The Azure Dragon

by Vladimir Vasilenko

  "Why would they need prisoners?" I grumbled. "Do you think they want to sacrifice them?"

  "The Whispering Oak vanaras don't need blood sacrifices," Edge shook her head.

  "How do you know that?"

  She pretended not to hear the question.

  She's right. Viper didn't mention anything about vanaras kidnapping players before. Also, when we saw them in the old camp, they didn't look too eager to take us alive. So this must be their new quirk. Most likely, they will finish the ritual to activate the altar and move on. We don't have much time. Now is the perfect moment to try and free the crew.

  The altar was located on a small patch free from vegetation. A trunk of a giant shorea stretched into the sky. Part of its roots stuck out, making it look like a tree trying to get up from the ground. Just beyond, there was a steep walkout downhill to the river, overgrown with tall grass and dotted with moss-covered boulders.

  Sneaking up from the other side wasn't going to work. Therefore, there was one option: we needed to approach the cages with the prisoners from the top and cut the vine holding them. Then we could be together again. The cages looked rather flimsy, and if they wouldn’t collapse from the impact with the ground, the prisoners could break them once on the ground. They must have been thinking about it too, judging by how they were fidgeting inside and looking at the vanaras.

  "Stay here," I said to Edge. "If something happens, try to distract the monkeys. Let them chase you."

  "What are you up to?"

  "Oh, nothing. Just a little mischief," I winked at her and crawled back.

  I had to make a detour to get to the branch with the cages and prisoners. Actively wielding the Stinger, I climbed to a nearby tree, then moving on the upper tier of branches, I made it to the other tree. Now I had to be extremely careful. Securing the Stinger to a branch, I started a slow descent on the rope that stretched lower and lower, making me feel like a spider on a web. When I was close enough to the cages, I sent a message to Terekhov in the chat. Instead of a voice message, I sent a text.

  "Get ready. We'll have to take a mini-flight."

  The cages were hanging low, about ten feet above the ground, but falling would still be unpleasant. It would feel worse than a jump from a second-floor window. It would be more like a broken elevator falling. My only hope was that the guys inside are stronger than their prototypes from real life.

  On my way, I had a thought to cut the vines by throwing the chakram at them. But then I gave up on this idea. The chakram returns to the quick access slot fifteen seconds later. And there were three cages there to deal with. After the first one fell, the vanaras would probably be alarmed. I'd have to take a chance. I decided to climb right up on the branch they were hanging from and cut the suspensions quickly, one by one.

  The vines that the vanaras used as ropes were simply thrown over the branch, and their free ends were attached to the roots of the tree sticking out of the ground. All I had to do was slash them with my chakram. They were taut as strings—a little cut and they would burst under the weight of the prisoners.

  Meanwhile, the vanaras had flown off the handle. The ritual was clearly approaching its climax. The shamans howled and shook their heads, spraying around the flakes of white foam that were oozing from their mouths. The ordinary soldiers loudly hooted in unison, pounding their chest with mighty fists. At first glance, nothing happened to the altar itself—it was just a pile of wooden poles and scraped clean animal skulls. But the mages, perhaps, could see much more.

  Even I saw something. The Source has changed under the influence of the shamans' witchcraft. From the column of golden light beating from the ground, it turned into a strange purple swirl, as if it was screwed in down. It's hard to explain, but just looking at it made me shiver. The shamans pumped up the Source with some alien, evil energy, which didn't destroy it, but rather changed it. It was ringing in a different way now. The sound itself became intermittent, pulsating. Yeah, I wouldn't risk getting Qi out of it. Even in the Source that was in the old camp of Genghis, I felt a little uneasy. And this one completely transformed into something strange.

  I also saw the lines thin as cobwebs stretching away from it. Where these different Sources connected to each other?

  H-hell, and the interface does not give any hints. At least a couple of lines would be great! I have to start upping my Intelligence. I’m sick and tired of gaping at every strange artifact, like a baby who sees a colorful wrapper.

  I gently touched the branch with the soles of my boots and released the Stinger. The magic rope quickly tightened, and I hid its tip in a special mount on my forearm. Bending over and touching the branch with my hands, I started to crawl forward like a monkey. The cub squealed uneasily on my shoulder, but I shushed him, and he fell silent.

  "Mongoose?" A voice came from below. It sounded like Sting.

  I lay down on the branch with my belly and hung down slightly. Almost immediately, I met Bers's eyes—he, Kata, Sting, and a pair of gray vanaras swayed in the cage closest to me. I pressed my finger to my lips and shook my head toward the shamans. I didn't want those damn monkeys to see me before it was time!

  One good thing, the vanaras were entirely absorbed by the ritual at the moment. They didn’t even have guards on duty. But then what did I expect—they were savages, after all.

  Let's face it, though. They are not afraid of anyone, because they are the most terrible in this jungle. I think even such fierce predators as Asai or gbahali wouldn't dare to attack them.

  I divided the chakram into halves and took one of them in my hand like brass knuckles. One last time, I looked back at the vanaras, then to my sides, and…

  Holy crap!

  I got carried away! I didn't see there was a snake slithering right toward me. I didn't see any fangs, so it was probably not poisonous. A boa. The damn thing was huge, as thick as my thigh, and its head was like two of my fists folded together. Well, there were no small animals in this jungle.

  Cradle of life, you say? Perhaps, we should check the radiation levels here.

  I wouldn't even hope that this critter just happened to be here and was not really after me. It had its tiny eyes on me, like it was trying to hypnotize me. Its upper part was lifting off the branch more and more as the snake rose. The cub on my shoulder hissed, showing his tiny needle-like fangs. A brave little one! At the same time, he was shaking like a leaf.

  The sight was for sure fascinating. Just those spotted patterns on the snake's skin were hard to stop looking at. But I didn't have time for that at all. The vanaras got suspiciously quiet: they might have already finished, or the ritual had entered the most crucial phase. I slashed the blade of the chakram at the vine nearest me. The first cage with the prisoners slammed down, crunching on landing. I hoped it wasn't someone's bones breaking.

  To my surprise, the cage did not fall apart—the poles, from which it was assembled, proved to be quite flexible. Instead, it sprung and almost bounced like a ball. And then, slowly but surely it rolled down the slope directly to the river, increasing the pace. Judging by the cries of those inside, they were not very happy about this arrangement.

  Whoops!

  I froze, but just for a second. There was simply no time to come up with a better plan. Anyway, what would be the point of pulling out hair and worrying about it when something was already half done. All the more, I had no hair either. Thus, I decisively ran forward and chopped off the second vine with one blow.

  The third cage was a little further away, but from the opposite side of me, the boa was already making its way toward it. The thought of stunning him with Water Column flashed through my mind, but I dismissed it. The impact of the Water Element will inevitably break the branch as it is already quite thin in this place. Even if it won't break, it'll jounce and fling me down while the snake wouldn't care less.

  So I decided against it and instead, spurred myself with Splash for speed. Before the vanaras realized what just happened, I slashed the last vine with the
blade, then I put the chakram away and shot Stinger at the branch over my head to move on to the top tier.

  I had already activated the pull and was on my way up on the rope when I felt something heavy falling on me. The boa caught up with me in one swift throw, coiling around my body and hanging on me with all its weight. The first time it didn't get a good grip on me, and I even thought I could slip out. But I guess the Lizard's Tail automatically activated from the Marine Salamander bead. A moment later, the serpent twitched, tightening its grip, and my legs felt like they were put in a vice.

  I desperately jerked, trying to shake it off.

  Lizard's Tail!

  Yeah, right! The boa only slid down a little—not even from my technique but just under its own weight. It wasn't going to let me go. The Silver Stinger, though much slower than usual, pulled me up. There we hung on a short rope together, me and the spotty overgrown worm. The vanara cub, squealing desperately, climbed the rope to the top, and from there, cursed the serpent in his own vanara language. Alas, it was the only way he could help me.

  The rope was swinging back and forth now because of my attempts to escape, but the tip of the Stinger stuck in the branch firmly. I didn't have to worry about it slipping out. As far as I understand, at the moment of penetration of the barrier, the tip releases transverse fins, which can be torn out only with a solid piece of wood. The rope would likely break, but the Stinger won’t be released from its point of impact. Although it wasn't an ordinary rope but magic, made from the lunar jute fiber reinforced with titanium filaments.

  The snake wasn't just hanging on me. It was jerking, making its way up, coiling around me with its solid as a rock body and clenching me all the more. It trapped my left hand by pressing it to my body. The right one was useless too as I used it for holding on.

  Horrified, I suddenly realized, that this was it for me. The end. Game over. Call it quits, as Bers said.

  The prisoner’s screams came from below. One of the cages collapsed along the way, but the other two, accelerating, continued to roll straight into the river. For those inside, it wasn't really a fun ride, though the grass probably softened the impact a bit. Still, they were rattling inside the cages like frozen berries in a blender.

  With fierce cries, the vanaras rushed down the slope, making giant leaps and chasing the fugitives. But I didn't really care about all that hassle at the moment. I had a much bigger problem.

  The snake squeezed me so vigorously that I could no longer breathe. I couldn't feel my legs at all. All my attempts to escape caused the same reaction from the creature—it squeezed me tighter and pulled up higher on my body.

  What a horrible, ridiculous death.

  To hell with it! It's a nightmare. Slow, inevitable, and thus, simply terrifying. It's like drowning in a quagmire that slowly sucks you in. I'd rather die in a battle fighting with a sword. Or at least from an arrow.

  Edge, where are you when I need you the most?! Finish me off! Stop this suffering! You can do it with just one arrow!

  The boa was pushing so hard that guts were about to come out of me while the fear of imminent death squeezed the remnants of thoughts out of my brain. I was just hanging on the rope and wheezing because I couldn't even really scream.

  Okay, what would Bao advise in this situation? Keep calm, clear your mind, or some other philosophical wisdom? But what good does that do to me in this situation?

  Just accept my death? Hell no! But how do I fight something if I am literally bound hand and foot? All I have is my teeth, damn it.

  The snake's head was right in front of my face. It had stupid beady eyes, with no hint of emotion. Of course it had no emotion—it had no brain or soul. It was just continuously squeezing me harder. Not to mention the fact that it was not even a real boa, but only an imitation. It was a mental image born of the brain of a virtual designer and transmitted to my consciousness by means of ingenious technologies. To be killed by this dummy was sort of shameful.

  What was even more shameful was to surrender to a snake.

  What kind of a Mongoose am I after that? If I die, I'll still lose all my pure Qi charges, so there's no point in saving them now. So…

  I took a couple more attempts to escape using Lizard's Tail. It was useless. Perhaps, if I was stronger, it might have worked, but what's the point of guessing. Attacking skills couldn't even be activated because I couldn't swing and strike.

  What if…

  Heart of Oak!

  My muscles got stiff for a few seconds, suffused with strength from within. My body was stronger, and even the boa's stranglehold didn't feel as suffocating as before. Well, now…

  I released the tip of the Stinger, and my heart jumped to my throat from the sensation of falling. I flew down backwards, clenching my teeth so as not to scream.

  Crack! I hit a low branch and flipped over it. Again, the feeling of falling. Again, crack! This time it was a thick root sticking out of the ground at the foot of the tree.

  In real life, if I were to fall from a height like this and bump something solid on my way down, I'd imminently crash. But the Heart of the Oak gave my body extra armor. Besides that, the snake was coiled around me with thick rings, so it took the main blow.

  I was severely stunned from hitting the ground, but I felt that the boa jerked convulsively, weakening its grip. Yes, it must have taken a good hit. We rolled on the grass. With my free hand, I grabbed the reptile below its head. Even here, the boa was so thick that I could not close my fingers.

  The coils of the snake body around me started moving again, twitching, trying to squeeze me harder. With a jerk, I pulled my other hand out and grabbed the snake's neck, strangling it. I pressed its head to the ground and grabbed the chakram from the quick access slot. The sharp blade easily cut through the scaly, spotted skin, and a hideous liquid that couldn’t be called blood splashed into my face.

  After a few seconds, I sliced off the creature's head. Despite the fact that the blade of the chakram was as sharp as a scalpel, it wasn't easy, especially at the end when I got to the ridge. I thought snakes didn't have a spine at all! Otherwise, how would they bend like that?

  To my horror, even without the head, the boa's body continued to squeeze me tighter. Although, it looked more like convulsions. In a little bit, the bastard went limp, his vile cold carcass hanging on me. Disgusted, I shook it off and fell on the grass, face up.

  The branches of trees swayed above me. Some bird fluttered. In the corner of my eye, I saw a butterfly that was the size of my palm. Somewhere nearby was a flock of vanaras—I could hear their bloodthirsty cries. But for a few seconds, I just fell out of the whole situation because I had to come to my senses.

  From the top, something gray fell on me, and at first, I flinched, covering myself with my hands. But it was just the vanara cub. The baby started running around me, anxiously looking into my face. I laughed and patted his head.

  It's okay, kid, I'm getting up!

  My player's medallion vibrated, making it clear that I had gained experience for killing the snake. A green and black large ball of Qi smoothly rose above the corpse, hovering over the grass like a huge firefly. I pulled it to me with a mental effort and absorbed Qi into the Wood Element.

  Right after that, I jumped to my feet.

  It took me only half a minute to climb the tree again and reach the middle tier of branches. From there, I had a great view of the battle by the river, but it was strange—it didn’t look exactly like a fight.

  I had already seen that one of the cages had collapsed halfway to the river. The other two had reached the water, and the prisoners had already broken out of them. The stream here was not very deep, but rough and wide. Moving waist-deep in the water, the Hounds scattered to the other side. Shrieking and shaking their fists, the vanaras thrashed on the shore, but stayed out of the river.

  Are they afraid of water? It looks like it. They didn't follow us last time when we fell into the river. I should take a note of that.

  I
also moved to the other side, but for this I had to make a big detour along the middle tier of branches. Suitable large trees, growing close enough to the water, were found only a quarter of a mile downstream. There I leaped to the other side, performing a daredevil combo of a Frog Leap and Stinger release at a tree branch on the opposite bank. It took my breath away. It's not even parkour—it was some kind of circus aerial gymnastics.

  Coming down from the tree, I collided with Edge literally nose to nose.

  "Ugh, you're covered in blood!" The assassin recoiled in disgust wrinkling her nose.

  "I'm sorry!" I snapped. "FYI, I risked my life, trying to save my friends from the vanaras. Where have you been all this time?"

  "Don't talk to me like that," she said and turned to walk away.

  "Hey, where are you going?"

  I grabbed her shoulder and turned her around.

  "Everyone's over there!"

  To our right, familiar voices and the crunch of crushed branches came from the bushes. Yeah, the Hounds still haven't learned how to get through the jungle in a stealthy way. But now it played in our hands.

  "Get off! I've gotta go."

  She jerked to the side, but I grabbed her with both hands and pressed her to the trunk of a tree.

  "Where you going?" I squinted. "You've been acting weird the whole way. Don't you want to meet the others?"

  She met my gaze calmly, with a grin, but her nostrils were clearly distended with anger.

  Just look at her!

  "Why are you running away all of a sudden? Guilty of something?"

  She twitched again with force unexpected for such a fragile gal, but I managed to hold her back. I leaned on her even more, pressing her whole body to the tree now.

  Our faces were very close. She went limp and froze, staring at me with her huge eyes. Just like a scene from some romance novel, damn it. I even got overwhelmed. After all, she was a beautiful little thing. Besides, she's been teasing me for days. Here, I was holding her in my arms, and she was trembling like a bird.