her, Missy!â
Missy pulled her arm out of her brotherâs grip. She placed both her hands on Lenisâs shoulders. âCalm down, little brother. It was just a dream.â
âIâve had it more than once.â
Missy looked over her shoulder and saw that the others were almost at the wall. âHow often?â
âEvery night since we came to Shinzô.â
Missy took a deep breath and turned back to Lenis. âDescribe it to me.â
Lenis told her about the blue light, the dragonâs silhouette, and about how Apsilla had asked Lenis to save her daughter. When he was finished Missy let out a long breath.
âIt could be a Bestia calling out to you ... I donât know, Lenis. Sometimes, when Bestia are far away, they will reach out to a Bestia communicator through dreams, but ... Have you ever had any dreams like this before?â Lenis shook his head. âThereâs not much we can do about it now. Letâs catch up with the others. We can ask the captain ââ Lenis went even whiter and Missy hurried on, âor Lord Tenjin about it later.â
Lenis remained silent as Missy led him to the wall. It rose before them, ten feet high, six feet thick, sturdy, stone, but it seemed paltry compared to the threat of the Demons. Missy had already decided they would be twenty feet tall and capable of knocking down the villageâs defences without any effort.
As they drew nearer Missy noticed the villagers had come out to join them. They were surprisingly well armedwith swords, bows and spears. The weapons had obviously been well maintained, even if the houses of Gesshoku had not, which was mute evidence of the reality of life near the Wastelands.
They reached the wall and Missy climbed up the thin ladder in front of her. Lenis followed. As her head appeared over the top of the wall the wind pushed back into Missyâs face. It carried with it the sickly-sweet odour of unclean things and made her gag. âWhat is that?â
Tenjin was leaning on the edge of the wall, looking out over the field below. His breath was shallow, making his words rasp. âIt is the miasma of the Wastelands. Wrap a scarf around your face so you do not get too much of it into your lungs. It can cause sickness if you are not careful.â
Missy felt a tug on her sleeve and turned to see Namei offering her a scarf identical to the one around her own neck. The cabin girl showed her how to wrap it around her head to protect her nose and mouth without suffocating herself, before offering another strip of fabric to Lenis.
âThank you,â Missy said through the muffling cloth. Namei nodded.
Lenis, halfway through securing his own scarf, pointed to the horizon. âLook!â
Missy turned towards the west. A wall of fog seemed to be bearing down on them, and beneath it shadows swirled and writhed. She could hear a low growling coming from behind it. Missy shuddered. It was like the commotion she had heardearlier. It had to be the Demons. They were communicating telepathically with one another in a language she could not understand. But if they could talk to one another, then they were more than just the mindless horrors she had heard stories about. They were intelligent.
Savage, relentless, intelligent Demons. As Missyâs terror grew she felt an answering tingle in the Quillblade, hidden inside her shirt.
âHere they come.â Captain Shishi drew his sword. The rasp of the metal sent a chill down her spine.
Lenis struggled to breathe through the strip of cloth Namei had given him to cover his mouth and nose. The scarf wasnât enough to block out the acrid vapour that rose up from the plain below the walls of Gesshoku. The Demons were close enough now for Lenis to see the red gleam of their eyes and the green-tinged foam that flecked their maws. They came in a surprising range of sizes and shapes, from lumbering bear Demons and sturdy ox Demons, to swift-footed rabbit
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