Brave Story - Miyuki Miyabe [329]
“You think so?”
“Yeah. My parents said pretty much the same thing. They said the time might come again when we have to leave our island and join forces with the people who live on the land.”
Again? Wataru and Kutz exchanged glances.
“Did that happen sometime in the past?”
“It was before I was born, about three hundred years ago. Something happened in the north and the dragons left their island to fight.”
“Three hundred years ago? That would be around the end of the War of Unification,” Kutz muttered. “Do you mean to say that dragons fought in that war?”
“Not in the war, no, no. Dragons never get involved in land-dweller conflicts, or take sides. Especially not something like the War of Unification.”
“Then what did you fight?”
“Demonkin,” Jozo replied immediately.
From the way Kutz’s eyes looked, Wataru guessed it was her first time hearing the word too.
“What’s that?”
“I’m not so sure myself. We’re not supposed to talk about the demonkin—it’s taboo. Still, they sound like incredibly dangerous, terrible foes. If we dragons hadn’t flown from our island, all Vision might’ve been destroyed, they say.”
“There is much we do not know about the history of the north,” Kutz admitted. “We’ll have to ask this wyrmking.”
“Do you think he’d just tell us?”
“Never know, unless we ask,” Kutz said. The idea of chatting with a king of dragons didn’t seem to faze her.
“Then that’s it. I’ll introduce you to my parents! My dad’s amazing! He’s at least three times as strong as I am.” Jozo grinned with pride.
Wataru wondered if Jozo’s parents worried about him when he ventured far away. And here I am dragging him across Vision on my errands.
“We’re heading out over the open sea pretty soon. We’ll be in the Stinging Mist before long. Everybody, keep your heads low and stay between my wings. Don’t sit up, whatever you do. The mist will run you through like a thousand tiny swords.”
As he spoke, Jozo gave a powerful beat of his wings, and their speed increased.
The island looked like a dragon sleeping quietly in a corner of the mistshrouded sea. It was actually shaped like a dragon’s head and neck. It even had two horns. Its large eyes were closed. Two round nostrils—probably mountains—looked up toward the sky. It had a massive, protruding jaw, and sharp fangs where rugged fjords formed a small bay. This scene would’ve looked perfectly at home in a museum with a label like “Dragon Taking a Leisurely Bath,” if only it weren’t so cold, and the sea wasn’t the color of pale blue ice.
“Hardly needs introduction,” Kee Keema whispered, peering out from beneath Jozo’s wing. “But I’m guessing that’s the Isle of Dragon!”
“That’s right! Home!”
A thick mist veiled the sea from the air, but they could tell that around the island there was nothing but open water. No small outlying islands or even rocks were visible. In all things, the dragonkin stood alone.
“Whoa! Whoa! Stay down, you all!” Jozo called back frantically. “We’re still in the Stinging Mist!”
“You’re right,” Meena said, putting a hand to her face. “I felt a sting!” A small drop of blood formed below her right eye.
“Me too,” said Kutz, holding down her hair to keep it from blowing up in the wind. Two lines of blood trickled down her forehead.
Wataru shivered. Mitsuru passed through this. He must’ve used his magic to create a barrier to protect himself…
Seeing the mist firsthand, it now made sense that sailships had to plan their departures from the south carefully. Clear, too, was the value of the starseers’ ability to predict when the winds would blow just right so a ship might make the crossing while avoiding the mist. But what struck Wataru the most was the realization that powered ships—without sails or oars—could be easily piloted from inside a cockpit. The army that had those would rule Vision.
Jozo’s scales sure are tough.
“Don’t your eyes hurt, Jozo?”
“Not a bit. I’m just a little cold—but it will be warm when we reach the island.”
Jozo had told him that the dragon island was volcanic. Wataru craned his neck, looking for cones among the mountains on the island