, entangling his arms through hers and dragging her back towards the window.

‘Can your feather make you fly, little mouse?' the thing whispered in her ear. His breath stank of carrion left too long in the sun.

Missy struggled against his grip, as much to be free of his odour as his grasp. Her panic drove her training from her mind, and she lashed out, sending lightning strikes all around her, but none found their target. One blasted a nearby fire pit, exploding still-burning wood and coals around the hall. People were screaming. Many had fled, but a few were still bunched by the door, struggling against one another in their press to flee. There was no sign of Fox, and Missy knew there was no way her teacher could reach her in time through that press of Heiliglanders. She closed her eyes and tried to focus. Akabasan was a Demon, but she was the wielder of the Quillblade and had the power of a Totem at her command. She opened herself up to that energy completely, allowing its full force to surge through her. The first time she had done so, back in Erdasche, she'd injured herself badly, but this time she was better prepared.

Control
, she repeated to herself.
Control. Control. Control.

Missy gritted her teeth, her nerves seared raw by the influx of Adad's power. She couldn't fully dominate the torrential flow of spiritual energy, but she could direct and divert it. Where once it had rioted throughout her system unchecked, now she ensured it repaired as much as it damaged her. She guided the energy along its way, moving it where she willed and damming it in places so it could build up where she would need it most: within her heart, lungs, hands, and feet. The initial agony of calling on Adad's might elongated and expanded as it filled her, moving beyond pain and into an excess of sensation. Her body opened to the world around her, unprotected by the barrier of her skin, unable to defend itself from the influx of sensorial data.

At last, there came a moment when Missy knew the cadences of the elemental forces raging within her matched perfectly with the rhythms of her body. Blood and oxygen and the electric charge of Adad's soul resonated in perfect balance inside her, and in that instant Missy knew that she was in control. She threw herself backwards. Thrown off balance, Akabasan fell, still clutching Missy to him, and hit his head on the windowsill. As his skull connected with the stone, Missy thrust out with Adad's power, enveloping them both in a miniature storm of electricity. Akabasan cried out as the full force of the Lightning Guardian tore through him. His hold loosened as the voltage tortured his internal organs, his nerves, and his bones. Missy sprang free and turned to face him before even touching the ground. She swept the
Quillblade through the Demon's throat so hard she not only sliced though his neck but also opened a gaping crevasse in the stone beneath him. Akabasan's body crumpled to the floor as his head rolled out the window.

Missy felt the corners of her mouth spasm up into a grin. She'd done it. The Quillblade was hers. Its power was her power, and it moved through her body as easily and readily as blood or air. From somewhere deep inside or far away, she heard the Thunder Bird's answering cry, torn from his Demonic throat. She knew then that she could take charge of the Totem's empty vessel at will, whenever she chose to do so, and that she wouldn't need Lenis's aid to do it.

The air was heady around her. The stench of ozone filled the chamber. Little erratic charges of electricity danced across her skin, occasionally zapping and popping as they arced from her to the floor or the walls or out into the sky beyond the windows. Missy looked over her shoulder. Shujinko and Heidi were with the guards and King Asagrim, encircling the fleeing Heiliglanders. They were assessing her anew, she realised. To them she was no longer the girl pretending to be Magni, standing before them with light shows, fancy clothes, pretty speeches, and the occasional mental suggestion. Their fake Lightning-Wielder was gone, but in her place stood something more, something real. Missy might not have been the goddess the Heiliglanders thought she was, the one they worshipped in their temples and cried out for to lead them to war, but she did exercise
that Totem's power, and Magni hadn't been the one to answer their prayers. Missy had.

A gust of air slammed into her and threw her backwards. She'd forgotten about Etana. The Demon Lord was still out there, lurking in the skies above Drachstadt. Missy rushed to the window and stood over Akabasan's headless body, looking out into the night. All was dark, the stars and moon hidden by the shifting cloudbanks overhead. Occasionally, a pinprick of celestial light peeked through, but Etana remained unseen. Even so, Missy knew that he was out there somewhere in the gathering storm. Her smile widened. Etana may command the winds, but Adad was the Lord of Storms. The Quillblade thrummed pleasantly in Missy's hand as she pointed it out of the window. Bolts of lightning flew from its tip into the underside of the cloud cover. The sky absorbed the electrical charge, passing it from one roiling mass to another until everything was lit by its white-blue light.

There!
Missy caught sight of a talon rising up behind the cover and sent another bolt after it. She was rewarded with an outraged shriek from the Lord of Fury. Now was the time, she knew. Missy steadied herself and closed her eyes, turning her attention inwards once more, searching. Adad had drawn closer the longer she relied on the energies of the Quillblade. It would take but a simple command and the strength of her will to summon him here. Together, his strength directed by her will, they could overpower Etana.

Suddenly there was a screech, and a blast of rancid air hit Missy's face, causing her to stagger back. Adad was forgotten as slivers of air tore into her skin. The Quillblade came up before her again and, shielded by the
shintai
's might, Missy reopened her eyes. What she saw sent a ripple of unease through her and into the Quillblade. Akabasan's severed head was floating in the window. It looked down at its body, squawked, and then turned its red eyes on Missy. She was mesmerised by its stare, by the black blood dripping from the trunk of its neck onto the wasted blue body below. The energies of the Quillblade seemed to abandon her as Akabasan's dead eyes locked her in place.

‘That was nicely done, little mouse,' the Demon told her. ‘You did better than I expected, though to be fair you weren't using
your
power, were you?'

Missy's mouth moved, but no words came out. She wasn't even sure she had anything to say. She was paralysed, inside and out. Her mastery of Adad's strength hadn't been enough to destroy this creature. How was she supposed to face it now? What could she do if even a Totem couldn't kill it?

‘Not that I'm a sore loser, I hasten to add,' Akabasan went on, ‘but you did just decapitate
and
defenestrate me, so I think I've got fair cause to be somewhat miffed about how the whole affair turned out. But never mind! To prove how generous and forgiving I am, I'll tell you something good. What you seek is far south of here. Go to Tien Ti.
Search for a place where the fire of the earth is bent to the will of humanity. Once there –'

Akabasan's head exploded. His spell broken, Missy shook herself all over and stared at Fox, who was standing on the windowsill, still hanging half outside of it, clinging to the wall there. One gauntleted fist occupied the space where the Demon's head had just been. Missy's teacher had climbed the outside of the tallest tower in Drachstadt to save her.

‘Ah, thanks,' Missy mumbled, her head still foggy from whatever Akabasan had done to her.

‘You didn't do too badly on your own.' Fox jumped lightly down from her perch and into the hall. ‘For your first time, anyway.' Her lip quirked up in distaste as she stepped over the pool of black blood that was seeping out of the Demon's corpse. ‘Though, next time, make sure the thing's dead before you throw it out the window.'

Missy nodded. Her mouth was dry, her senses still preternaturally heightened by the Quillblade's power. ‘Yes, Fox. I'll do that,' she said.