Page 39 of Shinji Takahashi: Into the Heart of the Storm

Evening started to fall. The shadows around them

lengthened, and the forest grew dimmer the farther they went. The white boar was easily visible, though, almost seeming to glow as it slipped through the shadows, like a ghost in the night.

“It’s getting late,” Lucy said, gazing nervously at the sky, which was now a deep, bright orange. “Everyone back at camp is going to be worried about us. Maybe we should text them, just to let them know we’re okay?”

“I suppose,” Shinji said. He was glad that Lucy was talking to him. She was still angry but seemed to have put their argument aside for now. At least they weren’t marching through the woods in complete, awkward silence. “Just don’t tell them where we are.”

“No worries there,” Lucy muttered. “I don’tknowwhere we are.”

“I’m surprised they haven’t called you,” Roux put in. “Knowing that Ocean guy, I would’ve expected your phones to be buzzing every two seconds.”

Thatwasstrange, now that Shinji thought about it. He’d been in such a hurry to follow the white boar, he hadn’t given Oliver, Phoebe, and the rest of the expedition a second thought. Of course they’d be worried if the three of them vanished without a trace, and were probably out searching for them, now. Given that, it was weird that Shinji’s phone hadn’t made any noise at all.

“Oh no,” Lucy murmured, and he heard the alarm in her voice. “Shinji, check your phone.”

He did. The screen was completely blank. There were no bars, no buttons, nothing but an empty blue screen. It wasn’t just that there was no signal; the phone was utterly bricked.

“Guess your white pig doesn’t want us calling for help,” Roux said.

Lucy bit her lip and tugged the end of her braid. “I don’t like this,” she said. “Something about this whole thing feels off. Shinji, are yousureyou don’t want to go back?”

Shinji shook his head. He didn’t know how to explain it. Ever since he had been given the magic of the font, he’d felt lost. Like he was supposed to dosomething; he just didn’t know what. Now, for the first time, he had a clear picture. The Storm Boar needed his help, and he was going to answer that call.

“I can’t,” he told Lucy, who just sighed in resigned exasperation. “I can’t go back. I have to keep going.”

“Probably a smart move, since we have no idea how to go back even if we wanted to,” Roux said in a voice filled with false cheerfulness. “The trail disappeared a long time ago. In other good news, I think we’ve reached the volcano.”

Shinji looked up. Through the branches overhead, he could see the steep side of the mountain rising into the air, and his skin prickled. The volcano. The center of the island. If he was an ancient mythological creature who had gotten itself trapped somehow, that’s where he would be. It was the only place that made sense.

Besides, he could suddenly feel…something, coming

from the volcano. It was very faint, barely noticeable, but if he really concentrated, he could feel it, pulsing like heat waves against his skin.

Anger.

Shinji shivered. He remembered the voice in his dreams, bellowing at him from the clouds. He remembered the furious blue eyes glaring down at him. If the Storm Boar was this mad, was it a good idea to bring his friends into its lair?

But then again, if he had been trapped for who knew how long, he would be angry, too. He would just have to make sure the Storm Boar didn’t attack his friends. Once he set it free, it would calm down. It would be less ferocious and more…peaceful.

He hoped.

“Look at that,” Lucy said, nodding to something in the bushes. A small shrine had been constructed at the edge of a game trail. It was a simple altar made of stone, with wooden bowls and clay pots sitting atop it, though all were empty. “What do you think those are?”

“Offerings to the volcano?” Shinji guessed with a shrug. “Or maybe to the Storm Boar.”

A glimmer of white caught his attention. The white pig was walking steadily up the mountain, following a narrow path that wound up the side of the cliffs. Roux followed Shinji’s trail of vision, then sighed.

“Following a ghost pig to the top of a volcano. Yeah, this

sounds like a great idea. If you get the sudden urge to jump off the cliff into molten lava, be sure to tell us.”

Lucy’s lips thinned. Shinji knew she wanted to protest or urge him to turn around, but she didn’t say anything, and they continued to follow the boar.

Up the side of the volcano.

The path up the mountain started off easy, but as they got higher, the trees and vegetation began to disappear, the air grew thin, and the trail turned rocky and steep. Soon they were all panting and gasping for breath. Shinji stumbled once and fell, cutting open his palm as it hit the jagged black rock of the volcano. Lucy silently handed him a roll of gauze from her emergency travel pack, and though she didn’t sayI told you so, the implication was clear.

Finally, as the sun began to set, they reached the top. Standing at the edge of the mountain, Shinji gazed down into the caldera and felt his stomach drop. The bottom of the bowl was filled with bubbling magma, glowing a bright orange against the coming twilight. Columns of smoke writhed up from the surface of the lava lake, billowing into the air. Even standing at the top of the volcano, Shinji could feel the heat from where he stood, radiating against his skin, like looking at the sun on the hottest summer day.

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