Rin followed Dr. Strauss to where he was sitting, her face remaining calm despite his terrible news.
"
Well? Do you have a cure? I don't think such a future will come to pass so there must be a solution. What do you intend to do?"
Meanwhile on the other side of the room, a follower entered leading behind him what Alec had requested. The dragon was far smaller than the one they had ridden earlier, anything bigger wouldn't have been able to fit inside the narrow tunnels leading to the chamber, but it was large enough for one adult to ride on. Without a word the follower passed the reins for the beast to the American and handed him a glass containing a deep brown alcoholic drink.
As this happened Maya watched until she felt a hand on a shoulder. The little girl shrieked and looked around to find Mr. Kimura behind her, as he was sitting in a wheelchair his head was only slightly higher than hers.
"Ahhh... who are you?" she squeaked and jumped closer to Alec.
"
There's no need to be frightened" the old Japanese man said in Mandarin Chinese in an accent that reminded her of Takeda. "
Are you Hui's daughter?"
Maya nodded "How you know about Mummy?" she asked suspiciously, switching to her native language too.
"
We used to work together many years ago before you were born. Did she teach you such good English?"
The child nodded again, this time more eagerly "Her job was changing writing from English to Chinese, or the other way around sometimes. She wanted me to work in America when I grow up so she made me learn it".
"
Very sensible of her. Rin told me that she's ill at the moment, I'm sorry to hear that. Did she ever mention me, or the Tao Zheng company, or even Japan to you?"
Maya shook her head for the first two but at the mention of the third she changed her expression.
"Oh yeah, she told me how evil and bad Japanese people are" she said enthusiastically "I hate them more than anything!"
Mr. Kimura looked deflated when he heard the small girl's last statement, even though he could tell she thought he was Chinese.
"
I thought she might tell you that..." he said dejectedly.
~
The day passed quickly as the four companions flew towards the Xinjiang region, western China. Them flying in the opposite direction to the movement of the Sun meant that most of their journey was in darkness, only when they were on the edge of the Flaming Mountains did light finally return. The terrain beneath them was now barren and deserted, red in colour.
Wakey wakey, we are here now...
Goch's voice boomed through their heads, even those who were still asleep.
They say the redness of these mountains comes from long ago when a hero slew a dragon who had been eating local kids. That dragon was my uncle and I can confirm to yer that it was definitely already that colour before he was killed, and he didn't eat kids. Well, usually...
The dragon descended at a steady pace, looking shiftily at one particularly high peak a few miles in the distance. He landed and gave the four the opportunity to slide off.
This is as far as I can take yer, any closer and Rin's followers spot me straight off. It won't take more than a hour to get to the base where yer friends are. Don't forget to get the sword first, then go the dragon chamber to end our servitude. Words and spells don't matter, the magic is strong enough to work on yer intentions alone.
