Voyages of the Flying Dragon Read Free

Shin and Kenji Jackson were strong fighters too, but even if the entire crew worked together, they were still only a few people against an entire army. She caught herself staring at the princess. The girl had given up almost everything to gain the power to fight her enemy. Would it be enough todestroy Lord Butin? Missy didn’t know, but the crew would need powerful allies if they were going to have any hope against their adversaries. Missy wondered what sort of power a Lilim had. She knew there weren’t many of them left since the Great War, but if the crew could somehow find those who had survived, could they convince them to help fight Ishullanu? Lilim shared their power by forming pacts with humans. Could a pact be forged that would grant someone enough power to stand against a Caelestia, the race of gods more powerful than any other creature, who had given birth to the Jinn and the Totem? There was only one way for Missy to know.
    She turned to the princess. ‘Excuse me, your highness?’ Anastasis regarded her blankly and made no reply. Missy cleared her throat and tried again. ‘May I ask you something?’
    â€˜Is it about Butin?’ The princess delivered the words in her usual monotone.
    â€˜Indirectly,’ Missy hedged. ‘I was wondering how much power a Lilim can bestow on a human.’ Anastasis said nothing. ‘I mean, would they be able to give you enough to defeat Lord Butin?’
    â€˜Yes.’
    Missy waited, but the girl provided no further information. ‘What about a Totem, or a Jinn, who had been turned into a Demon? Could a Lilim make you strong enough to defeat a Demon Lord?’
    Anastasis didn’t even shrug. It seemed she wouldn’t answer any of Missy’s questions unless they were directly related to her desire to kill Lord Butin. Missy tried to frame her next question in such a way that Anastasis would answer it, but before she could, Disma spoke.
    â€˜No, Missy.’ The princess’s Lilim was sitting on Anastasis’s shoulder. Her wings were folded against her back and her tail was wrapped around the girl’s waist. ‘A Lilim’s power is not equal to a Jinn’s or a Totem’s. We are the children of the Jinn, just as the Bestia are the children of the Totem, and both are descended from the Caelestia.’
    Missy looked from the princess to her Lilim. ‘So how much power do you have?’
    â€˜More than you.’ Disma smiled widely, revealing her fangs, and then winked. ‘You humans are physical beings. You are bound by the limitations of the physical world. This makes you weak. We belong to the spirit realm, which has no limits, but we cannot affect your world unless we form a pact with one of you. By forming a pact, something is given and something taken by both parties. Through us, you gain access to the realm of the spirits, the place of primordial and elemental powers. We, in turn, can enter the physical world. The more you give, the more we give. The more you lose, the more we lose.’
    â€˜So, the more Anastasis gives to you of herself, the more power she can draw from the spiritual realm and the more …’ Missy searched for the right word, ‘ physical you become?’
    â€˜Yes.’
    â€˜What happens when a person gives everything?’
    Disma looked quickly at the princess, and Missy was sure something passed between them but couldn’t tell what. It wasn’t any sort of communication she could fathom, but there had been something . ‘For a time,’ the Lilim said, ‘that person is very powerful. Then they die.’
    â€˜Die?’
    The Lilim smiled her wicked smile again. ‘How could they live without the desire to eat, to drink, to draw breath?’
    Missy mulled this over. ‘Then what happens to the Lilim? Do they go back to the spiritual realm?’
    Disma shook her head, sending a ripple through her blue hair. ‘No. When a person gives