Voyages of the Flying Dragon by Ben Chandler Page B

deck the night before they left Itsū, right up until they had seen the smoke rising from Fronge.
    Missy spoke in a dull monotone, too tired to put any emotion into the retelling, so tired it was an effort to keep her mouth moving. For her part, Heidi listened without interruption. She didn’t ask any questions and, when Missy had finished, her throat so dry it ached, Heidi simply nodded. If Missy’s story had made any impact on her, had done anything other than break up their silent journey, Heidi gave no sign. She had wrapped her stillness so closely around herself that Missy wondered how deep the mental barrier she had erected went, and how thick she had made it.
    Some time later, exactly how long Missy had no way of knowing, Heidi held up a hand. Everyone stopped. The Heiliglander leant so close to Missy’s ear she actually brushed it with her lips. ‘We are about to enter the temple proper. Ahead there is a sacred chamber.’ Missy was shocked by the girl’s sudden business-like manner. All signs of her earlier distress had been erased. She might have been telling Missy they were about to enter a public bathroom. Missyglanced at her thoughts, confirming her fears. Heidi was only thinking about the task at hand. All traces of the horrific images Missy had seen in her mind earlier were gone. Heidi had locked them away somewhere deep inside her. Perhaps, if Missy had the time, she could help her come to terms with –
    â€˜Njord rests within.’
    â€˜ What? ’ Missy drew back into herself.
    â€˜Shh!’ Heidi rebuked her. ‘Njord slumbers within, deep in the ice.’
    Missy pushed Heidi’s problems to one side to worry about later while she translated for the others in a low voice.
    The captain listened and then said, ‘If this is indeed Njord’s temple, it is possible the sea god is within.’
    â€˜Do you think he could be a Demon?’ Missy asked. She was far too tired to deal with Demons.
    â€˜I do not think so,’ Yami replied. ‘Gawayn does not stir.’
    Missy still wasn’t thinking very clearly. ‘But aren’t all of the Totem and Jinn corrupted?’
    â€˜Silili has not yet fallen,’ the captain pointed out. ‘He helped Lenis and the Bestia back in Neti’s temple.’
    Missy had all but forgotten about that. Her brother had told her that a Totem had reached out to him and healed his and the Bestia’s wounds. That meant Apsilla wasn’t the last Totem to fall. Apsilla …
    â€˜Wait.’ Missy grabbed Heidi’s arm as the girl made to move around the corner. She turned to the captain. ‘The sea god is Apsilla’s father, right?’
    â€˜We believe so,’ the captain replied, ‘though there is as yet no proof of that.’
    â€˜But if he is ,’ Missy pressed on, ‘that means he’s not a Totem or a Jinn at all, but something older, something more powerful.’ Missy suddenly felt a moment of clarity powerful enough to banish the fog that had settled over her exhausted mind. ‘It means he’s a god, a real god, like Ishullanu. What did he call himself? A Caelestia?’
    The captain drew his eyebrows together. ‘It could be as you say, Miss Clemens. Lord Tenjin will have a better idea of how these beings are related.’
    â€˜But he’s not here.’ Missy’s mind was still eerily clear. She didn’t need Tenjin to tell her she was right. She knew it. She felt it. Something settled into place. ‘That’s why Karasu’s here. He wanted the dragon egg. He went to the trouble of finding the stones of ebb and flow, but we beat him to the real prize so he came looking for something even more powerful. Suiteki’s grandfather – the sea god.’
    The captain remained silent for a moment, considering her words. ‘You may be correct.’
    â€˜What shall we do?’ Yami asked.
    The captain looked at each of them in