Brave Story - Miyuki Miyabe [219]
Are they glass? Or crystal? Or even towers of ice? They glimmered like rainbows, like they were made of the stuff of clouds, crystallized and given form. Is there really an entire country up there?
“Now on to the northerly current! Hold on tight!” Togoto called, and gave his wings a large flap. The scene beneath Wataru’s feet shifted. Lifted on a powerful gust of air, Togoto shot like a bullet through the sky.
The Undoor Highland and its towers of cloud faded farther and farther away. Wataru twisted in his chair and looked back for as long as he was able. Even when the wind blew frightfully cold, and his cheeks burned, he did not look away.
It’s like…like….
Like a place where the gods live.
The thought surprised Wataru, even though it had been his own.
What if one of those towers was the Tower of Destiny? What if the Goddess was there, after all? So few seemed to be able to enter the Undoor Highlands, wouldn’t it make sense if the tower that none had seen was there as well? What if the people of the Special Administrative State of Dela Rubesi did not communicate with others in Vision not because they followed the Old God, but because they were sworn to protect the domicile of the Goddess in all its secrecy?
Maybe I just saw it—my final destination.
Wataru sat in silence. Even without earplugs, the sound of blood rushing through his veins and the beating of his heart drowned out everything else.
They took a few brief rest breaks, but Togoto never seemed to weary, and they made good progress northward. The sun grew low in the sky and it was nearing twilight when he first caught a glimpse of the sea far ahead of them.
There were flying at a much lower elevation now. Wataru was able to talk to Togoto without having to shout. “Is that the sea that surrounds the southern continent?”
“The very one!”
“So beyond that is the northern continent? Have you ever flown there, Togoto?”
“Flown there? Never!” Togoto said, shaking so much that Wataru’s basket began to swing from side to side. Wataru hurriedly grabbed on so he wouldn’t fall.
“Do you not know, Highlander? In the middle of the sea which separates north from south looms the Stinging Mist!”
“The Stinging Mist?”
“Indeed. It’s a sight different from the mist and clouds you saw surrounding the Undoor Highland earlier today, different from any mist we know—a fearful, baleful storm of death!”
According to Togoto, each droplet of that mist was sharp and pointed like a blade, and all foolish enough to fly through it were pierced until they bled to death.
“No matter how strong the wings of the karulakin, none may fly when torn to rags! Only the great dragon warriors covered with hardened scale armor might hope to penetrate such a mist. It is said that the few remaining dragonkin in this world live upon a small island in the sea in the midst of this mist. Thus, we see them only when they choose to venture out, and then only rarely.”
Wataru thrust his hand into his trousers pocket, and felt the red scale Jozo had given him. So it was an unusual thing to meet a dragon, even in this world. A chance encounter.
“The merchant sailships catch the winds sent by the Goddess to ply their way from north to south and back, but even then sometimes the Stinging Mist sweeps low across the sea and blocks their passage. When the mist drops, all hands must leave the sails and oars and hide below deck, lest they be ripped painfully and bloodily apart!”
Night fell before long, and stars twinkled into existence above Wataru’s head. A blanket of darkness covered the land. Wataru shivered in the night wind and lifted the collar on his cotton jacket.
From there on, he slumped in his seat, unsure of how far and how fast they flew. But it was not too long before