Page 48 of Shinji Takahashi: Into the Heart of the Storm

Phoebe suddenly straightened with a gasp. “Oh!” she cried, as if just remembering something. “The journal. Be right back!”

“Phoebe!” Oliver shouted as Phoebe turned and sprinted toward the village. “Where are you going?”

“The elder’s journal!” she called over her shoulder. “I left it in the chieftain’s house! Keep going; I’ll be right there!”

“Wait!” Oliver called, but she was already gone. Oliver scrubbed a hand down his face. “Mystics,” he groaned. Glancing at Mano, he gestured at the forest with his parrot cane. “Take the kids to the ship,” he told the captain. “I’ll be right back.”

As Oliver took off at a run back toward the village, Shinji gazed past the houses into the forest, seeing an ominous red glow through the trees, creeping ever closer. He glanced at Roux and Lucy, and both gave grim nods. Before Mano could say anything, they all sprang forward, following Oliver and Phoebe into the village.

“Kids!” Mano bellowed. “Get back here.”

They ignored him. Sprinting into the village, Shinji spotted the chieftain’s house easily; it was the largest hut near the very center. Wind tore at the thatch roofing, blowing it away

in chunks, and the whole hut shook as the island trembled. Shinji vaulted up the rickety steps and ducked through the doorway, Lucy and Roux right behind him.

“Phoebe,” Oliver was saying as they came in, “we have to go. What are you looking for?”

“A book!” Phoebe glanced up from under a table. “I left the journal on the table right here. Or I thought I did, anyway. Where did it go?”

“There’s no time for this,” Oliver insisted, then noticed Shinji and the others as they stepped into the room. “And everyone is here now. Great. Priya is never going to let me take you anywhere ever again.” He tapped his forehead several times with the golden parrot beak and sighed. “Well, since you’re all here, start looking for this book. Apparently, we can’t leave without it.”

There was a breath of wind across Shinji’s face. Not the angry, violent gusts from the storm outside, a quieter, gentler breeze that wafted across the floor. It fluttered the pages of a book half-hidden beneath a shelf, and Shinji blinked.

Kneeling down, he pulled out an old leather book. The pages were handwritten in a language he didn’t recognize, but at the bottom of one page was a black-and-white drawing of a familiar boar, its head raised in a silent bellow as it called lightning down from the sky.

Shinji’s heart leaped. “Phoebe,” he called, scrambling up from the floor. “I think I found it.”

“Oh yes!” Phoebe rushed up to him, taking the book

from his hands. “That’s it!” she exclaimed. “The elder’s journal. This could contain vital information to help us face whatever is to come next. Good job, Shinji.”

“Great, so we can go now?” Oliver strode across the room and peered through the door. His eyes widened. “Yeah, we need to go,” he ordered, turning to glare at them all. “As innow.Right now. Come on!”

They rushed outside, and Shinji’s stomach twisted hard with fear. Lava had spilled from the forest and was oozing steadily toward them over the ground. The huts at the edge of the trees had already caught fire, the thatched roofs ablaze as magma pooled beneath them. Shinji could feel the intense heat burning his face as the deadly carpet slithered over the ground, consuming everything in its path.

“Move!” Mano roared. “Get to the ship, now!”

Shinji’s legs burned as he ran toward the beach, smelling smoke and hearing the crackle of fire behind him. The black raft still waited in the sand, but the waves had reached all the way up the shore and were pounding the beach. The ocean had turned gray and choppy, and far out to sea, Shinji could make out the ship bobbing up and down on the waves.

Thunder roared as Mano and Oliver dragged the raft into the ocean, fighting the waves that came crashing to shore. A wall of water hit Shinji in the chest as he scrambled into the raft, drenching his clothes and blasting seawater up his nose. Coughing, he hunkered down as Mano started the engine,

and then they were zipping away from the beach, bouncing over the ocean as they headed toward the ship. Shinji turned and looked back at the island, watching lava stream down the volcano, the storm swirling madly overhead.

I caused this. This is my fault.

The raft caught a gust of air on a huge wave, coming down with a jolt that clacked Shinji’s teeth together. Around them, swells rose and crashed, and the rain beat against Shinji’s skin as the raft struggled toward the ship. Finally they reached the side of the boat, bobbing wildly on the choppy water, and scrambled up the metal ladder onto the deck.

“Raise anchor!” Mano shouted as soon as they were aboard. “Everyone, belowdecks. We’re getting out of here.”

Oliver, gazing up at the sky, shook his head. “Yep, that’s a hurricane,” he muttered, and quickly followed Mano across the deck. “And there’s a ring of very sharp rocks between us and open water. Do you have any idea of how we’re going to get out of here without smashing the ship into the reef?”

“Quickly,” was the answer as they all ducked into the pilothouse. “Besides, aren’t you an expert on extraction, Ocean? I mean, that’s your claim to fame, right? You’ve done this before.”

“Piloted a ship through a hurricane?” Oliver grinned and scratched the back of his head. “Once or twice,” he admitted. “Notsafely, you understand. I can’t promise to have it back in one piece.”

“I’ll risk it.” Mano nodded to the wheel at the front of

the room. “Take the helm, Ocean,” he ordered. “I’m trusting you to get us through this.”

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