The Azure Dragon

by Vladimir Vasilenko

  "But that's not what sucked the most, Mongoose. When the mother began to help these chicks, that's when it turned into a disaster. It turned out that she not only brings them live grub, but also... burps them.”

  "Oh..." I winced too and unwittingly took a step away from Sting. "Sorry, buddy."

  "That was bullshit! I thought I've seen everything, but having mobs vomit on you is just overkill. I wasn't happy to even be alive."

  "So what happened then?"

  "Then... At first, I thought I should fight back somehow, but then I realized that they will peck me to death no matter what. So I managed to jump out of the nest and started running, but all of a sudden, everything went dark. Something hit me in the back. It must have been that thing's beak. Well, at least it was a quick death."

  "You acted like a real hero," I said, trying my best to keep a serious expression on my face, and even raised my hand to give him a reassuring pat on the shoulder.

  But then I changed my mind.

  "By the way, there was a gap in the rock near the nest," Sting continued. "It must have been the same cave that you went into. I heard screams coming out of there. They were human. It sounded like a total mayhem."

  I grinned maliciously. I guess Genghis's men have disturbed the spider that was sitting in the hole near the lake. They deserved it!

  Although... stop! That's not very good. What if she kills someone? Or what if she takes down the entire squad? They'll teleport right here to the menhir!

  "Sting, we gotta go!"

  Not paying attention to the archer’s face that clearly expressed surprise, I caught him under the elbow, helping him rise.

  "What are you doing? Let me catch my breath!"

  "I'm telling you, we gotta leave! No time to explain."

  Grabbing shorty by the scruff of his neck, I dragged him right through the bushes, not really looking at where I was going. We didn't stop until we were a hundred yards away from the menhir. In fact, we had to stop because Sting tripped over a root sticking out of the ground and stretched out flat on the grass, at the same time knocking me down.

  "Ugh, you monster! I still have the debuff on me! And you expect me to run?"

  "Shh! Shut up for a while."

  I called Terekhov's chat and briefly outlined the situation. We agreed that he wouldn’t go on the riverbank but lead the squad down for at least another five hundred yards and meet us there.

  Sting heard my explanation and nodded comprehendingly.

  "Okay, that's what you mean! We almost ran into Genghis's men? Although, maybe they got that mom of the pack without any losses? They have some good fighters."

  "Let's not take any chances. We need to stay away from them. Maybe we won't get caught…"

  "Oh, I wouldn't count on that. If Genghis’s assassins have put their marks on us, they've already spotted us on the map. I'll have to check with Edge about the radius of those trackers.”

  "Then, it is better to increase the distance."

  "Hey, what's with your baby boy? He's acting so weird. So quiet."

  Christ... Hanuman is about to send a message! Bad timing.

  "The second group of the hairless men realized that someone had beaten them," said the cub, and laughed hoarsely. I recognized Hanuman’s voice, but coming from the little vanara, it sounded somewhat creepy. "They are raging like a wounded gbahali. But Janji Hae's compass has already given them a new direction."

  "Another fiery tear? Is it close?"

  "Yes, it's very close. If they hadn't found an empty geode, they might have thought they'd just missed it by a bit. But... their leader called your name. Mongoose, he said."

  Well, now what?

  "They're moving south now," Hanuman continued. "And if you want to snatch it out from under their noses again, you'll have to hurry."

  "Where do we need to go?"

  The cub grabbed me by the temples with his paws and poked his tiny forehead into the bridge of my nose. The world around erupted with crimson shards, which were replaced by visions. Similar to last time, it was like looking through a spyglass. Something like tunnel vision. The edges of the picture were blurred and distorted, the colors were faded and unnatural at times. But in general, I could see clearly.

  Another fallen meteorite was, indeed, very close—just a couple of miles southwest. From above, I could see raised edges of the crater, overgrown with grass and moss. But inside the crater, there was almost no vegetation, only some weird high bumps of sandstone or dried clay. It was difficult to estimate their size, but it seemed that some of them were several feet high—a sort of clay columns of irregular shape. But it wasn't clear why they were there. They didn't look like man-made structures. They were rather the elements of the landscape.

  "This is the Siafu Crater," whispered Hanuman in my ear. "There, in the center, lies another fiery tear.”

  "What dangers await us there? Is there some kind of a horrible creature guarding the treasure again?"

  "Dangers? Pfft, no! Just pinpricks," snorted the monkey king with contempt. "Brave warriors like you will surely be able to handle them. And if you act carefully, you can get the tear, without dirtying your hands. But this…"

  The visions changed, showing me a patch of jungle to the east of the crater. It was quite a large open area: shorea trees seemed to part in reverence, making room for a mighty squat tree with a thick trunk, which five people together wouldn't be able to embrace. At a first glance, it was obvious that this giant was very, very old. Its bark was wrinkled and dark as if charred, and some of the lower branches withered and stuck out like dead crooked shafts. But a large part of the crown was still alive, although unbalanced as if hair swept to one side. Even before Hanuman started talking again, I knew what this place was.

  "The one that whispers."

  Around the Whispering Oak was a camp of black vanaras. Unlike their tribesmen from Celestial Tree, they did not make huts in the middle and upper tiers. Their houses stood on the ground like yurts covered with dried palm leaves and scraps of skins. These yurts were built in two rows around a large area, trampled so much that not a blade of grass grew on it. There was an altar of a familiar shape, but it was much bigger than anything we had seen before.

  "What a setup! So there’s risk of running into vanaras?"

  "Maybe it's for the best," Hanuman added softly. "If you're going to keep your end of the bargain. I've already given you one fiery tear and showed you where the second one is. It's your turn, hairless. Kill the head shamans of the tribe!"

  His last sentence was full of undisguised hatred. Yeah, it looked like those shamans really got to him. More than I thought at first.

  I shook my head, driving away the scraps of visions. The first thing I saw was the little vanara, who was sitting opposite me and shaking his head in the same way, squealing in fright. Poor guy! What an adventure for him! Just a couple of weeks ago, local time, he was lying in his crib, warm and safe.

  We were reunited with Terekhov's detachment in a quarter of an hour. By that time Sting fully recovered and even cleaned his clothes, more or less. However, he still had a good deal of stench coming from him, so no one met him with open arms.

  It took only a couple of minutes to exchange news and impressions. I didn't even bother encrypting myself in front of Viper. It didn't make sense to hide it anymore since Genghis knew. We'd have to act boldly and see what would happen in the morning. But we still had a few hours left and needed to make the most out of this game session.

  Tellingly, Viper didn't really protest. He was shocked when he realized that we weren't just chasing vanaras but tried to screw Genghis over. But he did not argue. He must have understood that in his position this was dangerous. Bers even suggested to "take out the mole", but Terekhov talked him out of it.

  "We still have to deal with the vanara shamans, so every soldier counts. Besides..." He stared at Viper. "Can he really do anything now?"

  "What if he's got a chat medallion stashed somewhere? And he will rat on us
to Genghis?"

  "What can he say that Genghis doesn't already know?"

  "I have no medallion!" Viper was indignant. "I'm not a rat!"

  "Yeah right!" Daniel grinned. "Are you saying that Genghis assigned you to our squad just to look hot? And you don't report to him?"

  "You needed a guide! You don't know Uobo, you noobs would be dead without me at every turn! As far as reporting…"

  The guy hesitated.

  "Well... orders are orders. He asked me about you, of course. But he controls everyone in the unit, not just you!"

  "Okay, that’s the end of the conversation,” Terekhov cut him off. "Most importantly, don't forget that if you're with us, you report to me, not him. And if you think to mess with us…"

  Bers finished the sentence for him with an eloquent gesture, running his thumb down his throat.

  "I'm with you," muttered Viper. "But, if it comes down to fighting our guys—sorry, I'll pass."

  "Don't worry, it won't come to that."

  If I were Terekhov, I wouldn't be so sure, but oh well. He is the commander.

  We moved to the crater as fast as we could move being in the jungle. In order not to approach the Whispering Oak ahead of time, we had to make a huge detour. Like last time, I went ahead of the squad, moving through the middle tier of branches with the Stinger. I got so used to this tool by now that I could hardly imagine how I had lived without it.

  On the way to the destination, I had to come down to the ground because shorea trees didn't grow around the crater, and there was little vegetation in general, except grass and small bushes.

  The crater itself was probably sixty-five feet in diameter. Almost all of it was filled with the strange uneven pillars. When I got close, it was evident that these were not mountains. The hills looked more like dried clay mixed with grass and pieces of bark. There was not a soul around the crater—not even small insects or lizards could be seen. In the silence, the Hounds' steps could be heard from afar.

  We stopped a little further from the crater and took shelter in the bushes.

  "It's too quiet here," Doc grumbled, looking around.

  Following a few steps behind him, Karachun also turned its elongated bony head, clearly imitating the gesture of its owner.

  "Yeah," Sting echoed. "I don't like it either. Should we send someone to explore the area? Like someone whom we aren't going to miss?"

  "Then you go!" Kata snorted in response. "At least we won't have to put up with your stink."

  Doc shushed the disputants and gently patted the back of his Asai zombie. The dead lizard obediently trotted forward, straight to the clay pillars. He got to the outer edge of the cluster and ran around it. He couldn't get deep into the crater because the pillars stood end-to-end, many being fused with each other.

  "Well, what do you say?" Terekhov asked Viper. "Have you ever seen anything like it?"

  The dark-haired man shrugged his shoulders in puzzlement.

  "I have no idea what it's all about. It looks harmless, but remember it's Uobo. Sometimes a cute flower could bite off your finger."

  "Right. Besides, I doubt that the fiery tears would be hidden in such an accessible and safe place," I said. "At least, if you remember the previous one."

  "Siafu crater..." Viper murmured. "Siafu, Siafu... It sounds familiar, but I can't recall it…"

  "Well, what could be there?" Bers winced. "Look at Doc's lizard. He's just wandering, not bothered by anything. Let's get moving already. Genghis is right on our heels."

  He was right—we didn't have time to pussyfoot around. Scattered in a semicircle, we moved to the crater.

  The columns turned out to be more prosaic as we approached them closer.

  "Some dried shit," Sting shrugged and fingered the brown wall. The surface was hard and rough as brick, but easily scratched.

  Doc put his ear to one of the growths and tapped the wall with his knuckles.

  "Is it empty inside?"

  "I don't know... It's hard to tell. It could be empty, but the walls are too thick."

  "Should we try to make a hole?" Daniel suggested, readily grasping his mace.

  "Don't even!" Terekhov besieged him. "There’s absolutely no need to break anything! Besides, we actually need to get to the center of the crater. The tear should be buried there."

  He looked at us all and pointed at me, Sting, and Edge.

  "The three of you will climb up first and make your way to the center. You are lighter, and it won't break through. I hope."

  One by one, we were hoisted to the top of the pillars, which were semicircular, sloping, and not exactly convenient to sit on. Especially considering there were a few of us. We immediately began to jump to the neighboring pillars, so as not to get in each other's way.

  "Look, they're empty," Sting shook his head.

  The tops of some of the pillars, indeed, had collapsed inward at some point in time.

  Jumping from one column to another, we reached the middle of their cluster. A few pieces there were fused into one large bumpy dome, which could accommodate at least ten people.

  "Well, how does it look?" Bers called.

  "We're on the spot!" Sting replied. "Everything seems fine. Get in here! Don't worry, you won't fall. It's pretty stable."

  Waiting for the others, we looked at each other.

  "Well, shall we try to dig a hole?"

  Sting took out a slightly curved, like a beast's fang, dagger and used it to make a small hole under his feet.

  "Don't overdo it, or we'll all fall in," Edge grumbled.

  I helped the archer, wielding the shackled end of the staff. The material from which these strange hollow pillars were built was much stronger than it looked. Only when Bers came to the rescue with his axes, we finally managed to break off a hefty piece the size of a manhole lid. We held it, so it wouldn't fall down, and gently pushed it aside.

  The gaping breach was pitch black. We took turns looking into it, trying to see something. Almost the entire squad had gathered there. Only Terekhov and Daniel stayed at the bottom. Their armor was heavy, making it inconvenient to climb. Besides, someone had to cover the entrance to the crater.

  "It's not gonna help. I can't see a damn thing," Sting spat. "Ow! What a pest!"

  He shook off a huge red ant half a finger long and sucked his bitten thumb. Wincing in disgust, Edge squashed the insect, which crunched like a potato chip. Several more crawled out of the space, and she brushed them down with her foot.

  "Gross!"

  "And they bite," Sting complained. "Look, it's bleeding now!"

  He showed everyone a scarlet stain from the bite, but few people paid attention to him. Only Viper showed any emotion by widening his eyes.

  "Doc, light it up!" Bers asked, nearly poking his head into the rift.

  "Stop! Don't!" Shouted Viper.

  But it was too late—the necromancer already threw a small glowing ball into the darkness. For a couple of moments, it illuminated the interior of the dome: uneven walls, completely eaten away by holes, like a large sponge. Some thin whitish threads, similar to a web. At the bottom lay something like an open egg the size of a basketball. Its insides flashed with reflected light.

  Fiery tear?

  We couldn't really see more because the inside of the column rapidly swelled into a dark moving mass. A little more—and it rushed out.

  Ants! Hundreds of thousands of nimble reddish beasts with huge, like tweezers, mandibles.

  Viper cursed and jumped onto the next column.

  "I remember now! Siafu! Nomadic ants! Let's get outta here!"

  "What are you, scared of ants or something, clown?" Bers laughed, dancing and crushing the packs of insects.

  But the little monsters kept coming out, like a stew boiling out of a pot. Bers roared like a wounded bear when they reached the open areas of his body. I received a few painful stings right through my thick pants, right where I had no pads of terrask leather. The feeling was not pleasant. It wasn't even like needle
pinch, but more like someone plucked a piece of meat with tiny clippers.

  I activated Heart of Oak, but I didn't think it could strengthen my skin so much that ants wouldn’t get through it at all. But I thought that maybe I'd be a little tougher for them.

  A suspicious crunch came from the side of the ant-hill next to us. A little more and on its walls cracks began to be formed. The dome under our feet began to crackle unpleasantly.

  "Run!" Viper shouted, desperately shaking off the annoying insects and, without waiting for the others, dashed away, leaping on the neighboring pillars.

  The entire surface of clay anthills became red from the layer of ants. The huge moving mass of insects seemed to be a single creature, like some kind of a creepy growing amoeba, quickly absorbing all the space around it. It looked pretty disgusting, but at first, it wasn't particularly frightening.

  That's too bad though. What could we do against whole hordes of insects? Can't just beat them with the staff, can I? Or axes. How could we protect ourselves? Armor is a good thing, of course, but it's not airtight spacesuits.

  Some skin was still exposed, and these little bastards tried to get under our armor. Viper was right—we could only flee from them like from a natural disaster.

  Doc was the only one the ants avoided. Or rather they avoided his familiar. The necromancer said that Karachun's aura sucked the life out of creatures in the radius of fifteen feet, but insects were not scared of the spell so much that they ran away barely hitting that distance. Instead, they felt that something was off only when they got deep into the radius. As a result, Doc and Karachun remained on a small clean patch as if on an ice floe in the middle of a raging river. Alas, the aura didn't instantly kill the ants; it only slowed them down. The damage to life was caused in percentage, not in absolute units.

  "Wait!" I shouted. "We have to get the nugget out!"

  "Are you crazy?" Sting giggled nervously. "Are you really going in there?"