Free Voyages of the Flying Dragon by Ben Chandler Page A

but dread overwhelmed him as he began creeping towards it. What was he doing ? How did he think he was going to get away with this? It wouldn’t take much – a sharp breath, a scuffed step – and the cook would hear him and turn. She might not notice him immediately, but her suspicions would be aroused and a search would soon follow. It wouldn’t take long to find him, even under Atrum’s cloak.
    Step by slow step, Lenis made his way across the galley, barely daring to breathe. Each movement was agony; each one was carefully considered and precisely executed. Six paces and he was barely into the room. Another six and he was fully committed. There was no way he could retreat in a hurry now without drawing attention. Another six and he was in the middle of the galley. He felt completely exposed. What if Atrum’s cloak failed? What if the Bestia tired and left them both standing, completely visible and with nowhere to hide? Lenis willed Atrum to be strong. He put his trust in his Bestia and forced himself to move on. Six more paces. Six more steps. Only six more and he would be safe. Well, at least as safe as he could be, given the circumstances.
    The cook said something suddenly in Shinzōn. Lenis froze. Every instinct told him to run, but he didn’t. The woman spoke again. Lenis inched his neck around to look back at her. How had she seen him? What had given him away? But she had not been speaking to Lenis. Someone had come down via the forward hatch and was standing right behind Lenis, who had been so caught up in staying silent he had forgotten to keep his awareness alert for anyone approaching. If Lenis had delayed his foray across the galley any longer, he would have been discovered! He was so relieved he nearly broke into a run again, but he forced himself to remain perfectly still. Whoever had come from the fore hatch said something to the cook, who snapped a reply. There was a grunt, and Lenis heard the person retreat. The cook muttered to herself as she turned back to the stove.
    The relief made Lenis giddy. He tried to stifle it. He was far from safe, and far from completing his self-assigned mission. He needed to find the stones, and he came to realise the only place where they could be. In Karasu’s cabin. In the captain’s cabin. Lenis forced himself to move on, slower than ever, his heart beating so fast he was afraid the cook might hear it from across the hall.

    Missy stared in open-mouthed disbelief as Terra tore through the rubble blocking the passage. She had expected he would use his delicate front legs to dig away at the earth, and she had even prepared to dig right alongside Terra. Instead, he was eating the dirt and rock in front of him. His canine mouth snapped at the debris, pulling large chunks of it free and gulping it down. But he was so small! Where was it all going ? The tunnel was filled with the low thrum of Bestia power Missy had always associated with machinery, but maybe the noise and vibration had never come solely from the machines but from the Bestia themselves.
    It was easy enough to see the reactions of the others. Lucis perched in the tube overhead, giving off a bright white light. Yami and the captain watched Terra intently, but they didn’t seem surprised. Perhaps because they knew so little of Bestia power in the first place, they just took things as they came, but Heidi seemed as amazed as Missy was. Missy had seen Bestia do all sorts of things. Ignis generated fire. Aeris played with the wind. Lucis gave off light. Aqua could find and even freeze water. Atrum, perhaps most amazingly of all, could make things invisible. But she had never seen a Bestia absorb earth before. She wondered if other Bestia might possess powers she hadn’t even considered. Had she become so used to thinking of them only as parts of a machine that she had forgotten they were powerful before machines were even invented? The thought shamed her. Lenis would never