“The door!” I grumbled. “We cannot find a melody. This is almost an electric chair! We are nowhere close to the door yet… tell him - we are working.”
“I understand … will you try again?”
“I will,” I said, puffing myself up and stepping to the wall. “Either I play correctly on this freaking flute or die in the process! Look after me.”
“Okay…”
“And ask all curious to leave the zone - say that we are still playing music, and we have no sheet to go from.”
“Done. They all ask about the door.”
“Write - we are working on it. Oh boy…”
This time, my trembling hands plugged new holes, and my left knee drowned the leak at the bottom of the wall. The result did not take long. The hysterical notes disappeared, but in weeping a kind of joyful madness was heard, and the general sound resembled a laughing. Apparently, my music made the cliff laugh… Twitching in a spasm, I still decided to shut the fourth hole with my face. I was thrown back again …
With a loud crack, the ceiling of the corridor behind the mammoth rang out like a hatch of a bomber aircraft. And out from it began to climb a giant Gikran, issuing a malicious squeaky whine. Our ears popped - the creature used an acoustical blow. The three hundredth level! Without really recovering, I rushed to the damned wall and “played” a new melody at random. The ceiling collapsed. The Gikran was crushed in half, the monster howling — and then his head was struck by the monstrous impact of the mammoth club. Apparently, Orbit tried to drive the Gikran into the same place where he came from. But the edges of the hatch held tight, so the wingless bat remained in place, slowly dying in its trap. The elf was pissed. While I was trying the “flute”, and calculating new combinations, my ears were filled with incessant blows and the sobbing of the Gikran. I also heard the Doc’s panting, who was healing me in overtime.
Right-upper, right-bottom, central-left, left-lower and central-right elbow …
The dungeon was covered with sound … the crying turned into a song. The whole huge cliff shook in a piercing sad melody, incredibly pacifying, clearly created by a very good composer. And it was unlikely that only wind instruments had been used here - I could hear the sound of strings clearly.
It was a lullaby.
Definitely.
And the melody caressed our ears, and the water receded. And there was the inscription about this before our eyes, saying it plainly:
You got the effect of “Divine sleepiness”.
Your physical and magical damage is reduced by 20%.
Your movement speed is reduced by 20%
Your load capacity is reduced by 20%
It is impossible to activate any skills associated with rabies and rage.
All the potions granting haste, acceleration, rage, rabies, impatience and many other similar cannot be activated (more details in the description).
The strength and duration of any spells and abilities associated with peace, rest and drowsiness are increased by 40%.
The effect lasts until “Divine Drowsiness” disappears.
Attention!
Dungeon An Gdar under the influence of the mass effect “Divine sleepiness”!
Local residents Were slowed by 15%.
The damage of local inhabitants Was reduced by 15%.
The aggression of local inhabitants Was reduced by 50%.
Local residents fall into a deep and peaceful sleep with a probability of 10%.
The effect lasts until the “Divine Drowsiness” effect disappears.
A little lower there was the special inscription reminding me that the divine powers did not work on me. This was the power of the effect of “living blood” neutralizing both the bad and good. At the moment, I was glad of it.
“Divine?” I said aloud, putting my hand to the vibrating rock.
I was no longer hit by the electricity. And through the holes of the flute wall one could see drifting eels in the water. The monsters had fallen asleep.
“Birds around the top of the cliff have calmed down! The golden dragon and his rider have already flown up, and after performing a steep maneuver down, fell into the jungle. The dragon suffered a lot — one wing does not work. The rider was almost naked, ripped to his diaper,” began Doc, acting as a specialist in public relations. “Approaching Archs around Florian. For healing, I think.”
“He was released,” I breathed in relief. “Well, we promised it - we delivered.”
“Oh, It is unlikely that Florian will be grateful to us, boss,” Doc shook his head. “Quite the contrary.”
“We did not ask him to go there!” I said. “More news?”
“A sea of news! The birds either flew away or burrowed into holes. Began a peaceful life. Dads hunt, moms carry eggs. Or vice versa. Who knows the laws of feathered families?”
“Do not lose sight of your thoughts, Doc. Suicelli?”
“Reborn but behaving peacefully. Are not exploding. Malice writes …”
“Later! Orb! Either kill the freak or let him sleep!”
Smack!
This “smack” was the last one, and the giant Gikran finally died. The monster exploded into a gray postmortem flash. Trophies flew down, and the hatch in the ceiling slammed shut with a bang. I wondered if it was possible to stop the hatch somehow and get inside the cave of the huge wingless bat. Surely you could… but … but we did not have time for this. I did not see any blue markings of the right type. But we got lots of experience. I gained another level.
“What now, An Gdar musicians?” I asked, wiping my wet face and putting out the last of the smoke from the blackened clothes.
“What was it? An Gdar musicians? Cool! That’s a nickname, boss! Or maybe - the musicians of An Gdar…”
“Here you go again. What are we doing next?”
“P-press-sing,” the elf broke the silence.
“What are we pressing?”
“Fluuuu-tee.”
“I already played it,” I said, confused. “The cliff is quiet, and Florian flew away. We should stop playing music, Orbit. If another creature will come out again - we will not get out alive. Maybe we shouldn’t?”
“No, we should!” The lean elf remained firm, and I sighed as if we were doomed, realizing that we would have to play on equal terms - we must help each other in our endeavors. It is just that mine wishes were somewhat modest, while this prophet’s were stretching very far. And I really did not like the sudden mention of “divinity”. This was very worrying.
What kind of “divine drowsiness” was it?
“Ok, I will play,” I nodded, going back to the damn wall. “I see, you suddenly remembered the notes, right?”
“I did not know the notes of the lullaby,” the elf shook his bald head. “I am telling the truuuth. There is only one method – method of trial and error.”
“Trial and error? My favorite way … and now, what to play? How many holes needs to be plugged?”
“Tweee-e-lfth… try to remembeeeer…”
After a few minutes of briefing, I started performing, armed with the new knowledge. My repertoire of the cliff flutist was enriched by one composition. Well … first right fist here, left boot here, forehead to plug the hole at the top, elbow there …
I played without mistakes. And I was not even struck by electricity. What was even more interesting - the lullaby continued to sound, calming our nerves and the monsters nearby. But something happened after my virtuosic playing – the stone flute disappeared, literally flopping to the floor. For a moment I saw something like a swiftly protruding side of the water bubble, which immediately burst and hit us with a roaring stream. Kolyvan saved us. I went face first into the peacefully sleeping eels.
Opening my eyes, I almost screamed with horror-I had a tiny Suicelli sitting on my stomach.
“Teeny-weeny,” I whispered nervously. “Teeny-weeny… In every little child, both in the boy and in the girl, there were two hundred grams of explosives or even up to half a kilo! In
Suicelli, even more - maybe even five pounds … you see my dear, life is a great gift! Do not play with it! Live, live, baby … Enjoy every day, every moment of your existence. Live!”
Clack-Clack … clack …
Something squeaked, and the Suicelli busily descended from my belly and hopped down the corridor, which lit up around it. A nuclear glowing bomb was walking away from us …
“Phew…” I breathed out, and slid to the wet floor.
A shadow flashed, and then the bald skinny elf slammed onto the stone, shivering in a spasm of laughter. Behind him, Doc slid down, vaguely looking at me and shaking his head like a Chinese goddess:
“Boss … you just …”
“It is just that I really wanted to live very much,” I admitted, rising and rewarding Orbit with a kick under the ribs. “Am I correct that we need to go higher along the corridor?”
“Yes… hahahah…teeny-weeny … teeny-weeny ...”
“Well, get up and go! Stop laying around. Who will tell me - what’s going on? Why everyone is affected by drowsiness I understand - the effect of a lullaby, which I played on a stone flute myself. But why it did it have to be a lullaby of the divine level? Just to comfort some distraught birds?”
“I have no idea, I give the Hippocratic oath,” Doc assured me, pressing his hands to his narrow chest. “Ros, you’re a little too quick for our merry team.”
“The effect of “divine pacification” did not work on me,” I answered. “Which pleases me. Dear Orbit, it may be time to tell the truth, no matter how ugly it is. Where are you taking us? What awaits us behind this wall? I removed it with the help of a complicated code, but I am even afraid to imagine what would have happened if I made even little mistake.”
“The longer the combination was, the more powerful the hit… you would have died.”
“Great. Oh shit … the water is approaching … the tide is in full swing. In battle formation, comrades. Time to move forward. I cannot understand - the water is pouring from above or touching the bottom of the heels. Are we above sea level, or below?”
“Orb was mumbling something about the siphoning system and pressure wells,” Doc said.
“M-mumbling,” the elf agreed. “That th-his cliff is n-not from around here.”
“What do you mean by that?”
“It is not from here.”
“I do not understand. But your words scare me. What awaits us at the end of this corridor?”
“Death.”
During the questioning, we were already overcoming the slowly rising tunnel. When the elf pronounced the word “death” unexpectedly and abruptly, we had just reached the summit of the ascent – at our feet, a black abyss opened up. It was filled with luminous water shimmering across the edge and flowing down into the abyss. We took a step back. Doc dismounted Kolyvan.
“Whose death?” My voice could not help but tremble. Too much of what has happed resembled the beginning of a horror film with an incredibly bad end, where no one survives at all.
“Nooo-ones … and every-y-ones… death sleeps there soundly, Ros, … Let us wake her up ...”
“What are you talking about ?!”
“Anrull …” Orbit is half-crazed eyes glittered more vividly than ever. “The missing G-god from the first pantheon… Not a word about him! He disappeared!”
“God Anrull? I never heard of him before,” I confessed. Doc, who was standing next to him, nodded feverishly. “But even if I knew about him - why wake the sleeping god? Is this a good god?”
“Anru-u-ull? Oh no! He’s death! He was tricked into falling asleep! Long before us!”
“Then Let us get out of here,” I said nervously, looking at the abyss of black water. A paradox - the water was crystal clear, and glows from the inside, but it was black and bubbling.
“Ros … n-now all the gods are b-bad,” the elf looked at me intensely. “Everyone is tearing each other to pieces! F-for power! F-for the throne! F-for the right to live and r-rule! There’s no go-oodness in them.”
“So why do we need one more?”
“He’s the first! St-trong! If not we - others will awaken Anrull! So let him be indebted to us! Without you we cannot…”
“I do not know,” I confessed. “To hell with Anrull, Orb. This is a dangerous idea.”
“Please. Help, I b-beg you...”
Checkmate. I asked Orbit many times for help. He rescued me many times. It was no longer possible to count how many times the long eared prophet saved my skin from troubles, and helped me accomplish the most difficult tasks. And he was also my friend. And up to this day he did not ask me for anything, except about participation in my next adventure. And he was never a dead weight. I owed him much more than he owed me. And every day my debt did not decrease but grew exponentially. I could deny the Black Baroness. But I could not refuse to him.
“What needs to be done?” I breathed out.
“The water in the abyss - liquid d-death. Anrull’s aura. Divine essence of d-death…” The elf brightened and became livelier. “You cannot b-breathe it in. You cannot sw-wim in it. Anyone will die in an instant! Anyone but y-you … neither water, nor the aura of the divine deaaath ...”
“The status of the Great Navigator and my special abilities,” I understood him. “That’s a coincidence … you suggest I drown in a liquid death. And there, at the bottom ...”
“Anrull! Captive and euthanized. And t-taken away ...”
“Suppose I get to the bottom. And do not die. What’s next?”
“I will t-tell you…”
“Guys! Have you lost your minds?!” Doc stared, realizing that we were not joking. “Wake not a sleeping lion! What the hell!”
“It has to be d-done...”
“I am just an instrument, Doc,” I smiled, spreading my hands. “Do not blame me.”
“God of death? Meaning - a dark god? Condemned, sent here, and then drowned on the ocean floor? Maybe because of this damned cliff all the local islands were drowned! Do you want to wake him up? To wake up Anrull?”
The elf waved his hand. “The Great Ones put him to sleep and locked Anrull up.”
“I believe him,” I interrupted. “Stop it, Doc. If we start to look for the reasons, we will stay here for another three days. Maybe even more. If Orbit needs it, we will help him. Just as he helped us - without asking reasons. He just climbs onto the mammoth and helps. Let us do the same?”
“Well … if anything, I will heal you.”
“Excellent, … how should I wake Anrull? What should I whisper in his ear?”
“It is easy,” the elf smiled broadly, gritting his palms, “Oo-oh…”
“And when will he wake up? What will happen?”
“It will be very interesting,” promised the bald prophet.
“Tell me how…”
It did not take long to explain. Not because I am smart – but because the instructions were extremely simple. There was a rope. A thin elven rope. It was strapped around my waist. The other end was taken by Kolyvan. Tilting my head, I drained the flask of wine, wiped my lips with my sleeve, and bent down. I filled the jar with terrible water and, tightly twisting the lid, threw the flask to the Doc.”
“Save it for me. Might end up being useful. Well… here goes…”
And I stepped forward.
The black bubbling water silently hugged me, and I rocketed down like a stone. Panicked red messages immediately followed by green ones flew before my eyes. I was getting dissolved, drowned, teared, flattened and poisoned at the same time. But I was too strong. And as for breathing … considering my status, I did well without it.
The firefly in my hand could not stand it, and faded. But there was still enough light. The bottom was rapidly approaching, and the lullaby was still roaring in my ears. Now I knew its purpose - to support Anrull’s sleep. And the birds were just a side effect.
Ominous greenish reflections fell onto my face. Soon I was able to see the outlines of what lay on the stony bottom of the g
loomy void …
Chapter Twenty-Two.
Slumbering death…
I did not have to work with my hands and feet. There was no need - an unknown magic changed gravity and turned my body into lead. And all the water was moving away in front of me. I did not sink - I fell slowly. My eyes did not leave the very terrible “object” at the bottom of a deep abyss. Another couple of minutes - and I would reach the bottom.
But first, I had to do something. Not duty or obligation — It was just common sense. Not uncommon for me lately. Now my imagination was quite capable of imagining what might happen when the ancient god of death Anrull is awakened …
Having disabled the full blocking of messages, I chose “ignoring of messages by choice” and connected two gaming names to one channel - Malice and the Baroness.
“Hello? Malice, BB “.
“I can hear you, Ros” said the Baroness.
“Roger that! Are you alive there, guys? What’s with the second entrance?! Found it already?!”
“To hell with the entrance. BB, what did Orbit say a minute ago? Did they get in touch? Have you been told anything?”
“No.”
“No. Why? “
“Clear. Listen carefully - Orbit has found, in An Gdar, the dungeon of the God of death named Anrull. I am submerging swiftly, swimming to his keep at the bottom of the abyss. Then I will WAKE him - and I WILL NOT change my mind, I am warning you at once. I promised Orb and I will keep my promise. Clear? Soon the death God Anrull wakes up. “
«!!!!»
“Disciple, have you lost your mind?!?!”
“I warned you and my conscience is clear. If the God will be angry – it will be like hell in here… And he will be very angry for sure. “
“Ros, we cannot predict the consequences! Damn … Orbit blocked his messages. I cannot get through. “
“Disciple, you are insane? Listen to me…”
“Keep your anger low!” – again the Baroness.
“I am silent …”
“BB, if it is not me - someone else will wake him up,” I hurriedly typed the text, glancing at the rapidly approaching bottom. “The waking is a difficult business, but even Archs can handle it when the dungeon opens its doors to everyone. Do you want God to be kind to your enemies? I am definitely not the enemy. “
The Way of the Clan 9 Page 8
